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INTRODUCTORY AMERICAN HISTORY
BY
HENRY ELDRIDGE BOURNE AND ELBERT JAY BENTON
PROFESSORS OF HISTORY IN WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY
1912
This volume is the introductory part of a course in American history embodying the plan of study recommended by the Committee of Eight of the American Historical Association.[1] The plan calls for a continuous course running through grades six, seven, and eight. The events which have taken place within the limits of what is now the United States must necessarily furnish the most of the content of the lessons. But the Committee urge that enough other matter, of an introductory character, be included to teach boys and girls of from twelve to fourteen years of age that our civilization had its beginnings far back in the history of the Old World. Such introductory study will enable them to think of our country in its true historical setting. The Committee recommend that about two-thirds of one year's work be devoted to this preliminary matter, and that the remainder of the year be given to the period of discovery and exploration.
The plan of the Committee of Eight emphasizes three or four lines of development in the world's history leading up to American history proper.
First, there was a movement of conquest or colonization by which the ancient civilized world, originally made up of communities like the Greeks and Phoenicians in the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean Seas, spread to southern Italy and adjacent lands. The Roman conquest of Italy and of the barbarian tribes of western Europe expanded the civilized world to the shores of the Atlantic. Within this greater Roman world new nations grew up. The migration of Europeans to the American continent was the final step.
Second, accompanying the growth of the civilized world in extent was a growth of knowledge of the shape of the earth, or of what we call geography. Columbus was a geographer as well as the herald of an expanding world.
A third process was the creation and transmission of all that we mean by civilization. Here, as the Committee remark, the effort should be to “show, in a very simple way, the civilization which formed the heritage of those who were to go to America, that is, to explain what America started with.”
The Committee also suggest that it is necessary “to associate the three or four peoples of Europe which were to have a share in American colonization with enough of their characteristic incidents to give the child some feeling for the name 'England,' 'Spain,' 'Holland,' and 'France.'“
No attempt is made in this book to give a connected history of Greece, Rome, England, or any other country of Europe. Such an attempt would be utterly destructive of the plan. Only those features of early civilization and those incidents of history have been selected which appear to have a vital relation to the subsequent fortunes of mankind in America as well as in Europe. They are treated in all cases as introductory. Opinions may differ upon the question of what topics best illustrate the relation. The Committee leaves a wide margin of opportunity for the exercise of judgment in selection. In the use of a textbook based on the plan the teacher should use the same liberty of selection. For example, we have chosen the story of Marathon to illustrate the idea of the heroic memories of Greece. Others may prefer Thermopylae, because this story seems to possess a simpler dramatic development. In the same way teachers may desire to give more emphasis to certain phases of ancient or mediaeval civilization or certain heroic persons treated very briefly in this book. Exercises similar to those inserted at the end of each chapter offer means of supplementing work provided in the text.
The story of American discovery and exploration in the plan of the Committee of Eight follows the introductory matter as a natural culmination. In our textbook we have adhered to the same plan of division. The work of the seventh grade will, therefore, open with the study of the first permanent English settlements.
The discoveries and explorations are told in more detail than most of the earlier incidents, but whatever is referred to is treated, we hope, with such simplicity and definiteness of statement that it will be comprehensible and instructive to pupils of the sixth grade.
At the close of the book will be found a list of references. From this teachers may draw a rich variety of stories and descriptions to illustrate any features of the subject which especially interest their classes. In the index is given the pronunciation of difficult names.
We wish to express gratitude to those who have aided us with wise advice and criticism.
[Footnote 1: The Study of History in Elementary Schools. Scribner's, 1909.]
THE EMIGRANT AND WHAT HE BRINGS TO AMERICA. The emigrant who lands
at New York, Boston, Philadelphia, or any other seaport, brings
with
him something which we do not see. He may have in his hands only
a
small bundle of clothing and enough money to pay his railroad
fare to
his new home, but he is carrying another kind of baggage more
valuable
than bundles or boxes or a pocket full of silver or gold. This
other
baggage is the knowledge, the customs, and the memories he has
brought
from the fatherland.
He has already learned in Europe how to do the work at which he
hopes
to labor in America. In his native land he has been taught to
obey the
laws and to do his duty as a citizen. This fits him to share in
our
self-government. He also brings great memories, for he likes to
think
of the brave and noble deeds done by men of his race. If he is a
religious man, he worships God just as his forefathers have for
hundreds of years. To understand how the emigrant happens to know
what
he does and to be what he is, we must study the history of the
country
from which he comes.
ALL AMERICANS ARE EMIGRANTS. If this is true of the newcomer, it is
equally true of the rest of us, for we are all emigrants. The
Indians
are the only native Americans, and when we find out more about
them we
may learn that they, too, are emigrants. If we follow the history
of
our families far enough back, we shall come upon the names of our
forefathers who sailed from Europe. They may have come to America
in
the early days when there were only a few settlements scattered
along
our Atlantic coast, or they may have come since the Revolutionary
War
changed the English colonies into the United States.
Like the Canadians, the South Americans, and the Australians, we
are
simply Europeans who have moved away. The story of the Europe in
which
our forefathers lived is, therefore, part of our story. In order
to
understand our own history we must know something of the history
of
England, France, Germany, Italy, and other European lands.
WHAT THE EARLY EMIGRANTS BROUGHT. If we read the story of our
forefathers before they left Europe, we shall find answers to
several
important questions. Why, we ask, did Columbus seek for new lands
or
for new ways to lands already known? How did the people of Europe
live
at the time he discovered America? What did they know how to do?
Were
they skilful in all sorts of work, or were they as rude and
ignorant
as the Indians on the western shores of the Atlantic?
The answers which history will give to these questions will say
that
the first emigrants who landed on our shores brought with them
much of
the same knowledge and many of the same customs and memories
which
emigrants bring nowadays and which we also have. It is true that
since
the time the first settlers came men have found out how to make
many
new things. The most important of these are the steam-engine, the
electric motor, the telegraph, and the telephone. But it is
surprising
how many important things, which we still use, were made before
Columbus saw America.
[Illustration: A MODERN STEAMSHIP AND AN EARLY SAILING VESSEL
The early emigrants came in small sailing vessels and suffered
great
hardships]
For one thing, men knew how to print books. This art had been
discovered during the boyhood of Columbus. Another thing, men
could
make guns, while the Indians had only bows and arrows. The ships
in
which Columbus sailed across the ocean seemed very large and
wonderful
to the Indians, who used canoes. The ships were steered with the
help
of a compass, an instrument which the Indians had never seen.
Some of the things which the early emigrants knew had been known
hundreds or thousands of years before. One of the oldest was the
art
of writing. The way to write words or sounds was found out so
long ago
that we shall never know the name of the man who first discovered
it.
The historians tell us he lived in Egypt, which was in northern
Africa, exactly where Egypt is now. Some men were afraid that the
new
art might do more harm than good. The king to whom the secret was
told
thought that the children would be unwilling to work hard and try
to
remember because everything could be written down and they would
not
need to use their memories. The Egyptians at first used pictures
to
put their words upon rocks or paper, and even after they made
several
letters of the alphabet their writing seemed like a mixture of
little
pictures and queer marks.
[Illustration: Cleopatra EGYPTIAN PHONETIC WRITING]
OLD AND NEW INVENTIONS. Those who first discover how to make things
are called inventors, and what they make are called inventions.
Now if
we should write out a list of the most useful inventions, we
could
place in one column the inventions which were made before the
days of
Columbus and in another those which have been made since. With
this
list before us we may ask which inventions we could live without
and
which we could not spare unless we were willing to become like
the
savages. We should find that a large number of the inventions
which we
use every day belong to the set of things older than Columbus.
This is
another reason why, if we wish to understand our ways of living
and
working, we must ask about the history of the countries where our
forefathers lived. It is the beginning of our own history.
[Illustration: Phoenician Early Greek Early Latin English
GROWTH OF LETTERS OF THE ALPHABET]
A PLAN OF STUDY. The discovery of America was made in 1492, at the
beginning of what we call Modern Times. Before Modern Times were
the
Middle Ages, lasting about a thousand years. These began three or
four
hundred years after the time of Christ or what we call the
beginning
of the Christian Era. All the events that took place earlier we
say
happened in Ancient Times. Much that we know was learned first by
the
Greeks or Romans who lived in Ancient Times.
It is in the Middle Ages that we first hear of peoples called
Englishmen, Frenchmen, Germans, Dutchmen, Italians, Spaniards,
and
many others now living in Great Britain and on the Continent of
Europe. We shall learn first of the Greeks and Romans and of what
they
knew and succeeded in doing, and then shall find out how these
things
were learned by the peoples of the Middle Ages and what they
added to
them. This will help us to find out what our forefathers started
with
when they came to live in America.
QUESTIONS
1. What does the emigrant from Europe bring to America besides
his
baggage?
2. Why are all Americans emigrants?
3. What did the earliest emigrants from Europe to America bring
with
them?
4. Which do you think the more useful invention—the telephone
or
the art of writing? Who invented this art? Find Egypt on the
map.
How did Egyptian writing look?
5. Why was it a help to Columbus that gunpowder and guns were
invented before he discovered America?
6. When did the Christian Era begin? What is meant by Ancient
Times?
By the Middle Ages? By Modern Times? In what Times was the art
of
writing invented? In what Times was the compass invented? In
what
Times was the telephone invented?
EXERCISES
1. Collect from illustrated papers, magazines, or advertising
folders, pictures of ocean steamships. Collect pictures of
sailing
ships, ships used now and those used long ago.
2. Collect from persons who have recently come to this country
stories of how they traveled from Europe to America, and from
ports
like Boston, New York, and Philadelphia to where they now live.
3. Let each boy and girl in the schoolroom point out on the map
the
European country from which his parents or his grandparents or
his
forefathers came.
4. Let each boy and girl make a list of the holidays which his
forefathers had in the “fatherland” or “mother country.” Let
each
find out the manner in which the holidays were kept. Let each
tell
the most interesting hero story from among the stories of the
mother
country or fatherland. Let each find out whether the tools used
in
the old home were like the tools his parents use here.
ANCIENT CITIES THAT STILL EXIST. In Ancient Times the most
important peoples lived on the shores of the Mediterranean. The
northern shore turns and twists around four peninsulas. The first
is
Spain, which separates the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic
Ocean;
the second, shaped like a boot, is Italy; and the third, the end
of
which looks like a mulberry leaf, is Greece. Beyond Greece is
Asia
Minor, the part of Asia which lies between the Mediterranean Sea
and
the Black Sea.
The Italians now live in Italy, but the Romans lived there in
Ancient
Times. The people who live in Greece are called Greeks, just as
they
were more than two thousand years ago. Many of the cities that
the
Greeks and Romans built are still standing. Alexandria was
founded by
the great conqueror Alexander. Constantinople used to be the
Greek
city of Byzantium. Another Greek city, Massilia, has become the
modern
French city of Marseilles. Rome had the same name in Ancient
Times,
except that it was spelled Roma. The Romans called Paris by the
name
of Lutetia, and London they called Lugdunum.
RUINS WHICH SHOW HOW THE ANCIENTS LIVED. In many of these cities
are ancient buildings or ruins of buildings, bits of carving,
vases,
mosaics, sometimes even wall paintings, which we may see and from
which we may learn how the Greeks and Romans lived. Near Naples
are
the ruins of Pompeii, a Roman city suddenly destroyed during an
eruption of the volcano Vesuvius.
For hundreds of years the city lay buried under fifteen or twenty
feet
of ashes. When these were taken away, the old streets and the
walls of
the houses could be seen. No roofs were left and the walls in
many
places were only partly standing, but things which in other
ancient
cities had entirely disappeared were kept safe in Pompeii under
the
volcanic ashes.
The traveler who walks to-day along the ruined streets can see how
its
inhabitants lived two thousand years ago. He can visit their
public
buildings and their private houses, can handle their dishes and
can
look at the paintings on their walls or the mosaics in the
floors. But
interesting as Pompeii is, we must not think that its ruins teach
us
more than the ruins of Rome or Athens or many other ancient
cities.
Each has something important to tell us of the people who lived
long
ago.
ANCIENT WORDS STILL IN USE. The ancient Greeks and Romans have left
us some things more useful than the ruins of their buildings.
These
are the words in our language which once were theirs, and which
we use
with slight changes in spelling. Most of our words came in the
beginning from Germany, where our English forefathers lived
before
they settled in England. To the words they took over from Germany
they
added words borrowed from other peoples, just as we do now. We
have
recently borrowed several words from the French, such as tonneau
and
limousine, words used to describe parts of an automobile, besides
the
name automobile itself, which is made up of a Latin and a Greek
word.
[Illustration: RUINS OF A HOUSE AT POMPEII The houses of the
better sort were built with an open court in the center]
In this way, for hundreds of years, words have been coming into
our
language from other languages. Several thousand have come from
Latin,
the language of the Romans; several hundred from Greek, either
directly or passed on to us by the Romans or the French. The word
school is Greek, and the word arithmetic was borrowed from the
French,
who took it from the Greeks. Geography is another word which
came,
through French and Latin, from the Greeks, to whom it meant that
which
is written about the earth. The word grammar came in the same
way. The
word alphabet is made by joining together the names of the first
two
Greek letters, alpha and beta.
Many words about religion are borrowed from the Greeks, and this
is
not strange, for the New Testament was written in Greek. Some of
these
are Bible, church, bishop, choir, angel, devil, apostle, and
martyr.
The Greeks have handed down to us many words about government,
including the word itself, which in the beginning meant “to
steer.”
Politics meant having to do with a polis or city. Several
of the
words most recently made up of Greek words are telegraph,
telephone,
phonograph, and thermometer.
MANY WORDS BORROWED FROM THE ROMANS. Nearly ten times as many of
our words are borrowed from the Romans as from the Greeks, and it
is
not strange, because at one time the Romans ruled over all the
country
now occupied by the Italians, the French, the Spaniards, a part
of the
Germans, and the English, so that these peoples naturally learned
the
words used by their conquerors and governors.
INTERESTING ANCIENT STORIES. In the poems and tales which we learn
at home or at school are stories which Greek and Roman parents
and
teachers taught their children many hundred years ago. We learn
them
partly because they are interesting, and because they please or
amuse
us, and partly because they appear so often in our books that it
is
necessary to know them if we would understand our own books and
language. Who has not heard of Hercules and his Labors, of the
Search
for the Golden Fleece, the Siege of Troy, or the Wanderings of
Ulysses? We love modern fairy stories and tales of adventure, but
they
are not more pleasing than these ancient stories.
[Illustration: THE PLAIN OF MARATHON]
THE STORY OF THE GREEKS. Our language and our books are full of
memories of Greek and Roman deeds of courage. The story of the
Greeks
comes before the story of the Romans, for the Greeks were living
in
beautiful cities, with temples and theaters, while the Romans
were
still an almost unknown people dwelling on the hills that border
the
river Tiber.
MEMORIES OF GREEK COURAGE. The most heroic deeds of the Greeks took
place in a great war between the Greek cities and the kingdom of
Persia about five hundred years before Christ. In those days
there was
no kingdom called Greece, such as the geographies now describe.
Instead there were cities, a few of which were ruled by kings,
others
by the citizens themselves. These cities banded together when any
danger threatened them. Sometimes one city turned traitor and
helped
the enemy against the others. The most dangerous enemy the Greeks
had,
until the Romans attacked them, was the kingdom of Persia, which
stretched from the Aegean Sea far into Asia. In the war with the
Persians the Greeks fought three famous battles, at Marathon,
Thermopylae, and Salamis, the stories of which men have always
liked
to hear and remember.
PREPARING FOR MARATHON, 490 B.C. To the Athenians belong the
glories of Marathon. They lived where the modern city of Athens
now
stands. The ruins of their temples and theaters still attract
students
and travelers to Greece. The plain of Marathon lay more than
twenty
miles to the northeast, and the roads to it led through mountain
passes. When the Athenians heard that the hosts of the Great King
of
Persia were approaching, they sent a runner, Pheidippides by
name, to
ask aid of Sparta, a city one hundred and forty miles away, in
the
peninsula now called the Morea, where dwelt the sturdiest
fighters of
Greece. This runner reached Sparta on the second day, but the
Spartans
said it would be against their religious custom to march before
the
moon was full. The Athenians saw that they must meet the enemy
alone—one small city against a mighty empire. They called their
ten
thousand men together and set out. On the way they were joined by
a
thousand more, the whole army of the brave little town of
Plataea.
[Illustration: GREEK SOLDIERS IN ARMS From a Greek vase of
about the time of the battle of Marathon]
HOW THE ATHENIANS WERE ARMED. Although the Persians had six times
as many soldiers as the Athenians, they were not so well armed
for
hand to hand fighting. Their principal weapon was the bow and
arrow,
while the Greeks used the lance and a short sword. The Greek
soldier
was protected by his bronze helmet, solid across the forehead and
over
the nose; by his breastplate, a leathern or linen tunic covered
with
small metal scales, with flaps hanging below his hips; and by
greaves
or pieces of metal in front of his knees and shins. He was also
protected by a shield, often long enough to reach from his face
to his
knees. According to a strange custom the Athenians were led by
ten
generals, each commanding one day in turn.
THE BATTLE-GROUND. Marathon was a plain about two miles wide, lying
between the mountains and the sea. From it two roads ran toward
Athens, one along the shore where the hills almost reached the
sea,
the other up a narrow valley and over the mountains. The
Athenians
were encamped in this valley, where they could attack the
Persians if
they tried to follow the shore road.
The Persians landed from their ships and filled the plain near the
shore. They wanted to fight in the open plain because they had so
many
more soldiers than the Athenians and because they meant to use
their
horsemen. For some time the Athenians watched the Persians, not
knowing what it was best to do. Half the generals did not wish to
risk
a battle, but Miltiades was eager to fight, for he feared that
delay
would lead timid citizens or traitors to yield to the Persians.
He
finally gained his wish, and on his day of command the battle was
ordered.
THE BATTLE. The Persians by this time had decided to sail around to
the harbor of Athens and had taken their horsemen on board their
ships. When they saw the Greeks coming they drew up their
foot-soldiers in deep masses. The Athenians and their
comrades—the
Plataeans—soon began to move forward on the run. The Persians
thought
this madness, because the Greeks had no archers or horsemen. But
the
Greeks saw that if they moved forward slowly the Persians would
have
time to shoot arrows at them again and again.
When the Greeks rushed upon the Persians the soldiers at the two
ends
of the Persian line gave way and fled towards the shore. In the
center, where the best Persian soldiers stood, the Greeks were
not at
first successful, and were forced to retreat. But those who had
been
victorious came to their rescue, attacked the Persians in the
rear,
and finally drove them off. The Persians ran into the sea to
reach the
ships, and the Athenians followed them. Some of the Greeks were
so
eager in the fight that they seized the sides of the ships and
tried
to keep them from being rowed away, but the Persians cut at their
hands and made them let go.
[Illustration: THE STRAITS OF SALAMIS Where a great sea-fight
between Greeks and Persians took place]
THE NEWS OF THE VICTORY. The Athenians had won a victory of which
they were so proud that they meant it never should be forgotten.
Their
city had suddenly become great through the courage and
self-sacrifice
of her citizens. One hundred and ninety-two Greeks had fallen,
and on
the battle-field their comrades raised over their bodies a mound
of
earth which still marks their tomb. The victors sent the runner
Pheidippides to bear the news to Athens. Over the hills he ran
until
he reached the market place, and there, with the message of
triumph on
his lips, he fell dead.
OTHER VICTORIES OF THE GREEKS. Marathon was only the beginning of
Greek victories over the Persians, only the first struggle in the
long
wars between Europe and Asia. Ten years after Marathon the
Spartans
won everlasting glory by their heroic stand at the Pass of
Thermopylae —three hundred Greeks against the mighty army of the
Persian king
Xerxes. The barbarian hordes passed over their bodies, took the
road
to Athens, burned the city, but were soon beaten in the sea-fight
which took place on the waters lying between the mainland of
Athenian
territory and the island of Salamis. This victory was also due to
Athenian courage and leadership, for the Athenians and their
leader,
Themistocles, were resolved to stay and fight, although the other
Greeks wanted to sail away.
WHY MARATHON IS REMEMBERED. The victories of Marathon and Salamis
were great not only because small armies of Greeks put to flight
the
hosts of Persia, they were great because they saved the
independence
of Greece. If the Greeks had become the subjects and slaves of
Persia,
they would not have built the wonderful buildings, or carved the
beautiful statues, or written the books which we study and
admire.
When we think of the Greeks as our first teachers we feel as
proud of
their victories as if they were our own victories.
THE WARS OF THE GREEK CITIES. The Athenians had done the most in
winning the victory over the Persians, and therefore Athens was
for
many years the most powerful city in Greece. The Spartans were
always
jealous of the Athenians, and in less than a century after the
victory
of Marathon they conquered and humbled Athens. The worst faults
of the
Greeks were such jealousies and the desire to lord it over one
another. Greek history is full of wars of city against city,
Sparta
against Athens, Corinth against Athens, and Thebes against
Sparta. In
these wars many heroic deeds were done, of which we like to read,
but
it is more important for us to understand how the Greeks lived.
QUESTIONS
1. What ancient cities still exist? Find them on the map.
(For each difficult name find the pronunciation in the index.)
2. What things do we find in the ruins of ancient cities which
tell
us how the people lived?
3. From what country did most of our words come in the
beginning?
Why are they now called English? What peoples used the word
geography before we did? About how many words do we get from
the
Greeks, and how many from the Romans?
4. Which people became famous earlier, the Greeks or the Romans?
Point out on the map the peninsula where each lived.
5. Why do we like to remember the brave deeds of the Greeks?
6. Find the city of Athens on the map. Find Sparta. Where
was Marathon? What city won glory at Marathon?
7. What were the worst faults of the Greeks?
EXERCISES
1. Collect pictures of ruined cities in Italy, Greece, and Asia
Minor, from illustrated papers, magazines, or advertising
folders.
Collect postal cards giving such pictures.
2. Choose the best one of the Greek stories mentioned in Chapter
II,
and tell it.
3. Find out how differently soldiers now are clothed and armed
from
the way the Greek soldiers were.
4. Find out why a long distance run is now called a “Marathon.”
THE GREEK CITIES. The Greeks lived in cities so much of the time
that
we do not often think of them as ever living in the country. The
reason for this was that their government and everything else
important was carried on in the city. The cities were usually
surrounded by high, thick stone walls, which made them safe from
sudden attack. Within or beside the city there was often a lofty
hill,
which we should call a fort or citadel, but which they called the
upper city or acropolis. There the people lived at first when
they
were few in number, and thither they fled if the walls of their
city
were broken down by enemies.
In Athens such a hill rose two hundred feet above the plain. Its
top
was a thousand feet long, and all the sides except one were steep
cliffs. On it the Athenians built their most beautiful temples.
PRIVATE HOUSES. Unlike people nowadays the Greeks did not spend much
money on their dwelling-houses. To us these houses would seem
small,
badly ventilated, and very uncomfortable. But what their houses
lacked
was more than made up by the beauty and splendor of the public
buildings, halls, theaters, porticoes, and especially the
temples.
TEMPLES. The temples were not intended to hold hundreds of
worshipers
like the large churches of Europe and America to-day. Religious
ceremonies were most often carried on in the open air. The
Parthenon,
the most famous temple of Ancient Times, was small. Its principal
room
measured less than one hundred feet in length. Part of this room
was
used for an altar and for the ivory and gold statue of the
goddess
Athena.
