This was a misfortune for eastern Europe, but it was well for France. Instead of frittering away strength upon foreign warfare, she turned to the work of national reconstruction and of regaining her high place among the powers of Europe.
France had suffered much during the Hundred Years' War, but it had gained much. It gained more than it lost, for out of the necessity of combining against a common foe a nation was born, and the nation redeemed itself. But its redemption was not due to monarchical power. It was due to the people who, during the long struggle, had begun to assert themselves. Without their awakened patriotism Charles, vacillating and mediocre as he was, could have accomplished nothing. He has been given the surname of the Victorious, but also that of the Well Served. The latter is, perhaps, the better name. He was well served by his people.
But the great strength of the French monarchy was only latent, and when peace was restored that strength awoke. Under the weight of it the dawning liberties of the people were blotted out, and from this time onward the kingly power in France increased until at length it became an intolerable tyranny against which, at the bitter end, the people revolted.
Louis XI
Under Charles VII France wrung itself free from a foreign yoke. Under his son, that sinister genius, Louis XI, it became a great monarchy. Louis XI may be called the first king of modern France. The kings who had gone before him had been mediæval. Louis was modern. There was no mediæval glamour about his court, and although he ruled like a tyrant, it was with the cool-headed tyranny of a lawyer, and not with the brutal arrogance of a feudal lord.
Louis was brave, but he never fought an enemy openly if he could gain his end in any other way. That many of his ways were tortuous mattered little to him. "He who does not know how to deceive does not know how to reign," was the sole maxim which he was at the pains to teach to his son the Dauphin.
To him war was a clumsy weapon, to be used only in the last resort. Money, and the power of a fair, if false, tongue, he esteemed much more. He was always ready to pledge his word, and unscrupulous in breaking it if he could gain thereby. He thought that every one had his price, and was willing enough to pay the price in order to win him to his side.
Government was a science to Louis, and he determined that there should be no power in France save the king's power. So he crushed the feudal nobles, both great and small, out of existence, and took possession of their lands. He taught them, by severe measures, that no man had the right to disturb the peace of the realm, or make alliance with the king's enemies.
He laid upon the people a burden of taxes hardly to be borne, but he granted to the burgher classes many privileges. This he did through no love of them, but merely that he might make use of them. To him men were but pawns in his great game, and he did what he would with them. Wily, perfidious, and cruel, he went his way alone, the States General being called together only once throughout his reign.
He was feared by all, loved by few, but he left France united, and with her borders defined and secured as they had never been before. With him the Middle Ages may be said to end.
CHAPTER XXXII
The Moors Driven Out of Spain—Spain Begins to Count among the Nations of Europe
EARLY in the eighth century the Arabs overran Spain and took almost complete possession of it (see Chapter VII). But although Arabia was the birthplace of Mohammed, the Arabians were less fanatical than any other of the followers of the Prophet. They did not insist on a wholesale conversion of the conquered people. For they loved the Christian's gold more than his conversion. So on condition of paying a tax Christians were allowed to follow their own religion. Nearly all the nobles accepted this condition, but many of the people also became Mohammedan, especially the slaves. For by professing Mohammedanism a slave earned freedom.
But although nearly all Spain came under the domination of the Arabs, a small portion did not. In the extreme north-west, among the Asturian mountains, a few of the inhabitants held out against the invaders. Mountains have always been the last resort of a conquered people, and the Mohammedans were never able to dislodge this remnant from their strongholds. As years passed, indeed, these Spaniards, as we may now call them, strengthened their hold upon the north. Bit by bit they drove the Saracens southward, and at length several little kingdoms were formed, such as Navarre, Leon, Aragon, and Castile, the last taking its name from the many castles built to defend it against the Saracens.
These kingdoms were all small, and all disunited, but by degrees, through marriages between the various royal families and in other ways, several became united in the twelfth century into the kingdom of Aragon, and in the thirteenth century eight little states were united into the kingdom of Leon and Castile.
