Outlines of Universal History Part 32

| | Mary of Hesse Darmstadt.

| | | | | +--ALEXANDER III, 1881- m.

| | Mary (Dagmar), daughter | | of Christian IX of Denmark | | | +--ELIZABETH, 1741-1762.

| +--THEODORE, 1584-1598.

_m._ +--Irene,[2]

| +--BORIS, G.o.dounof, [3] 1598-1605.

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 pa.s.s 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 Palaeologus_, 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 Caesars, 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. _Va.s.sali Ivanovitch_ (1505-1533), his son, continued the struggle with _Lithuania_, and acquired _Smolensk_ (1514). He exchanged emba.s.sies with most of the sovereigns of the West.

IVAN IV. (1533-1584).--_Ivan IV_., Ivan the Terrible, first took the t.i.tle 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 princ.i.p.alities 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 G.o.dounof_ (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 G.o.dounof_, two pretenders, one after the other, each a.s.suming 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 n.o.bles 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 cla.s.ses 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 cla.s.ses in Russia advanced, the condition of the rustics for several centuries continued to grow worse.

RUSSIAN SOCIETY.--The great n.o.bles 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 princ.i.p.ality. 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 _Caesar 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 Tremoille_, 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 Angouleme_, 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 _Caesar 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.

HENRY VII, 1485-1509, _m._ Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV.

| +--Margaret, _m._ James IV of Scotland.

| | | +--James V.

| | | +--Mary, Queen of Scots.

| | | +--JAMES I, 1603-1625, _m._ | Anne, daughter of Frederick II of Denmark.

| | | +--3, CHARLES I, 1625-1649, _m._ | | Henrietta Maria, daughter of Henry IV of France.

| | | | | +--CHARLES II, 1660-1685, _m._ | | | Catharine, daughter of John IV of Portugal.

| | | | | +--Mary, _m._ William II, Prince of Orange.

| | | | | | | +--WILLIAM III, 1688-1702.

| | | _m._ | | | +--MARY, d. 1694 | | | | | | +--JAMES II, 1685-1688 (deposed, _d._ 1701), | | _m._ Anne Hyde, daughter of Earl of Clarendon.

| | | | | +--ANNE, 1702-1714, _m._ | | George, son of Frederick III of Denmark.

| | | +--2, Elizabeth, _m._ Frederick V, Elector Palatine.

| | | +--Sophia, _m._ Ernest Augustus, | Elector of Hanover.

| | | +--GEORGE I, succeeded 1714.

| +--HENRY VIII, 1509-1547, _m._, | 1. Catharine, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella; | 2, Anne Boleyn; | 3. Jane Seymour; | 4. Anne, sister of William, Duke of Cleves; | 5. Catharine Howard; | 6. Catharine Parr.

| | | +--3, EDWARD VI, 1547-1553.

| | | +--1, MARY, 1553-1558, _m._ Philip II of Spain.

| | | +--2, ELIZABETH, 1558-1603.

| +--Mary, _m._ 1, Louis XII of France; 2, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.

| +--Frances, _m._ Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk.

| +--Jane (_m._ Guilford Dudley), executed 1554.

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 Tremoille_ 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 _Renee_, 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.

CHAPTER II. INVENTION AND DISCOVERY: THE RENAISSANCE.

We have glanced at the new life of Europe in its _political_ manifestations. We have now to view this new life in other relations: we have to inquire how it acted as a stimulus to _intellectual_ effort in different directions.

The term _Renaissance_ is frequently applied at present not only to the "new birth" of art and letters, but to all the characteristics, taken together, of the period of transition from the Middle Ages to modern life. The transformation in the structure and policy of states, the pa.s.sion for discovery, the dawn of a more scientific method of observing man and nature, the movement towards more freedom of intellect and of conscience, are part and parcel of one comprehensive change,--a change which even now has not reached its goal. It was not so much "the arts and the inventions, the knowledge and the books, which suddenly became vital at the time of the Renaissance," that created the new epoch: it was "the intellectual energy, the spontaneous outburst of intelligence, which enabled mankind at that moment to make use of them."

INVENTIONS: GUNPOWDER.--In the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, there were brought into practical use several inventions most important in their results to civilization. Of these the princ.i.p.al were _gunpowder_, the _mariner's compa.s.s_, and _printing_ by movable types. _Gunpowder_ was not first made by _Schwartz_, a monk of _Freiburg_, as has often been a.s.serted. We have notices, more or less obscure, of the use of an explosive material resembling it, among the _Chinese_, among the _Indians_ in the East as early as _Alexander the Great_, and among the _Arabs_. It was first brought into use in firearms in the middle of the fourteenth century. The effect was to make infantry an effective force, and to equalize combatants, since a peasant could handle a gun as well as a knight. Another consequence has been to mitigate the brutalizing influence of war on the soldiery, by making it less a hand-to-hand encounter, an encounter with swords and spears, attended with bloodshed, and kindling personal animosity; and by rendering it possible to hold in custody large numbers of captives, whose lives, therefore, can be spared.

THE COMPa.s.s.--The properties of the magnetic needle were not first applied to navigation, as has been thought, by _Flavio Gioja_, but long before his time, as early as the twelfth century, the compa.s.s came into general use. Navigation was no longer confined to the Mediterranean and to maritime coasts. The sailor could push out into the ocean without losing himself on its boundless waste.

PRINTING.--Printing, which had been done to some extent by wooden blocks, was probably first done with movable types (about 1450) by _John Gutenberg_, who was born at _Meniz_, but who lived long at _Strasburg_. He was furnished with capital by an a.s.sociate, _Faust_, and worked in company with a skillful copyist of ma.n.u.scripts, _Schoffer_. _Gutenberg_ brought the art to such perfection, that in 1456 a complete Latin Bible was printed. Within a short time, printing-presses were set up in all the princ.i.p.al cities of Germany and Italy. As an essential concomitant, _linen_ and _cotton paper_ came into vogue in the room of the costly parchment. Books were no longer confined to the rich. Despite the censorship of the press, thought traveled from city to city and from land to land. It was a sign of a new era, that _Maximilian_ in Germany and _Louis XI_. in France founded a postal system.

NEW ROUTE TO INDIA.--The discovery by the _Portuguese_ of the islands of _Porto Santo_ and _Madeira_ (1419-1420), of the _Canary Islands_ and of the _Azores_, was followed by their discovery of the coast of _Upper Guinea_, with its gold-dust, ivory, and gums (1445). The Pope, to whom was accorded the right to dispose of the heathen and of newly discovered lands, granted to the Portuguese the possession of these regions, and of whatever discoveries they should make as far as India. From _Lower Guinea (Congo)_, _Bartholomew Diaz_ reached the southern point of Africa (1486), which King _John II_. named the _Cape of Good Hope_. Then, under _Emanuel the Great_ (1495-1521), _Vasco da Gama_ found the way to _East India_, round the Cape, by sailing over the Indian Ocean to the coast of _Malabar_, and into the harbor of _Calicut_ (1498). The Portuguese encountered the resistance of the Mohammedans to their settlement; but by their valor and persistency, especially by the agency of their leaders _Almeida_ and the brave _Albuquerque_, their trading-posts were established on the coast.