[Illustration: THE ACROPOLIS AT ATHENS AS IT IS TO-DAY]
THE PARTHENON. In a picture of the Parthenon, or of a similar
temple,
we notice the columns in front and along the sides. The Parthenon
had
eight at each end and seventeen on each side. They were
thirty-four
feet high. A few feet within the columns on the sides was the
wall of
the temple. Before the vestibule and entrances at the front and
at the
rear stood six more columns. The beauty of the marble from which
stones and columns were cut might have seemed enough, but the
builders
carved groups of figures in the three-cornered space (called the
pediment) in front between the roof and the stones resting upon
the
columns. The upper rows of stones beneath the roof and above the
columns were also carved, and continuous carvings (called a
frieze)
ran around the top of the temple wall on the outside. The temple
was
not left a glistening white, but parts of it were painted in
blue, or
red, or gilt, or orange.
[Illustration: THE TOP OF THE ACROPOLIS 2000 YEARS AGO The
Parthenon is the large temple on the right]
OTHER GREEK TEMPLES. This beautiful temple is now partly ruined.
Ruins
of other temples are on the Acropolis, and one better preserved,
called the Theseum, stands on a lower hill. There are also
similar
ruins in many places along the shores of the Mediterranean. The
most
interesting are at Paestum in Italy, and at Girgenti in Sicily.
Long
before these temples were ruined they had taught the Romans how
to
construct one of the most beautiful kinds of buildings, and this
the
Romans later taught the peoples of western Europe.
GREEK METHODS OF BUILDING STILL USED. If we look at our large
buildings, we shall see much to remind us of the Greek buildings.
Sometimes the exact form of the Greek building is imitated;
sometimes
this form is changed as the Romans changed it, or as it was
changed by
builders who lived after the time of the Romans. If the model of
the
whole building is not used, there are similar pillars, or gables,
or
the sculpture in the pediment and the frieze is imitated. The
Greeks
had three kinds of pillars, named Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian.
The
Doric is simple and solid, the Ionic shows in its capital, or
top,
delicate and beautiful curves, while the Corinthian is adorned
with
leaves springing gracefully from the top of the pillar.
[Illustration: Doric Ionic Corinthian GREEK ORDERS OF
ARCHITECTURE]
[Illustration: RUINS OF THE GREEK THEATER AT EPIDAURUS]
THEATERS. The first Greek theater was only a smooth open space near
a
hillside, with a tent, called a skene, or scene, in which
the
actors dressed. Later an amphitheater of stone seats was
constructed
on the hillside, and across the open end was placed the scene,
which had been changed into a stone building. On its front
sometimes a
house or a palace was painted, just as nowadays theaters are
furnished
with painted scenery. In these open-air theaters thousands of
people
gathered. Plays were generally given as a part of religious
festivals,
and there were contests between writers to see which could
produce the
best play. Sometimes the plays followed one another for three
days
from morning until night. Many of them are so interesting that
people
still read them, after twenty-five hundred years. The Romans
studied
them, and so do modern men who are preparing themselves to write
plays.
[Illustration: THE MODERN STADIUM AT ATHENS]
THE STADIUM. A building which somewhat resembled the theater was the
stadium, where races were run. The difference was that it was
oblong
instead of half round. The most famous stadium, at Olympia, was
seven
hundred and two feet long, with raised seats on both sides and
around
one end of the running track. The other end was open. About fifty
thousand persons used to gather there to watch the races.
PORTICOES. There were other buildings, some for meeting places, some
for gymnasiums, and still others called porticoes, where the
judges
held court or the city officers carried on their business. The
porticoes were simply rows of columns, roofed over, with
occasionally
a second story. As they stretched along the sides of a square or
market place they added much to the beauty of a city.
GREEK SCULPTURE. We know that the Greeks were skilful sculptors
because from the ruins of their cities have been dug wonderful
marble
and bronze statues which are now preserved in the great museums
of the
world, in Paris, London, Berlin, and Rome, and here in America,
in New
York and Boston. Museums which cannot have the original statues
usually contain copies or casts of them in plaster. The statues
are
generally marred and broken, but enough remains to show us the
wonderful beauty of the artist's work. Among the most famous are
the
Venus, of Melos (or “de Milo"), which stands in a special room in
a
museum called the Louvre in Paris; the Hermes in the museum of
Olympia
in Greece; and the figures from the Parthenon in the British
Museum in
London.
[Illustration: THE DISCUS-THROWER (DISCOBOLOS) An ancient
Greek statue now in the Vatican]
Artists nowadays, like the Roman artists long ago, study the Greek
statues and the Greek sculpture, in order that they may learn how
such
beautiful things can be made. They do not hope to excel the
Greeks,
but are content to remain their pupils.
PAINTING AND POTTERY. The Greeks were also painters, makers of
pottery, and workers in gold and silver. Many pieces of their
workmanship have been discovered by those who have dug in the
ruins of
ancient buildings and tombs.
[Illustration: A GREEK BOOK The upper picture, shows the book
open.]
WHAT THE BOYS WERE TAUGHT. The Greek boys were not very good at
arithmetic, and even grown men used counting boards or their
fingers
to help them in reckoning. In learning to write they smeared a
thin
layer of wax over a board and marked on that. There was a kind of
paper called papyrus, made from a reed which grew mostly in
Egypt, but
this was expensive. Rolls were made of sheets of it pasted
together,
and these were their books. One of the books the boys studied
much was
the poems of Homer—the Iliad and the Odyssey—which tell about
the
siege of Troy and the wanderings of Ulysses. Boys often learned
these
long poems by heart. They also stored away in their memories the
sayings of other poets and wise men, so that they could generally
know
what to think, having with them so many good and wise thoughts
put in
such excellent words.
GAMES AND EXERCISES FOR BOYS. It is not surprising that Greek boys
knew how to play, but it is surprising that they played many of
the
games which boys play now, such as hide-and-seek, tug of war,
ducks
and drakes, and blind man's buff. They even “pitched pennies.” In
school the boys were taught not only to read and write, but to be
skilful athletes, and to play on the lyre, accompanying this with
singing. The gymnasium was often an open space near a stream into
which they could plunge after their exercises were over. They
were
taught to box, to wrestle, to throw the discus, and to hurl the
spear.
Military training was important for them, since all might be
called to
fight for the safety of their city.
THE OLYMPIC GAMES. Boys and young men were trained as runners,
wrestlers, boxers, and discus throwers, not only because they
enjoyed
these exercises and the Greeks thought them an important part of
education, but also that they might bring back honors and prizes
to
their city from the great games which all the Greeks held every
few
years. The most famous of these games were held at Olympia. There
the
Greeks went from all parts of the country, carrying their tents
and
cooking utensils with them, because there were not enough houses
in
Olympia to hold so many people. Wars even were stopped for a time
in
order that the games might not be postponed.
THE REWARDS OF THE VICTORS. The principal contest was a dash for two
hundred yards, although there were longer races and many other
kinds
of contests. Unfortunately the Greeks liked to see the most
brutal
sort of boxing, in which the boxer's hands and arms were covered
with
heavy strips of leather stiffened with pieces of iron or lead.
For the
games men trained ten months, part of the time at Olympia. The
prize
was a crown of wild olive, and the winner returned in triumph to
his
city, where poets sang his praises, a special seat at public
games was
reserved for him, and often artists were employed to make a
bronze
statue of him to be set up in Olympia or in his own city.
[Illustration: GREEK GAMES—RUNNING From an antique vase]
THE GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS. The citizen of Athens, and of other Greek
cities, had more to do with his government than do most Americans
with
theirs. As nearly all work was done by slaves, he had plenty of
time
to attend meetings. All the citizens could attend the great
assembly,
or ecclesia, where six thousand at least must be present
before
anything could be decided. By this assembly foreigners might be
admitted to citizenship or citizens might be expelled, or
ostracized,
from Athens as hurtful to its welfare.
There was a smaller council of five hundred which decided less
important questions without laying them before the general
assembly.
This body was chosen by lot just as our juries are, but members
of the
council whose term had ended had a right to object to any new
member
as an unworthy citizen A tenth of the council ruled for a tenth
of the
year, and they chose their president by lot every day, so that
any
worthy man at Athens had a chance to be president for a day and a
night.
[Illustration: A DECREE OF THE COUNCIL—ABOUT 450 B.C.]
Many citizens also served in the courts, for there were six
thousand
judges, and in deciding important cases as many as a thousand and
one,
or even fifteen hundred and one, took part. Before such large
courts
and assemblies it was necessary to be a good speaker to be able
to win
a case or persuade the citizens. Some of the greatest orators of
the
world were Athenians, the best known being Demosthenes.
SOCRATES. The Athenians were not always just, although so many of
them
acted as judges. One court, composed of five hundred and one
judges,
condemned to death Socrates, the wisest man of the Greeks and one
of
the wisest in the world. He did not make speeches, or write
books, or
teach in school. He went about, in the market place, at the
gymnasium,
and on the streets, asking men, young and old, questions about
what
interested him most, that is, What is the true way to live? If
people
did not give him an answer which seemed good, he asked more
questions,
until sometimes they went away angry. Many of them thought
because he
asked questions about everything that he did not believe in
anything,
not even in the religion of his city.
[Illustration: SOCRATES After the marble bust in the Vatican]
THE DEATH OF SOCRATES, 399 B.C. After a while the enemies of
Socrates
accused him of being a wicked man who persuaded young men to be
wicked. He was tried by an Athenian court, which made the
terrible
blunder of finding him guilty and condemning him to death.
According
to the Athenian custom he was obliged to drink a cup of poisonous
hemlock. This he did, after talking to his friends cheerily about
how
a good man should live. As he wrote no books we have learned
about him
from his friends. The most famous of these was Plato, who is also
counted among the wisest men that ever lived. The story of the
lives
of these men is another gift which the Greeks made to all who
were to
live after them, and it is quite as valuable as are the ways of
building, artistic skill, or great poems and plays.
QUESTIONS
1. Why do we wish to know how the Greeks lived?
2. What was an Acropolis? How does the Acropolis at Athens look?
3. On the picture of the Parthenon point out the pediment. Show
where the frieze was placed. Find on a map Paestum.
4. What did the Greeks first mean by a scene? Why do we
still
study Greek plays? What is left of the Greek theaters?
5. What was a stadium, a portico, a gymnasium? Do we have such
buildings?
6. How do we know that the Greeks made beautiful statues?
7. What games for Greek boys were like our games? Tell about the
great public games of the Greeks.
8. How were the Greek rolls or books made?
9. Tell the story of Socrates.
EXERCISES
1. Are there any buildings in your town which are like Greek
buildings?
2. Find in your town Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian columns.
3. Get from a wall-paper dealer a sample of a frieze for a
papered
room.
4. What is the difference between the government of Athens and
the
government of your town?
5. What is the difference between the courts at Athens and the
courts in your town?
6. Are Olympic games held now? Where?
7. Which prizes would you prefer, the prizes given to winners at
Greek games or the prizes given to winners in our athletic
games?
WHEN THE ATLANTIC WAS UNKNOWN. One of the most important things
done by the men of Ancient Times was to explore the coasts and
lands of
Europe and to make settlements wherever they went. At first they
knew
little of the western and northern parts of Europe. Herodotus, a
Greek
whom we call the “Father of History,” and who was a great
traveler,
said, “Though I have taken vast pains, I have never been able to
get an
assurance from any eye-witness that there is any sea on the
further side
of Europe.” By the “further side” he meant “western,” and his
remark
shows that he did not know of the Atlantic Ocean. He understood
that tin
and amber came from the “Tin Islands,” which he called the “ends
of the
earth.” As tin came from England, it is plain that he had heard a
little
of that island.
[Illustration: MAP OF THE WORLD AS DESCRIBED BY THE GREEK
HISTORIAN HERODOTUS]
GREEK EMIGRANTS. Long before Athens became a great and beautiful
city the Greeks had begun to make settlements on distant shores.
Those
who lived on the western coast of Asia Minor, as well as those
who lived
where the kingdom of Greece is now, sent out colonists or
emigrants. The
Greek colonies were very important, because by them the ancient
civilized world was made larger, just as by the settlement of
America
the modern world was doubled in size. The colonists sailed away
from
home for the same reasons which led our forefathers to leave
England and
Europe for America. They either hoped to find it easier in a new
land to
make a living and obtain property, or they did not like the way
their
city was ruled, and being unable to change this, resolved to
build
elsewhere a city which they could manage as they pleased.
HOW THEY LOCATED A NEW CITY. There were several different lands to
which they could go, just as the European of to-day may sail for
the
United States or South America or Australia. They could attempt
to
settle on the shores of the Black Sea, or cross over to northern
Africa,
or try to reach Italy and the more distant coasts of what are now
France
and Spain. In order to choose wisely, they generally asked the
advice of
the priests of their god Apollo at his temple at Delphi. These
priests
knew more about good places for settlements than most other
persons,
because travelers from everywhere came to Delphi and the priests
were
wise enough to inquire about all parts of the world.
[Illustration: The territory occupied by the Greeks is
indicated by solid black]
The story is told that one group of emigrants was advised to
locate
their new colony opposite the “city of the blind.” They
discovered that
these words meant that an earlier band of emigrants had passed by
the
wonderful harbor of the present city of Constantinople and had
settled
instead on the other shore of the Bosphorus. Taught by the oracle
they
chose the better place and began to build the city of Byzantium,
which
later became Constantinople.
MOTHER AND DAUGHTER CITIES. Solemn ceremonies took place when
colonists departed. They carried with them fire from the hearth
of the
mother city in order to light a similar fire on their new hearth,
for
every city had its hearthstone and on it a fire that was never
quenched.
The ties between the mother and the daughter city were close, and
the
enemies of one were the enemies of the other. He who wished to
visit the
colony usually went to the mother city to find a ship bound
thither.
WHERE THE SETTLEMENTS WERE MADE. When the Greek sailors first
entered the Black Sea, they thought it a boundless ocean, and
called it
the Pontus, a word which means “The Main.” Until that time they
had been
accustomed to sail only from island to island in the Aegean Sea.
After a
while they made settlements all around the shores of the Black
Sea, and
in later times Athens drew from this region her supply of grain.
Still
more important settlements were made in Sicily and southern
Italy, for
it was through these settlements that some of the things the
Greeks
knew, like the art of writing, were taught to the Italian tribes
and to
the Romans.
DANGERS OF THE VOYAGE. At first Greek sailors feared the dangers of
the
western Mediterranean as much as those of the Black Sea. They
imagined
that the huge, misshapen, and dreadful monsters Scylla and
Charybdis
lurked in the Straits of Messina waiting to seize and swallow the
unlucky passer-by. On the slopes of Mount Aetna dwelt, they
thought,
hideous, one-eyed giants, the Cyclops, who fed their fierce
appetites
with the quivering flesh of many captives.
[Illustration: GREEK RUINS AT PAESTUM IN ITALY]
GREEKS IN THE WEST. The earliest settlement of the Greeks in Italy
was at Cumae, on a headland at the entrance of the Bay of Naples.
Later
these colonists entered the bay and founded the “new city,” or
Neapolis,
which we call Naples. Finally there were so many Greek cities in
southern Italy that it was named “Great Greece.” The Greeks also
made
settlements in what is now southern France and eastern Spain. The
principal one was Massilia, or Marseilles. Through the traders of
this
city the ancient world obtained a supply of tin from Britain, a
country
which is now called England.
GREEK COLONIES AS CENTERS OF CIVILIZATION. The Greeks in these
colonies traded with the natives whose villages were near by, and
many
of the natives learned to live like the Greeks. In this way the
Greeks
became teachers of civilization, and the Greek world, which at
first was
made up of cities on the shores of the Aegean Sea, was spread
from place
to place along the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea.
[Illustration: A GREEK TRIREME]
GREEK SHIPS. The ships of the Greeks were very different from
modern vessels. Of course they were not driven by steam, nor did
they
rely as much on sails as modern sailing ships do. They had sails,
but
were driven forward mostly by their oars. The trireme, or
ordinary
war-ship, had its oars arranged in three banks, fifty men rowing
at
once. After these had rowed several hours, or a “watch,” another
fifty
took their places, and finally a third fifty, so that the ships
could be
rowed at high speed all the time. With the aid of its two sails a
trireme is said to have gone one hundred and fifty miles in a day
and a
night. These boats were about one hundred and twenty feet long
and
fifteen feet wide. They could be rowed in shallow water, but were
not
high enough to ride heavy seas safely. They had a sharp beak,
which,
driven against an enemy's ship, would break in its sides. The
Greek
grain ships and freight boats were heavier and more capable of
enduring
rough weather.
[Illustration: ALEXANDER THE GREAT After the bust in the
Capitoline Museum, Rome]
ALEXANDER THE GREAT, KING OF MACEDON FROM 336 TO 323 B.C. Greek
ways of living were also carried eastward as well as westward.
The
enlargement of the Greek world in this direction was due to
Alexander
the Great, the most skilful soldier and the ablest leader of men
among
all the Greeks. Alexander was king of Macedon, and like the
earlier
Greeks he regarded the Persians as his enemies, and made war upon
them.
After conquering the Persians he marched across western Asia
until he
had reached the Indus River in India. He was a builder of cities
as well
as a conqueror. He founded seventy cities, and sixteen of them
were
named for him. The most important was the Alexandria which is
still the
chief seaport of Egypt. Greek became the language commonly spoken
throughout the lands near the eastern Mediterranean. This is the
reason
why in later times the New Testament was written in Greek.
ALEXANDRIA. Of this Greek world Athens ceased to be the center and
Alexandria took its place. At Alexandria there was a great
library which
contained over five hundred thousand volumes or rolls. There also
was
the museum or university, in which many learned men were at work.
The
best known of these men was Euclid, who perfected the mathematics
which
we call geometry, and Ptolemy, whose ideas about geography and
the shape
and size of the globe Columbus carefully studied before he set
out on
his great voyage. Alexandria was also a center of trade and
commerce.
From Alexandria, because its ships were the first foreign ships
to be
admitted to a Roman port, the Romans gained their liking for many
of the
beautiful things which the Greeks made.
QUESTIONS
1. Why were the Greek colonies important? Why did the Greeks
emigrate to the colonies?
2. Point out on the map, the lands to which they might go.
Name several cities which they built.
3. What were the ties between the daughter and the mother city?
4. Why was a part of southern Italy called Great Greece?
5. Describe a Greek trireme and the way it was managed.
6. Of what country was Alexander the Great king? When did he
reign?
How far east did he march? What did he do besides winning
victories?
7. Why was the city of Alexandria famous in Ancient Times?
8. Of what help was Ptolemy to Columbus?
EXERCISES
1. Find out the colonies we have. For what purpose do Americans
go
to these colonies? Is it as hard to reach them as it was for
the
Greeks to reach their colonies?
2. What country now has the most colonies?
3. Learn and tell the story of Ulysses and the Cyclops.
4. Find out what is meant at Constantinople by “the Golden
Horn?”
Who now live at Constantinople, at Naples, at Marseilles?
5. Collect pictures of these cities.
REVIEW
(Chapters II, III, and IV)
Ten things we owe to the Greeks:
1. Many useful words.
2. Many interesting tales.
3. Many examples of heroism.
4. Knowledge of how to construct beautiful buildings.
5. How to carve beautiful statues, reliefs, and friezes.
6. How to write great plays.
7. How to speak before large audiences.
8. Wise sayings of men like Socrates and Plato.
9. Knowledge of geography and mathematics.
10. Their work as colonists in teaching other peoples to live,
and
think and act as they did.
Two important dates:
Battle of Marathon, 490 B.C. Death of Alexander the Great, 323 B.C.
THE GREEK COLONIES AND THE CARTHAGINIANS. The Greek colonies were
sometimes in danger of being attacked by the native tribes whose
lands
they had seized or by the wilder tribes that dwelt further from
the
coast. In Sicily their most dangerous neighbors were the
Carthaginians
at the western end of the island. The chief town of these people
was
Carthage, situated opposite Sicily in northern Africa in what is
now
Tunis. The Carthaginians were emigrants from Tyre and other
cities of
Phoenicia on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, and because
of
their many ships held control of a large part of the western
Mediterranean. They had colonies even in Spain, where in very
early
times Phoenician traders had gone to obtain gold and silver.
THE GREEKS AND THE ROMANS. In Italy the most dangerous neighbors of
the Greek colonists were the Romans, who lived half-way up the
western
side of the peninsula along the river Tiber. The history of the
Romans,
like the history of the Greeks, is full of interesting and
wonderful
tales. Some of them are legends, such as every people likes to
tell
about its early history. They relate how the city was founded by
two
brothers, Romulus and Remus; how Horatius defended the bridge
across the
Tiber against the hosts of the exiled Tarquin king; how the
farmer
Cincinnatus, having been made leader or dictator, in sixteen days
drove
off the neighboring tribes which were attacking the Romans and
then went
back to his plough.
THE GAULS BURN ROME, 390 B.C. The Romans told stories of their
defeats as well as of their victories. One of these tells how
hosts of
Gauls, a people of the same race as the forefathers of the
French,
streamed southward from the valley of the Po. The Romans were
alarmed by
such tall men, with fierce eyes, and fair, flowing hair, whose
swords
crashed through the frail Roman helmets. They sent a large army
to stop
the invaders, but in the battle, which was fought only twelve
miles from
Rome, this army was destroyed.
The few defenders that were left withdrew to the Capitoline, the
steepest of the hills over which the city had spread. Some of the
older
senators and several priests scorned to seek a refuge from the
fury of
the barbarians, and took their seats quietly in ivory chairs in
the
market place or Forum at the foot of the Capitoline hill. The
Gauls at
first gazed in wonder at the strange sight of the motionless
figures.
When one of them attempted to stroke the white beard of a
senator, the
senator struck him with his staff; then the Gauls fell upon
senators and
priests and slew them.
[Illustration: CLIFF OF THE CAPITOLINE HILL]
The sides of the Capitoline hill were so steep that for a long
time the
Gauls were baffled in their attempts to seize it. At last they
discovered a path, and one dark night were on the point of
scaling the
height when some geese, sacred to the goddess Juno, cackled and
flapped
their wings until the garrison was aroused and the Gauls hurled
headlong
down the precipice. The garrison was saved, but the city was
burned.
This happened in Rome just one hundred years after the battle of
Marathon in Greece.
THE CAUDINE FORKS. Another adventure did not have so happy an
ending. The Romans were at war with the Samnites, a tribe living
on the
slopes of the Apennines, who were continually attacking the Greek
cities
on the coast. The war was caused by the attempt of the Romans to
protect
one of the Greek cities. The Roman generals, with a large army,
in
making their way into the Samnite country attempted to march
through a
narrow gorge which broadened out into a plain and then was closed
again
at the farther end by another gorge. When they reached this
second gorge
they found the road blocked by fallen trees and heaps of stones.
They
also saw Samnites on the heights above them. In alarm they
hastened to
retrace their steps, only to find the other entrance closed in
the same
way. After vain attempts to force a passage or to scale the
surrounding
heights they were obliged to surrender.
[Illustration: THE REGION OF THE CAUDINE FORKS]
[Illustration: ITALY BEFORE THE GROWTH OF ROMAN POWER]
The Samnites compelled the Roman army, both generals and soldiers,
each
clad in a single garment, to pass “under the yoke” made of two
spears
set upright with one laid across, while they stood by and jeered.