In the twelfth century also, under Alfonso I, Portugal became a kingdom with a territory less than half its present size. But both Alfonso and his successors fought persistently against the Saracens, and in 1250 Alfonso III conquered what is now the southern portion of Portugal from them, so that from the middle of the thirteenth century the boundaries of Portugal have been very much what they are to-day.
After the union of the various small Spanish states into kingdoms the conquest of Spain from the Moors went on rapidly, and by 1265 all that was left to them was Granada in the extreme south. And even that was not a free kingdom, for the king of Granada owned the king of Castile as overlord.
For more than two hundred years from this time the king of Aragon and the king of Castile ruled over Spain side by side. But as yet there was little sense of Spanish nationality. The two kings were rivals and often enemies. Their kingdoms were merely a conglomeration of small states, the inhabitants of which spoke different languages and had little in common with each other. There were among them Moriscoes or converted Saracens, Marranes or converted Jews, and Mozarabes, Spaniards who had become Mohammedans. To reconcile all these and make them into one nation was no easy matter, yet slowly Spain moved towards nationality.
Ferdinand and Isabella
At length in 1469 Isabella of Castile married her cousin Ferdinand of Aragon, and thus the two crowns were united. But the union of the crowns alone did not satisfy Ferdinand and Isabella. They desired true national union, and they became persuaded that the only way to ensure this was to unite all their peoples into one national Church. In order to do this the Inquisition was introduced into Spain.
The Inquisition was a tribunal of the Church called into being to find out and punish all heretics. It grew up gradually, and was not instituted with all its cruel methods until the thirteenth century. It was a terrible institution, and one from which there was neither appeal nor escape. Every one accused before the tribunal was presupposed guilty, and those who would not at once confess their guilt were tortured until they did. Fines and imprisonment, the forced undertaking of pilgrimages, or the wearing of opprobrious garments were the lightest punishments to which the guilty were condemned, while hundreds and thousands were burned to death with horrible cruelty.
Until the Inquisition was introduced, Spain, with its strangely mixed population, had been more tolerant in the matter of religion than any country in Europe. In their day of power the Moors and Saracens had been tolerant. When their day of power came, the Christians also were tolerant and allowed both Jews and Mohammedans to follow their own religion in peace.
Zealous religious fervour was not at this time a characteristic of Spain. The Spaniards took no part in the Crusades, and none of the rulers of the many little Spanish states appeared before the walls of Jerusalem. This was partly due to the fact that during the period of the Crusades the Spaniards were busy fighting the Saracens at their own doors, reconquering Spain from them.
But these wars between Spaniards and Saracens were national rather than religious. The Spaniards desired to free Spain from the usurper rather than to convert the infidel. So when the Saracens were conquered they were left more or less in peace to follow their own religion. The rulers, indeed, openly recognized the religious rights of their Mohammedan subje
cts, and one of the kings of Castile took the title of Emperor of all the Spains and of the Men of the Two Religions. But the popes had long looked upon this tolerance as wicked laxness, and at length Isabella, who was deeply and earnestly religious, was persuaded to allow the Inquisition to be set up in Castile.
In everything else Isabella was a great and wise ruler. But in the eyes of later generations this one act has dimmed the splendour of her reign. She must, however, be judged not as a ruler of to-day but as a ruler of the fifteenth century. All Europe was full of religious fanaticism. To the noblest and purest of Churchmen persecution seemed a glorious work for Christ. How then should a mere woman set her tender heart in opposition to their wisdom. So for the glory of God, and for the exaltation of the Catholic Faith, Isabella signed the deed by which the fires of persecution were lit in Spain—fires which were not to be extinguished for hundreds of years. Even in the beginning of the eighteenth century the "question by torture" was still in use, and only in 1834 was the Inquisition finally and utterly abolished.
