Outlines of Universal History, Designed as a Text-book and for Private Reading

Chapter I: France: England: Spain: Germany: Italy: the Ottoman Turks

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RUSSIA: THE INVASIONS OF ITALY.

I. FRANCE.

CHARLES VII. AND THE NOBLES.--The result of the hundred-years' war was the acquisition of _Aquitaine_ by the French crown. Aquitaine was incorporated in France. Southern Gaul and Northern Gaul were now one. During the last years of _Charles VII._, his kingdom was comparatively peaceful. Its prosperity revived. A new sort of feudalism had sprung up in the room of the old noblesse, whose power had been crushed. The new nobility was made up of relatives of the royal family, as the Dukes of _Burgundy, Berry, Bourbon_, and the house of _Anjou_. On the east of France was _Burgundy_, which had expanded into a great European power. "The _duchy_ of Burgundy, with the county of Charolois, and the counties of Flanders and Artois, were joined under a common ruler with endless imperial fiefs in the Low Countries, and with the imperial _county_ of Burgundy." The Burgundian boundary was on the south of the Somme, and little more than fifty miles north of _Paris_. The Burgundian dukes were constantly striving to bring it still nearer. On the east and south, the house of _Anjou_ held the duchy of _Bar_ and _Provence_, besides other possessions. On the south, too, was the province of _Dauphiny_; and on the west the strong, half-independent duchy of _Brétagne_, or _Brittany_. _Charles_ had a standing quarrel with his son _Louis_, who early showed his power to inspire dread, but gave no signs of the policy which he triumphantly pursued, after he became king, of putting down feudal insubordination. His young wife _Margaret_, daughter of _James I._ of Scotland, was twelve years old when he, a boy of thirteen, was married to her. He aroused such terror and aversion in her mind that she died at twenty-one of a broken heart. _Louis_--to whom, much to his disgust, _Dauphiny_ instead of Normandy was given to rule--abetted the great lords in their resistance to his father's authority; and, when threatened with coercion, fled to _Brussels_, to the court of his father's cousin, _Philip of Burgundy_, where he was kindly entertained. _Charles VII._, who knew the traits of his son, said, "As for my cousin of Burgundy, he harbors a fox that will one day eat up his chickens." Even then the relations of _Louis_ and _Charles_, Count of Charolois, the heir of Burgundy, were cool and unsympathetic. The king occupied _Dauphiny_, and in 1457 it was fully incorporated in France. The rulers of France and Burgundy, taken up with their own schemes of territorial gain, turned a deaf ear to the calls of Pope _Pius II_. for a crusade against the Turks. It has been said that most of the kings of the house of _Valois_ were either bad or mad. The indolent and heartless Charles _VII._ would seem to have been both. In his last days he suspected that the Dauphin's plots were aided by persons about himself, and that his food was poisoned. He refused to eat, and died in 1461.

CHARACTER OF LOUIS XI.--_Louis XI._ (1461-1483) showed himself a master of "statecraft," or the cunning, diplomatic management which pursued its ends stealthily, held no engagements sacred, and was deterred by no scruples of conscience from whatever perfidy was thought requisite to attain the objects in view. _Louis_ was one of the earliest examples of the _kingcraft_ which in the succeeding age was deemed a gift to be coveted by princes. It was an art in which the Italians were masters; and its secrets were set forth, somewhat later than the time of _Louis_, in "The Prince" of _Machiavelli_, a work in which that eminent statesman and historian describes the means by which despots may entrap and crush their enemies. Whether he meant to afford aid to tyrants, or aid to their subjects through an exposure of the tricks of their rulers, the "Machiavellian" spirit designates the policy of intrigue that prevailed all through the sixteenth century, and infected even some of the best of the public men of that age. _Louis_ was mean-looking, shabby in his dress, with a cunning aspect; in his whole deportment and character, in sharp contrast with the chivalrous princes, _Philip_ and _Charles_ of Burgundy. If he was vindictive, he was perhaps not more cruel than others; but he was ungenial, regarding men as his tools. He took pleasure in the society of his provosts or hangmen,--_Tristan l'Hermite_ and _Olivier le Daim._ He often ordered men to execution without so much as the form of a trial. There was in him a vein of superstition. He was punctilious in his devotions. He would not swear a false oath over the cross of St. Loup of Angers, because he thought that death would be the penalty. He did not quail before an enemy in battle; yet such was his alarm at the prospect of death, that he collected about him relics and charms, magicians and hermits, to help him prolong his days.

STRIFE WITH THE NOBLES.--The first years of _Louis's_ reign (1461-1467) were passed in a struggle with the great lords whom he was determined to subdue. At the beginning his measures for this end were imprudent. They combined against him in the _League of the Public Weal_ in 1464. Their force was so great that he stood in imminent peril. He counted on the support of _Paris_, and was trying to reach that city when the hostile armies encountered one another at Montlhéry (1465). It was an absurd battle, where at night both parties thought themselves beaten. The king secured his place of refuge. He deemed it prudent to make peace on the terms demanded by the _Count of Charolois,_ and the other nobles. This treaty of _Conflans_ (1465) he caused the Parliament of Paris to refuse to ratify or register. He had trusted to his ability to regain what he might surrender. The strife between the _Duke of Brittany_ and the king's brother _Charles,_ now made _Duke of Normandy,_ enabled Louis soon to recover Normandy.