If any
Roman looked angry or sullen at his disgrace, they struck or even
killed
him. This was called the disaster of the Caudine Forks, from the
pass
where the Romans were caught.
THE ROMANS AND THE GREEK CITIES. Not many years after this the
Romans quarreled with the Greek cities of southern Italy. The
Greeks of
Tarentum, situated where Taranto is now, called to their aid
Pyrrhus,
who ruled a part of Alexander's old kingdom. Pyrrhus was a
skilful
general, and he had with him, besides his foot-soldiers and
horsemen,
many trained elephants. A charge of these elephants was too much
for the
Romans, who were already hard pressed by the long spears of the
soldiers
of Pyrrhus. But the Romans were ready for another battle, and in
this
they fought so stubbornly and killed so many of the Greek
soldiers that
Pyrrhus cried out, “Another victory like this and we are ruined.”
In a
third battle, which took place 275 B.C., he was defeated, and
returned
to Greece, leaving the Romans masters of the Greek cities in
Italy.
THE ROMANS CONQUERORS OF ITALY. By this time there were few tribes
south of the river Po which did not own the Romans as their
masters. All
Italy was united under their rule. This was the first step in the
conquest of the world that lay about the Mediterranean Sea and in
the
extension of that ancient world to the shores of the Atlantic and
to
England. Before we read the story of the other conquests we must
inquire
who the Roman people were and how they lived.
HOW THE ROMANS LIVED. In early times most of the Romans were
farmers or cattle raisers. A man's wealth was reckoned according
to the
number of cattle he owned. Their manner of living was simple and
frugal.
Like the Greek, the Roman had his games. He enjoyed
chariot-races, but
used slaves or freedmen as drivers. He also went to the theater,
although he thought it unworthy of a Roman to be an actor. Such
an
occupation was for foreigners or slaves.
[Illustration: A ROMAN WEARING A TOGA]
ROMAN BOYS AT SCHOOL. The boys at school did not learn poems, as
did the Greek boys, but studied the first set of laws made by the
Romans, called the Twelve Tables. This they read, copied, and
learned by
heart. Their interest in laws was the first sign that they were
to
become the world's greatest lawmakers.
ROMAN WOMEN. In their respect for women the Romans were superior to
the Greeks. The Roman mother did not remain in the women's
apartments of
the house, as she was expected to do at Athens, but was her
husband's
companion, received his guests, directed her household, and went
in and
out as she chose.
PATRICIANS AND PLEBEIANS. The men of the families which first ruled
Rome were called patricians or nobles, while the rest were
plebeians or
common people. There were also many slaves, but they had no
rights. At
first only the patricians knew exactly what the laws were,
because the
laws were not written in a book. When disputes arose between
patricians
and plebeians about property, the plebeians believed the
patricians
changed the laws in order to gain an advantage over their poorer
neighbors.
The story is told that twice the plebeians withdrew from the city
and
refused to return until their wrongs were removed. Then they
compelled
the nobles to draw up the laws in a roll called the Twelve
Tables. At
this time messengers were sent to Athens to examine the laws of
the
Greeks. The richer plebeians were also gradually admitted to all
the
offices of the Roman republic, and so became nobles themselves.
GOVERNMENT AT ROME. The Romans had once been ruled by kings, but
now their chief officers were consuls. Two consuls were chosen
each year
because the Romans feared that a single consul might make himself
a
king, or, at least, gain too much power. The real rulers of Rome,
however, were the senators, the men who had held the prominent
offices.
There were assemblies of the people, but these generally did what
the
senators or other officers told them to do.
Among the interesting officers of Rome was the censor, who drew up
a
list or census of the citizens and of their property. Another
officer
was the tribune, chosen in the beginning by the plebeians to
protect
them against the patricians. The tribune was not at first a
member of
the senate, but he was given a seat outside the door, and if a
law was
proposed that would injure the plebeians, he cried out, “Veto,”
which
means “I forbid,” and the law had to be dropped. This is the
origin of
our word “veto.”
HOW THE ROMANS TREATED THE ITALIANS. The Romans were wise in their
dealings with the cities or tribes which they conquered. They not
only
sent out colonies of their fellow-citizens to occupy a part of
the lands
they had seized, but they also gave the conquered peoples a share
in
their government, and in some cases allowed them to act as
citizens of
Rome. These new Roman citizens helped the older Romans in their
wars
with other tribes. In this way Roman towns gradually spread over
Italy.
[Illustration: A ROMAN MILITARY STANDARD]
QUESTIONS
1. What was the name of the dangerous neighbors of the Greeks in
Sicily? Find Carthage on the map. Where did the
Carthaginians come from originally? Find Phoenicia on the map.
2. Who were the dangerous neighbors of the Greeks in Italy? Find
the
Tiber and Rome on the map.
3. Tell the story of the capture of Rome by the Gauls. How long
was
this after the battle of Marathon? How long after the death of
Socrates? How long before Alexander became king of Macedon?
4. Find the land of the Samnites on the map. Tell the story
of the Caudine Forks.
5. What Greek king did the people of Tarentum call to Italy to
help
them against the Romans? What did he say after his second
battle
with the Romans?
6. After the defeat of Pyrrhus how much of Italy owned the
Romans as
masters? How did the Romans treat the Italians?
7. Explain how the early Roman ways of living differed from the
ways
of the Greeks.
8. How differently did the Romans and the Greeks govern themselves?
EXERCISES
1. Read the story of Horatius in Macaulay's “Lays of Ancient Rome.”
2. Collect pictures of Rome and Italy.
3. Is there a modern city of Carthage? What country rules over
Tunis? Are there now any Phoenicians?
4. Read the description of Tyre in the Bible, Ezekiel xxvii.
3-25,
and tell what is said there about the riches of the Tyrians.
Find
out who destroyed Tyre.
[Illustration: AN EARLY ROMAN COIN]
ROME IN PERIL. The conquest of Italy by the Romans took about two
hundred and fifty years. The conquest of the peoples living in
the
other lands on the shores of the Mediterranean took nearly as
long
again. Only twice in these four or five hundred years was Rome in
serious danger of destruction. Once it was by the Gauls, as we
have
read, who captured all the city except the citadel. The second
time it
was by the Carthaginians, who lived on the northern coast of
Africa.
The Romans were finally victorious over all their enemies because
they
were patient and courageous in misfortune and refused to believe
that
they could be conquered.
CAUSE OF WAR WITH CARTHAGE. The Carthaginians were angry at the way
the Romans treated them. They watched with alarm the steady
growth of
the Roman power, and feared that the Romans, if masters of Italy,
would attack their trade with the cities of the western
Mediterranean.
A quarrel broke out over a city in Sicily. At first the
Carthaginians
seemed to have the best of it, because they had a strong war
fleet
while the Romans had only a few small vessels. But the Romans
hurriedly built ships and placed upon each a kind of drawbridge,
fitted with great hooks called grappling-irons. These they let
down
upon the enemy's decks as soon as the ships came close enough,
and
over these drawbridges the Roman soldiers rushed and captured the
Carthaginian ships.
When the Carthaginians asked for peace, the Romans demanded a
great
sum of money and a promise that the Carthaginians would leave the
cities in Sicily which they occupied. Soon afterward the Romans
took
advantage of a mutiny in the Carthaginian army to demand more
money
and to seize Sardinia and Corsica. No wonder the Carthaginians
were
angry. The result was a new and more terrible war.
HANNIBAL. The Carthaginians in the new war were led by Hannibal, who
understood how to fight battles better than any of the generals
whom
the Romans sent against him. The story is told that when he was a
boy
his father made him promise, at the altar of his city's gods,
undying
hatred to Rome. Even the Romans thought him a wonderful man.
Their
historians said that toil did not wear out his body or exhaust
his
energy. Cold or heat were alike to him. He never ate or drank
more
than he needed. He slept when he had time, whether it was day or
night, wrapping himself in a military cloak and lying on the
ground in
the midst of his soldiers. He did not dress better than the other
officers, but his weapons and his horses were the best in the
army.
WAR CARRIED INTO ITALY, 218 B.C. Hannibal decided that the war
should
be carried into Italy to the very gates of Rome. He started from
Spain, half of which the Carthaginians ruled, marched across
southern
Gaul, and came to the foot-hills of the Alps. To climb the Alps
was
the most difficult part of his long journey.
CROSSING THE ALPS. There were no roads across the mountains, only
rough paths used by the mountaineers, who constantly attacked
Hannibal's soldiers, bursting out suddenly upon them from behind
a
turn in the trail, or rolling huge rocks upon them from above.
The
elephants, the horses, and the baggage animals of the army were
frightened, and in the tumult many of them slipped over the
precipices
and were dashed on the rocks below. For five days the army toiled
upward, and then rested two days on the summit of the pass.
[Illustration: THE ALPS THAT HANNIBAL HAD TO CROSS]
Although the road down into Italy was short, it was steep, and the
paths were slippery with ice and with snow trodden into slush by
thousands of men and animals. In one place there had been a
landslide,
and the road along the rocky slope was cut away for a thousand
feet.
In order to build a new road it was necessary to crack the rocks.
This
the soldiers did by making huge fires and pouring wine over the
heated
surface. At last, worn out, ragged, and half starved, the army
reached
the plains of Italy, but with a loss of half its men.
HOW HANNIBAL WON A VICTORY. The first great battle with the Romans
was
fought on the river Trebia in northern Italy, and in it Hannibal
showed how easily he could outwit and destroy a Roman army. It
was a
winter's day and the river was swollen by rains. The two camps
lay on
opposite banks. In the early morning Hannibal sent across the
river a
body of horsemen to attack the Roman camp and draw the Romans
into a
battle. At the same time he ordered his other soldiers to eat
breakfast, to build fires before their tents to warm themselves,
and
to rub their bodies with oil, so that they might be strong for
the
coming fight.
The Romans were suddenly roused by the attack of the Carthaginian
horsemen, and, without waiting for food, moved out of camp,
chasing
the horsemen toward the river. Into its icy waters the Romans
waded
breast-high, and when they came up on the opposite bank they were
benumbed with cold. As soon as Hannibal knew that the Romans had
crossed the river he attacked them fiercely with all his troops.
Two
thousand men whom he had placed in ambush fell upon the rear of
their
line. Their allies were frightened by a charge of elephants.
Seeing
that destruction was certain, ten thousand of the best soldiers
broke
through the Carthaginian line and marched away. All the rest of
the
army was destroyed.
ROMAN ENDURANCE. This was not the last of the Roman defeats. Two
other
armies were destroyed by Hannibal during the next two years. In
the
battle of Cannae nearly seventy thousand Romans, including eighty
senators, were slain. The news filled the city with weeping
women, but
the senate did not think of yielding. When their allies deserted
them,
they besieged the faithless cities, took them, beheaded the
rulers,
and sold the inhabitants into slavery.
They did not dare to fight Hannibal in the open field, but tried
to
wear him out by cutting off all small bodies of his troops and by
making it difficult for him to get food for his army. They
carried the
war into Spain and finally into Africa, and when, with a weakened
army, Hannibal faced them there, they defeated him. His defeat
was the
ruin of Carthage, for the unhappy city was compelled to see her
fleet
destroyed, to pay the Romans a huge sum of money, and to give up
Spain
to them.
[Illustration: A ROMAN SOLDIER]
OTHER ROMAN TRIUMPHS. The war with Carthage ended two hundred and
two
years before the birth of Christ. In the wars that followed,
Roman
armies fought not only in Spain and Africa, but also in Greece
and
Asia. Carthage was destroyed; as was also Corinth, a Greek city.
Roman
generals enriched themselves and sent great treasures back to
Rome.
Roman merchants grew rich because their rivals in Carthage and
Corinth
were ruined or because the conquered cities were forbidden to
trade
with any city but Rome. All this took a long time and many wars,
but
in the end the Romans became masters of every land along the
shores of
the Mediterranean. This was not wholly a misfortune, for the
Romans
had learned that the Greeks were superior to them in some things
and
they took the Greeks as their teachers in most of the arts of
living.
The ancient world became a sort of partnership, and we call its
civilization Graeco-Roman, that is, both Greek and Roman.
THE ROMANS AS RULERS. The Romans at first treated the lands in
Sicily,
Spain, Africa, Greece, and Asia as conquered territories, or
provinces, sending to rule over them officers who were to act
both as
governors and judges. With these men went many tax-collectors or
“publicans.” The Romans were obliged to leave in most provinces a
large body of soldiers to put down any attempt at rebellion.
Often the
officers and the publicans robbed the country instead of ruling
it
justly.
EVIL RESULTS OF CONQUEST. During the wars the Romans had lost many
of
their simple ways of living. Some had grown rich in the business
of
providing for the armies and navies, and they were eager for new
wars
in order to make still bigger fortunes. Hannibal's marches up and
down
Italy had driven thousands of farmers from their homes, and they
had
wandered to Rome for safety and food. When the war was over many
of
them did not go back to their homes. Those who did found that
they
could no longer get fair prices for their crops because great
quantities of wheat were shipped to Rome from the conquered
lands.
Wealthy men bought the little farms and joined them, making great
estates where slaves raised sheep and cattle or tended vineyards
and
olive groves. There was not much work for free men in Rome, for
slaves
were very cheap. One army of prisoners was sold at about eight
cents
apiece. In this way the poor were made idle, while the rich sent
everywhere for new luxuries.
[Illustration: GLADIATORS After carvings on the tomb of
Scaurus]
CRUEL SPORTS. To amuse the idle crowds, office-seekers and
victorious
generals provided cruel sports. Savage animals were turned loose
to
tear one another to pieces. What was worse, human prisoners were
compelled to fight, armed with swords or spears. These men were
called
gladiators, and often were specially trained to fight with one
another
or with wild beasts.
SOME THINGS THE ROMANS LEARNED. But the successes of the Romans
brought them other things which were good. They took the
buildings of
the Greeks as models and built similar temples and porticoes in
Rome,
especially about the old market place or Forum. Their own houses,
which in earlier times were nothing but cabins, they enlarged,
and if
they were rich enough, built palaces, adorned with paintings and
with
statues. Unfortunately many of these came from the plunder of
Greek
cities, for the Romans were great robbers of other peoples. The
poorer
Romans continued to live in wretched hovels.
THE THEATER. The Romans learned more about the theaters of the
Greeks.
Their plays were either translated into Latin from Greek or
retold in
a different manner from the original Greek. The Romans did not
succeed
in writing any plays of their own which were as good as the plays
of
the Greeks.
[Illustration: RUINS OF THE ROMAN THEATER AT ORANGE, FRANCE]
THE NEW EDUCATION OF THE ROMANS. The Greeks also taught the Romans
how
to write poems and histories. The first histories were written in
Greek, but later the Romans learned how to write in Latin prose
and
poetry as good as much that had been written by the Greeks. Greek
became the second language of every educated Roman, and thus he
could
enjoy the books of the Greeks as well as those written by Romans.
The
education of the Roman boy now began with the poems of Homer, and
the
young man's education was not thought to be finished until he had
traveled in Greece and the lands along the eastern Mediterranean.
QUESTIONS
1. How long did it take the Romans to conquer Italy? How long to
conquer the lands about the Mediterranean? In what “Times” did
all
this happen?
2. Why did the Carthaginians and the Romans fight? What did
Hannibal
promise his father? What sort of a leader was Hannibal?
3. How did Hannibal reach Italy? How did he win the battle of
the
Trebia?
4. Why was he unable to force the Romans to yield?
5. How long before the beginning of the Christian Era did this
war
with Hannibal close? How long after the battle of Marathon, and
after the death of Alexander the Great?
6. What other lands did the Romans conquer? How did they rule
these
colonies?
7. Were they better for the wealth and power they gained? What
became of many of the Italian farmers? Where did the Romans get
their slaves?
8. What good things did they learn from the Greeks? What was the
Graeco-Roman world?
EXERCISES
1. On an outline map of the lands around the Mediterranean mark
on
each land, Spain, Greece, northern Africa, Asia Minor, and
Egypt,
the dates at which the Romans conquered each, finding these
dates in
any brief Roman or Ancient History—Botsford, Myers, Morey,
West, Wolfson.
NEW CONQUESTS OF THE ROMANS. The Romans had as yet conquered only
civilized peoples like themselves, with the exception of the
tribes in
Spain and southern Gaul. Now the Roman armies were to push
northward
over the plains and through the forests of Gaul, across the Rhine
into
unknown Germany, and over the Channel into Britain, equally
unknown.
They were to be explorers as well as conquerors. In this way they
were
to carry their civilization to the Rhine and the Atlantic, and so
increase greatly the part of the earth where men lived and
thought as
the Romans did and as the Greeks had before them. The ancient
civilized
world was beginning to move from its older center, the
Mediterranean,
toward the shore of the Atlantic.
ANCESTORS OF THE FRENCH AND THE GERMANS. The tribes living in Gaul
were not at that time called French, but Gallic. The Gauls were
like the
Britons who lived across the Channel in Britain. The German
ancestors of
the English had not yet crossed the North Sea to that land.
Beyond the
Rhine lived the Germans, who had but little to do with the Romans
and
the Greeks and were still barbarians. The Gauls living farthest
away
from the Roman settlements were not much more civilized.
The principal difference between the Germans and the Gauls was
that the
Gauls lived in villages and towns and cultivated the land or dug
in
mines or traded along the rivers, while the Germans had no towns
and
dwelt in clearings of the forest. Their wealth, like that of the
early
Romans, was their cattle. The land they cultivated was divided
between
them year after year, so that a German owned only his hut and the
plot
of ground or garden about it. Some of the towns of the Gauls were
placed
on high hills and were protected by strong walls.
THE TERRIBLE GERMANS. The Romans had at first been afraid of the
Gauls, because they had never forgotten how terribly these people
had
once defeated them. But since that time they had fought the Gauls
so
often that they were losing this fear. They now dreaded more to
meet the
Germans, who seemed like giants because they were taller even
than
the Gauls.
[Illustration: GALLIC WARRIORS]
GALLIC AND GERMAN WARRIORS. The leaders of the Germans were
sometimes
kings and sometimes nobles whom the Romans called duces,
from which
comes our word duke. The Gallic chieftains were adorned with gold
necklaces, bracelets, and rings. When they went out to battle,
they wore
helmets shaped like the head of some ravenous beast, and their
bodies
were protected by coats of chain armor made of iron rings. Their
principal weapon was a long, heavy sword. Both German and Gallic
nobles
were accompanied by bands of young men, their devoted followers,
who
shared the joys of victory or died with them in case of defeat.
It was a
disgrace to lose one's sword or to survive if the leader was
killed.
HOW THE GERMANS LIVED. When the Germans were not fighting they were
idle, for all work was done by women and slaves. They were great
drinkers and gamblers, and often in their games a man would stake
his
freedom upon the result. If he lost, he became the slave of the
winner.
The Germans respected their wives, even if they compelled them to
do the
hard work. The women sometimes went with the men to battle, and
their
cries encouraged the warriors, or if the warriors wavered, the
fierce
reproaches of the women drove them back to the fight.
RELIGION OF THE GERMANS. We remember the religion of the Germans
because four days of the week are named for their gods or the
gods of
their neighbors across the Baltic. Their principal god was Wodan,
or
Odin, god of the sun and the tempest. Wodan's day is Wednesday.
Thursday
is named for Thor, the Northmen's god of thunder. The god of war,
Tiw,
gave a name to Tuesday, and Frigu, the goddess of love, to
Friday. The
German, like his northern neighbors, thought of heaven as the
place
where brave warriors who had died in battle spent their days
in feasting.
JULIUS CAESAR. Julius Caesar was the great Roman general who
conquered the Gauls and led the first expeditions across the
Rhine into
Germany and over the Channel into Britain. He was a wealthy noble
who,
like other nobles, held one office after another until he became
consul.
He was also a great political leader, and with two other men
controlled
Rome. We should call them “bosses,” but the Romans called them
“triumvirs.”
[Illustration: JULIUS CAESAR After the bust in the Museum at
Naples]
CAESAR IN GAUL. As soon as Caesar became governor of the province
of southern Gaul, he showed that he was a skilful general as well
as a
successful politician. He interfered in the wars between the
Gauls,
taking sides with the friends of the Romans. When a large army of
Germans entered Gaul, he defeated it and drove it back across the
Rhine.
One war led to another until all the tribes from the country now
called
Belgium to the Mediterranean coast professed to be friends of the
Roman
people. His campaigns lasted from 58 B.C. for nine years. Two or
three
times Caesar was very close to ruin, but by his courage and
energy he
always succeeded in gaining the victory.
VERCINGETORIX, GALLIC HERO. The great hero of the Gauls in their
struggle with the Romans was Vercingetorix. He was a young noble
who
lived in a mountain town of central Gaul. His father had been
killed in
an attempt to make himself king of his native city. Vercingetorix
believed that if the Gauls did not unite against the Romans they
would
soon see their lands become Roman provinces. As he knew his army
was no
match for the Romans in open fight, he persuaded the Gauls to try
to
starve the Romans out of the country. He planned to destroy all
village
stores of grain, and to cut off the smaller bands of soldiers
which
wandered from the main army in search of food.
CAESAR AND VERCINGETORIX. Vercingetorix found the work of
conquering Caesar in this way too difficult. He was finally
driven to
take refuge in Alesia, on a hilltop in eastern Gaul. Here the
Romans
prepared to starve him into surrender. They dug miles of deep
trenches
about the fortress so that the imprisoned Gauls could not break
through.
They dug other trenches to protect themselves from the attacks of
a
great army of Gauls which came to rescue Vercingetorix. These
trenches
were fifteen or twenty feet wide; they were strengthened by
palisades
and ramparts, and filled with water where this was possible.
Several
times the Gauls nearly succeeded in breaking through, but the
quickness
and stubborn courage of Caesar always saved the day.
DEATH OF VERCINGETORIX. Vercingetorix now proved that he was a real
hero. He offered to give himself up to Caesar, if this would save
the
town. But Caesar demanded the submission of all the chiefs. When
they
had laid down their arms before the conqueror, Vercingetorix
appeared on
a gaily decorated horse. He rode around the throne where Caesar
sat,
dismounted in front, took off his armor, and bowed to the ground.
His
fate was hard. He was sent to Rome a prisoner, was shown in the
triumphal procession of the victorious Caesar, and was then put
to death
in a dungeon. On the site of Alesia stands a monument erected by
the
French to the memory of the brave Gallic hero. The defeat of
Vercingetorix ended the resistance of the Gauls, and not many
years
afterward their country was added to the long list of Roman
provinces.
[Illustration: THE BRIDGE ON WHICH CAESAR'S ARMY CROSSED THE
RHINE]
CAESAR IN GERMANY. Caesar crossed the Rhine into Germany on a bridge
which his engineers built in ten days. He laid waste the fields
of the
tribes near the river in order to make the name of Rome feared,
and then
returned to Gaul and destroyed the bridge. Twice he sailed over
to
Britain, the last time marching a few miles north of where London
now
stands. His purpose was to keep the Britons from stirring up the
Gauls
to attack him. Other generals many years later conquered Britain
as far
as the hills of Scotland.
THE GERMAN HERO HERMANN. The Romans were not fortunate in their
later attempts to conquer a part of Germany. When Caesar's
grandnephew
Augustus was master of Rome, he sent an army under Varus into the
forests far from the Rhine. Hermann, a leader of the Germans,
gathered
the tribes together and utterly destroyed the army of Varus.
Whenever
Augustus thought of this dreadful disaster, he would cry out, “O
Varus,
give me back my legions!” The Rhine and the Danube became the
northern
boundaries of the Roman conquests.
