TEUTONIC INFLUENCE ON CIVILIZATION
_The Coming of the Barbarians_.--The picture usually presented by the
historical story-tellers of the barbarian hordes that invaded the Roman
Empire is that of bold pirates, plunderers of civilization, and
destroyers of property. No doubt, as compared with the Roman system of
warfare and plunder, their conduct was somewhat irregular. They were
wandering groups or tribes, who lived rudely, seeking new territory for
exploitation after the manner of their lives. They were largely a
pastoral people with cattle as the chief source of industry with
intermittent agriculture. Doubtless, they were attracted by the
splendor of Rome, its wealth and its luxury, but primarily they were
seeking a chance to live. It was the old luring food quest, which is
the foundation of most migrations, that was the impelling force of
their invasion. In accordance with their methods of life, the northern
territory was over-crowded, and tribe pressed upon tribe in the
struggle for existence. Moreover, the pressure of the Asiatic
populations drove one tribe upon another and forced those of northern
Europe south and east.
All of the invaders, except the Huns who settled in Pannonia, were of
the Aryan branch of the Caucasian race. They were nearly all of the
Nordic branch of the Aryan stock and were similar in racial
characteristics and social life to the Greeks, who conquered the
ancient Aegean races of Greece, and to those others who conquered the
primitive inhabitants of Italy prior to the founding of the Roman
nation. The Celts were of Aryan stock but not of Nordic race. They
appeared at an early time along the Danube, moved westward into France,
Spain, and Britain, and took side excursions into Italy, the most
notable of which was the invasion of Rome {282} 390 B.C. Wherever the
Nordic people have gone, they have brought vigor of life and achieved
much after they had acquired the tools of civilization. If they were
pirates of property, they also were appropriators of the civilization
of other nations, into which they projected the vigor of their own life.
_Importance of Teutonic Influence_.--Various estimates have been made
as to the actual influence of the Teutonic races in shaping the
civilization of western Europe. Mr. Guizot insists that this influence
is entirely overestimated, and also, to a certain extent,
misrepresented: that much has been done in their name which does not
rightfully belong to them. He freely admits that the idea of law came
from the Romans, morality from the Christian church, and the principle
of liberty from the Germans. Yet he fails to emphasize the result of
the union of liberty with the law, with morality, and with the church.
It is just this leaven of liberty introduced into the various elements
of civilization that gave it a new life and brought about progress, the
primary element of civilization.
France, in the early period of European history, had an immense
prestige in the advancement of civilization. There was a large
population in a compact territory, with a closely organized government,
both civil and ecclesiastical, and a large use of the Roman products of
language, government, law, and other institutions. Consequently,
France took the lead in progress, and Mr. Guizot is quite right in
assuming that every element of progress passed through France to give
it form, before it became recognized. Yet, in the later development of
political liberty, law, and education, the Teutonic element becomes
more prominent, until it would seem that the native and acquired
qualities of the Teutonic life have the stronger representation in
modern civilization. In stating this, due acknowledgment must be made
to the Roman influence through law and government. But the spirit of
progress is Teutonic, although the form, in many instances, may be
Roman. It must be observed, too, that the foundation of local
government in Germany, England, and the United States was of Teutonic
{283} origin; that the road from imperialism to democracy is lined with
Teutonic institutions and lighted with Teutonic liberty, and that the
whole system of individual rights and popular government has been
influenced by the attitude of the Teutonic spirit toward government and
law.
_Teutonic Liberty_.--All writers recognize that the Germanic tribes
contributed the quality of personal liberty to the civilization of the
West. The Roman writers, in setting forth their own institutions, have
left a fair record of the customs and habits of the so-called
barbarians. Titus said of them: "Their bodies are, indeed, great, but
their souls are greater." Caesar had a remarkable method of eulogizing
his own generalship by praising the valor and strength of the
vanquished foes. "Liberty," wrote Lucanus, "is the German's
birthright." And Florus, speaking of liberty, said: "It is a privilege
which nature has granted to the Germans, and which the Greeks, with all
of their arts, knew not how to obtain." At a later period Montesquieu
was led to exclaim: "Liberty, that lovely thing, was discovered in the
wild forests of Germany." While Hume, viewing the results of this
discovery, said: "If our part of the world maintains sentiments of
liberty, honor, equity, and valor superior to the rest of mankind, it
owes these advantages to the seeds implanted by the generous
barbarians."