CHARLES THE BOLD, AND LOUIS.--The death of _Philip_ made his son, _Charles the Bold,_ Duke of Burgundy. Charles was in the prime of life, of a chivalrous temper, courteous and polished, fond of reading and music, as well as of knightly sports, and with his head full of dreams of ambition. With certain noble qualities, his pride was excessive, his temper not only hot but obstinate, and, as he grew older, he became more overbearing and cruel. He was the most powerful prince in Europe. The most of his lands were German. In the early part of his reign he pursued the same scheme as that which was at the root of the _League of the Public Weal_. He aimed to hem in _Louis_, and to build up his own power in the direction of France. He allied himself, in 1466, with the _House of York_, then uppermost in _England_. An English force was sent to _Calais_ in 1467. Threatened by this coalition of adversaries, _Louis_ hastened to attack _Brittany_, and forced its duke to conclude a separate peace. Trusting too much to his powers of negotiation, and yielding to the treacherous advice of Cardinal _Balue_, one of his chief counselors, the king determined to go in person to confer with _Charles of Burgundy_. He soon learned that his safe-conduct was of little value. At _Peronne_, he found himself in the midst of enemies, and in reality a prisoner. While there, _Liège_ was in revolt, as _Charles_ ascertained, at the king's instigation. The wrathful duke could be appeased only by agreeing to every thing that he required. _Louis_ had to undergo the humiliation of attending _Charles_ and his army, and of basely taking part in the vengeance inflicted on the city which he had himself stirred up to revolt. He was glad to escape with his life. After his return, he ordered _Balue_ to be put in an iron cage, where he was kept for ten years,--a mode of punishment of Balue's own invention. Louis repudiated the treaty of _Peronne_, under the advice of a body of _Notables_, all of whom he had nominated and summoned. A new league was organized against him; but the king by his wariness, and by his promptitude in attacking _Brittany_, gained advantages, so that a truce was concluded with the _Burgundian_ duke in 1472. _Philip de Commines_, at that time a companion and counselor of _Charles_, left his service for that of _Louis_. To his _Memoirs_ we owe most instructive and interesting details respecting these princes, and the manners and occurrences of the time.

CHARLES THE BOLD, AND THE SWISS.--From this time _Charles_ turned his attention _eastward_, and devoted himself to building up a great principality on the _Rhine_, which might open the way for his succession to the empire. It seemed to be his plan to bring together the old kingdom of _Lotharingia_ and that of the _Burgundies_. He found no sympathy in his schemes from the emperor _Frederick III_. The great barrier in Charles's way was the freedom-loving spirit of the inhabitants of the Swiss mountains. Availing himself of a plausible pretext, he endeavored to get possession of _Cologne_ by first laying siege to _Neuss_, which lies below it. Wasting his strength in the unsuccessful attempt to capture this place, he failed to make a junction of his forces with the English troops who landed in _France_ under his ally, King _Edward IV_. The English king was persuaded to make a truce with France by the wily _Louis_, who was constantly on the watch for any mistakes or mishaps of his impetuous Burgundian adversary. The cruelty of _Charles_ to the Swiss inhabitants of _Granson_, who had surrendered, brought upon him an attack of their exasperated countrymen near that place (1476). The _Burgundians_ were routed; and the duke's camp, with all its treasures, including his sword, the plate of his chapel, and precious stones of inestimable value, fell into the hands of the hardy mountaineers, who knew nothing of the worth of these things. The next year the Duke once more flung his reckless valor against the strength of the Swiss infantry, and barely escaped from an utter defeat at _Morat_. Made desperate by misfortune, he risked another battle near _Nanci_, in 1477, at the head of an inferior force, composed partly of treacherous mercenaries, and was vanquished and slain. He had intended to make _Nanci_ his capital; but his body was found near by in a swamp, stripped of its clothing, frozen, and covered with wounds.

EXTENSION OF FRANCE.--_Louis XI_ could hardly stifle expressions of joy at the news of the death of his hated and formidable rival. While _Charles_ had been busy in Germany, _Louis_ had taken the opportunity to put down, one by one, the great nobles who had shown themselves ill-affected. He secured to France _Roussillon_ and the northern slopes of the Pyrenees. It was now his purpose to lay hold of as many as possible of the possessions of the late duke. _Mary_, the daughter of _Charles the Bold_, the heiress of _Burgundy_, gave her hand in marriage to _Maximilian_ of _Austria_, an event which carried after it the most important consequences. The result of the conflicts of _Louis_ and _Maximilian_ was the Peace of _Arras_ (1482), which left in the hands of France the towns on the _Somme_, and the great _Burgundian duchy_. For a time _Maximilian_, as holder of the French fiefs of Flanders and Artois, was a vassal of the French king. On the death of King _René_, in 1480, and the extinction of the house of _Anjou_, Louis annexed the three great districts of _Anjou, Maine_, and _Provence_, the last of which was a fief of the empire.

LAST DAYS OF LOUIS XI.--In his last days, old King _Louis_, in wretched health, tortured with the fear of death, and in constant dread of plots to destroy him, shut himself up in the castle of _Plessis-les-Tours_, which he strongly fortified, and manned with guards who were instructed to shoot all who approached without leave. He kept up his activity in management, and in truth devised schemes for the advantage of his realm. His selfish and malignant temper brought to him one unexpected joy from the sudden death of _Mary of Burgundy_ (1482), from which, however, France did not reap the advantages which he expected. He died in 1483, at the age of sixty-one. He, more than any other, was the founder of the French monarchy in the later form. He centralized the administration of the government. He fought against feudalism, old and new. He strengthened, however, local authority where it did not interfere with the power of the king. In matters of internal government he was often just and wise.

CHARLES VIII. (1483-1496): ANNE OF BEAUJEU.--_Charles VIII._ at the death of his father was only fourteen years old. But in his older sister, _Anne of Beaujeu_, the wife of _Peter of Bourbon_, he had an energetic guide who for ten years virtually managed public affairs. She proved too strong for the opposition of the royal princes, of the nobility, and of the States General. The nobles turned for support to _Richard III. of England_. _Anne_ strengthened with men and money _Henry of Richmond_, the rival and conqueror of Richard. The Duke of Brittany, with his allies, the Duke of Orleans, the Prince of Orange, and others, was defeated in a hardly contested battle in 1488, which was followed by a treaty advantageous to France. The crowning achievement of _Anne of Beaujeu_ was the marriage of _Anne of Brittany_ to _Charles VIII_. This was accomplished although she had already been married by proxy to _Maximilian_, while _Charles_ was pledged to marry _Margaret_, the emperor's daughter. If _Anne of Brittany_ should outlive _Charles_, she engaged to marry his successor. This second marriage actually took place: she became the wife of _Louis XII_. Brittany was thus incorporated in France. The Italian expeditions, the great events in the reign of _Charles VIII._, will be related hereafter.