GAULS AND BRITONS BECOME ROMAN. Although the Gauls had fought
stubbornly against Caesar they soon became as Roman as the
Italians
themselves. They ceased to speak their own language and began to
use
Latin. They mastered Latin so thoroughly that their schools were
sometimes regarded as better than the schools in Italy, and Roman
youths
were sent to Gaul to learn how best to speak their own language.
The
Britons also became very good Romans. Even the Germans frequently
crossed the Rhine and enlisted in the Roman armies. When they
returned
to their own country they carried Roman ideas and customs with
them.
THE INTEREST OF AMERICANS IN ROMAN SUCCESSES. For Americans the
influence the Romans exerted in Spain, Gaul, Germany, and Britain
is
more important than their work in the eastern Mediterranean,
because
from those countries came the early settlers of America. The
civilization which the Romans taught the peoples of western
Europe was
to become a valuable part of the civilization of our forefathers.
[Illustration: THE ROMAN EMPIRE AT ITS GREATEST EXTENT IN 395
A.D.]
SIZE OF THE ROMAN WORLD. We may realize how large the world of the
Romans was by observing on a modern map that within its limits
lay
modern England, France, Spain, Portugal, the southern part of
Austria-Hungary, Italy, Bulgaria, Greece, the Turkish Empire both
in
Europe and Asia, Egypt, Tripoli, Tunis, Algeria, and Morocco. For
a time
they also ruled north of the Danube, and the Rumanians boast that
they
are descended from Roman colonists. The peoples in southern
Russia were
influenced by the Greeks and by the Romans, although the Romans
did not
try to bring them under their rule.
No modern empire has included so many important countries. If we
compare
this vast territory with, the scattered colonies of the Greeks,
we shall
understand how useful it was that the Romans adopted much of the
Greek
civilization, for they could carry it to places that the Greeks
never reached.
[Illustration: RUINS OF THE ANCIENT GAULS AT CARNAC,
IN BRITTANY, FRANCE]
QUESTIONS
1. After the Romans had conquered the lands about the
Mediterranean,
into what other countries did they march?
2. Who once lived where the French now live? Tell how the Gauls
lived.
3. How did the manner of living of the Germans differ from that
of
the Gauls? Were the Britons similar to the Germans or to the
Gauls?
4. What names do we get from the names of the German gods?
5. Who was Julius Caesar? Why did he go among the Gauls? What
was
the result of his wars with the Gauls? Tell the story of
Vercingetorix.
6. After the conquest of the Gauls, into what countries did
Caesar
go?
[Illustration: A ROMAN COIN WITH THE HEAD OF JULIUS CAESAR]
7. What was the fate of the Roman army in Germany in the time of
Augustus?
8. In which of these countries did the peoples become much like
the
Romans?
9. Why have Americans a special interest in the Roman conquest
of
Gaul and Britain?
EXERCISES
1. Caesar and Alexander were two of the greatest generals who
ever
lived. How many years after Alexander died did Caesar begin his
wars
in Gaul? What difference was there between what these two
generals
did? Whose work is the more important for us?
2. Plan a large map of the Graeco-Roman world, pasting on each
country a picture of some interesting Greek or Roman ruin. This
will
take a long time, but many pictures may be found in advertising
folders of steamship lines and tourist agencies.
REVIEW
(Chapters IV, V, VI, and VII)
How the Graeco-Roman world was built up:
1. The Greeks drive back the Persians.
2. The Greeks settle in many places on the shores of the
Mediterranean and Black Seas.
3. Alexander conquers the countries about the eastern Mediterranean.
4. The Romans conquer the Greeks in Italy, but learn their ways
of
living.
5. The Romans conquer the Carthaginians and seize their colonies.
6. The Romans conquer all the lands around the Mediterranean.
7. The Romans conquer Gaul and Britain.
Important dates in this work of building a Graeco-Roman world :
Battle of Marathon, 490 B.C. Work of Alexander ended, 323 B.C.
Romans become masters of Italy, 275 B.C. Romans conquer
Hannibal,
202 B.C. Caesar's conquest of Gaul complete, 49 B.C.
[Illustration: ROMAN FARMER'S CALENDAR]
STRIFE AT ROME. While the Romans were conquering the ancient world
they had begun to quarrel among themselves. Certain men resolved
that
Rome should not be managed any longer by the noble senators for
their
own benefit or for the benefit of rich contractors and merchants.
They
wished to have the idle crowds of men who packed the shows and
circuses
settled as free farmers on the unused lands of Italy.
Among these new leaders were two brothers, Tiberius and Caius
Gracchus,
sons of one of Rome's noblest families. The other nobles looked
upon
them with hatred and killed them, first Tiberius and afterward
Caius.
These murders did not end the trouble. The leaders on both sides
armed
their followers, and bloody battles were fought in the streets.
Generals
led their armies to Rome, although, according to the laws, to
bring an
army into Italy south of the Rubicon River was to make war on the
republic and be guilty of treason. Once in the city these
generals put
to death hundreds of their enemies.
CAESAR RULES ROME. The strife in the city had ceased for a time
when Pompey, a famous general, who had once shared power with
Caesar as
a “triumvir,” joined the senators in planning his ruin. Caesar
led his
army into Italy to the borders of the Rubicon. Exclaiming, “The
die is
cast,'“ he crossed the sacred boundary and marched straight to
Rome.
Pompey and his party fled, and civil war divided the Roman world
into
those who followed Caesar and those who followed Pompey, Caesar
was
everywhere victorious, in Italy, Africa, Spain, and the East. He
brought
back order into the government of the city and of the provinces,
but in
the year 44 B.C. he was murdered in the senate-house by several
senators, one of whom, Marcus Brutus, had been his friend.
ORIGIN OF THE TITLE “EMPEROR.” Caesar had not been called
“emperor,” though the chief power had been his. One of his titles
was
“imperator,” or commander of the army, a word from which our word
“emperor” comes. He was really the first emperor of Rome. In
later times
the very word Caesar became an imperial title, not only in the
Roman
Empire, but also in modern Germany, for “Kaiser” is another form
of the
word “Caesar.”
BEGINNINGS OF THE EMPIRE. Caesar's successor was his grandnephew
Octavius, usually called Augustus, which was one of his titles.
Augustus
carried out many of Caesar's plans for improving the government
in Rome
and in the provinces. The people in the provinces were no longer
robbed
by Roman officers. Many of them became Roman citizens. After a
time all
children born within the empire were considered Romans, just as
if they
had been born in Rome.
THE ROMAN EMPIRE. The Roman Empire carried on the work which the
republic had begun. It did some things better than the republic
had done
them. Within its frontiers there was peace for two or three
hundred
years. Many people had an opportunity to share in all the best
that the
Greeks and Romans had learned. Unfortunately the peoples imitated
the
bad as well as the good.
ROMAN ROADS. As builders the Romans taught much to those who lived
after them. Their great roads leading out from Rome have never
been
excelled. In Gaul these roads served, centuries later, to mark
out the
present French system of highroads and showed many a route to the
builders of railroads. They were made so solid that parts of them
still
remain after two thousand years.
[Illustration: Augustus Caesar After the statue in the Vatican]
HOW THESE ROADS WERE BUILT. In planning their roads the Romans did
not hesitate before obstacles like hills or deep valleys or
marshy
lands. They often pierced the hills with tunnels and bridged the
valleys
or swamps. In building a road they dug a trench about fifteen
feet wide
and pounded the earth at the bottom until it was hard. Upon this
bottom
was placed a layer of rough stones, over which were put nine
inches of
broken stone mixed with lime to form a sort of concrete. This was
covered by a layer six inches deep of broken bricks or broken
tiles,
which when pounded down offered a hard, smooth surface. On the
top were
laid large paving stones carefully fitted so that there need be
no jar
when a wagon rolled over the road.
Such roads were necessary for the traders who passed to and fro
throughout the empire, but especially for troops or government
messengers sent with all speed to regions where there was danger
of
revolt or where the frontiers were threatened by the barbarians.
[Illustration: CROSS-SECTION OF A ROMAN ROAD]
AQUEDUCTS. Next to their roads the most remarkable Roman structures
were the aqueducts which brought water to the city from rivers or
springs, some of them many miles away. Had they known, as we do,
how to
make heavy iron pipes, their aqueducts would have been laid
underground,
except where they crossed deep valleys. The lead pipes which they
used
were not strong enough to endure the force of a great quantity of
water,
and so when the aqueducts reached the edge of the plain which
stretches
from the eastern hills to the walls of Rome, the streams of
flowing
water were carried in stone channels resting upon arches which
sometimes
reached the height of over ninety feet.
THE CLAUDIAN AQUEDUCT. The Claudian aqueduct, which is the most
magnificent ever built, is carried on such arches for about seven
miles
and a half. Although broken in many places, and though the water
has not
flowed through its lofty channels for sixteen hundred years, it
is one
of the grandest sights in the neighborhood of Rome. If we add
together
the lengths of the aqueducts, underground or carried on arches,
which
provided Rome with her water supply, the total is over three
hundred
miles. They could furnish Rome with a hundred million gallons of
water
a day.
[Illustration: RUINS OF THE CLAUDIAN AQUEDUCT Completed by the
Roman Emperor Claudian in 52 A.D. The structure was nearly a
hundred
feet high]
PUBLIC BATHS. The Romans used great quantities of water for their
public baths, which were large buildings with rooms especially
made for
bathing in hot or cold water and for plunges. They were also,
like the
Greek gymnasiums, places for exercise, conversation, and reading.
Many
were built as monuments by wealthy men and by emperors. A very
small fee
was charged for entrance, and the money was used to pay for
repairs and
the wages of those who managed the baths.
[Illustration: RUINS OF THE COLOSSEUM]
TWO FAMOUS BUILDINGS. Many of the Roman temples, porticoes, and
theaters were copied from Greek buildings, but the Romans used
the arch
more than did the Greeks, and in this the builders of later times
imitated them. Among their greatest buildings were the
amphitheaters,
from the benches of which crowds watched gladiators fighting one
another
or struggling with wild beasts. The largest of these
amphitheaters was
the Colosseum, the ruins of which still exist. Its outer walls
were one
hundred and sixty feet high. In one direction it measured six
hundred
and seventeen feet and in another five hundred and twelve. There
were
seats enough for forty-five thousand persons. The lowest seats
were
raised fifteen feet above the arena or central space where men or
wild
beasts fought. Through an arrangement of underground pipes the
arena
could be flooded so that the spectators might enjoy the
excitement of a
real naval battle.
Another great building was the Circus Maximus, built to hold the
crowds
that watched the chariot-races, and at one time having seats for
two
hundred thousand persons. In their amusements the Romans became
more and
more vulgar, excitable, and cruel. Some equally splendid
buildings were
used for better things.
[Illustration: The Pantheon]
THE PANTHEON. One of these was the Pantheon, a temple which was
afterward a Christian church. It still stands, and is now used as
the
burial-place of the Italian kings. The most remarkable part of it
is the
dome, which has a width of a little over one hundred and
forty-two feet.
No other dome in the world is so wide. The Romans were very
successful
in covering large spaces with arched or vaulted ceilings. All
later
builders of domes and arches are their pupils.
[Illustration: THE ARCH OF TITUS]
BASILICAS. The Romans had other large buildings called basilicas.
These were porticoes or promenades, with the space in the center
covered
by a great roof. They were used as places for public meetings.
One of
them had one hundred and eight pillars arranged in a double row
around
the sides and ends of this central space. The name basilica is
Greek and
means “royal.” Some of these basilicas were used as Christian
churches
when the Romans accepted the Christian religion. The central
space was
then called the “nave,” and the spaces between the columns the
aisles.
TRIUMPHAL ARCHES. The Romans built beautiful arches to celebrate
their victories. Several of these still remain, with sentences
cut into
their stone tablets telling of the triumphs of their builders.
Modern
people have taken them as models for similar memorial arches.
[Illustration: A ROMAN AQUEDUCT Still in good repair, the Pont
du Gard, near Nimes, France]
ROMAN LAW. The Romans did much for the world by their laws. They
showed little regard for the rights of men captured in war and
were
cruel in their treatment of slaves, but they considered carefully
the
rights of free men and women. Under the emperors the lawyers and
judges
worked to make the laws clearer and fairer to all. Finally the
Emperor
Justinian, who ruled at the time when the empire was already half
ruined
by the attacks of barbarian enemies, ordered the lawyer Tribonian
to
gather into a single code all the statutes and decrees. These
laws
lasted long after the empire was destroyed, and out of them grew
many of
the laws used in Europe to-day. They have also influenced our
laws
in America.
[Illustration: PAVEMENT OF A ROMAN VILLA IN ENGLAND Unearthed
not many years ago at Aldborough. Such stones laid in the form of
designs or pictures are called Mosaics]
QUESTIONS
1. In the political strife at Rome what did the brothers
Tiberius
and Caius Gracchus try to do?
2. What did Julius Caesar do when a party of senators tried to
ruin
him? What was the result of his war with the other Roman
leaders?
3. From what Roman word does “Emperor” come? What is the origin
of
the word “Kaiser”? How did Caesar die?
4. Who was Caesar's successor and the first one who organized
the
Roman Empire?
5. Why were the Romans such great builders of roads? How were
their
roads built? Do any traces of them still remain?
6. How did the Romans provide the city with a supply of pure water?
7. What was a Roman bath?
8. Were the Romans as famous as the Greeks for their buildings?
Name
the largest buildings in Rome. What was a basilica? Of what use
were
basilicas to the Christians later?
9. Do you remember the earliest form of the Roman law (Chapter
V)? What did Justinian do with the laws in his day? Are
these laws important to us?
EXERCISES
1. What emperors are there now? Are they like Caesar and Augustus?
2. Find out if our roads are built as carefully as the Roman
roads
and if they are likely to last as long. What different kinds of
roads do we have? Can any one in the room construct a small
model of
a Roman road?
3. Find out how water is now carried to cities. Are cities
provided
with great public baths like those of the Romans?
4. Ask a librarian or a lawyer to show you a copy of the revised
statutes of your state. This is a code somewhat like the code
of
Justinian, only not so brief.
[Illustration: TEMPLUM JOVIS CAPITOLINI (Medallion)]
THE RELIGION OF THE JEWS. Among the cities captured by the Romans
was Jerusalem, about which cluster so many stories from the Old
Testament. There, hundreds of years before, lived David, the
shepherd
boy who, after wonderful adventures, became king of his people.
There
his son Solomon built a temple of dazzling splendor. Among this
people
had arisen great preachers,—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Micah,—who
declared that
religion did not consist in the sacrifice of bulls and goats, but
in
justice, in mercy, and in humility. They had a genius for
religion, just
as the Greeks had a genius for art, and the Romans a genius for
government.
THE JEWS CONQUERED BY THE ROMANS. When the Jews first heard of the
Romans they admired these citizens of a republic who made and
unmade
kings. In later years they learned that the Romans were hard
masters and
they feared and hated them. The Jewish kingdom was one of the
last
countries along the shores of the Mediterranean which the Romans
conquered, but like all the others it finally became a Roman
province.
JESUS OF NAZARETH. A few years before the Jewish kingdom became a
Roman province there was born in a village near Jerusalem a child
named
Jesus. After he had grown to manhood in Nazareth he gathered
about him
followers or disciples whom he taught to live and act as is told
in the
books of the New Testament.
[Illustration: A VIEW OF JERUSALEM Showing the Mount of Olives
in the distance]
This was the beginning of the Christian religion. It was first
held by a
little band of Jews, but Paul, a Jew born in Tarsus, a city of
Asia
whose inhabitants had received the rights of Roman citizenship,
believed
that the message of the new religion was meant for all nations.
He
taught it in many cities of Asia Minor and Greece, and even went
as far
west as Rome. Several of the epistles or letters in the New
Testament
were written by Paul to churches which he had founded or where he
had
taught. So it happens that from Palestine came religious
teachings which
multitudes consider even more important than the art and
literature of
the Greeks or the laws and political methods of the Romans.
WHY THE CHRISTIANS WERE PERSECUTED. The Romans at first refused to
permit any one in their empire to call himself a Christian. They
disliked the Jews because the Jews denied that the Roman gods
were real
gods, asserting that these gods were mere images in wood and
stone. The
Christians did this also, but in the eyes of the Roman rulers the
worst
offense of the Christians was that they appeared to form a sort
of
secret society and held meetings to which other persons were not
admitted. The emperor had forbidden such societies.
The Romans also disliked the Christians because of their refusal
to join
in the public ceremonies which honored the emperor as if he were
a god
who had given peace and order to the world and who was able to
reward
the good and punish the evil. The Christians believed it to be
wrong to
join in the worship of an emperor, whether he were alive or dead.
CHRISTIANS PUT TO DEATH. The Romans were cruel in their manner of
punishing disobedience, and many Christians suffered death in its
most
horrible forms. Some were burned, others were tortured, others
were torn
to pieces by wild animals in the great amphitheaters to satisfy
the
fierce Roman crowd. Nero, the worst of the Roman emperors, who,
many
thought, set Rome on fire in order that he might enjoy the sight
of the
burning city, tried to turn suspicion from himself by accusing
the
Christians of the crime. He punished them by tying them to poles,
smearing their bodies with pitch, and burning them at night as
torches.
THE CHRISTIANS ALLOWED TO WORSHIP. The new religion spread rapidly
from province to province in spite of these persecutions. At
first the
Christians worshiped secretly, but later they ventured to build
churches. Finally, three centuries after the birth of Christ, the
emperors promised that the persecutions should cease and that the
Christians might worship undisturbed.
[Illustration: A VIEW OF CONSTANTINOPLE]
THE ROMAN EMPIRE BECOMES CHRISTIAN ABOUT 325 A.D. Constantine was
the first emperor to become Christian. He was the one who made
the Greek
city Byzantium the capital of the empire and for whom it was
renamed
Constantinople. For a time both the old Roman religion and the
Christian
religion were favored by the emperors, but before the fourth
century
closed the old religion was forbidden. In later days worshipers
of the
Roman gods were mostly country people, called in Latin pagani, and
therefore their religion was called “paganism.”
HOW THE CHURCH WAS RULED. One of the reasons why the Christians had
been successful in their struggle with the Roman emperors was
that they
were united under wise and brave leaders. The Christians in each
large
city were ruled by a bishop, and the bishops of several cities
were
directed by an archbishop. In the western part of the empire the
bishop
of Rome, who was called the pope, was honored as the chief of the
bishops and archbishops, and the successor of the Apostle Peter.
In the
eastern part the archbishops or patriarchs of Constantinople and
Alexandria and Jerusalem honored the pope, but claimed to be
equal in
authority with him.
There were also two kinds of clergy, parish priests and monks. The
priests were pastors of ordinary parishes, but the monks lived in
groups
in buildings called monasteries. Sometimes their purpose was to
dwell
far from the bustle and wrongs of ordinary life and give
themselves to
prayer and fasting; sometimes they acted as a brotherhood of
teachers in
barbarous communities, teaching the people better methods of
farming,
and carrying the arts of civilized life beyond the borders of
the empire.
QUESTIONS
1. Where did the Jews live in Ancient Times?
2. Do you remember any of the stories of David?
3. What finally became of the kingdom over which David ruled?
4. What era in the history of the world begins with the birth of
Jesus Christ?
5. Why did the Romans forbid the Christians to worship? How did
the
Romans punish them? How long after the birth of Christ before
the
emperors allowed the Christians to worship undisturbed?
[Illustration: A MONASTERY IN THE MIDDLE AGES Abbey of
Saint-Germain des Pres as it appeared in 1361 with wall,
towers, and
moat or ditch]
6. What is the name of the first Roman emperor who became a
Christian? What name was soon given to the worshipers of the
old
Roman gods?
7. By what titles were the leaders of the Christians named? What
two
kinds of clergy were there?
Important date: 325 A.D., when the Roman Empire became Christian.
THE MIDDLE AGES. It was more than a thousand years from the time of
Constantine to the time of Columbus. This period is called
“Mediaeval,”
or the “Middle Ages.” During these long centuries the ancient
civilized
world of the Roman Empire was much changed. The Roman or Greek
cities on
the southern shores of the Mediterranean were captured by Arabs
or
Moors. The Moors conquered the larger part of Spain. The eastern
lands
of Palestine and Asia Minor fell into the hands of the Turks. The
Turks,
the Moors, and the Arabs were followers of the “prophet"
Mohammed, who
died in the year 632. The Mohammedans were enemies of the
Christians.
WESTERN EUROPE. The other part of the European world was also
changed. The countries on the shores of the Atlantic were now
more
important than those on the shores of the Mediterranean. The
names of
the different countries were changed. Instead of Gallia or Gaul,
there
was France; instead of Britannia, England; for Hispania, Spain;
for
Germania, Deutschland or Germany. Italy, the center of the old
empire,
was finally divided into several states—city republics like
Genoa and
Venice, provinces ruled by the pope, and other territories ruled
by
dukes, princes, or kings.
FATE OF CIVILIZATION. The most important question to ask is, How
much of the manner of living or civilization of the Greeks and
the
Romans did the later Europeans still retain? The answer is found
in the
history of the Middle Ages. In this history is also found what
men added
to that which they had learned from the Greeks and the Romans.
The
emigrants to America were to carry with them knowledge which not
even
the wisest men of the ancient world had possessed.
[Illustration: WALL OF AURELIAN This wall enclosed the ancient
city of Rome. It was about thirteen miles in circumference,
fifty-five
feet high, and had three hundred towers]
MEDIAEVAL GERMAN EMIGRANTS. The first part of the history of the
Middle Ages explains how the German peoples from whom most of our
forefathers were descended began to move from the northern
forests
towards the borders of the Roman Empire. Many thousand men had
already
crossed the Rhine and the Danube to serve in the Roman armies.
Sometimes
an unusually strong and skilful warrior would be made a general.
Germans
had also crossed the Rhine to work as farmers on the estates of
the rich
Gallic nobles. Other Germans, called Goths, worked in
Constantinople and
the cities of the East as masons, porters, and water-carriers.
The
Romans had owned so many slaves that they had lost the habit of
work and
were glad to hire these foreigners.
STORY OF ULFILAS. Many of the Goths who lived north of the Danube
had forsaken their old gods and become Christians. They were
taught by
Bishop Ulfilas, once a captive among them, afterward a
missionary. He
translated the Bible into the Gothic language, and this
translation is
the most ancient specimen of German that we possess. Many of the
other
German tribes learned about Christianity from the Goths, and
although
they might be enemies of the Roman government, they were not
enemies of
the Church.
THE GOTHS INVADE THE ROMAN EMPIRE. The Roman emperors tried to
prevent the northern tribes from crossing the frontier in great
numbers,
because, once across, if they did not find work and food, they
became
plunderers. Not many years after Constantine's death, a million
Goths
had passed the Danube and had plundered the country almost to the
walls
of Constantinople. This was not like the invasion of a regular
army,
which comes to fight battles and to arrange terms of peace.
The Goths, and the Germans who soon followed their example, moved
as a
whole people, with their wives and children, their cattle, and
the few
household goods they owned. Wherever they wished to settle they
demanded
of the Romans one third, sometimes two thirds, of the land. They
soon
learned to be good neighbors of the older inhabitants, although
at first
they were little better than robbers. Alaric, one of the leaders
of the
Goths, led them into Italy and in the year 410 captured Rome.
