Early European History Part 100

THE ARTHURIAN ROMANCES

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were also important figures in medieval legend. Arthur was said to have reigned in Britain early in the sixth century and to have fought against the Anglo-Saxons. Whether he ever lived or not we do not know. In the Arthurian romances this Celtic king stands forth as the model knight, the ideal of n.o.ble chivalry. The Norman conquerors of England carried the romances to France, and here, where feudalism was so deeply rooted, they found a hearty welcome. Sir Thomas Malory's _Morte d' Arthur_, one of the first books to be printed in England, contains many of the narratives from which Tennyson, in his _Idylls of the King_, and other modern poets have drawn their inspiration.

THE NIBELINGENLIED

The greatest epic composed in Germany during the Middle Ages is the _Nibelungenlied_. The poem begins in Burgundy, where three kings hold court at Worms, on the Rhine. Thither comes the hero, Siegfried, ruler of the Netherlands. He had slain the mysterious Nibelungs and seized their treasure, together with the magic cloud-cloak which rendered its wearer invisible to human eyes. He had also killed a dragon and by bathing in its blood had become invulnerable, except in one place where a linden leaf touched his body. Siegfried marries Kriemhild, a beautiful Burgundian princess, and with her lives most happily. But a curse attached to the Nibelung treasure, and Siegfried's enemy, the "grim Hagen," treacherously slays him by a spear thrust in the one spot where he could be hurt. Many years afterwards Kriemhild marries Attila, king of the Huns, on condition that he help her to vengeance. Hagen and his Burgundians are invited to Hunland, where Kriemhild causes them all to be put to death. The name of the poet who compiled and probably wrote much of the _Nibelungenlied_ remains unknown, but his work has a place among the cla.s.sics of German literature.

REYNARD THE FOX

No account of medieval literature ought to omit a reference to _Reynard the Fox_. This is a long poem, first written in Latin, and then turned into the chief languages of Europe. The characters are animals: Reynard, cunning and audacious, who outwits all his foes; Chanticleer the c.o.c.k; Bruin the Bear; Isengrim the Wolf; and many others. But they are animals in name only. We see them worship like Christians, go to Ma.s.s, ride on horseback, debate in councils, and amuse themselves with hawking and hunting. Satire often creeps in, as when the villainous Fox confesses his sins to the Badger or vows that he will go to the Holy Land on a pilgrimage. The special interest of this work lies in the fact that it expressed the feelings of the common people, groaning under the oppression of feudal lords.

THE ROBIN HOOD BALLADS

The same democratic spirit breathes in the old English ballads of the outlaw Robin Hood. According to some accounts he flourished in the second half of the twelfth century, when Henry II and Richard the Lion-hearted reigned over England. Robin Hood, with his merry men, leads an adventurous life in Sherwood Forest, engaging in feats of strength and hunting the king's tall deer. Bishops, sheriffs, and gamekeepers are his only enemies.

For the common people he has the greatest pity, and robs the rich to endow the poor. Courtesy, generosity, and love of fair play are some of the characteristics which made him a popular hero. If King Arthur was the ideal knight, Robin Hood was the ideal yeoman. The ballads about him were sung by country folk for hundreds of years.

202. ROMANESQUE AND GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE; THE CATHEDRALS

TWO ARCHITECTURAL STYLES

The genius of the Middle Ages found its highest expression, not in books, but in buildings. For several hundred years after the barbarian invasions architecture had made little progress in western Europe, outside of Italy, which was subject to Byzantine influence, [8] and Spain, which was a center of Mohammedan culture. [9] Beginning about 800 A.D. came a revival, and the adoption of an architectural style called Romanesque, because it went back to Roman principles of construction. Romanesque architecture arose in northern Italy and southern France and gradually spread to other European countries. It was followed about 1100 A D. by the Gothic style of architecture, which prevailed during the next four centuries.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLAN OF SALISBURY CATHEDRAL, ENGLAND Note the double transepts.]

THE ROMANESQUE CHURCH

The church of the early Christians seems to have been modeled upon the Roman basilica, with its arrangement of nave and aisles, its circular arched recess (apse) at one end, and its flat, wooden ceiling supported by columns. [10] The Romanesque church departed from the basilican plan by the introduction of transepts, thus giving the building the form of a Latin cross. A dome, which might be covered by a pointed roof, was generally raised over the junction of the nave and transepts. At the same time the apse was enlarged so as to form the choir, a place reserved for the clergy.