II. ENGLAND.

WAR OF THE ROSES: THE HOUSE OF YORK.--The crown in England had come to be considered as the property of a family, to which the legitimate heir had a sacred claim. The Wars of the Roses (1455-1485) grew out of family rivalries. It was a fight among nobles. But other reasons were not without influence. The party of _York_ (whose badge was the white rose) was the popular party, which had its strength in Kent and in the trading cities. It went for reform of government. The party of _Lancaster_ (whose badge was the red rose) was the more conservative party, having its strength among the barons of the North. _Richard_, Duke of York, thought that he had a better claim to the English crown than _Henry VI._, because his ancestor, _Lionel_, was an older son of _Edward III._ than _John of Gaunt_, the ancestor of _Henry_. The king was insane at times, and _Richard_ was made Protector or Regent of Parliament. But _Henry_, becoming better, drove him from his presence. He organized an insurrection, but was defeated in a battle at _Wakefield_ by the troops of the strong-hearted queen. He was crowned with a wreath of grass, and then beheaded. His brave son, _Rutland_, was killed as he fled. But Richard's eldest son, _Edward--Edward IV._ (1461-1483)--supported by the powerful Earl of _Warwick_, "the king-maker," defeated the queen at _Towton_, took possession of the throne, and imprisoned _Henry VI._, who had fallen into imbecility. Edward was popular because he kept order. But the favors which he lavished on the _Woodvilles_, relatives of his Lancastrian wife _Elizabeth_, enabled the opposing party, to which _Warwick_ deserted, to get the upper hand (1470); and _Edward_ fled to Holland. But he soon returned, and won the battles of _Barnet_ and _Tewkesbury_ (1471). _Henry VI._ was secretly murdered in the Tower. The house of _York_ was now in the ascendant. A quarrel between the king and his ambitious brother _Clarence_, who had married _Warwick's_ daughter, led to the trial and condemnation of _Clarence_, who was put to death in the Tower. It was during the reign of _Edward IV._ that _Caxton_ set up the first printing-press in England. After Edward his brother reigned, _Richard III._ (1483-1485), a brave but merciless man, who made his way to the throne by the death of the two young princes _Edward_ and _Richard_, whose murder in the Tower he is with good reason supposed to have procured. He had pretended that _Edward IV._ had never been lawfully married to their mother. Henry _Tudor_, Earl of Richmond, descended by his mother from _John of Gaunt_, aided by France, landed in Wales, and won a victory at _Bosworth_ over the adherents of the white rose,--a victory which gave him a kingdom and a crown. Thus the house of _Lancaster_ in the person of _Henry VII._ (1485-1509), gained the throne. He married _Elizabeth_, the eldest daughter of _Edward IV._, and so the two hostile houses were united. He was the first of the TUDOR kings.

CHARACTER OF THE CIVIL WARS.--The Wars of the Roses are, in certain respects, peculiar. They extended over a long period, but did not include more than three years of actual fighting. The battles were fierce, and the combatants unsparing in the treatment of their foes. Yet the population of the country did not diminish. Business and the administration of justice went on as usual. Trade began to be held in high esteem, and traders to amass wealth. The number of journeymen and day-laborers increased, and there was a disposition to break through the guild laws.

EFFECTS OF THE CIVIL WARS.--The most striking result of the civil wars was the strengthening of the power of the king. Not more than thirty of the old nobles survived. Laws were made forbidding the nobles to keep armed "_retainers_;" and against "_maintenance_," or the custom of nobles to promise to support, in their quarrels or law-cases, men who adhered to them. The court of the _Star Chamber_ was set up to prevent these abuses. It was turned into an instrument of tyranny in the hands of the kings. _Henry VII._ extorted from the rich, "_benevolences_," or gifts solicited by the king, which the law authorized him to collect as a tax. He contrived to get money in such ways, and thus to carry forward the government without Parliament, which met only once during the last thirteen years of his reign. Royal power, in relation to the nobles, was further exalted by the introduction of cannon into warfare, which only the king possessed. Two pretenders to the throne, _Lambert Simnel_ (1487), and _Perkin Warbeck_ (1492), were raised up; but the efforts made to dethrone _Henry_ proved abortive. He kept watch over his enemies at home and abroad, and punished all resistance to his authority. Circumstances enabled the founder of the _Tudor_ line to exalt the power of the king over the heads of both the nobles and the commons.

III. SPAIN.

FERDINAND OF ARAGON (1479-15l6).--The union of _Aragon_ and _Castile_, by the marriage of _Ferdinand_ and _Isabella_ (1474-1504), was nominal, as each sovereign reigned independently in his own dominion. But both sovereigns were bent on the same end,--that of subjecting the powerful grandees and feudal lords to their authority. In this policy they found efficient helpers in the shrewd and loyal counselor _Mendoza_, Cardinal and Archbishop of Toledo, and in _Ximenes_, who combined the qualities of a prelate of strict orthodoxy with those of a profound and energetic statesman. To bring both nobles and clergy into subservience to the crown, was their great aim; and for this end the sagacious _Ferdinand_ procured from the Pope the privilege of filling the bishoprics and the grand masterships of the military orders. He deprived the nobles of their _judicial_ functions, which he committed to impartial and severe tribunals of his own creation. He re-organized and strengthened the _Holy Hermanadad_, or militia of the cities, and thus had at his service against the grandees a standing military force. He used the nobles and the cities to keep one another in check. Over both stood the _Inquisition_,--a tribunal established against the _Moors_ and the _Jews_ who had made an outward profession of Christianity, but which under _Torquemada_, who had been confessor of the queen, became a terror to all Spain. The king had the power to name the _Grand Inquisitor_ and all the judges; and he thus acquired in this institution not only a fearful weapon against heretics of every description, but also a political instrument for the subjugation of the nobles and the clergy. By this alliance of the throne and the altar, the despotic power of _Ferdinand_ had the firmest prop.

CONQUEST OF GRANADA.--After a ten-years' bloody war, the Moorish kingdom of _Granada_ was conquered. The capital, with the famous castle of _Alhambra_, was captured (1492). The dethroned Moorish king, _Boabdil_, robbed of his possessions, sailed to Africa, where he fell in battle. By the terms of their surrender, the Moors were to have the free exercise of their religion. But the promise was not kept. Choice was given to the Moslems to become Christians, or to emigrate. Many left to wage war elsewhere against their Spanish persecutors, either as corsairs in Africa, or as bands of robbers in _Sierra Nevada_. The professed converts were goaded by cruel treatment into repeated insurrections. It was a fierce war of races and religions. The frightful sufferings of the Moors, under the pressure of this double fanaticism, form a long and gloomy chapter of Spanish history. The dismal tale continues until the cruel expulsion from the kingdom of nearly a million of this unhappy people by _Philip III._, in 1609.