Alaric did
not injure the buildings much, and he kept his men from robbing
the
churches. Some of the other barbarous tribes who roamed about
plundering
villages and attacking cities did far greater damage. The Roman
government grew weaker and weaker, until one by one the provinces
fell
into the hands of German kings.
BEGINNINGS OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND GERMANY. Britain was attacked by
the Angles and Saxons from the shores of Germany across the North
Sea.
They drove away the inhabitants or made slaves of
them and settled upon the lands they had seized. The country was
then
called Angle-land or England, and the people Anglo-Saxons or
Englishmen.
The Roman provinces in Gaul were gradually conquered by the Franks
from
the borders of the Rhine, and they gave the name France to the
land.
At about the same time the other German tribes that had remained
in
Germany united under one king.
THE RESULT OF BARBARIAN ATTACKS. The part of the ancient world
which lay about Constantinople was less changed than the rest
during the
Middle Ages. The walls of Constantinople were high and thick, and
they
withstood attack after attack until 1453. Within their shelter
men
continued to live much as they had lived in Ancient Times. A few
delighted to study the writings of the ancient Greeks. In Italy
and the
other countries of western Europe most of the cities were in
ruins. The
ancient baths, amphitheaters, aqueducts, and palaces of Rome
crumbled
and fell. The mediaeval Romans also used huge buildings like the
Colosseum as quarries of cut stone and burned the marble for
lime. This
was done in every country where Roman buildings existed.
[Illustration: THE AMPHITHEATER AT ARLES]
The amphitheater at Arles in southern France had a still stranger
fortune. It was used at one time as a citadel, at another as a
prison
and gradually became the home of hundreds of the criminals and
the poor
of the city. “Every archway held its nest of human outcasts. From
stone
to stone they cast their rotting beams and plaster and burrowed
into the
very entrails of the enormous building to seek a secure retreat
from the
pursuit of the officers of the law.”
Few persons traveled from Constantinople to Italy or France, and
few
from western Europe visited Constantinople. The men of Italy and
France
and England did not know how to read Greek. Many of them also
ceased to
read the writings of the ancient Romans.
[Illustration: ST. MARTIN'S CHURCH, CANTERBURY, ENGLAND This
church is on the site of a chapel built in the sixth century. Its
walls
show some of the bricks of the original chapel]
THE ENGLISH BECOME CHRISTIANS, 597 A.D. Christianity had spread
throughout the Roman Empire, and it became the religion of all
the
tribes who founded kingdoms of their own upon the ruins of the
Empire.
The Angles and Saxons, when they invaded Britain, were still
worshipers
of the gods Wodan and Thor. They had never learned from the Goths
of
Ulfilas anything about Christianity.
One day in the slave market at Rome three fair-haired boys were
offered
for sale. Gregory, a noble Roman, who had become a monk and was
the
abbot of his monastery, happened to be passing and asked who they
were.
He was told they were Angles. “Angels,” he cried, “yes, they have
faces
like angels, and should become companions of the angels in
heaven.” When
this good abbot became pope, he sent missionaries to Angle-land
and they
established themselves at Canterbury.
[Illustration: GREGORY AND THE LITTLE ENGLISH SLAVES]
MISSIONARIES TO THE GERMANS AND THE SLAVS. The conversion of the
English helped in the spread of Christianity on the Continent,
for
Boniface, an English monk, was the greatest missionary to the
Germans.
He won thousands from the worship of their ancient gods and
founded many
churches. The Slavs, who lived east of the Germans, were taught
by
missionaries from Constantinople instead of from Rome.
THE EDUCATED MEN OF THE MIDDLE AGES. The missionaries and teachers
of the Church had been educated like the older Romans. They read
Roman
books, and tried to preserve the knowledge which both Greeks and
Romans
had gathered. Influenced by them, the emigrants and conquerors
from the
north also tried to be like the Romans. Educated men, and
especially the
priests of the Church, used Latin as their language. In this way
some
parts of the old Roman and Greek civilization were preserved,
although
the Roman government had fallen and many beautiful cities were
mere
heaps of ruins.
THE VIKINGS. The emigration of whole peoples from one part of
Europe to another did not stop when the Roman Empire was overrun.
New
peoples appeared and sought to plunder or crowd out the tribes
which had
already settled within its boundaries and were learning the ways
of
civilization.
One of these peoples came from the regions now known as Norway,
Sweden,
and Denmark. They were called Danes by the English, and Northmen
or
Normans by other Europeans. They had another name, Vikings, which
was
their word for sea-rovers.
It was their custom to sail the seas and rivers rather than march
on the
land. They were a hardy and daring people, who liked nothing
better than
to fight and conquer and rob in other countries. There was not a
land in
western Europe, even as far south as Sicily, that they did not
visit.
Wherever they went they plundered and burned and murdered,
leaving a
blackened trail.
THE DANES IN ENGLAND. The Danes ravaged the eastern and southern
shores of England, and after they were tired of robbery, partly
because
there was little left to take, they began to settle in the land.
Alfred,
the greatest of the early English kings, was driven by them into
the
swamps for a while, but in the year 878 A.D. he conquered an army
of
them in battle and persuaded one of their kings to be baptized as
a
Christian. Alfred was obliged to allow them to keep the eastern
portion
of England, a region called Danelaw, because the law of the Danes
was
obeyed there.
[Illustration: A VIKING SHIP AT SEA]
THE DANES BECOME NORMANS. No more Danes or Northmen came to trouble
England for a time, but instead they crossed the Channel to
France and
rowed up the Seine and tried to capture Paris. A few years later
a
Frankish king gave them the city of Rouen, further down the
Seine, and
the region about it which was called Normandy. These Normans also
accepted Christianity.
THE VIKINGS BECOME DISCOVERERS. Before another hundred years had
passed the Northmen performed a feat more difficult than sailing
up
rivers and burning towns. They were the first to venture far out
of
sight of land, though their ships were no larger than our fishing
boats.
These bold sailors visited the Orkney and the Shetland Islands,
north of
Scotland, and finally reached Iceland. In Iceland their sheep and
cattle
flourished, and a lively trade in fish, oil, butter, and skins
sprang up
with the old homeland and with the British islands.
Before long one of the settlers, named Eric the Red, led a colony
to
Greenland, the larger and more desolate island further west. He
called
it Greenland because, he said, men would be more easily persuaded
to go
there if the land had a good name. This was probably in the year
985.
[Illustration: LEIF ERICSON From the statue in Boston]
DISCOVERY OF VINLAND. Eric had a son, called Leif Ericson, or Leif
the Lucky, who visited Norway and was well received at the court
of King
Olaf. Not long before missionaries had persuaded Olaf and his
people to
give up their old gods and accept Christianity, and Leif followed
their
example. Leif set out in the early summer of the year 1000 to
carry the
new religion to his father, Eric the Red, to his father's people,
and to
his neighbors. The voyage was a long one, lasting all the summer,
for on
the way his ship was driven out of its course and came upon
strange
lands where wild rice and grape-vines and large trees grew. The
milder
climate and stories of large trees useful for building ships
aroused the
curiosity of the Greenlanders.
They sent exploring expeditions, and found the coast of North
America at
places which they called Helluland, that is, the land of flat
stones;
Markland, the land of forests; and Vinland, where the grape-vines
grow.
Helluland was probably on the coast of Labrador, Markland
somewhere on
the shores of Newfoundland, and Vinland in Nova Scotia.
THE SETTLEMENT IN VINLAND. Thornfinn Karlsefni, a successful trader
between Iceland and Greenland, attempted to plant a colony in the
new
lands. Karlsefni and his friends, to the number of one hundred
and sixty
men and several women, set out in 1007 with three or four ships,
loaded
with supplies and many cattle. They built huts and remained three
or
four winters in Vinland, but all trace of any settlement
disappeared long ago.
They found, their stories tell us, swarthy, rough-looking Indians,
with
coarse hair, large eyes, and broad cheeks, with whom they traded
red
cloth for furs. Trouble broke out between the Northmen and the
Indians,
who outnumbered them. So many Northmen were killed that the
survivors
became alarmed and returned to Greenland.
[Illustration: DISCOVERIES OF THE NORTHMEN The American lands
they found are marked with diagonal lines]
VINLAND FORGOTTEN. The voyages to Vinland soon ceased and the
discoveries of Leif and his followers were only remembered in the
songs
or “sagas” of the people. They thought of Vinland mainly as a
land of
flat stones, great trees, and fierce natives. Nor did the wise
men of
Europe who heard the Northmen's story guess that a New World had
been
discovered. It was probably fortunate that five hundred years
were to go
by before Europeans settled in America, for within that time they
were
to learn a great deal and to find again many things which the
Romans had
left but which in the year 1000 were hidden away, either in the
ruins of
the ancient cities or in libraries and treasure-houses, where few
knew
of them. The more Europeans possessed before they set out, the
more
Americans would have to start with.
[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF A BIT OF AN OLD SAGA MANUSCRIPT]
QUESTIONS
1. What is meant by the “Middle Ages” or the “Mediaeval” period?
2. Show on the map, what part of the Roman Empire was
conquered by the Mohammedans.
3. Mention the Roman names of England, France, Germany, and
Spain,
Why were they changed to what they are now?
4. What people early in the Middle Ages began to emigrate from
their
homes to the Roman Empire? What did they do for a living?
5. Where did the Goths live? Who taught them the Christian
religion?
When the Goths entered the Roman Empire what did they ask of
the
inhabitants? Did they destroy much? How many years separated
the
capture of Rome by Alaric from its capture by the Gauls?
6. What tribes conquered England or Britain? What tribes
conquered
Roman Gaul or France? How long before Constantinople was
captured?
7. What was the effect of these raids and wars upon many cities?
Who
tried to keep fresh the memory of what the Greeks and the
Romans had
done? Who used the language of the Romans?
8. Tell the story of the way the English became Christians. Who
taught the Christian religion to many Germans? From what city
did
the Slavs receive missionaries?
9. What different names are given to the inhabitants of Denmark,
Norway, and Sweden who became rovers over the seas? Where did
they
make settlements?
10. Tell the story of how Leif the Lucky discovered America. Why
did
the Northmen leave Vinland?
EXERCISES
1. Point out on the map all the places mentioned in this chapter.
2. On an outline map mark the names of the peoples mentioned in
the
chapter on the countries where they settled.
3. Ask children in school who know some other language than
English
what are their names for England, Germany, France, Spain, and
Italy.
Important dates:
Alaric's capture of Rome, 410 A.D.
Discovery of America by the Northmen, 1000 A.D.
HEROES OF THE MIDDLE AGES. The Middle Ages, like Ancient Times, are
recalled by many interesting tales. Some of them, such as the
stories of
King Arthur and his Knights, the story of Roland, and the Song of
the
Niebelungs, are only tales and not history. Others tell us about
great
kings, Charlemagne and St. Louis of France, Frederick the
Redbeard of
Germany, or St. Stephen of Hungary. The hero-king for England was
Alfred, who fought bravely against the pirate Danes and finally
conquered and persuaded many of them to live quietly under his
rule.
KING ALFRED BEGAN TO REIGN IN 871. King Alfred was a skilful
warrior, but he was also an excellent ruler in time of peace.
When he
was a boy he had shown his love of books. His mother once offered
a
beautifully written Saxon poem as a prize to the one of her sons
who
should be the first to learn it. Alfred could not yet read, but
he had a
ready memory, and with the aid of his teacher he learned the poem
and
won the prize.
At that time almost all books were written in Latin and few even
of the
clergy could read. During the long wars with the Danes many books
had
been destroyed. Men found battle-axes more useful than books and
ceased
to care about reading. King Alfred feared that the Saxons would
soon
become ignorant barbarians, and sent for priests and monks who
were
learned and were able to teach his clergy. He sent even into
France
for such men.
EARLY ENGLISH BOOKS. As it would be easier for people to learn to
read books written in the language they spoke rather than in
Latin,
Alfred helped to translate several famous Latin books into
English.
Among these was a history written by a Roman before the Germans
had
overthrown the Roman Empire. This history told about the world of
the
Greeks and the Romans.
Alfred commanded some of his clergy to keep a record from year to
year
of things which happened in his kingdom. This record was called
the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and was the first history written in the
English
language. It was carefully kept for many years after Alfred's
death.
Another wise thing Alfred did was to collect the laws or “dooms"
of the
earlier kings, so that every one might know what the law
required.
[Illustration: EXTRACT FROM THE SAXON CHRONICLE From a copy in
the British Museum]
THE BEGINNING OF A NAVY. Alfred has been called the creator of the
English navy. He thought that the only way to keep the Danes from
plundering his shores was to fight them on the sea. He built
several
ships which were bigger than the Danish ships, but they were not
always
victorious, for they could not follow the Danish ships into
shallow
water. Nevertheless, the Danes could not plunder England as
easily
as before.
THE NEW ARMY. Alfred organized his fighting men in a better way. In
times past the men had been called upon to fight only when the
Danes
were near, but now he kept a third of his men ready all the time,
and
another third he placed in forts, so the rest were able to work
in the
fields in safety. There are good reasons why Englishmen regard
Alfred
as a hero.
WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR BEGAN TO RULE ENGLAND IN 1066. About a
hundred and fifty years after Alfred died, William, duke of
Normandy,
crossed the Channel with an army, killed the English king in
battle, and
seized the throne. This was not altogether a misfortune to the
English,
for they came under the same ruler as the Normans and they shared
in all
that the men of the Continent were beginning to learn. For one
thing,
builders from the Continent taught the English to construct the
great
Norman churches or cathedrals which every traveler in England
sees.
Besides, William the Conqueror was a strong king and put down the
chiefs
or lords that were inclined to oppress the common people.
HENRY II. Henry II, one of William's successors, ruled over most of
western France as well as over England. His officers and nobles
were
tired out by his endless traveling in his lands, which extended
from the
banks of the river Loire in France to the borders of Scotland.
All
Englishmen and Americans should remember him with gratitude
because of
the improvements he made in the ways of discovering the truth
when
disputes arose and were carried into courts.
[Illustration: THE NORMANS CROSSING THE ENGLISH CHANNEL From the
Bayeux Tapestry, embroidered in the time of William the
Conqueror. The
figures are worked on a band of linen two hundred and thirty feet
long,
and twenty inches wide. Worsteds of eight colors are used]
ORDEALS AND TRIALS BY BATTLE. Before Henry's reign it was the
custom when a man was accused of a crime to find out the truth by
arranging a wager of battle or what were called ordeals. The two
most
common ordeals were the ordeal by fire and the ordeal by water.
In the
ordeal by fire an iron was heated red-hot, and after it had been
blessed
by a priest it was put into the hand of the man the truth of
whose word
was being tested, and he had to carry it a certain number of
feet. His
hand was then bound up and left for three days. If at the end of
that
time the wound was healing, men believed he was innocent, for
they
thought God would keep an innocent man from being punished.
In the ordeal by water the man was tied and thrown into water
which had
been blessed by the priest. If he was guilty, the people thought
the
water would not receive him. If he sank at once, he was pulled
out and
treated as if he had told the truth.
[Illustration: TRIAL BY BATTLE After a drawing in an old
manuscript]
A wager of battle was a fight between the two men whose dispute
was to
be settled, or between a man and his accuser. Each was armed with
a
hammer or a small battle-axe, and the one who gave up lost his
case.
TRIAL BY JURY. King Henry introduced a better way of finding out
the truth. He called upon twelve men from a neighborhood to come
before
the judges, to promise solemnly to tell what they knew about a
matter,
and then to decide which person was in the right. They were
supposed to
know about the facts, and they were allowed to talk the matter
over with
one another before they made a decision.
Later these men from the neighborhood were divided into two
groups, one
to tell what they knew and the other to listen and decide what
was true.
Those who told what they knew were called the witnesses, and
those who
listened and decided were called jurors. The name jurors came
from a
Latin word meaning to take an oath.
RICHARD THE LIONHEARTED. King Henry had two sons, Richard and John.
Richard was the boldest and most skilful fighter of his time.
When the
news was brought to England that Jerusalem had been captured by
the
Mohammedans, he led an army to Palestine to recapture it. He
failed to
take the city, but he became famous throughout the East as a
fearless
warrior and was ever afterwards called the “Lionhearted.” At his
death
his brother John became king. He was as cowardly and wicked as
Richard
was brave and generous.
THE GREAT CHARTER. The leaders of the people, the nobles and the
clergy, soon grew tired of John's wickedness. In 1215 they raised
an
army and threatened to take the kingdom from John and crown
another
prince as king. John was soon ready to promise anything in order
to
obtain power once more, and the nobles and bishops met him at
Runnymede
on the river Thames, a few miles west of London, and compelled
him to
sign a list of promises. As the list contained sixty-three
separate
promises, it was called the Great Charter or Magna Charta. If
John did
not keep these promises, the lords and clergy agreed to make war
on him,
and he even said that this would be their duty.
PROMISES OF THE CHARTER. Many of the articles of the Great Charter
were important only to the men of King John's day, but others are
as
important to us as to them. In these the king promised that every
one
should be treated justly. He said he would not refuse to listen
to the
complaints of those who thought they were wronged. The king also
promised that he would not decide in favor of a rich man just
because
the rich man might offer him money. He would put no one in prison
who
had not been tried and found guilty by a jury. By another
important
promise the king said he would not levy new taxes without the
consent of
the chief men of the kingdom. This opened the way for the people
to have
something to say about how their money should be spent. This
right is a
very important part of what we call self-government.
[Illustration: A PORTION OF THE GREAT CHARTER]
PROMISES OF THE GREAT CHARTER RENEWED. In after times whenever the
English thought a king was doing them a wrong they reminded him
of the
promises made by King John in the Great Charter and demanded that
the
promises be solemnly renewed.
In 1265 a great noble named Simon de Montfort asked many towns to
send a
number of their chief men to meet with the nobles and clergy to
talk
over the conduct of the king. Others, even kings, soon followed
Simon's
example by asking the townsmen for advice about matters of
government.
After a while this became the custom. Occasionally the king
wanted the
advice of the clergy, the nobles, and the townsmen at the same
time and
called them together. The meeting was called a parliament, that
is, an
assembly in which talking or discussion goes on.
[Illustration: Parliament House Westminster Hall Westminster
Abbey—WHERE PARLIAMENT MET IN LONDON IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY]
THE ENGLISH PARLIAMENT. Only the most important nobles or lords
could go in person to the assemblies, otherwise the meeting would
be too
large to do any business. The other lords chose certain ones from
their
number to go in place of all the rest. We call such men
representatives.
In this way, besides the men who represented the towns, there
were
present these nobles who represented the landowners of the
counties.
Gradually these nobles and the townsmen formed an assembly of
their own,
while the greater lords, the bishops, and abbots sat together in
another
assembly. The two assemblies were called the House of Commons and
the
House of Lords, and the two made up the parliament.
AN ASSEMBLY OF REPRESENTATIVES. This parliament was a great
invention. The English had discovered a better way of governing
themselves than either the Greeks or the Romans. We call it the
representative system. If a Roman citizen who lived far from Rome
wanted
to take part in the elections, he was obliged to leave his farm
or his
business and travel to Rome, for only the citizens who were at
Rome
could have a share in making the laws. It never occurred to the
Romans
that the citizens outside of Rome could send some of their number
as
representatives to Rome. The formation of the English parliament
was an
important step towards what we mean in America by “government of
the
people, for the people, and by the people.”
QUESTIONS
1. Mention the names of heroes or hero-kings of the Middle Ages.
What stories have you learned about these heroes?
2. Who was the hero-king of the English? How did he early show
his
love of books? What did he do to help his people to a knowledge
of books?
3. How did he succeed better than other kings in driving back
the
Danes? Why has he been called the creator of the English navy?
4. What was the name of the Norman duke who conquered the
English
and ruled over them? Did this conquest hinder or help them?
5. Why should we remember Henry II gratefully? Explain an ordeal
and
a trial by battle. How were the first juries formed and what
did
they do? How were they afterwards divided?
6. For what was King Richard most celebrated? What sort of a
king
was his brother John?
7. Why was the Charter which John was forced to grant called
“Great”? Repeat some of its promises. Did the English soon
forget
these promises?
8. Who asked the townsmen to send several of their number to
talk
over affairs with the clergy and the nobles? What was this body
finally called? Into what two bodies was it divided?
9. What is a “representative system”? Why was it an invention?
What
did the Romans do when they lived in towns distant from Rome
and
wanted to take part in elections or help make the laws?
EXERCISES
1. Learn and tell one of the King Arthur stories and a part of
the
story of the Niebelungs. Find a story about Charlemagne,
Frederick
the Redbeard, St. Louis, or St. Stephen.
2. Collect pictures of war vessels, those of old times and those
of
to-day, and explain their differences.
3. Find out how men nowadays decide whether an accused man is
guilty.
4. What is the name of the assembly in your state which makes
the
laws? What assembly at Washington makes the laws for the
whole country?
WHAT THE ENGLISH OWED TO THEIR EUROPEAN NEIGHBORS. If the English
succeeded better than other Europeans in learning how to govern
themselves, one reason was that the Channel protected them from
attack,
and they could quarrel with their king without running much risk
that
their enemies in other countries would take advantage of the
quarrel to
seize their lands or attempt to conquer them.
The French were not so well placed. France also was not united
like
England, and whole districts called counties or duchies were
almost
independent of the king, being ruled by their counts and dukes.
In
France it would not have been wise for the people to quarrel with
the
king, for he was their natural protector against cruel lords.
Germany
and Italy were even more divided, with not only counties and
duchies,
but also cities nearly as independent as the ancient cities of
Greece.
The Europeans on the Continent did many things which the English
were
doing, and some of these were so well done that the English were
ready
to accept these Europeans as their teachers. The memory of what
the
Greeks and the Romans had done remained longer in southern France
and
Italy because so many buildings were still standing which
reminded
Frenchmen and Italians of the people who built them.
[Illustration: A MONK COPYING MANUSCRIPT BOOKS]
CLASSES OF PEOPLE. The people of Europe, as well as of England,
were divided into two classes, nobles and peasants. The clergy
seemed to
form another class because there were so many of them. Besides
the
parish priests and the bishops there were thousands of monks, who
were
persons who chose to dwell together in monasteries under the rule
of an
abbot or a prior, rather than live among ordinary people where
men were
so often tempted to do wrong or were so likely to be wronged by
others.
The monks worked on the farms of the monasteries, or studied in
the
libraries, or prayed and fasted. For a long time the men who knew
how to
read were nearly always monks or priests. Outside of the
monasteries or
the bishops' houses there were few books.
THE NOBLES. The nobles were either knights, barons, counts, or
dukes. In England there were also earls. Many mediaeval nobles
ruled
like kings, but over a smaller territory. They gained their power
because they were rich in land and could support many men who
were ready
to follow them in battle, or because in the constant wars they
proved
themselves able to keep anything they took, whether it was a
hilltop or
a town. Timid and peaceable people were often glad to put
themselves
under the protection of such a fighter, who saved them from being
robbed
by other fighting nobles.
In this way the nobles served a good purpose until the kings, who
were
at first only very successful nobles, were able to bring nobles
as well
as peasants under their own rule and to compel every one to obey
the
same laws. After this the nobles became what we call an
aristocracy,
proud of their family history, generally living in better houses
and
owning more land than their neighbors, but with little power
over others.
[Illustration: PLAN OF A MEDIAEVAL CASTLE 1. The Donjon-keep. 2.
Chapel. 3. Stables. 4. Inner Court. 5. Outer Court. 6. Outworks.
7.
