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[Illustration: PAGE FROM AN ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT]
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE
HISTORY OF WESTERN EUROPE
BY
JAMES HARVEY ROBINSON
PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
_History is no easy science;
its subject, human society,
is infinitely complex._
FUSTEL DE COULANGES
GINN & COMPANY
BOSTON · NEW YORK · CHICAGO · LONDON
ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL
COPYRIGHT, 1902, 1903
BY JAMES HARVEY ROBINSON
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
612.1
The Athenæum Press
GINN & COMPANY · PROPRIETORS ·
BOSTON · U.S.A.
PREFACE
In introducing the student to the history of the development of European
culture, the problem of proportion has seemed to me, throughout, the
fundamental one. Consequently I have endeavored not only to state
matters truly and clearly but also to bring the narrative into harmony
with the most recent conceptions of the relative importance of past
events and institutions. It has seemed best, in an elementary treatise
upon so vast a theme, to omit the names of many personages and conflicts
of secondary importance which have ordinarily found their way into our
historical text-books. I have ventured also to neglect a considerable
number of episodes and anecdotes which, while hallowed by assiduous
repetition, appear to owe their place in our manuals rather to accident
or mere tradition than to any profound meaning for the student of the
subject.
The space saved by these omissions has been used for three main
purposes. Institutions under which Europe has lived for centuries, above
all the Church, have been discussed with a good deal more fullness than
is usual in similar manuals. The life and work of a few men of
indubitably first-rate importance in the various fields of human
endeavor--Gregory the Great, Charlemagne, Abelard, St. Francis,
Petrarch, Luther, Erasmus, Voltaire, Napoleon, Bismarck--have been
treated with care proportionate to their significance for the world.
Lastly, the scope of the work has been broadened so that not only the
political but also the economic, intellectual, and artistic achievements
of the past form an integral part of the narrative.
I have relied upon a great variety of sources belonging to the various
orders in the hierarchy of historical literature; it is happily
unnecessary to catalogue these. In some instances I have found other
manuals, dealing with portions of my field, of value. In the earlier
chapters, Emerton's admirable _Introduction to the Middle Ages_
furnished many suggestions. For later periods, the same may be said of
Henderson's careful _Germany in the Middle Ages_ and Schwill's clear and
well-proportioned _History of Modern Europe_. For the most recent
period, I have made constant use of Andrews' scholarly _Development of
Modern Europe_. For England, the manuals of Green and Gardiner have been
used. The greater part of the work is, however, the outcome of study of
a wide range of standard special treatises dealing with some short
period or with a particular phase of European progress. As examples of
these, I will mention only Lea's monumental contributions to our
knowledge of the jurisprudence of the Church, Rashdall's _History of the
Universities in the Middle Ages_, Richter's incomparable _Annalen der
Deutschen Geschichte im Mittelalter_, the _Histoire Générale_, and the
well-known works of Luchaire, Voigt, Hefele, Bezold, Janssen, Levasseur,
Creighton, Pastor. In some cases, as in the opening of the Renaissance,
the Lutheran Revolt, and the French Revolution, I have been able to form
my opinions to some extent from first-hand material.
My friends and colleagues have exhibited a generous interest in my
enterprise, of which I have taken constant advantage. Professor E.H.
Castle of Teachers College, Miss Ellen S. Davison, Dr. William R.
Shepherd, and Dr. James T. Shotwell of the historical department of
Columbia University, have very kindly read part of my manuscript. The
proof has been revised by my colleague, Professor William A. Dunning,
Professor Edward P. Cheyney of the University of Pennsylvania, Dr.
Ernest F. Henderson, and by Professor Dana C. Munro of the University of
Wisconsin. To all of these I am much indebted. Both in the arduous
preparation of the manuscript and in the reading of the proof my wife
has been my constant companion, and to her the volume owes innumerable
rectifications in arrangement and diction. I would also add a word of
gratitude to my publishers for their hearty coöperation in their
important part of the undertaking.
The _Readings in European History_, a manual now in preparation, and
designed to accompany this volume, will contain comprehensive
bibliographies for each chapter and a selection of illustrative
material, which it is hoped will enable the teacher and pupil to broaden
and vivify their knowledge. In the present volume I have given only a
few titles at the end of some of the chapters, and in the footnotes I
mention, for collateral reading, under the heading "Reference," chapters
in the best available books, to which the student may be sent for
additional detail. Almost all the books referred to might properly find
a place in every high-school library.
J.H.R.
