REMARKABLE CITIES OF MEDIEVAL TIMES.
JERUSALEM THE SACRED CITY--ALEXANDRIA NOTED FOR PHILOSOPHY--SCHOOL OF
HYPATIA--MOB MURDERS HER--DOCTRINES OF CYRIL--JERUSALEM A SCENE OF
SUFFERING--FULFILLMENT OF PROPHECY--HERCULANEUM AND POMPEII--THEIR
DESTRUCTION--EVIDENCES OF THEIR WICKEDNESS--EXCAVATIONS--ROMAN
RULE--REMOVAL OF CAPITAL--CRIMES OF CONSTANTINE--COMMENCEMENT
OF GREEK EMPIRE--DESCRIPTION OF CONSTANTINOPLE--ITS
CAPTURE BY CRUSADERS--TAKEN BY THE TURKS--INTELLECTUAL
DEGRADATION--PRIESTCRAFT--DEBAUCHERY--TURKISH RULE.
The four great cities of medieval times were Jerusalem, Rome,
Alexandria and Constantinople. The first named has ever been the sacred
city, not merely of the Jews, but also of devout Christian pilgrims
of all ages. During the crusades it was the great object for the
possession of which so much blood and treasure were expended.
Alexandria, for the first three centuries of the Christian era, was
the commercial metropolis of the world, as well as the chief seat of
pagan learning and philosophy. It was here that Hypatia, the daughter
of Theon, the mathematician, held her famous school. Each day before
her academy stood a long train of chariots. Her lecture room was
crowded with the cultured classes of Alexandria. They came to ask those
profound questions that human reason, unaided, can never answer: "What
am I? Where am I? What can I know?"
At this time, Cyril, archbishop of Alexandria, was attempting to force
upon the world his trinitarian views. His absurd ideas could not endure
the sharp criticism of philosophic {45} minds. Cyril employed a mob of
Alexandrian monks. Amid the fearful yelling of these bare-legged and
black-cowled fiends, Hypatia was dragged from her chariot. In mortal
terror she fled to an adjacent church, and was there brutally murdered
by the club of Peter the Reader. But this was not all. We can only get
a faint idea of the depraved condition of paganized Christianity, when
we call to mind the fact that the monks finished their infernal crime
by dismembering her body and scraping the flesh from her bones with
oyster shells.
Cyril then procured the banishment of all who held opposing doctrines,
and thus his absurd doctrines were forced upon society. Such was the
debased condition of society in a city where had been planted one of
the apostolic churches. As vice increased her prosperity decreased.
During the reign of Constantine, the influence of Alexandria was much
diminished, and with the Mahometan conquest it fell to the rank of a
provincial town.
Jerusalem, once the "glory of the earth, and the pride of the nations,"
never recovered from the siege by Titus, in A. D. 70. The answer
which the Jews made to Pilate, "_His blood be upon us and upon our
children_," which they spake in reference to the Savior, has been
terribly and literally fulfilled. It may be safely asserted that
Jerusalem has witnessed more scenes of human suffering than any other
spot on earth.
Who does not see the hand of Providence in her retribution, as well as
in the fate of Herculaneum and Pompeii?
These cities were destroyed in A. D. 79, by an eruption of Mount
Vesuvius, and buried by a shower of ashes, sand and stones. Herculaneum
was situated about eight miles south of the present city of Naples, and
Pompeii about fifteen miles eastward.
Thus they remained buried for nearly seventeen hundred years. Extensive
excavations have been made during the past century, disclosing the city
walls, streets, temples, theatres, private dwellings, domestic utensils
and statuary. Many objects have been found which indicate the wicked
and licentious character of the inhabitants, and go to prove that they
were ripe for the destruction which awaited them. The inhabitants died
just as the catastrophe found them, guests in their {46} banqueting
halls, soldiers at their posts, prisoners in their dungeons, maidens at
the mirror and students at their books.
[Image: Eruption of Mount Vesuvius.]
{47} When the city was unearthed, the houses were found standing. The
interior paintings were still fresh, and the skeletons remained in the
very position and the very place in which death had overtaken them so
long ago. The marks left by the cups of the tiplers still remained on
the counters; the prisoners still wore their fetters, the ladies their
chains and bracelets. The researches are still going on, new wonders
are every day coming to light, and we shall soon have quite a distinct
idea of Roman towns in the first century of the Christian era.
Rome, from before the commencement of the Christian era, had been the
political and military capital of the world. From her gates issued
forth those imperial armies that conquered nations and crushed the
liberties of mankind. Her rule was not one of reason but one of force.