Mount, where justice was executed. 8. Soldiers' Lodgings]
[Illustration: PIERREFONDS—ONE OF THE GREAT CASTLES OF FRANCE]
CASTLES. For safety, kings and nobles in the Middle Ages were
obliged to build strong stone forts or fortified houses called
castles.
They were often placed on a hilltop or on an island or in a spot
where
approach to the walls could be made difficult by a broad canal,
or moat,
filled with water. At different places along the walls were
towers, and
within the outer ring of walls a great tower, or keep, which was
hard to
capture even after the rest of the castle had been entered by the
enemy.
These castles were gloomy places to live in until, centuries
later,
their inner walls were pierced with windows. Many are still
standing,
others are interesting heaps of ruins.
KNIGHTHOOD. The lords of the castles were occupied mostly in
hunting or fighting. They fought to keep other lords from
interfering
with them or to win for themselves more lands and power. They
hunted
that they might have meat for their tables. In later times, when
it was
not so necessary to kill animals for food, they hunted as a
sport.
Fighting also ceased to be the chief occupation, although the
nobles
were expected to accompany the king in his wars.
From boyhood the sons of nobles, unless they entered the Church as
priests or monks, were taught the art of fighting. A boy was sent
to the
castle of another lord, where he served as a page, waiting on the
lord
at table or running errands. He was trained to ride a horse
boldly and
to be skilful with the sword and the lance. When his education
was
finished he was usually made a knight, an event which took place
with
many interesting ceremonies.
The young man bathed, as a sign that he was pure. The weapons and
arms
for his use were blessed by a priest and laid on the altar of the
church, and near them he knelt and prayed all night. In the final
ceremony a sword was girded upon him and he received a slight
blow on
the neck from the sword of some knight, or perhaps of the king.
His
armor covered him from head to foot in metal, and sometimes his
horse
was also covered with metal plates. When he was fully armed, he
was
expected to show his skill to the lords and ladies who were
present.
THE DUTIES OF A KNIGHT. The duties of the knight were to defend the
weak, to protect women from wrong, to be faithful to his lord and
king,
and to be courteous even to an enemy. A knight true to these
duties was
called “chivalrous,” a word which means very much what we mean by
the
word “gentlemanly.” There were many wicked knights, but we must
not
forget that the good knights taught courtesy, faithfulness in
keeping
promises, respect for women, courage, self-sacrifice, and honor.
[Illustration: A Knight in Armor Thirteenth century]
THE PEASANTS. Most of the people were peasants or townsmen. There
were few towns, because many had been burned by the barbarian
tribes
which broke into the Roman Empire, or had been destroyed in the
later
wars. The peasants were crowded in villages close to the walls of
some
castle or monastery. They paid dearly for the protection which
the lord
of the castle or the abbot of the monastery gave them, for they
were
obliged to work on his lands three days or more each week, and to
bring
him eggs, chickens, and a little money several times a year. They
also
gave him a part of their harvest.
THE TOWNSMEN. At first the towns belonged to lords, or abbots, or
bishops, but many towns drove out their lords and ruled
themselves or
received officers from the king. When they ruled themselves,
their towns
were called communes. The citizens agreed that whenever the town
bell
was rung they would gather together. Any one who was absent was
fined.
For them “eternal vigilance was the price of liberty.” Some of
the
belfries of these mediaeval towns are still standing, and remind
the
citizens of to-day of the struggles of the early days.
[Illustration: VIEW OF CARCASSONNE This is an ancient city in
France founded by the Romans]
The men of each occupation or trade were organized into societies
or
guilds, with masters, journeymen, and apprentices. There were
guilds of
goldsmiths, ironmongers, and fishmongers, that is, workers in
gold and
iron and sellers of fish. The merchants also had their guilds. In
many
towns no one was allowed to work at a trade or sell merchandise
who was
not a member of a guild.
OLD CITIES WHICH STILL EXIST. Many of the towns which grew up in
the Middle Ages are now the great cities of England and Europe.
Their
citizens can look back a thousand years and more over the history
of
their city, can point to churches, to town halls, and sometimes
to
private houses, that have stood all this time. They can often
show the
remains of mediaeval walls or broad streets where once these
walls
stood, and the moats that surrounded them. The traveler in York
or
London, in Paris, in Nuremburg, in Florence, or in Rome eagerly
searches
for the relics about which so many interesting stories of the
past
are told.
VENICE AND GENOA. One of the most fascinating of these old cities
is Venice, built upon low-lying islands two miles from the shore
of
Italy and protected by a sand bar from the waters of the
Adriatic.
Venice was founded by men and women who fled from a Roman city on
the
mainland which was ruined by the barbarians in the fifth century
after
Christ. In many places piles had to be driven into the loose
sands to
furnish a foundation for houses. The Venetians did not try to
keep out
the water but used it as streets, and instead of driving in
wagons they
went about in boats. They grew rich in trade on the sea, as the
Greeks
had done in those same waters hundreds of years before.
Farther down the coast of Italy were the cities Brindisi and
Taranto,
the Brundusium and Tarentum of the Romans. Across the peninsula
to the
west was another trading city called Genoa, which was the
birthplace
of Columbus.
MODERN LANGUAGES. While the people of mediaeval times were building
city walls and towers to protect themselves they were also doing
other
things. Almost without knowing it they formed the languages which
we now
speak and write—English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish.
The English and German languages are closely related because the
forefathers of the English emigrated to England from Germany,
taking
their language with them. This older language was gradually
changed, but
it still remained like German. Dutch is another language like
both
English and German.
There are many words in these languages borrowed from other
peoples.
Englishmen, because of their long union with western France,
borrowed
many words from the French. The French did not invent these
words, for
the French language grew out of the Latin language which the
French
learned from the Romans.
HOW MODERN LANGUAGES WERE FORMED. In English we have two sets of
words and phrases: one is used in writing books or speeches, the
other
in conversation. When the Gauls learned Latin, the language of
Rome,
most of them learned the words used in conversation and did not
learn
the words of Roman books. Before long spoken words differed so
much from
the older written words that only scholars understood that the
two had
belonged to the same language. This new language was French. In
the same
way Italian and Spanish grew out of the ordinary Latin spoken in
Italy
and Spain.
When men began to write books in the new languages, the changes
went on
more slowly because the use of words in books kept the spelling
the
same. Men wrote less in Latin, but it was still used in the
religious
services of the Church and in the schools and universities.
[Illustration: VENICE AND THE GRAND CANAL]
SCHOOLS IN THE MIDDLE AGES. In the Middle Ages most boys and girls
did not go to school. Education was principally for those who
expected
to become priests or monks. The schools were in the monasteries
or in
the houses or palaces of the bishops. The students were taught a
little
Latin grammar, to write or speak Latin, and to debate. They also
learned
arithmetic; enough astronomy to reckon the days on which the
festivals
of the Church should come; and music, so much as was then known
of it.
Printing had not been invented, so there were no text-books for
them to
study, and written books or manuscripts were too costly. Students
listened to the teacher as he read from his manuscripts and
copied the
words or tried to remember them.
THE BEGINNING OF UNIVERSITIES. If students remained in the schools
after these things had been learned, they studied the laws of the
Romans, or the practise of medicine, or the religious questions
which
are called theology. Some teachers talked in such an interesting
way
about such questions that hundreds of students came to listen.
Like
other kinds of workers, who were organized in societies or
guilds, the
teachers and students formed a guild called a university. The
teachers
were the master-workmen, and the students were the apprentices.
WHERE THE STUDENTS LIVED. In the beginning the universities had no
buildings of their own, and the teachers taught in hired halls,
the
students boarding wherever they could find lodgings. Partly to
help
students who were too poor to pay for good lodgings, and partly
to bring
the students under the direct rule of teachers, colleges were
built.
These were not separate institutions like the American colleges,
but
simply houses for residence, although later some teaching was
done
in them.
SOME FAMOUS UNIVERSITIES. The oldest university was in Bologna in
Italy, and teachers began to explain the laws of the Romans to
its
students eight hundred years ago. The University of Paris was
called the
greatest university in the Middle Ages. Its students numbered
sometimes
between six and seven thousand. About the same time the English
universities of Oxford and Cambridge were formed, and there, many
years
later, a large number of the men who settled in America were
educated.
THE WISDOM OF THE ARABS. Students in these universities obtained
several of the writings of the Greeks through the Arabs, the
followers
of Mohammed, who had conquered most of Spain. Long before
Europeans
thought of founding universities the Arabs had flourishing
schools and
universities in Spain. The capital of the Mohammedan Empire was
first at
Bagdad on the Euphrates, where once ruled Haroun-al-Raschid, the
hero of
the tales of the Arabian Nights.
[Illustration: VIEW OF NEW COLLEGE, OXFORD Built in the
fourteenth century]
WHAT EUROPEANS BORROWED FROM THE ARABS. The Arabs had learned much
of geography and mathematics from the Greeks, and they also found
out
much for themselves. The numerals which we use are Arabic; and
algebra,
one of our principal studies in mathematics, was thought out by
the
Arabs. Their learned men were deeply interested in the books of
Aristotle, an ancient Greek, who had been a teacher of Alexander
the
Great. They translated his books into Arabic, and Christian
students in
Spain translated the Arabic into Latin. The great scholars at the
University of Paris believed that Aristotle reasoned better than
other
thinkers, and took as their model the methods of reasoning found
in this
Latin translation of an Arabic translation of what Aristotle had
written in Greek.
[Illustration: THE ALCAZAR AT SEVILLE Built by the Moors in the
twelfth century. Note the elaborate decoration of the Moorish
architecture.]
BUILDERS IN THE MIDDLE AGES. The Greeks and the Romans had been
great builders, but the men of the Middle Ages succeeded in
building
churches, town halls, and palaces or castles which equaled in
grandeur
and beauty the best that the ancient builders had made. The large
churches or cathedrals seem wonderful because their builders were
able
to place masses of stone high in the air and to cover immense
spaces
with beautiful vaulted roofs. Builders nowadays imitate, but not
often,
if ever, equal them. Fortunately the original buildings are still
standing in many English and European cities: in Canterbury,
Durham, and
Winchester; in Paris, Chartres, and Rheims; in Cologne, Erfurt,
and
Strasbourg; in Barcelona and Toledo; in Milan, Venice, and Rome.
[Illustration: NOTRE DAME IN PARIS View from the rear,
showing the arches and buttresses]
CHURCH BUILDING. The Italians began by building churches like Roman
basilicas. Roman arches and domes, supported by heavy walls, were
also
used north of the Alps, and the method of building was named
Romanesque,
or in England, Norman. The architects or builders of western
France
discovered a way of roofing over just as large spaces without
using such
heavy walls, so that the interior could be lighted by larger
windows.
Instead of having rounded arches they used pointed arches. The
walls
between the windows were strengthened by masses of stone called
buttresses. The peak of the roof of these cathedrals was
sometimes more
than one hundred and fifty feet above the floor. The glass of the
windows showed in beautiful colors scenes from the Bible or from
lives
of sainted men and women. The outer walls, especially the western
front,
the doorways and the towers, were richly carved and adorned with
statues, and often with the figures of strange birds and beasts
which
lived only in the imagination of the builders. This method of
building
was named Gothic, and it was used not only for churches but for
town
halls and private houses. Architects use similar methods of
building nowadays.
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL AT AMIENS A typical Gothic
interior.]
THE RENAISSANCE. Men who could build and adorn great churches and
town halls and who were eager to study in the new universities
should be
called civilized. The barbarous days were gone, but men still had
much
to learn from the ancient Greeks and Romans. Many of the ancient
buildings were in ruins, the statues half buried or broken, the
paintings destroyed, and the books lost. Men began to search for
what
was left of these things and to study them carefully to learn
what the
Graeco-Roman world had been like. After a while students could
think of
nothing else, and tried to imitate, if they could not surpass,
what the
Romans and the Greeks had done. The age in which men were first
interested in these things is called the Renaissance or
“rebirth,”
because men were so unlike what they had been that they seemed
born
again. With the beginning of the Renaissance the Middle Ages came
to
an end.
[Illustration: ST. PETER'S AT ROME]
PETRARCH. One of the earliest of these “new” men was Petrarch, an
Italian poet who lived in the fourteenth century, a hundred years
before
Columbus. He wished above all things to read, copy, and possess
the
writings of the Romans, and especially of Cicero, an orator and
writer
who lived in the days of Julius Caesar. Petrarch and his friends
searched for the manuscripts of Roman authors which had been
preserved,
hidden away in monastery libraries.
The same love of Roman books seized others, and princes spent
large sums
of money in collecting and copying ancient writings. At this time
a
beginning of the great libraries of Europe was made, Petrarch
tried to
learn Greek, but could find no one in Italy able to teach him.
GREEK BOOKS BROUGHT AGAIN TO ITALY. Shortly after Petrarch died
some Greeks came from Constantinople seeking the aid of the pope
and the
kings of the West in an attempt to drive back the Turks, who had
already
crossed into Europe and settled in the lands which they now
occupy.
Unless help should be sent to Constantinople, the city would
certainly
fall into their hands. With these Greeks was one of those men who
still
loved to read the writings of the ancient authors. He was
persuaded to
remain a few years in Florence and other Italian cities and teach
Greek
to the eager Italian scholars. He was also persuaded to write a
grammar
of the Greek language, in order that after he had returned to
Constantinople others might be able to continue his teaching.
Collectors of books now searched for Greek writings as eagerly as
they
had searched for Latin writings. Merchants sent their agents to
Constantinople to buy books. One traveler and scholar brought
back to
Italy over two hundred. Soon Italy was the land to which students
from
Germany, France, and England went to learn Greek and to obtain
copies of
Greek books. It was fortunate that so many books had been brought
from
Constantinople, for at last, in 1453, the Turks captured that
city and
no place in the East was left where the books of the Greeks were
studied
as they had been at Constantinople.
[Illustration: A PRINTING OFFICE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY]
THE INVENTION OF PRINTING. After collectors of Greek and Roman
writings had made several good libraries, partly by purchase,
partly by
copying manuscripts belonging to others, a great invention was
made
which enabled these writings to be spread far and wide and placed
in the
hands of every student. This invention was the method of printing
with
movable types. It is not quite certain who made the invention,
although
John Gutenberg, of Mainz, in Germany, has generally been called
the
inventor. Probably several men thought of the method at about the
same
time, that is, about 1450.
DIFFERENT KINDS OF TYPE. In forming their type the German printers
imitated the lettering made by copyists with a quill. Their type
is
called Gothic, and it is still widely used in German books. The
Italian
printers made their letters more round and simple in shape,
imitating
the handwriting of the best Italian copyists. This is the Roman
type, in
which many European peoples, as also the English and the
Americans,
print their books. The Italians also prepared a kind of lettering
which,
because they were the inventors, is named italic.
THE ALDINE PRESS. One of the most famous printers of this early
time was a Venetian named Aldus Manutius or Manucci. He gathered
about
him a number of Greeks and planned to print all the Greek
manuscripts
that had been discovered. This he did in beautiful type, imitated
from
the handwriting of one of his Greek friends. He sold the books
for a
price per volume about equal to our fifty cents, so that few
scholars
were too poor to buy.
SOME EARLY PRINTED BOOKS. Another great printer was the Englishman
William Caxton, who learned the art in the Netherlands. Among the
books
he printed was Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. The first book printed
by
Gutenberg was the Bible in Latin. Early in the sixteenth century,
through the labors of a Dutch scholar, Erasmus, and of his
printer, the
German Froben, the New Testament in Greek was printed.
ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE. The artists and the architects of this
time began to imitate the buildings they found or that they
unearthed.
They used round arches and domes more than the pointed arches and
vaulted roofs of the Gothic builders. Sculptors pictured in stone
the
stories of the Greek and Roman gods and heroes. Statues long
buried in
ancient ruins were dug up, and great artists like the Italian
Michel
Angelo studied them and rivaled them in the beautiful statues
they cut.
On every hand men's minds were awakened by what they saw of the
work of
the founders of the civilized world.
[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF PART OF CAXTON'S AENEID (REDUCED)
With the same in modern type]
QUESTIONS
1. Why did the memory of the Greeks and Romans remain longer in
France and Italy than in Germany and England?
2. What different classes of people were there in the Middle
Ages?
What was the difference between a parish priest and a monk?
3. How did the nobles gain a living? Were they useful? In what
sorts
of houses did they live? Describe a castle. What was the
“keep”?
4. How were the sons of nobles trained? What was a page? How was
a
young man made a knight? What were the duties of a knight?
5. Were the farmers or peasants prosperous and happy in the
Middle
Ages? How did the townsmen learn to protect themselves? What
was a
guild? Why are many Europeans proud of their cities?
6. Why is Venice especially interesting? Why do we remember Genoa?
7. From what language did French, Italian, and Spanish grow? How
were the changes made in the old language? Where did the
English get
their language? Was it just like the English we speak?
8. What did the boys study in the Middle Ages? What did the word
“university” mean then? Name two or three universities founded
then
which still exist. What did the Arabs teach Christian students?
9. What sort of buildings did men in the Middle Ages especially
like
to build? Are these buildings still standing? Why do we admire
these
great churches?
10. What do we call the time when men began to study once more
Roman
and Greek books, and began to imitate the ways of living and
thinking common in the Graeco-Roman world? Who was the first of
these “new” men? Where especially did men search for Greek
books?
11. What invention helped men spread far and wide this new
knowledge? How do the Germans come to have “Gothic” type? Where
do
we get our Roman and italic type? What books did the
Venetian
printer Aldus print? Name a famous English and a famous
German printer.
12. What besides ancient books did the men of the Renaissance
like
to study and imitate?
EXERCISES
1. Find out what titles of noblemen are used now in different
European countries. In what country are men often knighted? Why
are
they knighted? What title shows that a man is a knight?
2. Collect pictures of armor and of castles, especially of
castles
still standing. Collect pictures of old town walls.
3. Collect pictures of Venice and Genoa, especially from
advertising
folders.
4. Find the names of several large American universities. Do the
students live in “colleges” as students did in the Middle Ages?
5. Tell one or two stories from the Arabian Nights. Collect
pictures
of Arabian costumes and of Arabian buildings in Spain, or
Africa,
or Asia.
6. Collect pictures of English and European cathedrals. Find
pictures of churches in America which resemble them.
REVIEW
How ancient civilization was preserved
1. What ruined so many ancient cities?
2. Who tried to preserve the memory of what the Greeks and the
Romans had done?
3. What language did the churchmen continue to use?
4. How did the missionaries help?
5. How did Alfred teach the English some of the things the
Romans
had known?
6. What did the Arabs teach the Christians which the Greeks had
known?
7. What was studied at Bologna? How did the universities help in
preserving the ancient knowledge?
8. What did Petrarch do to find lost books? What did other men
of
Petrarch's time do?
9. What help came from the invention of printing?
10. From what besides books did the men of the Renaissance learn
about the Greeks and the Romans?
[Illustration: HUSBANDMAN AND COUNTRY WOMAN OF FIFTEENTH
CENTURY]
THE PERILS OF TRADERS. There was a time in the Middle Ages when
merchants scarcely dared to travel from one town to another for
fear of
being plundered by some robber lord or common thief. If they
traveled by
sea they might also be attacked by robbers. Some of these
robbers, like
the Northmen, came from afar, but others were ordinary sailors
who put
out from near-by ports when there seemed nothing better to do.
This state of things gradually changed. The kings or great lords
succeeded in protecting merchants on land, and the merchants
armed
vessels of their own to drive the pirates from the sea. As trade
grew
greater the towns became richer and stronger and the robbers and
pirates
fewer, so that the number of merchant ships increased rapidly and
long
voyages were attempted.
FAIRS. At first trade was carried on at great fairs, held in places
convenient for the merchants of England and western Europe. The
fairs
lasted about six weeks, and one fair followed another. As soon as
the
first was over the merchants packed their unsold wares and
journeyed to
the next. At the fairs were found drugs and spices, cottons and
silks
from the East, skins and furs from the North, wool from England,
and
other products from Germany, Italy, France, and Spain.
THE TREASURES OF THE EAST. Men in the Middle Ages were dependent
for luxuries upon the lands of Asia which are commonly called the
East.
By this name we may mean Persia, Arabia, India, China, or the
Molucca
Islands, where the choicest spices still grow. Spices were a
great
luxury, and were needed to flavor the food, because the manner of
cooking was poor and there was little variety in the kinds of
food. Most
of the cotton cloth, the silks, the drugs, and the dyes were also
procured from the East.
[Illustration: TRADER'S CARAVAN CROSSING THE DESERT]
ROUTES TO THE EAST. No one knew that it was possible to reach Asia
by sailing around the southern point of Africa or through what is
called
the Strait of Magellan. The products of the East were brought to
Europe
by several routes, two reaching the Mediterranean at Alexandria,
in
Egypt, a third at Antioch, in Syria, and a fourth on the
southeastern
shore of the Black Sea.
The loads were carried by camels in long caravans across the
deserts
from the Red Sea, or the Persian Gulf, or from northern India.
Ships
from the Italian cities of Genoa, Pisa, and Venice struggled with
one
another for the right to bring back these precious wares and sell
them
to the merchants of Europe, who were ready to pay high prices.
[Illustration: MAP OF THE TRADE ROUTES IN THE MIDDLE AGES]
VENETIAN TRADERS. Merchants from Germany came to Venice to trade
the products of the North for spices, drugs, dyes, and silks,
which they
carried back across the Alps. Once a year the Venetians sent a
fleet of
vessels westward through the straits of Gibraltar and along the
Atlantic
shore as far as Bruges and London. The voyage was long and
dangerous,
and the Venetians traded in ports on the way. Spices in Bruges
sold for
two or three times what they cost in Venice.
THE CRUSADES. One event that brought to the Venetians an
opportunity to enrich themselves was the Crusades. The
Mohammedans had
long held a large part of Spain, and towards the end of the
eleventh
century they threatened France and Italy. They also attacked what
was
left of the Roman Empire in the East, and the emperors sent to
the pope
and the western kings frantic appeals for help. Thousands of
Frenchmen,
Germans, Englishmen, and Italians were suddenly seized with the
desire
to go to Palestine and drive the Mohammedans from Jerusalem, the
Holy
City, and from the tomb of Christ. For the next two centuries
large
armies were sent there, sometimes gaining victories, sometimes
being
defeated in battle or overcome by disease.
WHAT THE VENETIANS GAINED FROM THE CRUSADES. Most of the Crusaders
went to the Holy Land by sea, and when they had no ships of their
own
they often took passage in Venetian ships. The Venetians asked
large
sums for this, and also succeeded in obtaining all the rights of
trade
in many of the seaports which were captured. Sometimes the
Venetians
undertook to govern islands like Cyprus and Crete, or territories
along
the coasts, but their main aim was to increase their trade rather
than
to build up an empire.
THE NEW VENETIAN SHIPS. The Crusaders who returned to Europe
brought
back a liking for the luxuries of the East, and their tales made
other
men eager for them. For this reason more ships were built to sail
in the
Mediterranean. The shipowners attempted to make their ships
larger and
stronger. They were larger than those built by the English or by
other
peoples along the Atlantic coast, but they would seem small to
us. There
is an account of Venetian ships in the thirteenth century which
tells us
that they were one hundred and ten feet long and carried crews of
one
thousand men. They relied mainly upon the use of oars, but had a
mast,
sometimes two masts, rigged with sails, which they could use if
the wind
was favorable.