Besides uniting all Spain into one Church, Ferdinand and Isabella determined to wrest the last inch of the soil from the Mohammedans, and they declared war against the king of Granada. The queen threw herself heart and soul into this war. She appeared in the field fully dressed in armour, encouraging the troops with brave words and reviewing them frequently. She visited every part of the camp, and saw that the soldiers were provided not only with necessaries but with comforts. Above all, she cared for the sick and the wounded.
By her orders large tents known as the Queen's tents were set up in the camps. These were furnished with nurses and medicines, at her expense, and there the sick and wounded could find rest and care. This is believed to be the first attempt at a camp hospital.
Fall of Granada
For ten years the war with the Moors dragged on, the Spaniards often meeting with reverses. But at length civil war broke out in Granada itself. Weakened by strife within as well as war without, the Moors could no longer stand their ground, and on November 25, 1491, Granada yielded. The last Moorish king gave up the keys of the Alhambra Palace to the conquerors. Then, mounting his horse, he rode away. Upon a hill above the city of Granada he drew rein, and with tears in his eyes turned to look for the last time upon his lost capital.
"Yea," cried his mother scornfully, as she watched him, "weep like a woman for the loss of thy kingdom, since thou couldst not defend it like a man." Crushed by his foes, despised by his friends, the Moor bowed his head, and rode forth into exile.
The long struggle between Moors and Spaniards which had lasted for nearly eight hundred years was thus ended. Spain from the Pyrenees to the Mediterranean was now under Christian rule, and for their zeal in the cause of the faith the pope bestowed upon Ferdinand and Isabella the title of the Catholic Kings. This title is to-day still borne by the king of Spain.
Up to this time, because of the continual warfare with the Moors, Spain had entered but little into the life of Europe. It had been untouched by the great movements which had helped to develop the other great states of western Europe. The feudal system had never gained a footing there; as a nation it had never taken part in the Crusades, and had remained unmoved by the tremendous religious enthusiasm which had swept over other countries.
Now late in the day that enthusiasm awoke in the Spanish rulers, and was turned to religious fanaticism and intolerance. With the passing of years this fanaticism increased until, from being the most liberal, Spain became the most intolerant of Catholic states. Persecution began with the Jews.They were offered the hard choice of denying their faith or of leaving the country, and many chose the latter course. Next came the turn of the remaining Moors, they being offered the same hard choice; most of them, like the Jews, chose to go into exile rather than deny their faith. The departure of both these peoples was a loss to Spain. For they were clever and industrious, and much of the trade and any manufactures there were lay in their hands.
This was all the greater loss as now Spain began to be of importance in Europe. The royal family was allied by marriage with other ruling houses of Europe, and Ferdinand is said to have been the first monarch to send resident ambassadors to the courts of other states. By this means friendly intercourse with neighbouring countries was established and maintained, international trade was encouraged, and as the custom increased, quarrels which before could only have been wiped out in blood were settled by negotiation. And however much the maintaining of ambassadors at foreign courts has been abused in later times, in the beginning it was a step towards international understanding and towards lessening the frequency of wars.
CHAPTER XXXIII
Changes in Europe Caused by the Discovery of the New World
IN the fifteenth century Spain and Portugal were, so to speak, new countries. They had only newly been admitted into the family of Europe. Their own constant wars with the Moors had left them no time to join in the wars and politics of Europe. Their religious toleration had kept them free from papal influences. They had not even joined to any great extent in the commerce of Europe. For of all the countries of western Europe they were in the least advantageous position for trade. They were, as it were, at the end of the world.
All trade was with the East. The Mediterranean was the great trade route. Ports near the centre of this route with good water-ways and roads behind them, by which goods could be distributed throughout Europe, were likely to prosper. Thus Genoa and Venice grew into wealthy and powerful merchant republics. Spain, at the extreme west end of the route, with water-ways short and of little use commercially, cut off, moreover, from the rest of the continent by the Pyrenees, in spite of a Mediterranean seaboard, shared little in its commerce. Aragon, indeed, to some extent, did take part in the commerce of the world, and the ships of Barcelona carried many a rich cargo. But Castile, even after the union of the crowns of Castile and Aragon, did not benefit by this at all. For although it had some Mediterranean seaboard it had no good port. Portugal, having no Mediterranean seaboard, and the ports of the North Sea and the Baltic being for the most part in the hands of the Hansa merchants, was almost entirely cut off from the trade of the world.