From the age of Augustus Caesar her power had been waning, and when the
Emperor Constantine removed the capital to Constantinople, Rome became
a city of secondary importance. Though her political prestige was gone
she became the seat of a religious empire which had and still has a
mighty influence in the nations of the earth. The wrongs which she
inflicted on others have recoiled with terrible retribution on herself.
Her ruins are silent and majestic witnesses of the providence of God.
To the reign of Constantine the Great, must be referred the
commencement of those dark and dismal times which oppressed Europe for
a thousand years.
Constantine, while dwelling at Rome, had murdered his son Crispus, his
nephew Licinius, and had suffocated, in a steam bath, his wife, Fausta,
to whom he had been married twenty years, and who was the mother of
three of his sons.
The public abhorrence of his crimes could no longer be concealed.
Constantine therefore determined to change his residence and build
another metropolis, which he named in honor of himself. He also found
it politic to favor the paganized and wrangling Christian sects, that
by their aid he might be able to triumph over the powerful coalition
that had been formed against him. The reign of Constantine is therefore
the true close of the Roman empire: the beginning of the Greek. The
transition from the one to the other is emphatically {48} and abruptly
marked, by a new metropolis and a new national religion.
Constantinople, at present the capital of the Turkish empire, stands,
like Rome, on seven hills, and on a tongue of land projecting into the
Bosphorus, which here forms an inlet or small bay known as the Golden
Horn.
The Bosphorus, as most of our readers are aware, is the name given to
the strait through which flow the waters of the Black sea into the sea
of Marmora, and which divides Europe from Asia.
Constantinople is admirably situated for commerce. This is one reason
why Russia has so long looked upon it with a covetous eye. In fact, the
reason why the bay, on the shores of which the city is built, has been
called the "Golden Horn," or horn of abundance, is because into it was
brought the wealth of three continents and the products of every clime.
That which is commonly called Constantinople, in reality consists of
three great cities, divided by arms of the sea, yet so near to each
other that the edifices of either of the cities may be seen distinctly
from the other two.
The view here given represents Constantinople looking from the north.
In the background is seen the city of Scutari, on the Asiatic side of
the Bosphorus. The hills in the distance are those of Asia Minor. On
the right is shown the city of Stamboul, which stands on the site of
the ancient Byzantium, and the foreground represents the modern city of
Galata, where the greater part of the foreign population resides, and
where the exchange, custom-house, and most of the churches, convents
and hospitals are situated.
As here depicted the current of the Bosphorus flows from left to right
and disappears in the distance.
{49}
[Image: Constantinople.]
The history of this city is very remarkable, and runs far back into
the mist of antiquity. Long before the Christian era it was a place of
considerable trade and political importance. Here the barbarians from
the coast of the Black sea came to barter their furs for the products
of more favored regions. Near this point Alexander the Great crossed
the Bosphorus on his great campaign of eastern conquest. In the second
century before Christ, the Romans having subdued the neighboring
{50} countries, built a fort on the site of the ancient city and named
it Byzantium.
The Roman emperor, Constantine the Great, enlarged and beautified the
city and made it the capital of the Roman empire, and in honor of
himself changed the name to Constantinople. After his death the Roman
empire was divided, and Constantinople continued to be the capital of
the eastern division.
For more than one thousand years it was the residence of the Caesars
and the commercial metropolis of the world.
Owing to the religious rivalry of Rome it was taken and partly burned,
by the Crusaders, in A. D. 1205. But the most memorable siege it has
ever endured was in A. D. 1453, when it fell into the hands of the
Ottoman Turks. By a strange coincidence a Constantine gave his name to
the city, and a Constantine reigned at its fall.
It was on the morning of April 6th, A. D. 1453. that Mahomet II.,
gave the signal for the attack, and the Turkish cannon (then a new
invention) thundered against the walls of the city. For fifty days the
siege was carried on with little success. At last, food was getting
scarce, and the pangs of hunger were sorely felt by the Christians
within the city. But hope revived as away on the sea of Marmora, they
spied five great ships well laden with supplies and with the Christian
flag unfurled. Onward the vessels flew before the breeze, but what a
sight met them as they neared the port! Three hundred Turkish ships
were drawn up in a line across the straits, each filled with troops and
eager for the fight. But there were brave hearts in those five gallant
Christian ships, full willing to meet the outnumbering enemy. Gaily
they careened before the swelling breeze, and steering straight for the
Turkish line bore down upon the foe. Suddenly from the Christian ranks
there burst a joyous shout, as the Turkish ships first wavered and then
fled. In vain the fierce sultan, Mahomet II., mad with rage, called
upon his captains to make good the fight. But the rent was made, and
amid a hundred thousand Christian cheers the succoring ships sailed in
victoriously to the Golden Horn, and many a mother's heart was glad as
she closely clasped her half-famished child.