[Illustration: VENETIAN SHIPS]
DANGERS OF THE SEA. One difficulty about sailing was the lack of
any means in cloudy weather, and especially at night, of telling
the
direction in which they were going. The sailors did not like to
venture
far from shore, although the open sea is safer during a storm
than a
wind-swept and rocky coast. At the time when the sailors of the
Mediterranean were building up their trade to Alexandria,
Antioch, and
the Black Sea, two instruments came into use which enabled them
to tell
just where they were.
THE COMPASS. One of these instruments was the compass, which the
Chinese had long used, and which was known to the Arabs before
the
Europeans heard of it. If a boy will take a needle, rub its point
with a
magnet, and lay the needle on a cork floating in water, he will
have a
rough sort of compass. The point of the needle wherever it may be
turned
will swing back towards the north, thus guiding the sailors.
[Illustration: MARINER'S COMPASS]
The compass was known in Europe about 1200. There is a story that
at
first sailors thought its action due to magic and refused to sail
under
a captain who used it. But a century later it was in general use,
and
had been so much improved that even in the severest storms the
needle
remained level and pointed steadily towards the north.
[Illustration: AN ASTROLABE]
THE ASTROLABE. The other instrument, called the astrolabe, was a
brass circle marked off into 360 degrees. To this circle were
fastened
two movable bars, at the ends of which were sights, or projecting
pieces
pierced by a hole. The astrolabe was hung on a mast in such a way
that
one bar was horizontal and the other could be moved until through
its
sights some known star could be seen. The number of degrees
marked on
the circle between the two bars told how high the star was above
the
horizon, and the sailors could reckon the latitude of the place
where
they were. In a similar way their longitude could be found out.
The astrolabe was not so useful as the compass, for it could be
used
only on clear days or nights. With these two instruments it was
possible
to sail far out into the Atlantic. By the middle of the
fourteenth
century ships from Genoa and Portugal had visited the Madeira and
the
Canary Islands, and even the Azores which are a thousand miles
from
the mainland.
WHAT MEN THOUGHT ABOUT A SEA ROUTE TO THE EAST. Men learned more
about other strange lands through a Venetian traveler, Marco
Polo, who
wrote an account of his wonderful journey to the court of the
Grand
Khan, or Emperor of the Mongols, of his travels through China,
and of
his return to Persia by sea.
Many men in the Middle Ages had believed that east of Asia was a
great
marsh, and that because of it even if they succeeded in sailing
around
Africa it would be impossible to reach the region of the spices
and
silks and jewels which they so much desired. They also thought
that the
heat in the tropics was so intense that at a certain distance
down the
coast of Africa they would find the water of the ocean boiling.
These
things and the tales of strange monsters that inhabited the deep
sea had
terrified them. The news which Marco Polo brought changed this
feeling.
THE MONGOLS. The way Marco Polo happened to visit the court of the
Mongol emperor was this. The Mongol Tartars were great
conquerors, and
they not only subdued the Chinese but marched westward,
overrunning most
of Russia and stopping only when they were on the frontiers of
Italy.
For a long time southern Russia remained under their rule. Their
capital
was just north of the Great Wall of China.
The Mongol emperor did not hate Europeans, and even sent to the
pope for
missionaries to teach his people. Marco Polo's father and uncle
while on
a trading expedition had found their way to his court, and on a
second
journey, in 1271, they took with them Marco, a lad of seventeen
years.
The emperor was much interested in his western visitors and took
young
Marco into his service.
[Illustration: THE MONGOL EMPEROR OF MARCO POLO'S TIME After an
old Chinese manuscript]
MARCO POLO'S TRAVELS. Marco Polo traveled over China on official
errands, while his father and uncle were gathering wealth by
trade.
After many years they desired to return to Italy, but the emperor
was
unwilling to lose such able servants. It happened, however, that
the
emperor wished to send a princess as a bride to the Khan or
Emperor of
Persia, also a Mongol sovereign, and the three Polos, who were
known to
be trustworthy seamen, were selected to escort the princess to
her royal
husband. After doing this they did not return to China, but went
on
to Italy.
They had been absent twenty-four years, and they found that their
relatives had given them up for dead and did not recognize them.
It was
like the old story of Ulysses, who, when he returned to his
native
Ithaca after his wanderings, was recognized by nobody. The Polos
proved
the truth of what they said by showing the great treasures which
they
had sewed into the dresses of coarse stuff of a Tartar pattern
which
they wore. They displayed jewels of the greatest value, diamonds,
emeralds, rubies, and sapphires.
[Illustration: MAP OF MARCO POLO'S TRAVELS
The known world is in white, the undiscovered in black, and that
first
described by Marco Polo is dotted]
WHAT MARCO POLO TOLD. In the account Marco Polo wrote of his
travels and of the countries he had visited he described a
wonderful
palace of the Great Emperor. Its walls were covered with gold and
silver, the dining hall seated six thousand people, and its
ceiling was
inlaid with gold. This palace seemed to Marco Polo so large, so
rich,
and so beautiful that no man on earth could design anything to
equal it.
The robes of the emperor and his twelve thousand nobles and
knights were
of silk and beaten gold, each having a girdle of gold decorated
with
precious stones.
Marco Polo told of great cities in China where men traded in the
costly
wares of the East, and where silk was abundant and cheap. He
described
from hearsay Japan as an island fifteen hundred miles from the
mainland.
Its people, he said, were white, civilized, and wondrously rich.
The
palace of the emperor of Japan was roofed with gold, its
pavements and
floors were of solid gold, laid in plates two fingers thick.
REASONS FOR FINDING A SEA ROUTE TO THE EAST. Tales of such great
wealth made Europeans more eager than ever to reach the East.
Marco Polo
had shown that it was possible to sail past India, through the
islands,
to the eastern coast of Asia. When printing was invented his
account was
printed, and the copy of that book which Columbus owned is still
preserved. Upon its margins Columbus wrote his own opinions about
geography.
Other travelers besides the Polos returned with similar tales of
the
East. Soon, however, all chance to go there by way of the land
was lost,
because the Mongol emperors were driven out of China and the new
rulers
would not permit Europeans to enter the country. The ordinary
caravan
routes to the East were also closed not long afterwards. In 1453
the
Turks captured Constantinople, drove away the Italian merchants,
and
prevented European sailors from reaching the Black Sea. Fifty
years
later the Turks seized Egypt and closed that route also.
Fortunately
before this happened a better route had been discovered.
THE PORTUGUESE SAILORS. During the Middle Ages the Portuguese
princes
fought to recover Portugal from the Moors. When this was done
they were
eager to cross the straits and attack the Moors in Africa. Prince
Henry
of Portugal made an expedition to Africa and returned with the
desire to
know more about the coast south of the point beyond which
European
sailors dared not venture. Sailors were afraid of being lost in
the Sea
of Darkness or killed by the heat of the boiling tropics.
[Illustration: DANGERS OF THE “SEA OF DARKNESS” From an old
picture]
From his love of exploring the seas Prince Henry has been called
“The
Navigator.” He took up his residence on a lonely promontory in
southern
Portugal, and gathered about him learned men of all peoples,
Arabian and
Jewish mathematicians, and Italian mapmakers. Captains trained in
this
new school of seamanship were sent into the southern seas. Each
was to
sail farther down the western coast of Africa than other captains
had
gone. Before Prince Henry died in 1460 his captains had passed
Cape
Verde, and ten years later they crossed the equator without
suffering
the fate which men had once feared. But they were discouraged
when they
found that beyond the Gulf of Guinea the coast turned southward
again,
for they had hoped to sail eastward to Asia.
[Illustration: THE PORTUGUESE ROUTE TO INDIA
The broken lines show the old trade routes to the East. The solid
line
shows the new Portuguese route]
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE DISCOVERED. At last in 1487 the end of what
seemed to be an endless coast was reached. The fortunate captain
who
accomplished this was Bartholomew Diaz, who came of a family of
daring
seamen. He had been sailing southward along the coast for nearly
eight
months, when a northerly gale drove him before it for thirteen
days. The
weather cleared and Diaz turned eastward to find the coast. As he
did
not see land he turned northward and soon discovered land to the
west.
This showed that he had passed the southern point of Africa. His
crew
were unwilling to go farther and he followed the coast around to
the
western side again. The southern point he called the Cape of
Storms, but
the king of Portugal, when the voyagers returned, named it the
Cape of
Good Hope, for now he knew that an expedition could be sent
directly to
the Indies.
Diaz had sailed thirteen thousand miles, and his voyage was the
most
wonderful that Europeans had ever heard about.
THE SEA ROUTE TO INDIA. Eleven years later the Portuguese king sent
Vasco da Gama, another captain, to attempt to reach the coast of
India
by sailing around the Cape of Good Hope which Diaz had
discovered. Da
Gama was successful and landed at Calicut on the south-western
coast of
India. He returned to Portugal in 1499, and his cargo was worth
sixty
times the cost of the voyage. This was the beginning of a trade
with the
East which enriched Portugal and especially the merchants of
Lisbon.
QUESTIONS
1. What dangers threatened traders in the Middle Ages who
traveled
by sea or land? What was a fair?
2. What products were brought from the East? By what routes?
Point
these out on a map. What rival trading cities were in Italy?
How did
the Venetians get their wares to London?
3. Who were the Crusaders? Why did they attack the Mohammedans?
What
did the Venetian traders gain by these wars? Describe a large
Venetian ship of this time.
4. When was the compass invented? Why was it dangerous to sail
great
seas and oceans without a compass? Tell how an astrolabe was
made.
5. What at first kept men from attempting to sail to eastern
Asia?
Who was Marco Polo? Describe his adventures. How did he return
to
Venice? How did people learn about the lands he had visited?
6. Why after 1453 was it necessary to find a sea route to Asia?
What
did Prince Henry the Navigator succeed in doing? How was the
Cape of
Good Hope discovered? Who went with Diaz on this voyage?
7. Who first sailed to India by the Cape of Good Hope? Was the
voyage profitable? What city was made rich by the new trade?
EXERCISES
1. Find from a map in the geography how many miles goods must
have
been carried to reach Venice from Persia, India, the Moluccas,
or
China. How far is it from Venice by sea to Bruges or London?
2. Where and how do we now obtain cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves?
3. What line of emperors has been recently ruling over China?
Where
has been their capital? Find out about the present Mongols.
Collect
pictures of China and Japan.
4. Read a longer account of Marco Polo.
5. Study the geography of Portugal. Collect pictures of
Portugal.
Find out if many Portuguese are living in the United States.
REVIEW
Steps Towards the Discovery of America
Greek colonies in Italy, Gaul, and Spain.
Roman conquest of Gaul, Spain, and Britain.
Viking voyages to Greenland and Vinland.
Venetian trade in spices with the East, and Venetian voyages to
London and Bruges.
Marco Polo's travels in China and the East.
Portuguese voyages down the coast of Africa and about the Cape
of
Good Hope.
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. Six years before Vasco da Gama made his
famous voyage to India around Africa and opened a new trade route
for
the Portuguese merchants, another seaman had formed and carried
out a
much bolder plan. This was Christopher Columbus, and his plan was
to
sail directly west from Europe into the unknown ocean in search
of new
islands and the coast of Asia. Columbus, who was a native of
Genoa in
Italy, had followed his younger brother to Portugal. Both were
probably
led there by the fame of Prince Henry's explorations.
The brothers became very skilful in making maps and charts for the
Portuguese. They also frequently sailed with them on their
expeditions
along the coast of Africa. All the early associations of Columbus
were
with men interested in voyages of discovery, and particularly
with those
engaged in the daring search for a sea route to India.
HOW COLUMBUS FORMED HIS PLAN. Columbus gathered all the information
on geography which he could from ancient writers and from modern
discoverers. Many of them believed that the world was shaped like
a
ball. If such were its shape, Columbus reasoned, why might not a
ship
sail around it from east to west? Or, better, why not sail
directly west
to India, and perhaps find many wonderful islands between Europe
and
Asia? His imagination was also fired by Marco Polo's description
of the
marvelous riches of China, Japan, and the Spice Islands. But the
idea of
going directly west into the midst of the unknown and seemingly
boundless waste of water, and on and on to Asia, appeared to most
men of
the fifteenth century to be madness.
[Illustration: CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS The oldest known picture of
Columbus, in the National Library, Madrid]
HIS NOTION OF THE DISTANCE TO ASIA. Columbus made two fortunate
errors in reckoning the distance to the Indies. He imagined that
Asia
extended much farther eastward than it actually does, making it
nearer
Europe, and estimated the earth to be smaller than it is. His
figures
placed Japan less than 3,000 miles west of the Canary Islands,
instead
of the 12,000 miles which is the real distance. He accordingly
thought
Japan would be found about where Mexico or Florida is situated.
HOW HE SECURED HELP. Even so, many years passed before Columbus was
able to undertake a voyage. He was too poor himself, and needed
the help
of some government to fit out such an expedition. He may have
tried to
get his native city, Genoa, to help him. There is such a story.
If he
did, it was without success. He tried to obtain the help of
Portugal,
where he lived a long time, and whose princes were greatly
interested in
the discovery of new trade routes. His brother visited England in
the
same cause. Neither of these countries, however, was willing to
undertake this expensive and doubtful enterprise.
The King and Queen of Spain, to whom Columbus turned, kept him
waiting
many years for an answer. They thought that they had more
important work
in hand. There was another king in Spain at the time, the king of
the
Moors. Ferdinand and Isabella, the Christian king and queen, were
trying
to conquer the Moors, and thus to end the struggle between
Christians
and Mohammedans for the possession of Spain, which had lasted
nearly
eight centuries. This war required all the strength and revenue
of Spain.
Fortunately, just as Columbus was becoming thoroughly discouraged,
the
war with the Moors came to an end. Granada, the seat of their
former
power, was finally taken in January, 1492. Now was a good time to
ask
favors of the sovereigns of Spain, and to plan large enterprises
for the
future. Powerful friends aided Columbus to renew his petition,
and Queen
Isabella was persuaded to promise him all the help that he
needed.
THE SHIPS OF COLUMBUS. Three ships, or caravels as they were
called, were fitted out. The Santa Maria was the largest
of the three,
but it was not much larger than the small sailing yachts which we
see
to-day. It was about ninety feet long by twenty feet broad, and
had a
single deck. This was Columbus's principal ship or flagship. The
second
caravel, the Pinta, was much swifter, built high at the
prow and
stern, and furnished with a forecastle for the crew and a cabin
for the
officers, but without a deck in the center. The third and
smallest
caravel, called the Nina, the Spanish word for baby, was
built much
like the Pinta. Ninety persons made up the three crews.
[Illustration: COLUMBUS'S IDEAS OF THE ATLANTIC The shaded
portions
represent the land as Columbus expected to find it. The light
outline
of the Americas shows the actual position of the land as he found
it.]
The ships were the usual size of those which coasted along the
shores
of Europe in the fifteenth century. Expeditions had never gone
far out
into the ocean. Columbus preferred the smaller vessels in a
voyage of
discovery, because they would be able to run close to the shores
and
into the smaller harbors and up the rivers.
BEGINNING OF THE VOYAGE. The expedition set sail from Palos in
Spain, August 3, 1492. It went directly to the Canary Islands.
These
were owned by Spain, and were selected by Columbus as the most
convenient starting-point. The little fleet was delayed three
weeks at
the islands making repairs. On September 6 Columbus was off
again. He
struck due west from the Canaries.
THE TERRORS OF THE VOYAGE. While the little fleet was still in
sight of the Canary Islands a volcanic eruption nearly frightened
the
sailors out of their wits. They deemed such an event an omen of
evil.
But the expedition had fine weather day after day. Steady,
gentle,
easterly winds, the trade winds of the tropics, wafted them
slowly
westward. But the timid sailors began to wonder how they would
ever be
able to return against winds which seemed never to change from
the east.
Then they came to an immense field of seaweed, larger in area than
the
whole of Spain. This terrified the sailors, who feared they might
be
driven on hidden rocks or be engulfed in quicksands. They
imagined, too,
that great sea-monsters were lurking beyond the seaweed waiting
to
devour them.
[Illustration: A CARAVEL OF COLUMBUS After the reconstructed
model exhibited at the Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893]
THE FIRST SIGNS OF A NEW LAND. In spite of fears and complaints,
and threats of resistance, Columbus kept a westward course for
more than
four weeks. Then as he began to see so many birds flying to the
southwest, he concluded that land must be nearer in that
direction. He
had heard that most of the islands held by the Portuguese were
discovered by following the flight of birds. So on October 7 the
westward course was changed to one slightly southwest.
From this time on the signs of land grew frequent. Floating
branches,
occasionally covered with berries, pieces of wood, bits of cane,
were
encouraging signs. Birds like ducks and sandpipers became common
sights.
The Queen had promised a small pension to the one who should
first see
land. Columbus had offered to give a silken doublet in addition.
With
what eagerness the sailors must have kept on the lookout!
THE GREAT DISCOVERY. At last as the fleet was sailing onward in the
bright moonlight Columbus saw a light moving as if carried by
hand along
a shore. A few hours later, about two o'clock on the morning of
October
12, a sailor on the Pinta saw land distinctly, and soon
all beheld, a
few miles away, a long, low beach. The vessels hove to and waited
for
daylight. Early the same day, Friday, October 12, 1492, they
approached
the land, which proved to be a small island. Columbus named it
San
Salvador, which means Holy Saviour. We do not know which one of
the
Bahama islands he first saw, but we believe it was the one now
called
Watling Island. Columbus went ashore with the royal standard and
banners
flying to take possession of the land in the name of King
Ferdinand and
Queen Isabella.
WHERE COLUMBUS THOUGHT HE WAS. The astonished inhabitants of the
island soon gathered to see the strange sight—the landing of
white men
in the West Indies. They looked upon the ships as sea-monsters,
and the
white men as gods. Nor was Columbus less puzzled by what he saw.
The
people were a strange race—cinnamon colored, naked, greased, and
painted to suit each one's fancy. They had only the rudest means
of
self-defense, and were almost as poor as the parrots that
chattered in
the trees above them. Such savages bore little resemblance to the
people
whom Marco Polo said inhabited the Spice Islands.
Columbus thought that he had reached some outlying island not far
from
Japan. A cruise of a few days among the Bahamas satisfied him
that he
was in the ocean near the coast of Asia, for had not Marco Polo
described it as studded with thousands of spice-bearing islands?
He had
not found any spices, but the air was full of fragrance and the
trees
and herbs were strange in appearance. Of course if the islands
were the
Indies, the people must be Indians. Columbus called them Indians,
and
this name clung to the red men, although their islands were not
the
true Indies.
[Illustration: WATLING ISLAND, WHERE COLUMBUS FIRST LANDED]
THE SEARCH FOR THE GOLDEN EAST. Columbus thought that the natives
meant to tell him in their sign language of a great land to the
south
where gold abounded. He set off in search of this, and came upon
a land
the natives called Cuba. Its large size convinced him that he had
at
last found the Asiatic mainland, and he sent two messengers, one
a Jew
knowing many languages, in search of the Emperor of China. They
found
neither cities nor kingdoms, neither gold nor spices. This was a
great
disappointment to Columbus, but he patiently kept up his search
for the
riches which he expected to find.
THE MISFORTUNES OF COLUMBUS. While on the coast of Cuba, Pinzon,
the commander of the Pinta, deserted him. Pinzon, whose
ship was
swifter than the others, probably wished to be the first to get
home, in
order to tell a story which would gain him the credit of the
discovery
of the Indies. A few days later Columbus discovered a large
island which
the natives called Hayti, and which he called Espanola or
“Spanish
Land.” At every island he searched for the spices and gold which
Marco
Polo had given him reason to expect. In a storm off Espanola
Columbus's
own ship, the Santa Maria, was totally wrecked. Such
disasters
convinced him that it was high time to return to Spain with the
news of
his discovery.
PREPARATIONS FOR RETURN TO SPAIN. As there was not room for both
crews on the tiny Nina, his one remaining ship, it became
necessary to
leave about forty sailors in Espanola. A fort was built, and
supplies
were left for a year. Columbus with the rest set off on the
return to
Spain. Ten Indians were captured and taken with them to show to
his
friends in Europe. Besides, Columbus hoped that they would learn
the
language of Spain, and carry Christianity back to their people.
THE SEARCH FOR CHINA RENEWED. There was rejoicing in Palos when the
voyagers returned. Great honors were bestowed upon Columbus. It
was now
easy to get men and money for another voyage. In September, 1493,
Columbus started to return to his islands, this time with
seventeen
ships and fifteen hundred men, all confident that they would soon
see
the marble palaces of China, and secure a share in the wealth of
the
Spice Islands. No one yet realized that a new world—two great
continents—lay between them and their coveted goal in Asia.
Columbus
went directly to Espanola, where he found that his colony of the
previous year had been murdered by the Indians. A new settlement
was
quickly started. A little town called Isabella was built, with a
fort, a
church, a market place, public granary, and dwelling-houses.
Isabella
was the first real settlement in the New World.
[Illustration: MAP OF LANDS DISCOVERED BY COLUMBUS]
OTHER VOYAGES TO THE NEW WORLD. Columbus made two other voyages. He
continued to search for the coast of Asia, which he believed to
be near.
He made a third voyage from Spain to the West Indies in 1498. He
sailed
farther south, and came upon the mainland which later was called
South
America. A fourth expedition in 1502 touched on the coast that we
call
Central America. He died soon after this voyage, still believing
that he
had discovered a new route to the Indies and new lands on the
coast
of Asia.
THE SAD END OF COLUMBUS'S LIFE. The close of his life was a sad
one. The lands he had found did not yield the riches which he had
expected. The colonists whom he had sent out to the islands had
rebelled, and jealous enemies had accused him falsely before the
king
and queen of misgovernment in his territories. Once his opponents
had
him carried to Spain chained like a common prisoner. He was given
his
liberty on reaching Spain, but the people had become prejudiced
against him.
Ferdinand, the son of Columbus, tells us that as he and his
brother
Diego, who were pages in the queen's service, happened to pass a
crowd
of his father's enemies, the latter greeted them with hoots:
“There go
the sons of the Admiral of Mosquitoland, the man who has
discovered a
land of vanity and deceit, the grave of Spanish gentlemen.”
Hardships
and disappointments broke down the great discoverer, and he died
neglected and almost forgotten by the people of Spain.
[Illustration: THE COLUMBUS MONUMENT AT GENOA]
QUESTIONS
1. What plan did Columbus form? Why was it bolder than the plan
Diaz
had carried out in 1487, or even than that Da Gama carried out
a few
years later? Why did men like Columbus and Diaz desire to find
a sea
route to India? Had anybody before Columbus believed the
earth round?
2. What mistake did Columbus make in estimating the size of the
earth? Why was this a fortunate error?
3. From what countries did Columbus try to obtain help? Why did
he
find it so hard to secure this? What event in Spain finally
favored
his cause? Who were the Moors?
4. Why was Columbus surprised when he saw the natives in the
West
Indies? Why were the Indians on their side surprised?
5. What islands did Columbus find and claim for Spain on his
first
voyage? How many other voyages did he make? What new lands did
he
find on his later voyages? What did he think he had found?
6. Why did the enemies of Columbus in Spain call him the Admiral
of
Mosquitoland, the man who discovered a land of vanity and
deceit,
the grave of Spanish gentlemen? What did they mean by this?
EXERCISES
1. Find pictures of the ships of Columbus or of the sailing
ships of
other explorers of that day. How does the deck arrangement on
those
differ from the ocean steamships of to-day? What advantage
would
ships like those of Columbus have over present steamships in
exploring strange coasts? What disadvantages?