More forcible than all these expressions of sentiment are the results
of the study of modern historians of the laws and customs of the early
Teutons, and the tracing of these laws in the later civilization. This
shows facts of the vitalizing process of the Teutonic element. The
various nations to-day which speak the Teutonic languages, of which the
English is the most important, are carrying the burden of civilization.
These, rather than those overcome by a preponderance of Roman
influences, are forwarding the progress of the world.
_Tribal Life_.--Referring to the period of Germanic history prior to
the influence of the Romans on the customs, laws, and institutions of
the people, which transformed them from {284} wandering tribes into
settled nationalities, it is easy to observe, even at this time, the
Teutonic character. The tribes had come in contact with Roman
civilization, and many of them were already being influenced by the
contact. Their social life and habits were becoming somewhat fixed,
and the elements of feudalism were already prominent as the foundation
of the great institution of the Middle Ages. This period also embraces
the time when the tribes were about to take on the influence of the
Christian religion, and when there was a constant mingling of the
Christian spirit with the spirit of heathenism. In fact, the subject
should cover all that is known of the Germanic tribes prior to the
Roman contact and after it, down to the full entrance of the Middle
Ages and the rise of new nationalities. In this period we shall miss
the full interest of the society of the Middle Ages after the feudal
system had transformed Europe or, rather, after Europe had entered into
a great period of transformation from the indefinite, broken-down
tribal life into the new life of modern nations.
Tribal society has its limitations and types distinctive from every
other. The very name "tribe" suggests to us something different from
the conditions of a modern nation. Caesar and Tacitus were accustomed
to speak of the Germanic tribes as _nationes_, although with no such
fulness of meaning as we attach to our modern nations. The Germanic,
like the Grecian, tribe is founded upon two cardinal principles, and is
a natural and not an artificial assemblage of people. These two
principles are religion and kinship, or consanguinity. In addition to
this there is a growth of the tribe by adoption, largely through the
means of matrimony and the desire for protection.
These principles in the formation of the tribe are universal with the
Aryan people, and, probably, with all other races. There is a
clustering of the relatives around the eldest parent, who becomes the
natural leader of the tribe and who has great power over the members of
the expanded family. There is no state, there are no citizens,
consequently the social life must be far different from that which we
are accustomed to see. At {285} the time of our first knowledge of the
Germans, the family had departed a step from the conditions which bound
the old families of Greece and Rome into such compact and firmly
organized bodies. There was a tendency toward individualism, freedom,
and the private ownership of land. All of these points, and more, must
be taken into consideration, as we take a brief survey of the
characteristics of the early Teutonic society. What has been said in
reference to the tribe, points at once to the fact that there must have
been different ranks of society, according to the manner in which a
person became a member of the tribe.
_Classes of Society_.--The classes of people were the freemen of noble
blood, or the nobility, the common freemen, the freedmen, or half-free,
and the slaves.
The class of the nobility was based largely upon ancient lineage, some
of whom could trace their ancestry to such a distance that they made
tenable the claim that they were descended from the gods. The position
of a noble was so important in the community that he found no
difficulty in making good his claim to pure blood and a title of
reverence, but this in no way gave him any especial political
privilege. It assured a consideration which put him in the way of
winning offices of preferment by his wealth and influence, but he must
submit to the decision of the people for his power rather than depend
upon the virtues of his ancestry. This is why, in a later period, the
formation of the new kingship left out the idea of nobility and placed
the right of government upon personal service. The second class
represented the rank and file of the German freemen, the long-haired
and free-necked men, who had never felt the yoke of bondage. Those
were the churls of society, but upon them fell the burden of service
and the power of leadership. Out of this rank came the honest yeomen
of England.