FERDINAND, REGENT OF CASTILE.--Most of the children of _Ferdinand_ and _Isabella_ died young. Their daughter _Joanna_ married _Philip of Burgundy_, son of _Maximilian_ and _Mary_; but he died in 1506, at the age of twenty-eight. They had been recognized as the rulers of _Castile_. But the mind of _Joanna_, who had always been eccentric, became disordered, so that the government devolved on _Ferdinand_, her father. He placed her in the castle at _Tordesillas_, where the remainder of her life, which continued forty-seven years longer, was spent. _Ferdinand_ was, in form, constituted by the _Cortes_ (1510), regent of the kingdom in the name of his daughter, and as guardian of her son _(Charles)_. _Ferdinand_ administered the government with wisdom and moderation. As there were no children by his second marriage with _Germaine de Foix_, niece of _Louis XII._ of France, the succession of _Joanna's_ son remained secure. Ferdinand availed himself of the disturbances in France to annex to _Castile_ the portion of _Navarre_ lying on the south of the Pyrenees.

IV. GERMANY AND THE EMPIRE.

FREDERICK III. (1440-1493).--While _England, France_, and _Spain_ were organizing monarchy, _Italy_ and _Germany_ kept up the anarchical condition of the Middle Ages. Hence these countries, first _Italy_ and then _Germany_, became enticing fields of conquest for other nations. _Frederick III._ was the last emperor crowned at Rome (1452), and only one other emperor after him was crowned by the Pope. Frederick reigned longer than any other German king before or after him. He lacked energy, neglected the empire, and busied himself in enlarging his Austrian domains, which he erected into an _archduchy_ (1453). When he sought to interfere with the German princes, they set him at defiance. He did little more than remain an indolent spectator of the conflict in which the Swiss overthrew _Charles the Bold_. The great danger to Europe was now from the _Turks_. Christendom was defended by the Poles and the Hungarians. _Frederick_ left the Hungarians, under the gallant _John Hunyady_, without his help, to drive them, in 1456, from _Belgrade_. He tried to obtain the Bohemian and Hungarian crowns; but _Podiebrad_, a Utraquist nobleman, was made king of Bohemia, and _Matthias Corvinus_ succeeded _Hunyady_, his father, on the throne of Hungary. By the death of _Albert_, the brother of _Frederick_, to whom the emperor had been compelled to give up _Vienna_, he became master of all the Austrian lands except Tyrol. He was bent on getting the Hungarian crown; but _Vienna_ was taken by _Matthias_, in 1485, and the emperor had to fly for his life. A great confederation, composed of princes, nobles, and cities, was made in Swabia, for repressing private war, and did much good in South Germany. The western part of _Prussia_ was taken from the Teutonic Knights by the Peace of _Thorn_, in 1466, and annexed to _Poland_ by _Casimir IV_.

Maximilian I. (1493-15l9).--_Maximilian I._ was a restless prince, eager for adventure. Although not crowned, he was authorized by Pope _Julius II._ to style himself "Emperor Elect." In his reign, efforts, only in part successful, were made to secure peace and order in Germany. At the Diet of _Worms_ in 1495, a perpetual _public peace_, or prohibition of private feuds, was proclaimed; and a court called the _Imperial Chamber_, the judges of which, except the president, were appointed by the states, was constituted to adjust controversies among them. The benefits of this arrangement were partly defeated by the _Aulic Council_, an Austrian tribunal established by _Maximilian_ for his own domains, but which interfered in matters properly belonging to the _Chamber_. Germany was also divided into _circles_, or districts, for governmental purposes. In 1499 _Maximilian_ endeavored, without success, to coerce the _Swiss League_ into submission to the Imperial Chamber, and to punish it for helping the French in their Italian invasion. Although he was brave, cultured, and eloquent, he lacked perseverance, and not a few of his numerous projects failed. The most fortunate event in his life, as regards the aggrandizement of his house, was his marriage to _Mary of Burgundy_ (1477). His grandson _Ferdinand_ married the sister of _Louis II._, the last king of _Bohemia_ of the Polish line, who was also king of _Hungary_; and by the election of _Ferdinand_ to be his successor (1526), both these countries were added to the vast possessions of the Austrian family. To Maximilian's doings in _Italy_, we shall soon refer.

GERMAN CITIES.--From the middle of the thirteenth century there was a rapid growth of German cities, and an advance of the trading-classes. The cities gained a large measure of self-government, and were prosperous little republics. They were centers of commerce and wealth, and often exercised power much beyond their own precincts, which were well defended by ditches, walls, and towers. The old Gothic town-halls in _Aix, Nuremburg, Cologne,_ etc., are monuments of municipal thrift and dignity. Their churches and convents grew rich, and schools with numerous pupils were connected with them. Dwellings became more comfortable and attractive. All branches of art and manufacture flourished. The city nobles and the guilds had their banquets. In the church festivals all the people took part. The German cities, such as _Mayence, Worms, Strasburg, Lübeck, Augsburg,_ excited the admiration even of Italian visitors.

THE MEDICI.

V. ITALY.

CONDITION OF ITALY.--Italy, at the epoch of the French invasions, was the most prosperous as well as the most enlightened and civilized country in Europe. Its opulent and splendid cities were the admiration of all visitors from the less favored countries of the North. But national unity was wanting. The country was made up of discordant states. _Venice_ was ambitious of conquest; and the pontiffs in this period, to the grief of all true friends of religion, were absorbed in Italian politics, being eager to carve out principalities for their relatives. Italy was exposed to _two_ perils. On the one hand, it was menaced by the Ottoman Turks; not to speak of the kings of France and Spain, who were rival aspirants for control in the Italian peninsula. On the other hand, voyages of discovery were threatening to open new highways of commerce to supersede the old routes of traffic through its maritime cities.