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY,
January 12, 1903.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I THE HISTORICAL POINT OF VIEW 1
II WESTERN EUROPE BEFORE THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS 8
III THE GERMAN INVASIONS AND THE BREAK-UP OF THE
ROMAN EMPIRE 25
IV THE RISE OF THE PAPACY 44
V THE MONKS AND THE CONVERSION OF THE GERMANS 56
VI CHARLES MARTEL AND PIPPIN 67
VII CHARLEMAGNE 77
VIII THE DISRUPTION OF CHARLEMAGNE'S EMPIRE 92
IX FEUDALISM 104
X THE DEVELOPMENT OF FRANCE 120
XI ENGLAND IN THE MIDDLE AGES 133
XII GERMANY AND ITALY IN THE TENTH AND ELEVENTH CENTURIES 148
XIII THE CONFLICT BETWEEN GREGORY VII AND HENRY IV 164
XIV THE HOHENSTAUFEN EMPERORS AND THE POPES 173
XV THE CRUSADES 187
XVI THE MEDIÆVAL CHURCH AT ITS HEIGHT 201
XVII HERESY AND THE FRIARS 216
XVIII THE PEOPLE IN COUNTRY AND TOWN 233
XIX THE CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE AGES 250
XX THE HUNDRED YEARS' WAR 277
XXI THE POPES AND THE COUNCILS 303
XXII THE ITALIAN CITIES AND THE RENAISSANCE 321
XXIII EUROPE AT THE OPENING OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY 354
XXIV GERMANY BEFORE THE PROTESTANT REVOLT 369
XXV MARTIN LUTHER AND HIS REVOLT AGAINST THE CHURCH 387
XXVI COURSE OF THE PROTESTANT REVOLT IN GERMANY, 1521-1555 405
XXVII THE PROTESTANT REVOLT IN SWITZERLAND AND ENGLAND 421
XXVIII THE CATHOLIC REFORMATION--PHILIP II 437
XXIX THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 465
XXX STRUGGLE IN ENGLAND FOR CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 475
XXXI THE ASCENDENCY OF FRANCE UNDER LOUIS XIV 495
XXXII RISE OF RUSSIA AND PRUSSIA 509
XXXIII THE EXPANSION OF ENGLAND 523
XXXIV THE EVE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 537
XXXV THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 558
XXXVI THE FIRST FRENCH REPUBLIC 574
XXXVII NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 592
XXXVIII EUROPE AND NAPOLEON 606
XXXIX EUROPE AFTER THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 625
XL THE UNIFICATION OF ITALY AND GERMANY 642
XLI EUROPE OF TO-DAY 671
LIST OF BOOKS 689
INDEX 691
LIST OF MAPS
PAGE
1 The Roman Empire at its Greatest Extent 8-9
2 The Barbarian Inroads 26-27
3 Europe in the Time of Theodoric 31
4 The Dominions of the Franks under the Merovingians 37
5 Christian Missions 63
6 Arabic Conquests 71
7 The Empire of Charlemagne 82-83
8 Treaty of Verdun 93
9 Treaty of Mersen 95
10 Fiefs and Suzerains of the Counts of Champagne 113
11 France at the Close of the Reign of Philip Augustus 129
12 The Plantagenet Possessions in England and France 141
13 Europe about A.D.1000 152-153
14 Italian Towns in the Twelfth Century 175
15 Routes of the Crusaders 190-191
16 The Crusaders' States in Syria 193
17 Ecclesiastical Map of France in the Middle Ages 205
18 Lines of Trade and Mediæval Towns 242-243
19 The British Isles 278-279
20 Treaty of Bretigny, 1360 287
21 French Possessions of the English King in 1424 294
22 France under Louis XI 298-299
23 Voyages of Discovery 349
24 Europe in the Sixteenth Century 358-359
25 Germany in the Sixteenth Century 372-373
26 The Swiss Confederation 422
27 Treaty of Utrecht 506-507
28 Northeastern Europe in the Eighteenth Century 513
29 Provinces of France in the Eighteenth Century 539
30 Salt Tax in France 541
31 France in Departments 568-569
32 Partitions of Poland 584
33 Europe at the Height of Napoleon's Power 614-615
34 Europe in 1815 626-627
35 Races of Austro-Hungary 649
36 Europe of To-day 666-667
FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS
I PAGE FROM AN ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT _Frontispiece_
II FAÇADE OF RHEIMS CATHEDRAL _Facing page_ 264
III INTERIOR OF EXETER CATHEDRAL _Facing page_ 266
IV BRONZE STATUES OF PHILIP THE GOOD AND CHARLES
THE BOLD AT INNSBRUCK _Facing page_ 300
V BRONZE DOORS OF THE CATHEDRAL AT PISA }
} 342-343
VI GHIBERTI'S DOORS AT FLORENCE }
VII GIOTTO'S MADONNA }
} 346-347
VIII HOLY FAMILY BY ANDREA DEL SARTO }
INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF WESTERN EUROPE
CHAPTER I
THE HISTORICAL POINT OF VIEW
[Sidenote: The scope of history.]
