A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W X Z

Outline of Universal History

G >> George Park Fisher >> Outline of Universal History




LITHUANIANS AND PRUSSIANS.--Both _Poland_ and _Russia_ were
originally cut off from the Baltic by other races. Such were the
non-Aryan _Fins_ in Esthonia (Esthland) and Livonia
(Livland). Such, also, were the Aryans of the _Lettic_ branch, of
whom the _Lithuanians_ and the _Prussians_ were the principal
divisions. The _Lithuanians_ formed at one time a strong state.
The _Prussians_ finally gave their name to the Teutonic kingdom in
which they were absorbed.

THE POLES.--The _Poles_ derive their name from a word meaning
_plains_. They were inhabitants of the plains. They were the
strongest of a group of tribes dwelling between the Oder and the
Vistula, and holding the coast between their mouths. Between them and
the sea, on the east of the Vistula, were the _Prussians_.

POLAND: ITS CONSTITUTION.--In the tenth century the _Lechs_, or
_Poles_, on the Vistula, had acquired considerable power, and had
a center at _Gnesen_, which remained the metropolis of
Poland. There are legends of a first duke, _Piast_ by name. A
dynasty which bore his name continued in Poland until 1370; in Silesia,
until 1675. _Miecislas I_. was converted to Christianity by his
wife, a Bohemian princess. He did homage to the Emperor _Otto I_.
(978). _Boleslav I_. (992) aspired to the regal dignity, and had
himself crowned as king by his bishops. _Gregory
VII_. excommunicated him, deprived him of the title of king, and
laid Poland under an interdict. _Boleslav III_., the Victorious
(1102-1138), subdued the _Pomeranians_, and compelled them to
receive Christianity. He divided his kingdom among his four
sons. _Silesia_ became an independent duchy. A long crusade was
carried on against the _Prussians_, a heathen people, who attacked
the Poles, by the "Brethren of the soldiers of Christ," and the
"Teutonic knights," two orders which were united (about 1226). The
Teutonic knights at length became the enemies of the Poles. The savage
_Lithuanians_ assailed them on the north. From the anarchy that
reigned, Poland was rescued by _Casimir III_., the Great
(1333-1370), who defeated the Russians, and carried his eastern
boundary as far as the _Dnieper_. Prior to this time, Poland was
an important kingdom. Casimir framed a code of written laws for his
people, and gave an impulse to commerce. But in order to secure the
election of his nephew, _Louis_ king of Hungary (1370-1382), he
had to increase the powers and privileges of the nobles. The accession
of _Louis_ terminated the long rivalry of Poland and Hungary. He,
like _Casimir_, died without children. The nobles made
_Jagellon_, the Grand Duke of _Lithuania_, his successor
(1386), who took the name of _Vladislav II_. Under a series of
conquering princes, _Lithuania_ had extended its dominion over the
neighboring Russian lands, and become a strong state. _Vladislav_
was chosen on the condition that he should espouse the daughter of the
last king, and, with his nation, embrace Christianity. This event
doubled the territory of Poland. The _Teutonic Knights_, who ruled
from the Oder to the Gulf of Finland, were now overcome. The treaty of
_Thorn_ (1466) confined their dominion to _Eastern
Prussia_. The misfortune of _Poland_ was its political
constitution. Although the monarchy was not yet completely elective,
but hereditary in the house of _Jagellon_, the election of every
king had to be sanctioned by the nobles. They alone took part in the
diet, and held the offices and honors. There was no burgher class, no
"third estate." Every man who owned and was able to equip a horse was
counted as a noble. The burden of taxation fell on the peasants.

NATURAL FEATURES OF RUSSIA.--Russia in Europe comprises at present more
than half the territory of that entire continent. Yet it has but a
small share of seaboard, and of this a large part is frozen in
winter. The surface of Russia is of a piece with the boundless plateaus
of Northern and Central Asia. It has been defined as the "Europe of
plains, in opposition to the Europe of mountains." The mountains of
Russia are chiefly on its boundaries. It is a country subject to
extremes of heat and cold. From the scarcity of stone, all buildings
were formerly of wood, and hence its towns were all combustible. The
rivers of Russia have been of immense importance in its history. "The
whole history of this country is the history of its three great rivers,
and is divided into three periods,--that of the _Dnieper_ with
_Kiev_, that of the _Volga_ with _Moscow_, and that of
the _Neva_ with _Novgorod_ in the eighth century, and
_St. Petersburg_ in the eighteenth."