MILAN.--The fall of Constantinople produced a momentary union in Italy. At _Lodi_, in 1454, the principal states took an oath of perpetual concord,--_Francesco Sforza_, Duke of Milan; _Cosmo de Medici_, to whom Florence had given the name of "Father of his Country;" _Alfonso V._ the Magnanimous, king of Naples and Sicily; the Popes _Calixtus III._ and _Pius II_. (1458-1464). But conflicts soon arose among them. An abortive attempt was made by _John_ of Calabria to deprive _Ferdinand_ of Naples of his inheritance (1462). In 1478 there was a coalition against Florence; in 1482, a coalition against Venice. The Turks made the best use of these quarrels, and captured _Otranto_ (1480), killing or enslaving twelve thousand Christians. The idea of the ancients that _tyrannicide_ is a virtue, whether the master be good or bad, was caught up, and gave rise to conspiracies. At Milan, in 1476, the cruel Duke _Galeazzo Maria_ was assassinated by three young men, near the Church of St. Stephen. _Giovanni Galeazzo_, his son, a minor, married a daughter of the king of Naples. But his uncle, _Ludovico il Moro_, had seized on power, and ruled in the name of _Giovanni_ (1480). He imprisoned _Giovanni_ and his young wife; and being threatened by the king of Naples, who had for an ally _Peter de Medici_, he formed an alliance with the Pope and the Venetians; and, not confiding in them, he invited _Charles VIII_. of France to invade the kingdom of Naples. _Genoa_ fell under the yoke of _Ludovico_, who was invested with it by _Charles VIII._ as a fief of France.

VENICE.--_Venice_, which up to the fall of Constantinople had been the strongest of the Italian states, forgot its duties and its dangers in relation to the Turks, in order to aggrandize itself in Italy. It could not avoid war with them, which broke out in 1464. The Turks took _Negropont_ and _Scutari_, passed the _Piave_, and the fires kindled by their troops could be seen from Venice. The city made a shameful treaty with them, paying them a large sum (1479). But four years after, it conquered _Cyprus_, which it did not scruple to demand the privilege of holding as a fief of the Sultan of Egypt. The great power of Venice at this time was a cause of alarm to all the other states; but their first combination against it in 1482, in defense of the Duke of Ferrara, was of no effect. In 1454 the government of Venice was placed practically in the hands of three _"inquisitors"_, who exercised despotic power under the old forms, and, by such means as secret trials and executions, maintained internal order and quiet at the cost of liberty. Its soldiers were _condottieri_, under foreign leaders, whom it watched with the utmost jealousy.

FLORENCE.--_Cosmo de Medici_ had continued to be a man of the people. But the members of his family who followed him, while they copied his munificence and public spirit, behaved more as princes. Against _Peter I._ plots were formed by the nobles, but were baffled (1465). _Jerome Riario_, a nephew of _Pope Sixtus IV._, strove with papal help to conquer for himself a principality in the _Romagna_. The Florentines protested against it as a breach of the treaty of _Lodi_. Hence _Riario_ took part in the conspiracy of the _Pazzi_ against the lives of _Lorenzo_ and _Julian_, sons of Cosmo. They were attacked in the cathedral of Florence by the assassins, during the celebration of mass; _Julian_ was killed, but _Lorenzo_ escaped. The Archbishop of Pisa, one of the accomplices, was hung from his palace window in his pontifical robes. The Pope excommunicated the Medici, and all the Italian states plunged into war. The capture of _Otranto_ at this time by the Turks frightened the princes. _Lorenzo de Medici_ repaired in person to _Naples_ to negotiate with _Ferdinand_, the Pope's ally, and peace was concluded. _Lorenzo_ earned the name of "The Magnificent" by his lavish patronage of literature and art.

SAVONAROLA.--Against the rule of _Lorenzo_, one voice was raised, that of the Dominican monk _Jerome Savonarola_, a preacher of fervid eloquence, who aimed in his harangues, not only to move individuals to repentance, but to bring about a thorough amendment of public morals, and a political reform in the direction of liberty. In his discourses, however, he lashed the ecclesiastical corruptions of the time, not sparing those highest in power. There were two parties, that of the young nobles,--the _arribiati_, or "enraged;" and that of the people,--the _frateschi_, or friends of the monks. _Savonarola_ proclaimed that a great punishment was impending over Italy. He predicted the invasion from north of the Alps.

FLORENCE IN THE AGE OF LORENZO.--_Florence_ in the time of _Lorenzo_ presented striking points of resemblance to _Athens_ in its most flourishing days. In some respects, the two communities were quite unlike. _Florence_ was not a conquering power, and had no extensive dominion. Civil and military life were distinct from one another: the Italian had come to rely more upon diplomacy than upon arms, and his wealth and mercantile connections made him anxious to avoid war. In Florence, moreover, trade and the mechanic arts were in high repute; industry was widely diffused, and was held in honor. But in equality and pride of citizenship, in versatility of talent and intellectual activity, in artistic genius and in appreciation of the products of art, in refinement of manners, cheerfulness of temper, and a joyous social life, the _Florentines_ in the fifteenth century compare well with the _Athenians_ in the age of _Pericles_. In _Florence_, the burgess or citizen had attained to the standing to which in other countries he only aspired. Nobility of blood was counted as of some worth; but where there was not wealth or intellect with it, it was held in comparatively low esteem. Prosperous merchants, men of genius and education, and skillful artisans were on a level with the best. Men of noble extraction engaged in business. The commonwealth conferred knighthood on the deserving, according to the practice of sovereign princes. Persons of the highest social standing did not disdain to labor in their shops and counting-houses. Frugal in their domestic life, the Florentines strove to maintain habits of frugality by strict sumptuary laws. Limits were set to indulgence in finery, food, etc. The population of Florence somewhat exceeded one hundred thousand. In the neighborhood of the city, there was a multitude of attractive, richly furnished villas and country-houses. Among the industries in which the busy population was engaged in 1472, a chronicler enumerates eighty-three rich and splendid warehouses of the silk-merchants' guild, thirty-three great banks, and forty-four goldsmiths' and jewellers' shops. The houses of the rich were furnished with elegance, and decorated with beautiful works of art. There was a great contrast between the simplicity of ordinary domestic life, especially as regards provisions for the table, and the splendor displayed on public occasions, or when guests were to be hospitably entertained. The effect of literary culture was seen in the tone of conversation. It is remarkable that the great sculptors were all goldsmiths, and came out of the workshop. A new generation of painters had a like practical training. In those days, there was a union of manual skill with imagination. The art of the goldsmith preceded and outstripped all the others. In such a society, there was naturally a great relish for public festivals, both sacred and secular. Everywhere in Italy the _Mysteries_, or religious plays, exhibiting events of scriptural history, were in vogue; brilliant pantomimes were enjoyed, and the festivities of the yearly carnival were keenly relished. In the government of Florence, the liberty of the citizens was mainly confined to the choosing of their magistrates. Once in office, they ruled with arbitrary power. There was no liberty of the press, nor was there freedom of discussion in the public councils. It was a community where, with all its cultivation and elegance, morality was at a low ebb. _Lorenzo_ himself, although "he had all the qualities of poet and statesman, connoisseur and patron of learning, citizen and prince," nevertheless "could not keep himself from the epicureanism of the time," and was infected with its weaknesses and vices. "These joyous and refined civilizations," writes M. _Taine_, "based on a worship of pleasure and intellectuality,--Greece of the fourth century, Provence of the twelfth, and Italy of the sixteenth,--were not enduring. Man in these lacks some checks. After sudden outbursts of genius and creativeness, he wanders away in the direction of license and egotism; the degenerate artist and thinker makes room for the sophist and the dilettant."

