parts of his dominions, there were many disloyal and seditious
persons, who at all times were disposed to break out in rebellion
against their sovereign, and on this account it became necessary to
keep armies in such of the provinces as contained large cities and an
extensive population, which are stationed at the distance of four or
five miles from those cities, and can enter them at their pleasure.
These armies the Grand Khan makes it a practice to change every second
year, and the same with respect to the officers who command them. By
means of such precautions the people are kept in quiet subjection, and
no movement nor innovation of any kind can be attempted. The troops
are maintained not only from the pay they receive out of the imperial
revenues of the province, but also from the cattle and their milk,
which belong to them individually, and which they send into the cities
for sale, furnishing themselves from thence, in return, with those
articles of which they stand in need. In this manner they are
distributed over the country, in various places, to the distance of
thirty, forty, and even sixty days' journey. If even the half of these
corps were to be collected in one place, the statement of their number
would appear marvellous and scarcely entitled to belief.
Having formed his army in the manner above described, the Grand Khan
proceeded toward the territory of Nayan, and by forced marches,
continued day and night, he reached it at the expiration of
twenty-five days. So prudently, at the same time, was the expedition
managed, that neither that Prince himself nor any of his dependents
were aware of it, all the roads being guarded in such a manner that no
persons who attempted to pass could escape being made prisoners. Upon
arriving at a certain range of hills, on the other side of which was
the plain where Nayan's army lay encamped, Kublai halted his troops
and allowed them two days of rest. During this interval he called upon
his astrologers to ascertain, by virtue of their art, and to declare
in presence of the whole army, to which side the victory would
incline. They pronounced that it would fall to the lot of Kublai. It
has ever been the practice of the grand khans to have recourse to
divination for the purpose of inspiriting their men.
Confident, therefore, of success, they ascended the hill with alacrity
the next morning, and presented themselves before the army of Nayan,
which they found negligently posted, without advanced parties or
scouts, while the chief himself was asleep in his tent, accompanied by
one of his wives. Upon awaking, he hastened to form his troops in the
best manner that circumstances would allow, lamenting that his
junction with Kaidu had not been sooner effected. Kublai took his
station in a large wooden castle, borne on the backs of four
elephants, whose bodies were protected with coverings of thick leather
hardened by fire, over which were housings of cloth of gold. The
castle contained many cross-bowmen and archers, and on the top of it
was hoisted the imperial standard, adorned with representations of the
sun and moon. His army, which consisted of thirty battalions of horse,
each battalion containing ten thousand men, armed with bows, he
disposed in three grand divisions; and those which formed the left and
right wings he extended in such a manner as to outflank the army of
Nayan. In front of each battalion of horse were placed five hundred
infantry, armed with short lances and swords, who, whenever the
cavalry made a show of fight, were practised to mount behind the
riders and accompany them, alighting again when they returned to the
charge, and killing, with their lances, the horses of the enemy. As
soon as the order of battle was arranged, an infinite number of wind
instruments of various kinds were sounded, and these were succeeded by
songs, according to the custom of the Tartars before they engage in
fight, which commences upon the signal given by the cymbals and drums,
and there was such a beating of the cymbals and drums, and such
singing, that it was wonderful to hear. This signal, by the orders of
the Grand Khan, was first given to the right and left wings; and then
a fierce and bloody conflict began. The air was instantly filled with
a cloud of arrows that poured down on every side, and vast numbers of
men and horses were seen to fall to the ground.
