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




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.


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 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.




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 passion 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 principal were
_gunpowder_, the _mariner's compass_, and _printing_ by
movable types. _Gunpowder_ was not first made by _Schwartz_,
a monk of _Freiburg_, as has often been asserted. 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 COMPASS.--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 compass 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

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