RUSSIANS AND POLES.--The Russian Slaves in the ninth century occupied
but a small part of what is now Russia. There was probably little
difference then between them and the Poles; but the one people were
molded by the Greek Church and Greek civilization, the other by the
Latin Church and by the collective influences of Western Europe.

RUSSIAN HISTORY.--The Northmen under _Rurik_ had founded their
dominion in Russia. _Novgorod_ was their center. Thence they
pushed their conquests to the south. Their descendants made
_Kiev_, on the Dnieper, their capital. In Russia, as elsewhere,
the Scandinavians quickly blended with their native subjects. Under
_Vladimir I._ (980-1015), who was converted to Greek
Christianity, with his people, and _Iaroslaf I._ (1019-1051),
they attained to considerable power; but the custom of the sovereigns
to divide their dominions among their sons, broke up their territory
into a multitude of petty principalities. The result was a monotonous
series of fierce contests, without any substantial result. In the
midst of the bloody and profitless civil wars occurred the great
invasion of the _Mongols_, who destroyed the principality of
_Kiev_, and made that of _Vladimir_ tributary. For two
centuries the Russians continued under the yoke of the "Golden Horde,"
which the Mongols established on the Volga. They were obliged to pay
tribute, and the Russian princes at their accession had to swear
fealty to the _khan_ on the banks of the river _Amoor_. At
the time of the Mongol conquest, _Novgorod_ was the center of
Russian dominion. Towards the end of the thirteenth century,
_Moscow_ became a new center of Russian power. From _Moscow_
comes the name _Muscovy_. "Muscovy was to Russia what France in
the older sense was to the whole land which came to bear that name."
In the fourteenth century, while _Lithuania_ and _Poland_
were absorbing by conquest the territories of earlier or
_Western_ Russia, the Duchy of _Moscow_ was building up a
new Russia in the East, out of which grew the Russia of
to-day. _Ivan I._, regarded as the founder of the Russian
monarchy, made Moscow his capital in 1328. Most of the other princes
were subject to him. _Demetrius_ (or _Dimtri) I_. gained two
great victories over the Mongol horde (1378 and 1380); but in 1382
they burned _Moscow_, and slew twenty-four thousand of its
inhabitants. It was not until the reign of _Ivan III_., Ivan the
Great (1462-1505), that _Novgorod_ submitted to _Moscow_,
and Russia was wholly delivered from the control and influence of the
Mongols.


VI. HUNGARY.

THE ARPAD DYNASTY.--The chiefs of the Turanian _Magyars_, about
889, elected _Arpad_ as successor of the leader under whom they
had crossed the Carpathian Mountains. They overran Hungary and
Transylvania, and terrified Europe by their invasions (p. 249). After
their defeats by the emperors _Henry I_. and _Otto the
Great_ (p. 261), they confined themselves to their own country. The
first king, _Stephen_,--St. Stephen,--was crowned, with the
consent of Pope _Sylvester II_., in the year 1000. He divided the
land into counties, organized the Church, and founded convents and
schools. He conferred on the bishops high offices. He established a
national council, composed of the lords temporal and spiritual, and of
the knights, out of which sprung the _diets_. _Ladislaus
I_. conquered _Croatia_ (1089), and a part of the "Red
Russian" land of _Galicia_ (1093). Coloman, "the Learned," a
brave and able man, annexed _Dalmatia_, which he wrested from the
Venetians (1102). In the reign of _Andrew II_. (1205-1235), the
"Golden Bull" was extorted by the nobles, which conferred on them
extraordinary rights and privileges, including exemption from arrest
prior to trial and conviction, and the control of the diet over
appointments to office. It even authorized armed resistance on their
part to tyrannical measures of the king,--a right that was not
abrogated until 1687. Hungary was devastated by the great Tartar
invasion (1241-42) (p. 283). The kings of Hungary supported the cause
of _Rudolph_ of Austria against _Ottocar_ of Bohemia
(p. 332).