1. History, in the broadest sense of the word, is all that we know about
everything that man has ever done, or thought, or hoped, or felt. It is
the limitless science of past human affairs, a subject immeasurably vast
and important but exceedingly vague. The historian may busy himself
deciphering hieroglyphics on an Egyptian obelisk, describing a mediæval
monastery, enumerating the Mongol emperors of Hindustan or the battles
of Napoleon. He may explain how the Roman Empire was conquered by the
German barbarians, or why the United States and Spain came to blows in
1898, or what Calvin thought of Luther, or what a French peasant had to
eat in the eighteenth century. We can know something of each of these
matters if we choose to examine the evidence which still exists; they
all help to make up history.
[Sidenote: Object of this volume.]
The present volume deals with a small but very important portion of the
history of the world. Its object is to give as adequate an account as is
possible in one volume of the chief changes in western Europe since the
German barbarians overcame the armies of the Roman Empire and set up
states of their own, out of which the present countries of France,
Germany, Italy, Austria, Spain, the Netherlands, and England have
slowly grown. There are, however, whole libraries upon the history of
each of these countries during the last fifteen hundred years, and it
requires a volume or two to give a tolerably complete account of any
single important person, like St. Francis, Cromwell, Frederick the
Great, or Napoleon. Besides biographies and general histories, there are
many special treatises upon the Church and other great institutions;
upon the literature, art, philosophy, and law of the various countries.
It is obvious, therefore, that only a very few of the historical facts
known to scholars can possibly find a place in a single volume such as
this. One who undertakes to condense what we know of Europe's past,
since the times of Theodosius and Alaric, into the space of six hundred
pages assumes a very grave responsibility. The reader has a right to ask
not only that what he finds in the book shall be at once true and
clearly stated, but that it shall consist, on the whole, of the most
important and useful of all the things which might have been selected
from the well-nigh infinite mass of true things that are known.
We gain practically nothing from the mere enumeration of events and
dates. The student of history wishes to know how people lived; what were
their institutions (which are really only the habits of nations), their
occupations, interests, and achievements; how business was transacted in
the Middle Ages almost without the aid of money; how, later, commerce
increased and industry grew up; what a great part the Christian church
played in society; how the monks lived and what they did for mankind. In
short, the object of an introduction to mediæval and modern European
history is the description of the most significant achievements of
western civilization during the past fifteen hundred years,--the
explanation of how the Roman Empire of the West and the wild and unknown
districts inhabited by the German races have become the Europe of
Gladstone and Bismarck, of Darwin and Pasteur.
In order to present even an outline of the great changes during this
long period, all that was exceptional and abnormal must be left out. We
must fix our attention upon man's habitual conduct, upon those things
that he kept on doing in essentially the same way for a century or so.
Particular events are important in so far as they illustrate these
permanent conditions and explain how the western world passed from one
state to another.
[Sidenote: We should study the past sympathetically.]
We must learn, above all, to study sympathetically institutions and
beliefs that we are tempted at first to declare absurd and unreasonable.
The aim of the historian is not to prove that a particular way of doing
a thing is right or wrong, as, for instance, intrusting the whole
government to a king or forbidding clergymen to marry. His object is to
show as well as he can how a certain system came to be introduced, what
was thought of it, how it worked, and how another plan gradually
supplanted it. It seems to us horrible that a man should be burned alive
because he holds views of Christianity different from those of his
neighbors. Instead, however, of merely condemning the practice, we must,
as historical students, endeavor to see why practically every one in the
thirteenth century, even the wisest and most tender-hearted, agreed that
such a fearful punishment was the appropriate one for a heretic. An
effort has, therefore, been made throughout this volume to treat the
convictions and habits of men and nations in the past with
consideration; that is, to make them seem natural and to show their
beneficent rather than their evil aspects. It is not the weakness of an
institution, but the good that is in it, that leads men to adopt and
retain it.
[Sidenote: Impossibility of dividing the past into clearly defined
periods.]
[Sidenote: All general changes take place gradually.]
2. It is impossible to divide the past into distinct, clearly defined
periods and prove that one age ended and another began in a particular
year, such as 476, or 1453, or 1789. Men do not and cannot change their
habits and ways of doing things all at once, no matter what happens. It
is true that a single event, such as an important battle which results
in the loss of a nation's independence, may produce an abrupt change in
the government. This in turn may encourage or discourage commerce and
industry and modify the language and the spirit of a people. Yet these
deeper changes take place only very gradually. After a battle or a
revolution the farmer will sow and reap in his old way, the artisan will
take up his familiar tasks, and the merchant his buying and selling. The
scholar will study and write and the household go on under the new
government just as they did under the old. So a change in government
affects the habits of a people but slowly in any case, and it may leave
them quite unaltered.