The third class represented those who held lands of the freemen as
serfs, and in the later period of feudal society they became attached
to the soil and were bought with the land and {286} sold with the land,
though not slaves in the common acceptation of the term. The fourth
class were those who were reduced to the personal service of others.
They were either captives taken in war or those who had lost their
freedom by gambling. This body was not large in the early society,
although it tended to increase as society developed.
It will be seen at once that in the primitive life of a people like the
one we are studying, there is a mingling of the political, religious,
and social elements of society. There are no careful lines of
distinction to be drawn as in present society, and more than
this--there was a tendency to consolidate and simplify all of the forms
of political and social life. There was a simplicity of forms and a
lack of conventional usage, with a complexity of functions.
_The Home and the Home Life_.--The family of the Germans, like the
family of all other Aryan races, was the social, political, and
religious unit of the larger organization. As compared with the
Oriental nations, the family was monogamic and noted for purity and
virtue. Add to this the idea of reverence for women that characterized
the early German people, and we may infer that the home life, though of
a somewhat rude nature, was genuine, and that the home circle was not
without a salutary influence in those times of wandering and war. The
mother, as we may well surmise, was the ruler of the home, had the care
of the household, deliberated with the husband in the affairs of the
tribe, and even took her place by his side in the field of battle when
it seemed necessary. In truth, if we may believe the chroniclers,
woman was supposed to be the equal of man.
But returning to the tribal life, we find that the houses were of the
rudest kind, made of undressed lumber or logs, with a hole in the roof
for the smoke to pass out, with but one door and sometimes no window.
There were no cities among the Germans until they were taught by
contact with Rome to build them. The villages were, as a rule, an
irregular collection of houses, more or less scattered, as is customary
where land is {287} plentiful and of no particular value. There were
no regularly laid out streets, the villagers being a group of kinsmen
of the same tribe, grouped together for convenience. Around the
village was constructed a ditch and a hedge as a rampart for
protection. This was called a "tun" (German _Zoun_), from which word
we derive our name "town." The house generally had but one room, which
was used for all purposes.
There was another class of houses, belonging to the nobility and the
chiefs, called halls. They consisted of one long room, which sometimes
had transepts or alcoves for the women, partitioned off by curtains
from the main hall. This large room was the place where the lord and
his companions were accustomed to sit at the great feasts after their
return from a successful expedition. This is the "beer hall" that we
read so much about in song, epic, and legend. Here the beer and the
mead were passed; here arose the songs and the mirth of the warriors.
On the walls of the hall might be seen the rude arms of the warrior,
the shield and the spear, or decorations composed of the heads and the
skins of wild beasts--all of which bring us to the early type of the
hall of the great baron of the feudal age.
Until the age of chivalry, women were not present at these rude feasts.
The religious life of the early Germans was tribal rather than personal
or of the simple family. There were certain times at which members of
the same tribe were wont to assemble and sacrifice to the gods. There
was a common meeting-place from year to year. As it has been related,
this had a tendency to cement the tribe together and enhance political
unity. This custom must have had its influence on social order and
must have, in a measure, arrested the tendency of the people to an
unsocial and selfish life.
_Political Assemblies_.--The political assemblies, where all of the
freemen met to discuss the affairs of the community, must have been
powerful factors in the establishment of social customs and usage. The
kinsmen or fellow tribesmen were grouped in villages, and each village
maintained its privilege {288} of self-government, and consequently the
freemen met in the village assembly to consider the affairs of the
community. We find combined in the political representation the ideas
of tribal unity and individuality, or at least family independence. As
the tribes federated, there was a tendency to make the assemblies more
general, and thus the family exclusiveness tended to give way in favor
of the development of the individual as a member of the tribal state.
It was a slow transition from an ethnic to a democratic type of society.