{51} A strong chain had meanwhile been placed across the harbor, to
prevent the entrance of the Turkish fleet. But Mahomet was determined
not to be baffled. In the silence of the night he caused eighty boats
to be dragged ten miles across the neck of land that divides the sea of
Marmora from the tip of the Golden Horn. Rafts were then made, on which
cannon were floated to bombard the city from the harbor.
By the 29th of May all was ready for the final battle. The great
Byzantine empire, once foremost in the powers of the world, had shrunk
into the narrow limits of a few square miles.
The sun had set, and night fell upon the contending hosts. Christian
warriors, as they lay under the starry canopy of heaven, cast off the
sterner half of man, and let their softer natures free: and loving
thoughts of sisters, mothers, wives went winding through the air, to
meet in last embrace.
And now the solemn calm before the storm drew near, and all was hushed
and still. Constantine did not sleep. He knew that his hour was at
hand. With a few chosen knights, he retired to the great church of
St. Sophia, and there uncovered stood before the cross. To-morrow the
great Byzantine empire would pass away with him! His tears fell thickly
at the thought; and he prayed that he might die as became a Christian
knight. Then for the last time he partook of the sacrament, and,
turning to those around, he said, "I pray forgiveness if I have injured
any one in thought, or word, or deed."
He stepped to the portal of the church, where stood his impatient
steed, placed his helmet on his noble head, and mounting into the
saddle, the humble penitent rode off as warrior Christian king, to
battle and to die. He was afterwards found among a heap of the slain.
The banner of the crescent waved over the waters of the Bosphorus, and
what was then the richest capital and finest country in Europe. Four
hundred and thirty years have rolled by since then. It is still in
their possession.
The appearance of Constantinople at the present time is very peculiar.
The city is embosomed in gardens, orchards and vineyards. The houses
are for the most part built in the form of a hollow square, with flat
roofs and the windows facing {52} inward. This gives to the compact
parts of the city a rather dingy appearance. The streets, especially in
the ancient portions, are extremely narrow, and frequently filthy. It
is therefore pleasant to turn from these crowded thoroughfares, and in
a few moments' walk, find yourself surrounded with shady trees, singing
birds, fountains and flowers.
Here, in the limits of a single city, may be found representatives
of almost every race and clime. The fair-haired natives of northern
Europe, the swarthy inhabitants of Tartary, tall fierce-looking
Circassians, and flat-nosed, woolly-headed negroes from central Africa;
all mingling with the more polished inhabitants of western Europe, each
dressed in his own peculiar garb, and presenting a living picture no
less striking than strange. In this great hive of humanity may be heard
at least fifty different languages making a complete Babel of sounds.
Here, also, may be seen in striking contrast, the different manners,
customs and usages of oriental and western nations.
The different methods used in the transportation of merchandise are no
less peculiar; for while on the eastern side of the city, may be seen
approaching long caravans of camels laden with the rich products of the
East, on the western side may be heard the shriek of the locomotive,
announcing the arrival of a train, bringing passengers, merchandise and
latest intelligence from western nations.
But the most significant custom is that five times a day the
_muezzins_, or Mahometan priests, ascend to the top of the mosques (as
places of worship are called) and which are thickly scattered through
the city, and in a loud wailing voice exclaim, "God is great! There is
one God! Mahomet is His prophet! Come to prayer!" This is repeated four
times facing the east, south, west and north, and has a penetrating
effect on the mind of the hearer, much more than the sound of the
church-bell of the Christians, or the trumpet of the Jews.
Most European historians have lamented the seizure of Constantinople
by the Turks as a terrible disaster. To the unprejudiced student of
history there seems to be but little reason for regret. For eleven
hundred years Constantinople had greatly influenced the destinies of
the world; but during {53} all that time her power had tended more
to the degradation than to the elevation of mankind. Her citizens
possessed all the classical writings and works of art of the great
authors of antiquity; yet in a thousand years they never produced one
original, never advanced one step in philosophy or science, or made a
single practical discovery. What was it that produced this barrenness,
this intellectual degradation in Constantinople? It was the tyranny
of priestcraft over thought. For a thousand years Constantinople had
been not merely the leading commercial city, but also the leading city
in debauchery and crime. In this respect it has vastly improved under
Turkish rule. At the present time, especially in the Mahometan portions
of the city, it is the least licentious of all the great capitals of
modern Europe.