[Ill.u.s.tration: REIMS CATHEDRAL The cathedral of Notre Dame at Reims in northwestern France stands on the site where Clovis was baptized by St Remi. Here most of the French kings were consecrated with holy oil by the archbishops of Reims. Except the west front, which was built in the fourteenth century, the cathedral was completed by the end of the thirteenth century. The towers, 267 feet high, were originally designed to reach 394 feet. The facade, with its three arched portals exquisite rose window, and "gallery of the kings," is justly celebrated. The cathedral--walls, roof, statues, and windows--has been terribly damaged by the German bombardment during the late war.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: COLOGNE CATHEDRAL The Cathedral, or Dom, one of the finest monuments of Gothic architecture in Europe, was begun in the thirteenth century. The work of building proceeded slowly and at the time of the Reformation it ceased altogether.

The structure was finally completed during the nineteenth century, and in 1880 AD it was opened in the presence of the emperor, William I. The Cathedral, which is in the form of a cross, measures 480 feet in length and 282 feet in breadth. Each of the towers reaches the height of 511 feet. The very numerous and richly-colored windows add greatly to the imposing effect of the interior.]

VAULTING AND THE ROUND ARCH

The Romanesque church also differed from a basilica in the use of vaulting to take the place of a flat ceiling. The old Romans had constructed their vaulted roofs and domes in concrete, which forms a rigid ma.s.s and rests securely upon the walls like the lid of a box. [11] Medieval architects, however, built in stone, which exerts an outward thrust and tends to force the walls apart. Consequently they found it necessary to make the walls very thick and to strengthen them by piers, or b.u.t.tresses, on the outside of the edifice. It was also necessary to reduce the width of the vaulted s.p.a.ces. The vaulting, windows, and doorways had the form of the round arch, that is, a semicircle, as in the ancient Roman monuments. [12]

THE GOTHIC STYLE

Gothic architecture arose in France in the country around Paris, at a time when the French kingdom was taking the lead in European affairs. Later it spread to England, Germany, the Netherlands, and even to southern Europe.

As an old chronicler wrote, "It was as if the whole world had thrown off the rags of its ancient time, and had arrayed itself in the white robes of the churches." The term Gothic was applied contemptuously to this architectural style by writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, who regarded everything non-cla.s.sical as barbarous. They believed it to be an invention of the barbarian Goths, and so they called it Gothic. The name has stuck, as bad names have a habit of doing, but nowadays every one recognizes the greatness of this medieval art. The most beautiful buildings of the Middle Ages are of Gothic architecture.

RIBBED VAULTING AND THE FLYING b.u.t.tRESS

The Gothic style formed a natural development of the Romanesque style. The architects of a Gothic church wished to retain the vaulted ceiling but at the same time to do away with thick, solid walls, which had so little window s.p.a.ce as to leave the interior of the building dark gloomy. They solved this problem, in the first place, by using a great number of stone ribs, which gathered up the weight of the ceiling and rested on pillars.

Ribbed vaulting made possible higher ceilings, spanning wider areas, than in Romanesque churches. [13] In the second place, the pillars supporting the ribs were themselves connected by means of flying b.u.t.tresses with stout piers of masonry outside the walls of the church. [14] These walls, relieved from the pressure of the ceiling, now became a mere screen to keep out the weather. They could be built of light materials and opened up with high, wide windows.

THE POINTED ARCH

Ribbed vaulting and the flying b.u.t.tress are the distinctive features of Gothic architecture. A third feature, noteworthy but not so important, is the use of the pointed arch. It was not Christian in origin, for it had long been known to the Arabs in the East and the Moslem conquerors of Sicily. [15] The semicircular or round arch can be only half as high as it is wide, but the pointed arch may vary greatly in its proportions. The use of this device enabled the Gothic builder to bridge over different widths at any required height. It is also lighter and more graceful than the round arch. [16]

[Ill.u.s.tration: CROSS SECTION OF AMIENS CATHEDRAL A, vaulting; B, ribs; C, flying b.u.t.tresses; D, b.u.t.tresses; E, low windows; F, clerestory.]

GOTHIC ORNAMENT

The labors of the Gothic architect were admirably seconded by those of other artists. The sculptor cut figures of men, animals, and plants in the utmost profusion. The painter covered vacant wall s.p.a.ces with brilliant mosaics and frescoes. The wood-carver made exquisite choir stalls, pulpits, altars, and screens. Master workmen filled the stone tracery of the windows with stained gla.s.s unequaled in coloring by the finest modern work. Some rigorous churchmen like St. Bernard condemned the expense of these magnificent cathedrals, but most men found in their beauty an additional reason to praise G.o.d.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GARGOYLES ON THE CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME, PARIS Strange grotesque figures and faces of stone used as ornaments of Gothic buildings and as spouts to carry off rain water. They represent beasts, demons, and other creations of medieval fancy.]