This association created a feeling of common interest akin to
patriotism. Mr. Freeman has given us a graphic representation of the
survival of the early assembly in the Swiss cantons.[1] In the forest
cantons the freemen met in the open field on stated occasions to enact
the laws and transact the duties of legislators and judges. But
although there was a tendency to sectional and clannish relations in
society, this became much improved by the communal associations for
political and economic life. But society, as such, could not advance
very far when the larger part of the occupation of the freemen was that
of war. The youth were educated in the field, and the warriors spent
much of their time fighting with neighboring tribes.
The entire social structure, resting as it did upon kinship, found its
changes in developing economic, political, and religious life.
Especially is this seen in the pursuit of the common industries. As
soon as the tribes obtained permanent seats and had given themselves
mostly to agriculture, the state of society became more settled, and
new customs were gradually introduced. At the same time society became
better organized, and each man had his proper place, not only in the
social scale but also in the industrial and political life of the tribe.
_General Social Customs_.--In the summer-time the clothing was very
light. The men came frequently to the Roman camp clad in a short
jacket and a mantle; the more wealthy ones {289} wore a woollen or
linen undergarment. But in the cold weather sheepskins and the pelts
of wild animals, as well as hose for the legs and shoes made of leather
for the feet, were worn. The mantle was fastened with a buckle, or
with a thorn and a belt. In the belt were carried shears and knives
for daily use. The women were not as a general thing dressed
differently from the men. After the contact with the Romans the
methods of dress changed, and there was a greater difference in the
garments worn by men and women.
Marriage was a prominent social institution among the tribes, as it
always is where the monogamic family prevails. There were doubtless
traces of the old custom, common to most races, of wife capture, a
custom which long continued as a mere fiction to some extent among the
peasantry of certain localities in Germany. In this survival the bride
makes feint to escape, and is chased and captured by the bridegroom.
Some modern authorities have tried to show that there is a survival of
this old custom of courtship, whereby the advances are supposed to be
made by the men. The engagement to be married meant a great deal more
in those days than at present. It was more than half of the marriage
ceremony. Just as among the Hebrews, the engagement was the real
marriage contract, and the latter ceremony only a form, so among the
Germans the same custom prevailed. After engagement, until marriage
they were called the Braeut and Braeutigam, but when wedded they ceased
to be thus entitled. The betrothal contained the essential bonds of
matrimony, and was far more important before the law than the later
ceremony. In modern usage the opposite custom prevails.
The woman was always under wardship; her father was her natural
guardian and made the marriage contract or the engagement. When a
woman married, she brought with her a dower, furnished by her parents.
This consisted of all house furnishings, clothes, and jewelry, and a
more substantial dower in lands, money, or live stock. On the morning
of the day after marriage the husband gave to the wife the
"Morgengabe," {290} which thereafter was her own property. It was the
wedding-present of the groom. This is but a survival of the time when
marriage among the Germans meant a simple purchase of a wife. It is
said that "ein Weib zu kaufen" (to buy a wife) was the common term for
getting engaged, and that this phrase was so used as late as the
eleventh century. The wardship was called the _mundium_, and when the
maid left her father's house for another home, her _mundium_ was
transferred from her father to her husband. This dower began, indeed,
with the engagement, and the price of the _mundium_ was paid over to
the guardian at the time of the contract. From this time suit for
breach of promise could be brought. These are the primitive customs of
the marriage ceremony, but they were changed from time to time.
Through the influence of Christianity, the woman finally attained
prominence in the matter of choosing a husband, and learned, much to
her satisfaction, to make her own contracts in matrimony.
_The Economic Life_.--The economic life was of the most meagre kind in
the earlier stages of society. We find that Tacitus, writing 150 years
after Caesar, shows that there had been some changes in the people. In
the time of Caesar, the tribes were just making their transition from
the pastoral-nomadic to the pastoral-agricultural state, and by the
time of Tacitus this transition was so general that most of the tribes
had settled to a more or less permanent agricultural life. It must be
observed that the development of the tribes was not symmetrical, and
that which reads very pleasantly on paper represents a very confused
state of society. However much the tribes practised agriculture, they
had but little peace, for warfare continued to be one of their chief
occupations. It was in the battle that a youth received his chief
education, and in the chase that he occupied much of his spare time.