THE POPES.--The Popes, _Nicholas V._ (1447-1455), a protector of scholars and a cultivated man, and _Pius II._ (1458-1464),

THE OTTOMAN SULTANS.

[Mainly from George's _Genealogical Tables_.]

zealously but in vain exhorted to crusades against the Turk. _Paul II_. (1464-1471) pursued the same course; but after him, for a half-century, there ensued the deplorable era when the pontiffs were more busied with other interests than with those pertaining to the weal of Christianity. The pontificates of _Sixtus IV_. (1471-1484), _Innocent VIII_. (1484-1492), and especially of _Alexander VI_. (1492-1503), the second pope of the _Borgia_ family, present a lamentable picture of worldly schemes and of "nepotism," as the projects for the temporal advancement of their relatives were termed. The Roman principality was the prey of petty tyrants, and the theater of wars, and of assassinations perpetrated by the knife or with poison. _Alexander VI_. succeeded in subduing or destroying all these petty lords. He was seconded in these endeavors by his son _Cæsar Borgia_, brave, accomplished, and fascinating, but a monster of treachery and cruelty. No deed was savage or base enough to cost him any remorse. Hardly had he acquired the _Romagna_, when Pope _Alexander_ died. Although his death was due to Roman fever, legend speedily ascribed it to poison. His son was betrayed, was imprisoned for a time by _Ferdinand_ the Catholic, and, while he was in the service of the King of Navarre, was slain before the castle of _Viana_.

NAPLES.--In Naples, _Ferdinand I_., who was established on his throne by the defeat of his competitors in 1462, provoked a revolt of his barons by his tyranny, invited them to a festival to celebrate a reconciliation with them, and caused them to be seized at the table, and then to be put to death. He treated the people with equal injustice and cruelty. He allowed the Turks to take _Otranto_ (1480), and the Venetians to take _Gallipoli_ and _Policastro_ (1484).

WEAKNESS OF ITALY.--Italy, at the close of the fifteenth century, with all its proficiency in art and letters, and its superiority in the comforts and elegances of life, was a prey to anarchy. This was especially true after the death of _Lorenzo de Medici_. Diplomacy had become a school of fraud. Battles had come to be, in general, bloodless; but either perfidy, or prison and the dagger, were the familiar instruments of warfare. The country from its beauty, its wealth, and its factious state, was an alluring prize to foreign invaders.

VI. THE OTTOMAN TURKS.

THEIR CONQUESTS.--The empire of _Mohammed II_. (1451-1481) extended from the walls of _Belgrade_, on the Danube, to the middle of Asia Minor. To the east was the Seljukian principality of _Caramania_ in the center of Asia Minor, and, when that was finally overthrown (1486), _Persia_, whose hostility was inflamed by differences of sect. The conquest of the Greek Empire was achieved by _Mohammed_. _Matthias Corvinus_ (1458-1493), the successor of _Hunyady_, was the greatest of the kings of Hungary, and defended the line of the Danube against the Turkish assaults. For twenty-three years _Scanderbeg_, the intrepid Prince of _Albania_, repulsed all the attacks of the Moslems. It was not until ten years after his death (1467) that his principal stronghold was surrendered to the invaders. The attacks on the Venetians have already been mentioned, as well as the capture of _Otranto_. _Bajazet II_. was more inclined to study than to war: his brother _Djem_, who tried to supplant him, passed as a prisoner into the hands of Pope _Alexander VI_. An annual tribute was paid by the Sultan for keeping him from coming back to Turkey; and when, at last, he was released, rumor declared that he had been poisoned. _Selim I_. (1512-1520) entered anew on the path of conquest. He defeated the _Persians_, and made the Tigris his eastern boundary. He annexed to his empire _Mesopotamia_, _Syria_, and _Egypt_. The Sultan now became the commander of the faithful, the inheritor of the prophetic as well as military leadership. The conquest of _Alexandria_ by _Selim_ (1517) inflicted a mortal blow on the commerce of _Venice_, by intercepting its communication with the Orient. The despotic domination of _Selim_ stretched from the Danube to the Euphrates, and from the Adriatic to the cataracts of the Nile. Such was the empire which the Ottoman conqueror handed down to his son, _Soliman I_. the Magnificent (1520-1566). _Mohammed II_. and _Selim_ were the two conquerors by whom the Ottoman Empire was built up. Each of them combined with an iron will and revolting cruelty a taste for science and poetry, and the genius of a ruler. They take rank among the most eminent tyrants in Asiatic history. While they were spreading their dominion far and wide, the popes and the sovereigns of the West did nothing more effectual than to debate upon the means of confronting so great a danger.

RUSSIA.

1 First Czar. 2 Declined the crown on Theodore's death, which was seized by her brother. 3 Succeeded by an imposter pretending to be Demetrius, son of Ivan IV, who reigned for one year; then Basil V, 1606-1610; then chaos until 1613. 4 Said to be a descendent of the old royal house.