The French Revolution, at the end of the eighteenth century, was
probably the most abrupt and thoroughgoing change in the habits of a
nation of which we have any record. But we shall find, when we come to
study it, that it was by no means so sudden in reality as is ordinarily
supposed. Moreover, the innovators did not even succeed in permanently
altering the form of government; for when the French, after living under
a monarchy for many centuries, set up a republic in 1792, the new
government lasted only a few years. The nation was monarchical by habit
and soon gladly accepted the rule of Napoleon, which was more despotic
than that of any of its former kings. In reorganizing the state he
borrowed much from the discarded monarchy, and the present French
republic still retains many of these arrangements.
[Sidenote: The unity or continuity of history.]
This tendency of mankind to do, in general, this year what it did last,
in spite of changes in some one department of life,--such as
substituting a president for a king, traveling by rail instead of on
horseback, or getting the news from a newspaper instead of from a
neighbor,--results in what is called the _unity_ or _continuity of
history_. The truth that no abrupt change has ever taken place in all
the customs of a people, and that it cannot, in the nature of things,
take place, is perhaps the most fundamental lesson that history teaches.
Historians sometimes seem to forget this principle, when they claim to
begin and end their books at precise dates. We find histories of Europe
from 476 to 918, from 1270 to 1492, as if the accession of a capable
German king in 918, or the death of a famous French king in 1270, or the
discovery of America, marked a general change in European affairs. In
reality, however, no general change took place at these dates or in any
other single year. It would doubtless have proved a great convenience to
the readers and writers of history if the world had agreed to carry out
a definite programme and alter its habits at precise dates, preferably
at the opening of each century. But no such agreement has ever been
adopted, and the historical student must take things as he finds them.
He must recognize that nations retain their old customs while they adopt
new ones, and that a portion of a nation may advance while a great part
of it stays behind.
[Sidenote: Meaning of the term 'Middle Ages.']
3. We cannot, therefore, hope to fix any year or event which may
properly be taken as the beginning of that long period which followed
the downfall of the Roman state in western Europe and which is commonly
called the Middle Ages. Beyond the northern and western boundaries of
the Roman Empire, which embraced the whole civilized world from the
Euphrates to Britain, mysterious peoples moved about whose history
before they came into occasional contact with the Romans is practically
unknown. These Germans, or barbarians, as the Romans called them, were
destined to put an end to the Roman Empire in the West. They had first
begun to make trouble about a hundred years before Christ, when a great
army of them was defeated by the Roman general, Marius. Julius Cæsar
narrates, in polished Latin, familiar to all who have begun the study of
that language, how fifty years later he drove back other bands. Five
hundred years elapsed, however, between these first encounters and the
founding of German kingdoms within the boundaries of the Empire. With
their establishment the Roman government in western Europe may be said
to have come to an end and the Middle Ages to have begun.
Yet it would be a great mistake to suppose that this means that the
Roman civilization suddenly disappeared at this time. As we shall see,
it had gradually changed during the centuries following the golden age
of Augustus, who died A.D. 14. Long before the German conquest, art and
literature had begun to decline toward the level that they reached in
the Middle Ages. Many of the ideas and conditions which prevailed after
the coming of the barbarians were common enough before,--even the
ignorance and want of taste which we associate particularly with the
Middle Ages.
The term _Middle Ages_ is, then, a vague one. It will be used in this
volume to mean, roughly speaking, the period of nearly a thousand years
that elapsed between the opening of the fifth century, when the disorder
of the barbarian invasions was becoming general, and the fourteenth
century, when Europe was well on its way to retrieve all that had been
lost since the break-up of the Roman Empire.
[Sidenote: The 'dark ages.']
It used to be assumed, when there was much less interest in the period
than there now is, that with the disruption of the Empire and the
disorder that followed, practically all culture perished for centuries,
that Europe entered upon the "dark ages." These were represented as
dreary centuries of ignorance and violence in marked contrast to the
civilization of the Greeks and Romans on the one hand, and to the
enlightenment of modern times on the other. The more careful studies of
the last half century have made it clear that the Middle Ages were not
"dark" in the sense of being stagnant and unproductive. On the contrary,
they were full of movement and growth, and we owe to them a great many
things in our civilization which we should never have derived from
Greece and Rome. It is the purpose of the first nineteen chapters of
this manual to describe the effects of the barbarian conquests, the
gradual recovery of Europe from the disorder of the successive
invasions, and the peculiar institutions which grew up to meet the needs
of the times. The remaining chapters will attempt to show how mediæval
institutions, habits, and ideas were supplanted, step by step, by those
which exist in Europe to-day.
[Illustration: THE ROMAN EMPIRE AT ITS GREATEST EXTENT]