THE CATHEDRAL AS A RELIGIOUS EDIFICE

The Gothic cathedral, in fact, perfectly expressed the religious spirit of the Middle Ages. For its erection kings and n.o.bles offered costly gifts.

The common people, when they had no money to give, contributed their labor, each man doing what he could to carry upward the walls and towers and to perfect every part of G.o.d's dwelling. The interior of such a cathedral, with its vast nave rising in swelling arches to the vaulted roof, its cl.u.s.tered columns, its glowing windows, and infinite variety of ornamentation, forms the most awe-inspiring sanctuary ever raised by man.

It is a prayer, a hymn, a sermon in stone.

THE SECULAR GOTHIC

Gothic architecture, though at first confined to churches, came to be used for other buildings. Among the monuments of the secular Gothic are beautiful town halls, guild halls, markets, and charming private houses.

[17] But the cathedral remained the best expression of the Gothic style.

203. EDUCATION; THE UNIVERSITIES

COMMON SCHOOLS

Not less important than the Gothic cathedrals for the understanding of medieval civilization were the universities. They grew out of the monastic and cathedral schools where boys were trained to become monks or priests.

Such schools had been created or restored by Charlemagne. [18] The teaching, which lay entirely in the hands of the clergy, was elementary in character. Pupils learned enough Latin grammar to read religious books, if not always to understand them, and enough music to follow the services of the Church. They also studied arithmetic by means of the awkward Roman notation, received a smattering of astronomy, and sometimes gained a little knowledge of such subjects as geography, law, and philosophy.

Besides these monastic and cathedral schools, others were maintained by the guilds. Boys who had no regular schooling often received instruction from the parish priest of the village or town. Illiteracy was common enough in medieval times, but the ma.s.s of the people were by no means entirely uneducated.

RISE OF UNIVERSITIES

Between 1150 and 1500 A.D. at least eighty universities were established in western Europe. Some speedily became extinct, but there are still about fifty European inst.i.tutions of learning which started in the Middle Ages.

The earliest universities did not look to the state or to some princely benefactor for their foundation. They arose, as it were, spontaneously. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries Europe felt the thrill of a great intellectual revival. It was stimulated by intercourse with the highly cultivated Arabs in Spain, Sicily, and the East, and with the Greek scholars of Constantinople during the crusades. The desire for instruction became so general that the common schools could not satisfy it. Other schools were then opened in the cities and to them flocked eager learners from every quarter.

PETER ABELARD 1079-1142 A.D.

How easily a university might grow up about the personality of some eminent teacher is shown by the career of Abelard. The eldest son of a n.o.ble family in Brittany, Abelard would naturally have entered upon a military career, but he chose instead the life of a scholar and the contests of debate. When still a young man he came to Paris and attended the lectures given by a master of the cathedral school of Notre Dame.

Before long he had overcome his instructor in discussion, thus establishing his own reputation. At the early age of twenty-two Abelard himself set up as a lecturer. Few teachers have ever attracted so large and so devoted a following. His lecture room under the shadow of the great cathedral was filled with a crowd of youths and men drawn from all countries.

UNIVERSITY OF PARIS

The fame of Abelard led to an increase of masters and students at Paris and so paved the way for the establishment of the university there, later in the twelfth century. Paris soon became such a center of learning, particularly in theology and philosophy, that a medieval writer referred to it as "the mill where the world's corn is ground, and the hearth where its bread is baked." The university of Paris, in the time of its greatest prosperity, had over five thousand students. It furnished the model for the English university of Oxford, as well as for the learned inst.i.tutions of Scotland, Denmark, Sweden, and Germany.

UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA

The inst.i.tutions of learning in southern Europe were modeled, more or less, upon the university of Bologna. At this Italian city, in the middle of the twelfth century, a celebrated teacher named Irnerius gathered about him thousands of pupils for the study of the Justinian code. [19] The university developed out of his law school. Bologna was the center from which the Roman system of jurisprudence made its way into France, Germany, and other Continental countries. From Bologna, also, came the monk Gratian, who drew up the accepted text-book of canon law, as followed in all Church courts. [20] What Roman law was to the Empire canon law was to the Papacy.