INVASIONS OF THE TURKS.--The last king of the _Arpad_ dynasty
died in 1301. There was a division of parties in the choice of a
successor. Pope _Boniface VIII_. and the clergy supported the
claims of Count _Charles Robert of Anjou_, who was related to the
former reigning family. Under the son of _Charles Robert, Louis,_
who also succeeded _Casimir III_. as king of Poland (1370),
Hungary became a very powerful state. _Galicia_ was regained,
_Moldavia_ and _Bulgaria_ were conquered. After the death of
_Louis_, his daughter _Maria_ reigned from 1386 conjointly
with _Sigismund_, afterwards emperor, and king of Bohemia. He
established his supremacy over _Bosnia_. From this time the
invasions of the _Turks_ begin. There had been a party in favor
of raising to the throne _Vladislaus_, king of Poland; and after
the death of Sigismund's successor, _Albert II_. of Austria
(1437), and the death of the queen, he gained the crown (1442). He was
slain at _Varna_, in the great battle in which the Hungarians
were vanquished by the Turks (1444). _John Hunyady_, who had
several times defeated the Turks, and who escaped on the field of
Varna, was made for the time "governor;" but on the release of the son
of Albert, _Ladislaus Posthumus_, who had been kept from the
throne by the Emperor _Frederick III_., he was recognized as king
(1452). _Hun-yady_ was made general-in-chief. _Frederick_
had also retained in his hands the crown, which had been intrusted to
his care, and which Hungarians have always regarded with extreme
veneration. A little later, great advantages were gained over the
Turks, to be lost again in the sixteenth century.


VII. THE OTTOMAN TURKS.

OSMAN: MURAD I.--Towards the end of the thirteenth century, the
_Osman_ (or _Ottoman_) _Turks_, warlike nomad hordes,
in order to escape from the _Mongols_, moved from the region east
of the Caspian Sea, and conquered in Asia Minor the remnant of the
kingdom of the Seljukians (p. 270). Impelled by fanaticism and the
desire of booty, _Ottoman_ (or _Osman_), their leader,
advanced into _Bithynia_, and took _Pruse_, or
_Broussa_, one of the most important cities of Asia Minor. The
Greeks, with their Catalonian auxiliaries, were not able to dislodge
him from his new possession. The Byzantine court was disabled from
making an energetic effort for this end, by the partisan rancor, and
mingled lethargy and cruelty, which characterized the old age of the
Greek Empire. _Nicomedia_, _Nicoea_, and _Ilium_ were
conquered by the Sultan (or _Padishah_). _Murad
I_. (1361-1389) founded the corps of _janizaries_, composed of
select Christian youth chosen from the captives for their beauty and
vigor. These became the most effective soldiers,--sometimes dangerous,
however, to the sultans themselves. _Adrianople_ was taken by
_Murad_, and made the seat of his authority. The Christian
principalities of _Thrace_, and the ancient but depopulated
cities founded by the Greeks and Romans, were overrun. The Servians
and Bulgarians made a stand against the fierce Ottoman warriors, but
were beaten in the battle of _Kosovo_, where _Murad_was
slain.

BAJAZET.--_Bajazet_, the son and successor of _Murad_, outdid
his predecessor in his martial prowess. He conquered _Macedonia_
and _Thessaly_, and _Greece_ to the southern end of
Peloponnesus. The Emperor _Sigismund_ and _John of Burgundy_,
with one hundred thousand men, were utterly defeated in the sanguinary
battle of _Nicopolis_ (1396). _Sigismund_ escaped by sea; the
French counts and knights had to be redeemed from captivity with a
large ransom; and ten thousand prisoners of lower rank were slaughtered
by _Bajazet_. _Bosnia_ was now in the hands of the
victor. _Constantinople_ had to pay tribute, and seemed likely to
become his prey, when a temporary respite was obtained for it by the
coming of a host even more powerful than that of _Bajazet_.