[Mainly from George's _Genealogical Tables._]

VII. RUSSIA.

RUSSIA: IVAN III.--For two centuries Russia paid tribute to the Tartar conquerors in the South, the "Golden Horde" (p. 283). The liberator of his people from this yoke was _Ivan III_.,--Ivan the Great,--(1462-1505). In the period when the nations of the West were becoming organized, _Russia_ escaped from its servitude, and made some beginnings of intellectual progress. _Ivan_ was a cold and calculating man, who preferred to negotiate rather than to fight; but he inflicted savage punishments, and even "his glance caused women to faint." He was able to subdue the rich trading-city of _Novgorod_ (1478), which had been connected with the Hanseatic League, and where a party endeavored to bring to pass a union with _Poland_. He conquered unknown frozen districts in the North, and smaller princedoms, including _Tver_, in the interior. The empire of the _Horde_ was so broken up that _Ivan_ achieved an almost bloodless triumph, which made Russia free. In wars with _Lithuania_, Western Russia was reconquered up to the _Soja_. _Ivan_ married _Sophia Palæologus_, a niece of the last Christian emperor of the East. She taught him "to penetrate the secret of autocracy." Numerous Greek emigrants of different arts and professions came to _Moscow_. Ivan took for the new arms of Russia the two-headed eagle of the Byzantine Cæsars, and thenceforward Russia looked on herself as the heir of the Eastern Empire. The Russian metropolitan, called afterwards _Patriarch_, was now elected by Russian bishops. _Moscow_ became "the metropolis of orthodoxy," and as such the protector of Greek Christians in the East. _Ivan_ laid out in the city the fortified inclosure styled the _Kremlin_. He brought into the country German and Italian mechanics. It was he who founded the greatness of Russia. _Vassali Ivanovitch_ (1505-1533), his son, continued the struggle with _Lithuania_, and acquired _Smolensk_ (1514). He exchanged embassies with most of the sovereigns of the West.

IVAN IV. (1533-1584).--_Ivan IV_., Ivan the Terrible, first took the title of _Czar_, since attached to "the Autocrat of all the Russias." It was the name that was given, in the Slavonian books which he read, to the ancient kings and emperors of the East and of Rome. _Moscow_ was now to be a third Rome, the successor of _Constantinople_. _Ivan_ conquered the Tartar principalities of _Kazan_ and _Astrakhan_ in the South, and extended his dominion to the Caucasus. The _Volga_, through its entire course, was now a Russian river. He brought German mechanics into Russia, established printing-presses, and made a commercial treaty with Queen _Elizabeth_, whom he invited to an alliance against _Poland_ and _Sweden_. It was in this reign (1581-1582) that a brigand chief, _Irmak_ by name (a Cossack, in the service of the Czar), crossed the _Urals_ with a few hundred followers, and made the conquest of the vast region of _Siberia_, then under the dominion of the Tartars. _Ivan_ sent thither bishops and priests. He had to cede _Livonia_ to the _Swedes_, who, with their allies were too strong to be overcome. In _Russia_, he put down the aristocracy, and crushed all resistance to his personal rule. Whatever tyranny and cruelty this result cost, it prevented _Russia_ from becoming an anarchic kingdom like _Poland_. Ivan, by forming the national guard of _streltsi_ or _strelitz_, laid the foundation of a standing army. In his personal conduct, brutal and sensual practices alternated with exercises of piety. In a fit of wrath, he struck his son _Ivan_ a fatal blow, and in consequence was overwhelmed with sorrow. After a short reign of his second son, _Feodor_ (1584-1598), who was weak in mind and body, the throne was usurped by one of the aristocracy, the able and ambitious regent, _Boris Godounof_ (1598-1605).

THE COSSACKS.--These were brought into subjection by _Ivan IV_. and his successors. They were robber hordes of mixed origin, partly Tartar and partly Russian. Their abodes were near the rapids of the _Dnieper_, and on the _Don_, and at the foot of the _Caucasus_. They were fierce warriors, and did a great service to Russia in subduing the wild nomad tribes on the north and east of the regions where the Cossacks dwelt.

TIMES OF TROUBLE.--After the death of _Boris Godounof_, two pretenders, one after the other, each assuming to be _Demetrius_, the younger son of _Ivan_,--a son who had been put to death,-- seized on power. This was rendered possible by the mutual strife of Russian factions, and by the help afforded to the impostors by the _Poles_. _Sigismund III_., king of Poland, openly espoused the cause of the second _Demetrius_. _Moscow_ was forced to surrender (1610); and the czar whom the nobles had enthroned, _Basil V_., died in a Polish prison. These events gave rise to a lasting enmity between the two Slavonic nations. In 1611 the _Poles_ were driven out by a national rising, which led to the elevation to the throne of _Michael Romanoff_ (1613-1645), the founder of the present dynasty of czars. Peace was concluded with _Gustavus Adolphus_ of Sweden, and with the Poles. Commercial treaties were made with foreign nations. In Russia there was a great increase of internal prosperity.

SERFDOM IN RUSSIA.--The lower classes in Russia consisted of three divisions: 1. Slaves, captives taken in war, who were bought and sold. 2. The _inscribed peasants_, who were attached to the soil and became _serfs_. They belonged to the _commune_, or village, which held the land, and as a unit paid to the lord his dues. They made up the bulk of the rural population. The peasant was an arbitrary master, a little czar in his own family. 3. The free laborers, who could change their masters, but who soon fell into the rank of serfs. While the higher classes in Russia advanced, the condition of the rustics for several centuries continued to grow worse.

RUSSIAN SOCIETY.--The great nobles kept in their castles a host of servants. These were slaves, subject to the caprices of their master. Russian women were kept in seclusion. There was an Asiatic stamp imprinted on civil and social life. "Thanks to the general ignorance, there was no intellectual life in Russia: thanks to the seclusion of women, there was no society." By degrees intercourse with Western Europe was destined to soften, in some particulars, the harsh outlines of this picture.

VIII. FRENCH INVASIONS OF ITALY.

EFFECT OF ABSOLUTE MONARCHY.--The establishment of absolute monarchy in Western Europe placed the resources of the nations at the service of their respective kings. The desire of national aggrandizement led to great European wars, which took the place of the feudal conflicts of a former day. These wars began with the invasion of _Italy_ by _Charles VIII_., king of France.