But the ground was tilled, and barley, wheat, oats, and rye were
raised. Flax was cultivated, and the good housewife did the spinning
and weaving--all that was done--for the household. Greens, or herbage,
were also cultivated, but {291} fruit-trees seldom were cultivated.
With the products of the soil, of the chase, and of the herds, the
Teutons lived well. They had bread and meat, milk, butter and cheese,
beer and mead, as well as fish and wild game. The superintending of
the fields frequently fell to the lot of the hausfrau, and the labor
was done by serfs. The tending of the fields, the pursuit of wild
animals or the catching of fish, the care of the cattle or herds, and
the making of butter and cheese, the building of houses, the bringing
of salt from the sea, the making of garments, and the construction of
weapons of war and utensils of convenience--these represent the chief
industries of the people. Later, the beginnings of commerce sprang up
between the separate tribes, and gradually extended to other
nationalities.
_Contributions to Law_.--The principle of the trial by jury, which was
developed in the English common law, was undoubtedly of Teutonic
origin. That a man should be tried by his peers for any misdemeanor
was considered to be a natural right. The idea of personal liberty
made a personal law, which gradually gave way to civil law, although
the personal element was never entirely obliterated. The Teutonic
tribes had no written law, yet they had a distinct legal system. The
comparison of this legal system with the Roman or with our modern
system brings to light the individual character of the early Germanic
laws. The Teuton claimed rights on account of his own personality and
his relation to a family, not because he was a member of a state.
When the Teutons came in contact with the Romans they mingled their
principles of law with those of the latter, and thus made law more
formal. Nearly all of the tribes, after this contact, had their laws
codified and written in Latin, by Roman scholars, chiefly of the
clergy, who incorporated not only many elements of Roman law but also
more or less of the elements of Christian usage. Those tribes which
had been the longer time in contact with the Romans had a greater body
of laws, more systematized and of more Roman {292} characteristics.
Finally, as modern nationality arose, the laws were codified, combining
the Roman and the Teutonic practice.
The forms of judicial procedure remained much the same on account of
the character of Teutonic social organization. The personal element
was so strong in the Teutonic system as to yield a wide influence in
the development of judicial affairs. The trial by combat and the early
ordeals, the latter having been instituted largely through the church
discipline, and the idea of local courts based upon a trial of peers,
had much to do with shaping the course of judicial practice. The time
came, however, when nearly every barbarian judicial process was
modified by the influence of the Roman law, until the predominance of
the state, in judicial usage, was recognized in place of the personal
element which so long prevailed in the early Teutonic customs.
But in the evolution of the judicial systems of the various countries
the Teutonic element of individual liberty and individual offenses
never lost its influences. These simple elements of life indicate the
origin of popular government, individual and social liberty, and the
foundation of local self-government. Wherever the generous barbarians
have gone they have carried the torch of liberty. In Italy, Greece,
England, Germany, Spain, and the northern nations, wherever the lurid
flames of revolt against arbitrary and conventional government have
burst forth, it can be traced to the Teutonic spirit of freedom. This
was the greatest contribution of the Teutonic people to civilization.[2]
{293}
SUBJECTS FOR FURTHER STUDY
1. The vital elements of modern civilization contributed by the
Germans.
2. Teutonic influence on Roman civilization.
3. Compare the social order of the Teutons with that of the early
Greeks.
4. Causes of the invasion of Rome by the Teutonic tribes.
5. What were the racial relations of Romans, Greeks, Germans, Celts,
and English?
6. Modern contributions to civilization by Germany.
[1] See Chapter XXI.
[2] The modern Prussian military state was a departure from the main
trend of Teutonic life. It represented a combination of later
feudalism and the Roman imperialism. It was a perversion of normal
development, a fungous growth upon institutions of freedom and justice.
{294}