MONGOLIAN INVASION.--_Timur_, or _Tamerlane_, a descendant of
_Genghis Khan _(p. 283), revived the fallen Tartar kingdom. At the
head of his wandering _Tartars_, which grew into an army, he left
_Samarcand_, where he had caused himself to be proclaimed
sovereign, and, in a rapid career of conquest, made himself master of
the countries from the Wall of China to the Mediterranean, and from the
boundaries of Egypt to Moscow. Everywhere his path was marked with
blood and with the ruins of the places which he destroyed. At
_Ispahan_, in Persia, seventy thousand persons were killed. At
_Delhi_, one hundred thousand captives were slain, that his
relative, the "Great Mogul," might reign in security. It was his
delight to pile up at the gates of cities pyramids of twenty or thirty
thousand heads. Later (1401), at _Bagdad_, he erected such a
pyramid of ninety thousand heads. He gained a great victory over the
"Golden Horde" in _Russia_ (p. 283), conquered the unsubdued parts
of _Persia_, entered _Bagdad_, _Bassorah_, and
_Mosul_, vanquished the khan of _Kaptchak_, and penetrated
_Russia_ in his devastating progress, as far as _Moscow_
(1396). Then followed the conquest of _Hindustan_.

TAMERLANE AND BAJAZET.--The two powerful monarchs, _Tamerlane_
and _Bajazet_, now measured their strength in combat with one
another. Trembling ambassadors of the Greek emperor, and of certain
Seljukian princes, had waited on _Tamerlane_ in _Gengia_ at
the foot of the Caucasus. On the 16th of June, 1402, the two
armies--four hundred thousand Turks, and eight hundred thousand
Mongols, if one may credit the reports--met at _Ancyra_. The
Ottomans were defeated, and _Bajazet_ was taken prisoner. Led
into the presence of _Tamerlane_, he found the Mongol quietly
playing chess with his son. Asia Minor submitted to the conqueror, who
penetrated as far as _Smyrna_. An old man, he was looking towards
_China_ as another field for invasion, when he died
(1405). _Bajazet_ died soon after his defeat.

TURKISH CONQUESTS: THE GREEKS AND LATINS.--The grandson of
_Bajazet_, _Murad II._ (1421-1451), took up anew his
projects of conquest. The empire of _Tamerlane_ quickly fell to
pieces. His course had been like that of a hurricane, terrible in its
work of destruction, but soon at an end. The Byzantine dominion was
soon confined to _Constantinople_ and small districts
adjacent. On all sides the Ottoman power was supreme. The Greek
emperor, _John VII._ (_Palaeologus_), now endeavored, in
imitation of previous attempts, to bring about a union of the Greek
and Latin churches, and thus remove a principal obstacle to the
obtaining of military help from the West. He went to Italy, attended
by the patriarch and many bishops. After long debates and conferences
on the abstruse points of doctrinal difference, a verbal agreement was
reached between the two parties (1439). But the result was received
with so much disfavor and indignation in Constantinople, that the
effort to bring the sundered churches together came to naught. The
Pope, however, stirred up the Christian princes to engage in war
against the Turk. The defeat of _Vladislav_, king of Hungary, and
of _Hunyady_, at _Varna_ (1444), caused by the rash onset of
the king upon the janizaries, was succeeded by another Turkish victory
at _Kosovo_, four years later.

FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE.--_Murad II._ was succeeded by his
ambitious and unmerciful son, _Mohammed II._ (1451-1481), who
determined that _Constantinople_ should be his capital. The city
had seven thousand defenders, comprising two thousand Genoese and
Venetians, who were commanded by an able man, the Genoese
_Justiniani_. The Emperor _Constantine XII._ worshiped
according to the Roman rites; while his court observed the Greek forms,
and spurned a union with the hated Latin Christians, whose help the
emperor was to the end anxious to obtain. The city was stoutly defended
for fifty-three days; and when it could be held no longer against the
furious assault of the Turks, the gallant _Constantine_, casting
aside his golden armor, fell, bravely fighting with the defenders on
the ramparts (May 29, 1453). Constantinople became the capital of the
Turks. The crescent supplanted the cross, and the Church of
_St. Sophia_ was turned into a mosque.