The loud cries and shouts of the men, together with the noise of the
horses and the weapons, were such as to inspire terror in those who
heard them. When their arrows had been discharged, the hostile parties
engaged in close combat with their lances, swords, and maces shod with
iron; and such was the slaughter, and so large were the heaps of the
carcasses of men, and more especially of horses, on the field, that it
became impossible for the one party to advance upon the other. Thus
the fortune of the day remained for a long time undecided, and victory
wavered between the contending parties from morning until noon; for so
zealous was the devotion of Nayan's people to the cause of their
master, who was most liberal and indulgent toward them, that they were
all ready to meet death rather than turn their backs to the enemy. At
length, however, Nayan, perceiving that he was nearly surrounded,
attempted to save himself by flight, but was presently made prisoner,
and conducted to the presence of Kublai, who gave orders for his being
put to death. This was carried into execution by enclosing him between
two carpets, which were violently shaken until the spirit had departed
from the body; the motive for this peculiar sentence being that the
sun and the air should not witness the shedding of the blood of one
who belonged to the imperial family. Those of his troops which
survived the battle came to make their submission and swear allegiance
to Kublai.
Nayan, who had privately undergone the ceremony of baptism, but never
made open profession of Christianity, thought proper, on this
occasion, to bear the sign of the cross in his banners, and he had in
his army a vast number of Christians, who were among the slain. When
the Jews and the Saracens perceived that the banner of the cross was
overthrown, they taunted the Christian inhabitants with it, saying:
"Behold the state to which your (vaunted) banners, and those who
followed them, are reduced!" On account of these derisions the
Christians were compelled to lay their complaints before the Grand
Khan, who ordered the former to appear before him, and sharply rebuked
them. "If the cross of Christ," he said, "has not proved advantageous
to the party of Nayan, the effect has been consistent with reason and
justice, inasmuch as he was a rebel and a traitor to his lord, and to
such wretches it could not afford its protection. Let none therefore
presume to charge with injustice the God of the Christians, who is
himself the perfection of goodness and of justice."
The Grand Khan, having obtained this signal victory, returned with
great pomp and triumph to the capital city of Kanbalu. This took place
in the month of November, and he continued to reside there during the
months of February and March, in which latter was our festival of
Easter. Being aware that this was one of our principal solemnities, he
commanded all the Christians to attend him, and to bring with them
their book, which contains the four gospels of the evangelists. After
causing it to be repeatedly perfumed with incense, in a ceremonious
manner, he devoutly kissed it, and directed that the same should be
done by all his nobles who were present. This was his usual practice
upon each of the principal Christian festivals, such as Easter and
Christmas; and he observed the same at the festivals of the Saracens,
Jews, and idolaters.[66] Upon being asked his motive for this conduct,
he said: "There are four great prophets who are reverenced and
worshipped by the different classes of mankind. The Christians regard
Jesus Christ as their divinity; the Saracens, Mahomet; the Jews,
Moses;[67] and the idolaters, Sogomombar-khan,[68] the most eminent
among their idols. I do honor and show respect to all the four, and
invoke to my aid whichever among them is in truth supreme in heaven."
But from the manner in which his majesty acted toward them, it is
evident that he regarded the faith of the Christians as the truest and
the best; nothing, as he observed, being enjoined to its professors
that was not replete with virtue and holiness. By no means, however,
would he permit them to bear the cross before them in their
processions, because upon it so exalted a personage as Christ had been
scourged and (ignominiously) put to death. It may perhaps be asked by
some why, if he showed such a preference to the faith of Christ, he
did not conform to it and become a Christian? His reason for not so
doing he assigned: "Wherefore should I become a Christian? The
Christians of these countries are ignorant, inefficient persons, who
do not possess the faculty of performing anything (miraculous);
whereas the idolaters can do whatever they will. When I sit at table
the cups that were in the middle of the hall come to me filled with
wine and other beverage, spontaneously and without being touched by
human hand, and I drink from them. They have the power of controlling
bad weather and obliging it to retire to any quarter of the heavens,
with many other wonderful gifts of that nature. Their idols have the
faculty of speech, and predict to them whatever is required. Should I
become a convert to the faith of Christ and profess myself a
Christian, the nobles of my court and other persons who do not incline
to that religion will ask me what sufficient motives have caused me to
receive baptism and to embrace Christianity. 'What extraordinary
powers,' they will say, 'what miracles, have been displayed by its
ministers?' Whereas, the idolaters declare that what they exhibit is
performed through their own sanctity and the influence of their idols.