MOTIVES OF THE INVASION.--To this unwise enterprise _Charles VIII_. was impelled by a romantic dream of conquest, which was not to be limited to the Italian peninsula. He intended to attack the _Turks_ afterward, and to establish once more, under his protection, a Latin kingdom at Jerusalem. His counselors could not dissuade him from the hazardous undertaking. In order to set his hands free, he made treaties that were disadvantageous to France with _Henry VII_., _Maximilian_, and _Ferdinand_ the Catholic. He was invited to cross the Alps by _Ludovico il Moro_ (p. 374), by the Neapolitan barons, by all the enemies of _Pope Alexander VI_. The special ground of the invasion was the claim of the French king, through the house of _Anjou_, to the throne of _Naples_. In 1494 Charles crossed the Alps with a large army, and, with the support of _Ludovico_, advanced from _Milan_, through _Florence_ and _Rome_ to _Naples_. When he was crowned he wore the imperial insignia as if pretending to the Empire of the East also. The rapid progress of the French power alarmed the Pope and the other princes, including _Ludovico_ himself, who was afraid that the king might cast a covetous eye on his own principality. A formidable league was formed against _Charles_, including, besides the Italian princes, _Ferdinand_, _Maximilian_, and _Henry VII_. of England. It was the first European combination against France. _Charles_ left eleven thousand men under _Gilbert de Montpensier_, at _Naples_; and after being exposed to much peril, although he won a victory at _Fornovo_ (1495), he made his way back to France. _Ferdinand II_., aided by Spanish troops, expelled the French from Naples; and the remnant of their garrisons, after the death of Montpensier, was led back to France. The conquests of Charles were lost as speedily as they were gained. His great expedition proved a failure.

DEATH OF SAVONAROLA.--Civil strife continued in the Italian states. Savonarola had been excommunicated by _Alexander VI_. The combination of parties against him was too strong to be overcome by his supporters, and he was put to death in 1498.

LOUIS XII. (1498-1515): HIS FIRST ITALIAN WAR.--On the death of _Charles VIII_., who left no male children, the crown reverted to his nearest relative, _Louis_ of Orleans. He entered once more on the aggressive enterprise begun by his predecessor. He laid claim not only to the rights of _Charles VIII_. at Naples, but also claimed _Milan_ through his grandmother _Valentine Visconti_. In alliance with _Venice_, and with _Florence_ to which he promised _Pisa_, then in revolt against the detested Florentine supremacy, and with the support of _Cæsar Borgia_, he entered Italy, and defeated _Ludovico il Moro_ at _Novara_ (1500). _Ludovico_ had before been driven out of Milan by the French, but had regained the city. He was imprisoned in France; and on his release twelve years afterward, he died from joy. _Louis_ bargained with _Ferdinand the Catholic_ to divide with him the Neapolitan kingdom. _Ferdinand_, the king of Naples, was thus dethroned. But _Ferdinand_ of _Spain_ was as treacherous in his dealing with _Louis_ as he had been in relation to his Neapolitan namesake; and the kingdom fell into the hands of _Gonsalvo de Cordova_, the Spanish general.

THE SECOND ITALIAN WAR OF LOUIS.--Anxious for revenge, _Louis_ sent two armies over the Pyrenees, which failed of success, and a third army into _Italy_ under _La Trémoille_, which was defeated by _Gonsalvo_, notwithstanding the gallantry of _Bayard_, the pattern of chivalry, the French knight "without fear and without reproach."

THE THIRD ITALIAN WAR OF LOUIS.--The third Italian war of _Louis_ began in 1507, and lasted eight years. It includes the history of the League of _Cambray_, and also of the anti-French League subsequently formed. France was barely saved from great calamities in consequence of foolish treaties, three in number, made at _Blois_ in 1504. The party of the queen, _Anne of Brittany_, secured the betrothal of _Claude_, the child of _Louis XII_., to _Charles of Austria_, afterwards _Charles V_., the son of _Philip_, with the promise of Burgundy and Brittany as her dowry. The arrangement was repudiated by the estates of France (1506). _Claude_ was betrothed to _Francis of Angoulême_, the king's nearest male relative, and the heir of the French crown. On the marriage of _Ferdinand_ to _Germaine of Foix_, _Louis_ agreed to give up his claims on _Naples_. The sufferings of Italy had redounded to the advantage of _Venice_. Among her other gains, she had annexed certain towns in the _Romagna_ which fell into anarchy at the expulsion of _Cæsar Borgia_. The energetic Pope, _Julius II_., organized a combination, the celebrated _League of Cambray_ (1508), between himself, the Emperor _Maximilian_, the kings of France and of Aragon: its object was the humbling of _Venice_, and the division of her mainland possessions among the partners in the League.

ENGLAND.--THE TUDORS AND STUARTS.

A fine army of _Louis_, composed of French, Lombards, and Swiss, crossed the _Adda_, and routed the Venetians, who abandoned all their towns outside of Venice. Each of the other confederate powers now seized the places which it desired. France, mistress of _Milan_, was at the height of her power. The Venetians, however, retook _Padua_ from the emperor. The Pope made peace with them, and, fired with the spirit of Italian patriotism, organized a new league for the expulsion of the French--"the barbarians," as he called them--from the country. Old man as he was, he took the field himself in the dead of winter. He was defeated, and went to Rome. _Louis_ convoked a council at _Pisa_, which was to depose _Julius_. A _Holy League_ was formed between the Pope, Venice, _Ferdinand_ of Aragon, and _Henry VIII_. of England. The arms of the French under _Gaston of Foix_, the young duke of Nemours, were for a while successful. _Ravenna_ was in their hands. But _Gaston_ fell at the moment of victory. The Swiss came down, and established _Maximilian Sforza_ at Milan. _Leo X_., of the house of _Medici_, and hostile to France, was chosen Pope (1513). The French troops were defeated by the Swiss near _Novara_, and driven beyond the Alps. France was attacked on the north by the English, with _Maximilian_, who had joined the League in 1513: and _Bayard_ was taken captive. _James IV_. of Scotland, who had made a diversion in favor of France, was beaten and slain at _Flodden Field_ (1513). The eastern borders of France were attacked by the _Swiss Leagues_, who, aided by _Austrians_, penetrated as far as _Dijon_. They were bought off by _La Trémoille_ the French commander, by a large payment of money, and by still more lavish promises. France concluded peace with the Pope, the emperor, and the king of Aragon (1514), and in the next year with _Henry VIII_., whose sister, _Mary_, Louis XII. married, a few months after the death of Anne of Brittany. He abandoned his pretensions to the Milanese, in favor of his younger daughter _Renée_, the wife of _Hercules II_., the duke of _Ferrara_. Louis died (1515), shortly after his marriage. The policy of the belligerent pontiff, _Julius II_., had triumphed. The French were expelled from Italy, but the Spaniards were left all the stronger.

The events just narrated bring us into the midst of the struggles and ambitions of ruling houses, diplomatic intercourse among states, and international wars. These are distinguishing features of modern times.

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Outlines of Universal History, Designed as a Text-book and for Private ReadingChapter I: France: England: Spain: Germany: Italy: the Ottoman Turks

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