TURKISH GOVERNMENT.--The _Sultan_, or _padischah_, among the
Turks is absolute master, and proprietor of the soil. There is no order
of nobles, and there are no higher classes except the priests
(_imams_) and the religious orders (_dervishes_). In the
seraglio of the Sultan, with its palaces and gardens, the harem is
separated from the other apartments. The _grand vizier_ presides
over the council of ministers (_divan_). The provinces are
governed by _pashas_ with large powers. Beneath them is a
gradation of inferior rulers in the subdivisions of the provinces. The
_mufti_ with his subordinate associates is a high authority on
questions of religion and law.

TURKISH LITERATURE.--The literature of the Ottoman Turks is in merit
below the literature of other Mohammedan peoples. It lacks
originality, being based on _Persian_ and partly on _Arabic_
models.

CHANGES IN THE MIDDLE AGES.--We have seen great changes gradually
taking place in the Middle Ages. One is the _centralizing of
political authority_ by the subjection of the local rulers, or
lords, to the will of the king. Another is the _enfranchisement of
the serfs_, and the growing power and self-respect of a middle
class. The invention of gunpowder took away the superiority of the
mail-clad and mounted warrior. The peasant on the battle-field was a
match for the knight.

CLERGYY AND LAITY.--There was a change from the time when the
_clergy_ were the sole possessors of knowledge, and the exclusive
guides of opinion. In the _lay_ part of society, there was an
awaking of intellectual activity and a spirit of self-assertion.

A brief sketch of important ecclesiastical changes, some of which have
been adverted to, will be here in place.

POPES IN THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY.--From _Gregory VII_. to
_Boniface VIII_., or from near the end of the eleventh to the
beginning of the fourteenth century, the highest authority was claimed
and exercised by the popes. _Frederick Barbarossa_, the greatest
of the German emperors, held the stirrup of _Hadrian IV_., and
humbled himself before _Alexander III_. _Innocent
III_. compared the authority of _popes_, in contrast with that
of _kings_, to the sun in relation to the moon. He excommunicated
_Philip Augustus_ of France, _John_ of England, and other
monarchs. He claimed the right to refuse to crown the emperor if he
should judge him not worthy of the imperial office. The papacy
continued to exert these lofty prerogatives until _Boniface
VIII_. He asserted that "the two swords," the symbols of both
secular and spiritual rule, were given to St. Peter and to his
successors: the temporal authority must therefore be subject to the
spiritual. The body of _canon law_ was framed in accordance with
these views. It embraced the right of the Pope to depose kings and
princes. To the sovereign pontiff was accorded the right to dispense
from Church laws. With the growth of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the
different countries, the Pope, as the supreme tribunal in all matters
affecting the clergy and covered by the canon law, gained a vast
increase of judicial prerogatives.

THE BABYLONIAN EXILE: THE GREAT SCHISM.--During the residence of the
popes at _Avignon_, there was great complaint on account of the
dependence of the papacy on France, as well as on account of the heavy
taxes levied for the support of the pontifical court, and of the
immorality which at times prevailed in it. _Gregory XI_., to the
joy of all good men, returned to Rome (1376). But at his death, two
years later, a majority of the cardinals elected an Italian, _Urban
VI_., in his place. The adherents of the French party made a
protest, and chose the Cardinal of Geneva, under the name of
_Clement VII_. England, Germany, Hungary, Bohemia, Holland, and
almost all Italy, acknowledged _Urban_. France, Spain, Scotland,
Savoy, and Lorraine obeyed _Clement_. This great schism of the
West created sorrow and alarm among well-disposed Christian people. It
tended strongly to diminish the reverence felt for the papal office,
and to weaken its influence.