But in the fifteenth century, vigorous in their new-found nationality, both Portuguese and Spaniards began to seek outlets for their energies. Such outlets were not easy to find. For Venice controlled the ports of Syria and of Egypt, and the route to India by way of the Red Sea. Since the fall of Constantinople Christian traders had been driven from the Black Sea and the trade routes to Asia in that direction. Indeed, as years went on, the Turks hampered more and more all expansion of Christian trade eastward.
Henry the Navigator
The Portuguese, therefore, were obliged to seek an outlet in another direction. The idea occurred to some of the more daring spirits that it might be possible to reach India by sailing round Africa. So they began, timidly at first, and then more boldly, to explore the west coast of Africa. The way to India was not discovered, but a lucrative trade in negroes and gold-dust rapidly grew up. Year by year in their gay little boats the Portuguese ventured farther and farther afield. The Canary Islands, Madeira, and the Azores were all discovered, or rather rediscovered, for they had been known to the ancients. Soon they were to some extent colonized, and their products, such as honey, maize, and fruits, were added to the growing trade of Portugal.
In all these discoveries and adventures in colonization the Portuguese were encouraged and helped by Prince Henry of Portugal who, because of his enthusiasm in these matters, has been given the name of Henry the Navigator. His great ambition was to find the way to India by rounding Africa. But headland after headland along the coast was passed, and still there seemed no end to it, and Henry died with his dream unfulfilled.
At length the new way to India was discovered by accident. Driven by a storm Bartholomew Diaz rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and sailed some way up the eastern coast of Africa. As it was a storm which had led to his discovery Diaz called the Cap
e the Cape of Storms. But when he returned home with his news, and men became assured that at last the new way was found to India and the lands of spice, they changed the name to the Cape of Good Hope.
Ten years, however, passed before the attempt to reach India by that route succeeded. Then Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape, steered across the Indian Ocean, reached India, and returned to Lisbon in triumph with a rich cargo. But before this a still more wonderful voyage had been made. Christopher Columbus had sailed across the Atlantic, discovering, as he thought, yet another way to India.
Christopher Columbus
The ancients had believed that the world was flat. But gradually many people had come to think that it was round. Among these was Christopher Columbus, the Genoese sailor. This being so, it must be possible, he argued, to reach India by sailing west just as easily as by sailing east. If this way could be found all the dangers from Mohammedan pirates, all the difficulties of land transport across the desert, from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, would be avoided, and great fame and fortune would accrue to the people who should find and make use of the new way.
Columbus was filled with a passionate belief in his theory. But he was only a poor man, and had neither the power nor the money needed to fit out an expedition of discovery. So he spent long years in a fruitless endeavour to enlist the sympathy of those who were wealthy and powerful. He carried his great idea first to the court of Portugal and then to that of Spain. But everywhere he was met with prejudice and disbelief. Kings and courtiers alike looked upon him as a crazy adventurer. At length, however, he gained the ear of Queen Isabella. She became fired with something of his own enthusiasm, and promised him the aid he needed.
So at last, on August 3, 1492, Columbus set out on his perilous adventure. To most people, indeed, the adventure seemed not only perilous but mad, and they never expected to see any of those who took part in it again. But in little more than seven months Columbus returned triumphant, having proved the truth of his theory, and found, as he thought, a new way to India. He had done something much more wonderful. He had discovered a new world. But although Columbus made several voyages across the Atlantic, and even landed on the continent of South America, he never discovered his mistake. He died believing that his great title to fame was in having discovered a new way to India.
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