"To this I shall not know what answer to make, and I shall be
considered by them as laboring under a grievous error; while the
idolaters, who by means of their profound art can effect such wonders,
may without difficulty compass my death. But let the Pontiff send
hither a hundred persons well skilled in Christian law, who being
confronted with the idolaters shall have power to coerce them, and
showing that they themselves are endowed with similar art, but which
they refrain from exercising because it is derived from the agency of
evil spirits, shall compel them to desist from practices of such a
nature in their presence. When I am witness of this I shall place them
and their religion under an interdict, and shall allow myself to be
baptized. Following my example, all my nobility will then in like
manner receive baptism, and this will be imitated by my subjects in
general." From this discourse it must be evident that if the Pope had
sent out persons duly qualified to preach the gospel, the Grand Khan
would have embraced Christianity, for which, it is certainly known, he
had a strong predilection.
The Grand Khan appoints twelve of the most intelligent among his
nobles, whose duty it is to make themselves acquainted with the
conduct of the officers and men of his army, particularly upon
expeditions and in battles, and to present their reports to him, and
he, upon being apprised of their respective merits, advances them in
his service, raising those who commanded a hundred men to the command
of a thousand, and presenting many with vessels of silver, as well as
the customary tablets or warrants of command and of government. The
tablets given to those commanding a hundred men are of silver; to
those commanding a thousand, of gold or of silver gilt; and those who
command ten thousand receive tablets of gold, bearing the head of a
lion; the former being of the weight of a hundred and twenty
_saggi_,[69] and these with the lion's head two hundred and twenty. At
the top of the inscription on the tablet is a sentence to this effect:
"By the power and might of the great God, and through the grace which
he vouchsafes to our empire, be the name of the Khan blessed; and let
all such as disobey (what is herein directed) suffer death and be
utterly destroyed."
The officers who hold these tablets have privileges attached to them,
and in the inscription is specified what are the duties and the powers
of their respective commands. He who is at the head of a hundred
thousand men, or the commander-in-chief of a grand army, has a golden
tablet weighing three hundred saggi, with the sentence above
mentioned, and at the bottom is engraved the figure of a lion,
together with representations of the sun and moon. He exercises also
the privileges of his high command, as set forth in this magnificent
tablet. Whenever he rides in public, an umbrella is carried over his
head, denoting the rank and authority he holds;[70] and when he is
seated, it is always upon a silver chair. The Grand Khan confers
likewise upon certain of his nobles tablets on which are represented
figures of the gerfalcon, in virtue of which they are authorized to
take with them as their guard of honor the whole army of any great
prince. They can also make use of the horses of the imperial stud at
their pleasure, and can appropriate the horses of any officers
inferior to themselves in rank.
Kublai is of the middle stature, that is, neither tall nor short; his
limbs are well formed, and in his whole figure there is a just
proportion. His complexion is fair, and occasionally suffused with
red, like the bright tint of the rose, which adds much grace to his
countenance. His eyes are black and handsome, his nose is well shaped
and prominent. He has four wives of the first rank, who are esteemed
legitimate, and the eldest born son of any one of these succeeds to
the empire upon the decease of the grand khan. They bear equally the
title of "empress," and have their separate courts. None of them has
fewer than three hundred young female attendants of great beauty,
together with a multitude of youths as pages, and other eunuchs, as
well as ladies of the bedchamber; so that the number of persons
belonging to each of their respective courts amounts to ten thousand.