THE REFORMING COUNCILS.--The first important effort to terminate the
division was made by the _University of Paris_. Its rector,
_Nicolas de Clemangis_, was prominent in the
movement. _Gerson_ and other eminent scholars and ecclesiastics
took part in it. Three great councils were held; the first at
_Pisa_ (1409), the second at _Constance_ (1414), and the
third at _Basle_ (1431). At these assemblies, the French
theologians proceeded upon the "Gallican theory" of the constitution of
the Church, according to which supreme authority was held to reside in
a general council,--not in the Pope, but in the collective
episcopate. At the Council of _Constance_, where it is a
significant fact that the votes were taken by nations, there were
gathered not only a throng of prelates and inferior clergy, but also
the Emperor _Sigismund_, and a multitude of princes, nobles, and
spectators of every rank. "The whole world," it was said, "was there."
Three popes, each of whom claimed to be legitimate, were deposed; and
under the auspices of the council, which affirmed its own sovereign
authority, another pope, _Martin V._, was elected in the room of
them. The results of the two councils of Pisa and Constance, as regards
the reformation of the Church "in head and members," disappointed the
hopes of those who were disaffected with the existing state of
things. The Council of _Basle_ exhibited the same spirit as that
of _Constance_, and passed various measures in the interest of
national churches, for the restriction of papal prerogatives, and for
practical reforms. The council, however, broke into two parts; and the
hopes connected with it were likewise, to a great extent,
frustrated. In 1438 the French synod of _Bourges_ issued "the
Pragmatic Sanction," containing a strong assertion of the rights and
immunities of national churches,--a document which gave occasion to
much controversy down to its repeal under King _Francis I_.

Had it been practicable for good men in the _fifteenth_ century to
unite in wholesome measures for promoting the purity and unity of the
Church, the religious revolutions of the _sixteenth_ might have
been postponed, if not avoided.




CHAPTER III. THE COUNTRIES OF EASTERN ASIA.


I. CHINA.

THE TANG DYNASTY (618-907).--The confusion in China, after the
establishment of the three kingdoms, was brought to an end by the
_Sui_ dynasty, which, however, was of short duration. Between the
_Hans_ and the new epoch beginning with the _T'angs_,
diplomatic intercourse was begun with _Japan_; Christianity was
introduced by the Nestorians; a new impulse was given to the spread of
_Buddhism_; the first traces of the art of printing are found;
and the Yang-tse and the Yellow Rivers were connected by a canal.

EVENTS IN THIS PERIOD.--Under the _T'angs,_ the empire was united,
peaceful, and prosperous. One of the most remarkable occurrences was
the usurpation (649) and successful reign of a woman, the Empress
_Wu_. Her policy was wise, and her generals were victorious. The
Emperor _Hiuen Tsung_ had a long reign (713-756), and was an
ardent patron of literature, but in his later years fell into immoral
ways, as was seen in the character of the poems written under his
patronage. Under this dynasty, there were productions in poetry of an
excellence never surpassed in China. Buddhism, although resisted by the
Confucianists and Taouists, gained ground. A bone of _Buddha_ was
brought into China with great pomp and ceremony. Early in the reign of
the T'angs, _Mohammedanism_ first appeared in China. In the
transition period before the accession of the next dynasty (900-960),
the art of printing came more into use. The practice of cramping
women's feet is said by some to have originated at this time.

THE SUNG DYNASTY (960-1280).--In the early part of this era, China was
prosperous. But the _Tartars_ began their invasions; and it was
finally agreed that one of their tribes, which had helped to drive out
another, should retain its conquests in the North. These Tartar
conquerors, the _Kins_, were invaded by the Mongol Tartars under
_Genghis Khan_ (1213). After a long struggle, both the _Kins_
and the _Sungs_ were conquered by the _Mongols_, and the
empire of _Kublai Khan_ (1259-1294), the ruler of nearly all Asia
except Hindustan and Arabia, was established. Under the _Sungs_, a
system of military drill for all the citizens was ordained. Literature
flourished; Buddhism and Taouism concluded to live in peace with one
another; and the system of competitive examinations and literary
degrees was more fully developed. After the complete conquest of China,
the dominion of _Kublai Khan_ lasted for about a century. The
celebrated Venetian traveler, _Marco Polo_, visited his court. In
this period, mathematics was more studied, and romances were first
written. Three out of the "Four Wonderful Books," which are leading
novels, were then composed. The Grand Canal was finished by _Kublai
Khan_, and thus _Peking_ was connected with Southern China. His
great naval expedition against Japan failed.

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