Early European History Part 89

4. What parts of Asia were not included in the Mongol Empire at its greatest extent?

5. Trace on the map on page 486 the further expansion of the Mongol Empire after the death of Jenghiz Khan.

6. "Scratch a Russian and you will find a Tartar." What does this mean?

7. Why did the Mongol conquest of Russia tend to strengthen the sentiment of nationality in the Russian people?

8. How did the tsars come to regard themselves as the successors of the Eastern emperors?

9. Compare the Janizaries with the Christian military-religious orders.

10. How was "the victory of the Crescent secured by the children of the Cross"?

11. Why were the invasions of the Mongols and Ottoman Turks more destructive to civilization than those of the Germans, the Arabs, and the Northmen?

12. Enumerate the more important services of the Roman Empire in the East to civilization.

13. On an outline map indicate the extent of the Ottoman Empire in 1453 A.D.

FOOTNOTES

[1] See pages 241, 247, 314, 316, 334.

[2] Mongolia has long been a part of the Chinese Empire, but in 1912 A.D., when China because a republic, Mongolia declared its independence.

[3] Herodotus, iv, 46.

[4] "The Very Mighty King."

[5] See page 20.

[6] For the location of these cities see the map on page 486.

[7] See page 381.

[8] Commonly known as Tamerlane.

[9] See page 616.

[10] See page 622.

[11] For the early history of Russia see page 400.

[12] The name Tartar (more correctly, Tatar) was originally applied to both Mongol and Turkish tribes that entered Russia. There are still over three millions of these "Tartars" in the Russian Empire.

[13] The t.i.tle Tsar, or Czar, is supposed to be a contraction of the word Caesar.

[14] Whence the name Ottoman applied to this branch of the Turks.

[15] See page 242.

[16] A name derived from the Turkish _yeni cheri_, "new troops."

[17] See page 478.

CHAPTER XXII

EUROPEAN NATIONS DURING THE LATER MIDDLE AGES [1]

181. GROWTH OF THE NATIONS

THE NEW NATIONALISM

The map of western Europe, that is, of Europe west of the great Russian plain and the Balkan peninsula, shows this part of the continent at present divided into no less than thirteen separate and independent nations. Most of them arose during the latter part of the Middle Ages.

They have existed so long that we now think of the national state as the highest type of human a.s.sociation, forgetting that it has been preceded by other forms of political organization, such as the Greek republic, the Roman Empire, and the feudal state, and that it may be followed some day by an international or universal state composed of all civilized peoples.

THE NATIONAL STATE AND FEUDALISM

These national states were the successors of feudalism. The establishment of the feudal system in any country meant, as has been seen, its division into numerous small communities, each with a law court, treasury, and army. This system of local government helped to keep order in an age of confusion, but it did not meet the needs of a progressive society. In most parts of Europe the feudal states gradually gave way to centralized governments ruled by despotic kings.

THE NEW MONARCHIES

A feudal king was often little more than a figurehead, equaled, or perhaps surpa.s.sed, in power by some of his own va.s.sals. But in England, France, Spain, and other countries a series of astute and energetic sovereigns were able to strengthen their authority at the expense of the n.o.bles. They formed permanent armies by insisting that all military service should be rendered to themselves and not to the feudal lords. They got into their own hands the administration of justice. They developed a revenue system, with the taxes collected by royal officers and deposited in the royal treasury. The kings thus succeeded in creating in each country one power which all the inhabitants feared, respected, and obeyed.

THE SENTIMENT OF NATIONALITY

A national state in modern times is keenly conscious of its separate existence. All its people usually speak the same language and have for their "fatherland" the warmest feelings of patriotic devotion. In the Middle Ages, however, patriotism was commonly confounded with loyalty to the sovereign, while the differences between nations were obscured by the existence of an international Church and by the use of Latin as the common language of all cultivated persons. The sentiment of nationality arose earlier in England than on the Continent, partly owing to the insular position of that country, but nowhere did it become a very strong influence before the end of the fifteenth century.

182. ENGLAND UNDER WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR, 1066-1087 A.D.; THE NORMAN KINGSHIP

THE LAST INVASION OF ENGLAND

The Normans were the last invaders of England. Since 1066 A.D. the English Channel, not more than twenty-one miles wide between Dover and Calais, has formed a watery barrier against Continental domination. The English people, for eight and a half centuries, have been free to develop their ideals, customs, and methods of government in their own way. We shall now learn how they established a strong monarchy and at the same time laid deep and firm the foundations of const.i.tutional liberty.

WILLIAM'S DESPOTIC RULE

William the Conqueror had won England by force of arms. He ruled it as a despot. Those who resisted him he treated as rebels, confiscating their land and giving it to Norman followers. To prevent uprisings he built a castle in every important town and garrisoned it with his own soldiers.

The Tower of London still stands as an impressive memorial of the days of the Conquest. But William did not rely on force alone. He sought with success to attach the English to himself by retaining most of their old customs and by giving them an enlightened administration of the law. "Good peace he made in this land," said the old Anglo-Saxon chronicler, "so that a man might travel over the kingdom with his bosom full of gold without molestation, and no man durst kill another, however great the injury he might have received from him."

WILLIAM AND FEUDALISM

The feudal system on the Continent permitted a powerful n.o.ble to gather his va.s.sals and make war on the king, whenever he chose to do so. William had been familiar with this evil side of feudalism, both in France and in his own duchy of Normandy, and he determined to prevent its introduction into England. William established the principle that a va.s.sal owed his first duty to the king and not to his immediate lord. If a n.o.ble rebelled and his men followed him, they were to be treated as traitors. Rebellion proved to be an especially difficult matter in England, since the estates which a great lord possessed were not all in any one place but were scattered about the kingdom. A n.o.ble who planned to revolt could be put down before he was able to collect his retainers from the most distant parts of the country.