The Grand Khan usually resides during three months of the
year--December, January, and February--in the great city of
Kanbalu,[71] situated toward the northeastern extremity of Cathay; and
here, on the southern side of the new city, is the site of his vast
palace, in a square enclosed with a wall and deep ditch; each side of
the square being eight miles in length, and having at an equal
distance from each extremity an entrance gate. Within this enclosure
there is, on the four sides, an open space one mile in breadth, where
the troops are stationed, and this is bounded by a second wall,
enclosing a square of six miles. The palace contains a number of
separate chambers, all highly beautiful, and so admirably disposed
that it seems impossible to suggest any improvement to the system of
their arrangement. The exterior of the roof is adorned with a variety
of colors--red, green, azure, and violet--and the sort of covering is
so strong as to last for many years.
The glazing of the windows is so well wrought and so delicate as to
have the transparency of crystal. In the rear of the body of the
palace there are large buildings containing several apartments, where
is deposited the private property of the monarch, or his treasure in
gold and silver bullion, precious stones, and pearls, and also his
vessels of gold and silver plate. Here are likewise the apartments of
his wives and concubines; and in this retired situation he despatches
business with convenience, being free from every kind of interruption.
His majesty, having imbibed an opinion from the astrologers that the
city of Kanbalu was destined to become rebellious to his authority,
resolved upon building another capital, upon the opposite side of the
river, where stand the palaces just described, so that the new and the
old cities are separated from each other only by the stream that runs
between them. The new-built city received the name of Tai-du, and all
those of the inhabitants who were natives of Cathay were compelled to
evacuate the ancient city and to take up their abode in the new. Some
of the inhabitants, however, of whose loyalty he did not entertain
suspicion, were suffered to remain, especially because the latter,
although of the dimensions that shall presently be described, was not
capable of containing the same number as the former, which was of vast
extent.
This new city is of a form perfectly square, and twenty-four miles in
extent, each of its sides being neither more nor less than six miles.
It is enclosed with walls of earth that at the base are about ten
paces thick, but gradually diminish to the top, where the thickness is
not more than three paces. In all parts the battlements are white. The
whole plan of the city was regularly laid out by line, and the streets
in general are consequently so straight that when a person ascends the
wall over one of the gates, and looks right forward, he can see the
gate opposite to him on the other side of the city. In the public
streets there are, on each side, booths and shops of every
description. All the allotments of ground upon which the habitations
throughout the city were constructed are square and exactly on a line
with each other; each allotment being sufficiently spacious for
handsome buildings, with corresponding courts and gardens. One of
these was assigned to each head of a family; that is to say, such a
person of such a tribe had one square allotted to him, and so of the
rest. Afterward the property passed from hand to hand. In this manner
the whole interior of the city is disposed in squares, so as to
resemble a chess-board, and planned out with a degree of precision and
beauty impossible to describe.
The wall of the city has twelve gates, three on each side of the
square, and over each gate and compartment of the wall there is a
handsome building; so that on each side of the square there are five
such buildings, containing large rooms, in which are disposed the arms
of those who form the garrison of the city, every gate being guarded
by a thousand men. It is not to be understood that such a force is
stationed there in consequence of the apprehension of danger from any
hostile power whatever, but as a guard suitable to the honor and
dignity of the sovereign.
FOUNDING OF THE HOUSE OF HAPSBURG
A.D. 1273
WILLIAM COXE
The house of Hapsburg---also called the house of
Austria--owes its origin and firm establishment to the most
celebrated of the Hapsburgs, a German princely family who
derived their name from Hapsburg castle, built about 1020,
on the banks of the Aare in Switzerland. This founder of the
imperial line was Rudolph, son of Albert IV, Count of
Hapsburg and Landgrave of Alsace. Rudolph was born in 1218,
and died at Germersheim, Germany, in 1291. He succeeded his
father in Hapsburg and Alsace in 1239, and in 1273 was
elected German King (Rudolph I), with the substance, though
not the title, of the imperial dignity of the Holy Roman
Empire.
It is said that the electors desired an emperor, but not the
exercise of imperial power, and that in Rudolph they saw a
candidate of comparative lowliness, from whom their
authority stood in little jeopardy. At the age of fifty-five
the new sovereign assumed his throne in the face of
difficulty and danger. He was opposed by the Spanish
claimant, Alfonso of Castile, and confronted a formidable
rival in Ottocar, King of Bohemia, whose contumacy disturbed
the reign of Rudolph from its very beginning.
Rudolph's enemies had appealed against him to Pope Gregory
X, and Rudolph in turn sought the ratification of the
Pontiff, to whom, immediately after his election, he sent
messengers with a letter imploring papal countenance. From
this moment to the day when he finally overcame Ottocar in
the field and secured the possessions which became
hereditary in the house of Hapsburg, the historian narrates
the steps whereby Rudolph advanced in his career.
Fortunately for the interests of Rudolph and the peace of Germany,
Gregory X was prudent, humane, and generous, and from a long
experience of worldly affairs had acquired a profound knowledge of men
and manners. An ardent zeal for the propagation of the Christian faith
was the leading feature of his character, and the object of his
greatest ambition was to lead an army of crusaders against the
infidels. To the accomplishment of this purpose he directed his aims,
and, like a true father of Christendom, was anxious to appease instead
of fomenting the troubles of Europe, and to consolidate the union of
the German states, which it had been the policy of his predecessors to
divide and disunite. By the most insinuating address he knew how to
conciliate the affections of those who approached him, and to bend to
his purpose the most steady opposition; and he endeavored to gain by
extreme affability and the mildness of his deportment what his
predecessors had extorted by the most extravagant pretensions.
The ambassadors of Rudolph were received with complacency by the Pope,
and obtained his sanction by agreeing, in the name of their master, to
the same conditions which Otho IV and Frederick II had sworn to
observe; by confirming all the donations of the emperors, his
predecessors, to the papal see; by promising to accept no office or
dignity in any of the papal territories, particularly in the city of
Rome, without the consent of the Pope; by agreeing not to disturb nor
permit the house of Anjou to be disturbed in the possession of Naples
and Sicily, which they held as fiefs from the Roman see; and by
engaging to undertake in person a crusade against the infidels. In
consequence of these concessions, Gregory gave the new King of the
Romans his most cordial support, refused to listen to the overtures of
Ottocar, and after much difficulty finally succeeded in persuading
Alfonso to renounce his pretensions to the imperial dignity.
An interview in October, 1275, between Rudolph and Gregory at
Lausanne, concluded his negotiations with the Roman see, and gave rise
to a personal friendship between the heads of the Church and the
empire, who were equally distinguished for their frank and amiable
qualities. In this interview Rudolph publicly ratified the articles
which his ambassadors had concluded in his name; the electors and
princes who were present followed his example, and Gregory again
confirmed the election of Rudolph, on condition that he should repair
to Rome the following year to receive the imperial crown. At the
conclusion of this ceremony the new Emperor, with his consort and the
princes of the empire, assumed the cross, and engaged to undertake a
crusade against the infidels.
During the negotiations of Rudolph with Gregory X, Ottocar had exerted
himself to shake the authority of the new chief of the empire, and to
consolidate a confederacy with the German princes. He not only
rejected with disdain all the proposals of accommodation made at the
instances of Rudolph by the judicious and conciliating Pontiff, but
prevented the clergy of Bohemia from contributing the tenths of their
revenue or preaching the crusade. He endeavored to alarm the princes
of the empire by displaying the views of the new sovereign, to recover
the imperial fiefs which they had appropriated during the interregnum,
and by his promises and intrigues succeeded in attaching to his cause
the Margrave of Baden and the counts of Freiburg, Neuburg, and
Montfort. But he secured a still more powerful partisan in Henry, Duke
of Lower Bavaria, by fomenting the disputes between him and his
brother the Count Palatine, and by ceding to him Scharding and other
places wrested from Bavaria by the Duke of Austria.