2. Draw up a list of reasons why Columbus's sailors were afraid
to
go on and wished to turn back to Spain.
3. Trace on an outline map the voyage of Columbus. Mark where
Columbus found land, and where he expected to find Japan and
China.
What great mass of land was really very near the island he
first
discovered?
4. Find from the maps mentioned in Chapter IV (Greek World),
Chapter
VII (Roman World), Chapter VIII (The world after Polo's
journey),
and Chapter XIV (The world as known after Columbus), how much
more
the Romans knew of the world than the Greeks had known, the
Europeans after Marco Polo's journey than the Romans, and the
Europeans after Columbus's voyage than after Marco Polo's
journey.
Important Date—1492. The discovery of America by Columbus.
THE RACE TO THE INDIES. The discovery of all the lands which make
what we call the New World came very slowly. It was the work of
many
different explorers. Most of the expeditions sent out to the new
islands
went in search of a passage to India. It was a fine race. Each
nation
was eager to see its ships the first to reach India by the
westward
route. All were disappointed at finding so much land between
Europe and
Asia. It seemed to them to be of little value and to block the
way to
the richer countries of the East. Gradually, however, they
discovered
the great continents which we know as North and South America.
Columbus
had done more than he dreamed, and his discovery was a
turning-point
in history.
JOHN CABOT. John Cabot, an Italian mariner at this time in the
service of England, left Bristol in 1497 on a voyage of
discovery. This
was five years after Columbus discovered the West Indies. Cabot
had
heard that the sailors of Portugal and of Spain had occupied
unknown
islands. He planned to do the same for King Henry VII of England.
For
his voyage he had a single vessel no larger than the Nina,
the
smallest ship in the fleet of Columbus. Eighteen men made up his
crew.
He passed around the southern end of Ireland, and sailed north
and west
until he came to land, which proved to be the coast of North
America
somewhere between the northern part of Labrador and the southern
end of
Nova Scotia.
CABOT'S DISCOVERY. John Cabot saw no inhabitants, but he found
notched trees, snares for game, and needles for making nets,
which
showed plainly that the land was inhabited by human beings. Like
Columbus, Cabot thought he was off the coast of China.
THE CABOT VOYAGES FORGOTTEN. Before the end of 1497 John Cabot was
back in Bristol. It is almost certain that he and his son,
Sebastian
Cabot, made a second voyage to the new found lands in the
following
year. The Cabot voyages, however, were soon almost forgotten by
the
people of England.
[Illustration: SEBASTIAN CABOT After the picture ascribed to
Holbein]
THE NAMING OF THE NEW LANDS. Why was our country named America
rather than Columbia or New India? Both the southern and northern
continents which we call the Americas were named for Americus
Vespucius
rather than for Christopher Columbus. This seems the more strange
since
we know so little about the life of Americus. Americus Vespucius
was
born in Florence, Italy, and like many other young Italians of
that day
entered the service of neighboring countries. He went to Spain
and
accompanied several Spanish expeditions sent to explore the new
continent which Columbus had discovered on his third voyage.
Perhaps Americus went as a pilot; he certainly was not the leader
in any
expedition. But he seems to have written to his friends
interesting
accounts of what he had seen. In one of these letters Americus
seems to
have written boastfully of how he had found lands which might be
called
a new world. He said that the new continent was more populous and
more
full of animals than Europe, or Asia, or Africa, and that the
climate
was even more temperate and pleasant than any other region. This
was
clearly a new world.
WHY AMERICUS WAS REGARDED AS THE DISCOVERER OF AMERICA. The
statement of Americus was scattered widely by the help of the
newly
invented printing press. It was written in Latin, and so could be
read
by the learned of all countries. They were impressed by the
belief of
Americus that he had seen a new world and not simply the Indies.
This
was especially true of men living outside of Spain who had heard
little
of Columbus or his discovery.
Columbus for his part had written as if his great discovery was a
way to
the Indies and the finding of islands on the way thither less
important.
Besides, when he saw what we call South America he had no idea
that it
was a new world. The people of Europe either never knew that he
had
discovered the mainland or had forgotten it altogether. But they
heard a
great deal about Americus and his doings. It is not strange that
Americus rather than Columbus was long regarded as the true
discoverer
of America.
TWO NAMES FOR THE NEW LANDS. Even then the new continent might not
have been called America but for the suggestion of a young
scholar of
the time. Martin Waldseemueller, a professor of geography at the
college
of St. Die, now in eastern France, wrote a book on geography. In
his
description of the parts of the world unknown to the ancients, he
suggested naming the continent stretching to the south for
Americus.
[Illustration: FACSIMILE Of the passage in the Cosmographia
Introductio (1507), by Martin Waldseemueller, in which the
name of
America is proposed for the New World.]
The facsimile's transcription reads as follows:
Nunc Vero et hae partes sunt latius lustratae, et alia quarta
pars per Americum Vesputium (ut in sequentibus audietur)
inventa
est quam non video cur quis jure vetet ab Americo inventore
sagacis ingenii viro Amerigen quasi Americi terram, sive
Americam
dicendam: cum et Europa et Asia a mulieribus sua sortita sint
nomina. Ejus situm et gentis mores ex bis binis Americi
navigationibus quae sequuntur liquide intelligidatur.
Waldseemueller thought Americus had been the real discoverer of
this
continent. He said, “Now, indeed, as these regions are more
widely
explored, and another fourth part has been discovered by Americus
Vespucius, I do not see why any one may justly forbid it to be
named
Amerige—that is, Americ's Land, from Americus, the discoverer.”
Others adopted Waldseemueller's suggestion and the name America
came into
general use outside of Spain. But the Spaniards continued to call
all
the new lands by the name which Columbus had given them—the
Indies.
America was at first the name for South America only, but later
was also
used by writers for the other continent which was soon found to
the
north. It was natural to distinguish the two continents as South
and
North America.
BALBOA. The successors of Columbus kept up a ceaseless search for
the real Indies, but the more they explored the more they saw
that a
great continental barrier was lying across the sea passage to
Asia. A
few began to suspect that after all America was not a part of
Asia.
Vasco Nunez Balboa was one of these. Balboa was a planter who had
settled in Espanola. He fell deeply into debt, and to escape his
creditors had himself nailed up in a barrel and put aboard a
vessel
bound for the northern coast of South America. From there he went
to the
eastern border of Panama with a party of gold seekers. The
Indians told
him of a great sea and of an abundance of gold on its shores to
be found
a short distance across the isthmus. It is probable that the
Indians
wished to get rid of the Spaniards as neighbors.
[Illustration: VASCO NUNEZ BALBOA]
BALBOA'S DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC. Balboa resolved to make a name
for himself and to be the discoverer of the other sea. He set off
in
1513. The land is not more than forty-five miles wide at Panama,
but it
is almost impassable even to this day. For twenty-two days the
hardy
adventurers advanced through a forest, dense with thickets and
tangled
swamps and interlacing vines—so thick that for days the sun
could not
be seen—and over rough and slippery mountain-sides until they
came to
an open sea stretching off to the south and west. Balboa called
it the
South Sea, but it is usually called the Pacific Ocean, the name
given it
afterward.
Balboa had made the important discovery that the barrier of land
was
comparatively narrow. This gave the impression that North
America, too,
was narrower than it proved to be, and the search for the passage
to the
Indies was pushed with greater vigor.
MAGELLAN. A Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama, had really won the
race begun by Prince Henry's navigators and Columbus for India,
the land
of cloves, pepper, and nutmegs. He had won in 1497 by going
around the
Cape of Good Hope. Another explorer, Ferdinand Magellan, finally,
reached the Indies in a long westward voyage lasting two years,
from
1519 to 1521.
[Illustration: FERDINAND MAGELLAN]
THE BEGINNING OF MAGELLAN'S VOYAGE. Magellan, himself a Portuguese,
tried in vain like Columbus to persuade the king of Portugal to
aid him
in his project. He succeeded better in Spain, and sailed from
there in
1519 with a small fleet given him by the young king Charles. The
five
ships in his fleet were old and in bad repair, and the crews had
been
brought together from every nation. They sailed directly to South
America, and spent the first year searching every inlet along the
coast
for a passage.
[Illustration: THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN]
They found that the natives of South America used for food
vegetables
that “looked like turnips and tasted like chestnuts.” The Indians
called
them “patatas.” In this way the potato, one of the great foods of
to-day, was found by Europeans. A whole winter was passed on the
cold
and barren coast of Patagonia. Magellan called the natives
“Patagones,”
the word in his language meaning big feet, from the large
foot-prints
which they left on the sand.
THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. Magellan finally found a strait, since
named for him the Strait of Magellan, and sailed his ships
through it
amid the greatest dangers. The change from the rough waters of
the
strait to the calm sea beyond made the word Pacific or Peaceful
Sea seem
the most suitable name for the vast body of water which they
had entered.
THE FIRST VOYAGE ACROSS THE PACIFIC. From the western coast of
South America Magellan struck boldly out into the Pacific Ocean
on his
way to Asia. The crews suffered untold hardships. The very rats
which
overran the rotten ships became a luxurious article of food which
only
the more fortunate members of the crews could afford. The poorer
seamen
lived for days on the ox-hide strips which protected the masts.
These
were soaked in sea-water and roasted over the fire.
Magellan was fortunate enough to chance upon the Isle of Guam,
where
plentiful supplies were obtained. He called the group of small
islands,
of which Guam is one, the Ladrones. This was his word for
robbers, used
because the natives were such robbers. The expedition discovered
a group
of islands afterwards called the Philippines. There Magellan fell
in
with traders from the Indies and knew that the remainder of the
voyage
would be through well-known seas and over a route frequently
followed.
Poor Magellan did not live to complete his remarkable voyage. He
was
killed in the Philippine Islands in a battle with the natives.
[Illustration: AN OLD MAP OF THE NEW WORLD—1523 After
Magellan's voyage, but before the exploration of North America
had
gone far]
Only one of the five ships found its way through the Spice
Islands,
across the Indian Ocean, around the Cape of Good Hope, and so
back to
Spain; but this one carried home twenty-six tons of cloves, worth
more
than enough to pay the whole cost of the expedition. Such was the
value
of the trade Europe was so eagerly seeking.
WHAT MAGELLAN HAD SHOWN THE PEOPLE OF EUROPE. Magellan's voyage
had, however, been a great event. Historians are agreed that it
was the
greatest voyage in the history of mankind. It had shown in a
practical
way that the earth is a globe, just as Columbus and other wise
men had
long taught, for a ship had sailed completely around it.
But Magellan had also proved some things that they had not
dreamed. He
had shown that two great oceans instead of one lay between Europe
and
Asia; he had made clear that the Indies which the Spanish
explorers had
found, and which other people were beginning to call the
Americas, were
really a new world entirely separate from Asia, and not a part of
Asia
as Columbus had thought.
QUESTIONS
1. Why were the early American explorers disappointed at finding
two
continents between Europe and Asia?
2. What land did John Cabot discover? Where did he think this
land
was? Why did the English people take little interest in this
voyage?
3. Why was our country named America? Do you think that Americus
Vespucius deserved so great an honor? By what name did the
Spaniards
continue to call the new region? Why did the Spaniards have one
name
and the other Europeans another name for a long time?
4. How did Balboa come to find the Pacific Ocean? Why did men
search
for a passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific more
vigorously
after Balboa's expedition?
5. Why has Magellan's voyage been called the greatest one in
history? What three things had Magellan shown the European
world?
EXERCISES
1. Make out a list of the explorers mentioned in this chapter
who
helped in the discovery of the New World, and place opposite
the
name of each the name of the land he discovered.
2. Trace Magellan's voyage on the map and make a list of the
lands
or countries he passed. Look at the map of North America on
this old
map, and at the one in mentioned Chapter XIX. How do you
account for
the queer shape of North America on the old map?
Important date—1519-21. Magellan's ship made the first
voyage
around the world.
THE CIVILIZATION OF THE MEXICAN INDIANS. Early Spanish explorers on
the coast of Mexico found the Indians of the mainland more highly
civilized than the natives of the West Indies. Some of these,
especially
the Aztecs, lived in large villages or cities and were ruled by
powerful
chiefs or kings. They built to their gods huge stone temples with
towers
several stories in height.
Their houses, quite unlike those of the other Indians the Spanish
had
seen, were made of stone or sun-dried brick and coated with hard
white
plaster. Some of them were of immense size and could hold many
families.
Doors had not been invented, but hangings of woven grass or
matting of
cotton served instead. Strings of shells which a visitor could
rattle
answered for door-bells.
The streets of the towns were narrow, but were often paved with a
sort
of cement. Aqueducts in solid masonry somewhat like the old Roman
aqueducts, although not so large, carried water from the
neighboring
hills for fountains and rude public baths.
The women wove cotton and prepared clothing for their families.
Workmen
made ornaments of gold and copper, and utensils and dishes of
pottery
for every-day use. The people cultivated the fields around the
cities,
raising a great variety of foods, and even built ditches to carry
water
for irrigating the fields. All this was in striking contrast with
the
simple habits of the West Indians.
[Illustration: AZTEC SACRIFICIAL STONE Now in the National
Museum in the City of Mexico]
CRUEL CUSTOMS OF THE AZTECS. With all the good features of Mexican
life, with all the superiority of the Mexicans over the other
Indians,
there was much that was hideous and cruel. The Aztecs, the most
powerful
tribes, were continually at war with their neighbors. They lived
mainly
upon the plunder of their enemies and the tribute which they took
from
those they had conquered. Like all Mexicans, they worshiped great
ugly
idols as gods and to these their priests offered part of the
captives
taken in war as human sacrifices.
SPANISH IDEAS OF MEXICO. The reports of the Aztec civilization and
of the treasures of gold, mostly untrue, excited the interest and
greed
of the Spaniards. Mexico seemed like the China which Marco Polo
had
described, and might offer a chance of immense wealth for those
who
should conquer it. In truth, Mexican civilization did resemble
that of
Asia more than anything that the Spaniards had seen. Montezuma, a
powerful chief or king of the Aztecs, lived somewhat like a
Mongol
Emperor of Persia or China.
[Illustration: MONTEZUMA, THE LAST KING OF MEXICO After Montanus
and Ogilby]
CORTES. In 1519 the governor of Cuba sent Hernando Cortes to
explore and conquer Mexico. The expedition landed where Vera Cruz
is now
situated. The ships were then sunk in order to cut off all hope
of
retreat for the soldiers. “For whom but cowards,” said Cortes,
“were
means of retreat necessary!” Cortes, with great skill, worked up
the
zeal of his soldiers to the fury of a religious crusade. All
thought it
a duty to destroy the idols they saw, to end the practice of
offering
human sacrifices, and to force the Christian religion upon the
natives.
The small army marched slowly inland towards the City of Mexico,
which
was the capital of Montezuma's kingdom. Cortes and his men had
learned
the Indian mode of fighting from ambush, and also how
successfully to
match cunning and treachery with those villagers who tried to
prevent
his invasion of their country.
HOW THE SPANIARDS AND THE AZTECS FOUGHT. The Mexican warriors,
though they fought fiercely, were no match for the Spaniards. The
Mexicans were experts with the bow and arrow, using arrows
pointed with
a hard kind of stone. They carried for hand-to-hand fighting a
narrow
club set with a double edge of razor-like stones, and wore a
crude kind
of armor made from quilted cotton. But such things were useless
against
Spanish bullets shot from afar.
[Illustration: THE ARMOR OF CORTES After an engraving of the
original in the National Museum, Madrid]
The roaring cannon, the glittering steel swords, the thick armor
and
shining helmets, the prancing horses on which the Spanish leaders
were
mounted, gave the whole a strange, unearthly appearance to the
simple-minded Indians. The story is told that the Mexicans
believed that
one of their gods had once floated out to sea, saying that, in
the
fulness of time, he would return with fair-skinned companions to
begin
again his rule over his people. Many Aztecs looked upon the
coming of
the white men as the return of this god and thought that
resistance
would be useless. Such natives sent presents, made their peace
with
Cortes, and so weakened the opposition to the conquerors.
CORTES IN PERIL. Cortes easily entered the City of Mexico, and
forced Montezuma to resign. But here the natives attacked his
army in
such numbers that he had to retreat to escape capture. The
Spaniards
fled from the city at night amid the onslaught of the inhabitants
fighting for their religion and their homes.
[Illustration: CANNON OF THE TIME OF CORTES After Van Menken.
There are in the naval museum at Annapolis guns captured in the
Mexican
War supposed to be those used by Cortes]
The retreat cost the Spaniards terrible losses. Cortes started in
the
evening on the retreat with 1,250 soldiers, 6,000 Indian allies,
and 80
horses. There were left in the morning 500 soldiers, 2,000
allies, and
20 horses. Cortes is said to have buried his face in his hands
and wept
for his lost followers, but he never wavered in his purpose of
taking
Mexico. He was able to defeat the Indians in the open country,
and to
return to the attack on the capital city.
CAPTURE OF THE CITY OF MEXICO. The siege which followed, lasting
nearly three months, has rarely been matched in history for the
bravery
and suffering of the natives. The fighting was constant and
terrible.
The fresh water supply was cut off from the inhabitants in the
city, and
famine aided the invaders. At length the defenders were exhausted
and
Cortes entered. It had taken him two years to conquer the Aztecs.
A
greater task remained for him to do. He was to cleanse and
rebuild the
City of Mexico, make it a center of Spanish civilization, and
Mexico a
New Spain. By such work Cortes showed that he could be not only a
great
conqueror, but also an able ruler in time of peace.
[Illustration: THE CITY OF MEXICO UNDER THE CONQUERORS
From the engraving in the “Niewe Wereld” of Montanus]
PIZARRO. A few years after Cortes conquered Mexico a second army
conquered another famous Indian kingdom. Francisco Pizarro
commanded
this expedition, which set out from Panama in 1531. Pizarro had
been
with Balboa at the discovery of the South Sea or Pacific Ocean,
and,
like his master, had become interested in the stories the Indians
told
of a rich kingdom far to the south. The golden kingdom which the
Indians
described was that of the Incas, who lived much as the Aztecs.
The
Spaniards called the region of the Incas the Biru country or, by
softening the first letter, the Peru country, from Biru, who was
a
native Indian chieftain.
[Illustration: A STONE IDOL OF THE AZTEC'S
It is more than eight feet high and five feet across, and was dug
up in
the central square of the City of Mexico more than one hundred
years ago]
CONQUEST OF PERU. Pizarro found the Incas divided as usual by civil
wars and incapable of much resistance. One of their rival chiefs
was
outwitted when he tried to capture Pizarro by a trick, and was
himself
made a prisoner instead. He offered to give Pizarro in return for
his
freedom as much gold as would fill his prison room as high as he
could
reach. The offer was accepted, and gold, mainly in the shape of
vases,
plates, images, and other ornaments from the temples for the
Indian
idols, was gathered together.
The Spaniards soon found themselves in possession of almost
$7,000,000
worth of gold, besides a vast quantity of silver. As much more
was taken
from the Indians by force. The whole was divided among the
conquerors.
Pizarro's share was worth nearly a million dollars. But the poor
chief
who had made them suddenly rich was suspected of plotting to have
his
warriors ambush them as they left the country, was tried by his
conquerors, and put to death. The bloody work of conquest was
soon over.
Peru, like Mexico, rapidly became a center of Spanish settlement.
Emigrants, instead of stopping in the West Indies, had the choice
of
going on into the newer regions which Cortes and Pizarro had won.
EMIGRANTS TO SPANISH AMERICA. It was much harder in the sixteenth
century to leave Spain and settle in America than it is today.
The first
and sometimes the greatest difficulty was in getting permission
to leave
Spain. No one could go who had not secured the king's consent.
The
emigrant must show that neither he nor his father nor his
grandfather
had ever been guilty of heresy, that is, that he and his
forefathers had
been steadfast Catholic Christians. His wife, if he had one, must
give
her consent. His debts must all be paid. The Moors and the Jews
of Spain
could not secure permits to move to the New World. Foreigners of
whatever nation were not wanted in the colonies and were usually
kept
out. Spain tried to keep its colonies wholly for Spaniards.
HARDSHIPS OF THE SEA VOYAGE. Those who did go to the colonies found
the voyage dangerous and costly. One traveler has related that it
cost
him about one hundred and eighty dollars for the passage, and
that he
provided his own chickens and bread. The danger to sailing ships
from
storms was much greater than it is today for steamships. The
voyage
required three or four weeks and not uncommonly as many months.
THE NEED OF LABORERS. The hardships and dangers of the voyage and
the reports of suffering from famine and disease kept most people
from
going to the New World. Emigration was slow, amounting to about a
thousand a year. There were always fewer capable white laborers
than the
landowners in the colonies needed for their work, for there was
much to
do in clearing the land and preparing it for use. The landowners
were
usually well-to-do Spaniards who did not like to work in the
fields
themselves. A great many of the laborers who migrated to America
served
in the army or went to the gold and silver mines of Mexico and
Peru. The
craze for gold constantly robbed the older colonies of their farm
laborers. The landowners in the islands of the West Indies,
during the
early history of the colonies, made slaves of the Indians and
compelled
them to take the place of the laborers they needed and could not
obtain.
INDIAN SLAVERY. The people of Europe thought that the whole world
belonged to the followers of Christ. Non-Christians, whether
Indian or
negro, had the choice of accepting Christianity or of being made
slaves.
The choice of Christianity did not always save them from the fate
of
slavery. In this the Spaniards were no more cruel than their
neighbors
the English or the French. The Spanish planters from the
beginning
forced the Indians to work their farms. The gold seekers made
them work
in their mines.
The labor in every case was hard, and specially hard for the
Indian
unused to work. The overseers were brutal when the slaves did not
do the
tasks set for them. Hard usage and the unhealthful quarters
rapidly
broke down the natives. The white men also brought into the
island
diseases which they, with their greater experience, could resist,
but
from which, one writer says, the Indians died like sheep with a
distemper.
[Illustration: A SPANISH GALLEON Ships like this carried the
Spanish emigrants to America]
SLAVERY DESTROYS THE WEST INDIANS. When the number of the Indians
in Espanola and Cuba had decreased so much that there were not
enough
left to meet the needs of the planters, slave-hunters searched
the
neighboring islands for others. Finally, when the Indians were
nearly
gone, and the planters began to look to the mainland for their
slaves,
the king of Spain forbade making slaves of the Indians.
Unfortunately he
did not forbid them to capture negroes in Africa for the same
purpose,
and the change merely meant that negroes took the place of
Indians as
slaves. The story of the change is in great part the story of the
life
of Bartholomew de Las Casas.
LAS CASAS. The father of Las Casas was a companion of Columbus on
his second voyage in 1493. He returned to Spain, taking with him
a young
Indian slave whom he gave to his son. This youth became greatly
interested in the race to which his young slave belonged. In 1502
he
went to Espanola to take possession of his father's estate. The
planter's life did not long satisfy him and finally he became a
priest.
He moved from Espanola to Cuba, the newer colony.
Las Casas became convinced that Indian slavery was wrong, and gave
his
own slaves their freedom. In his sermons he attacked the abuses
of
slavery. He visited Spain in order to help the slaves, and
secured many
reforms which lessened the hardships of their lot. Since the
planters
demanded more laborers and Las Casas thought the negro would be
hardier
than the Indian, he advocated negro slavery in place of Indian
slavery
as the less of two evils. Finally, in 1542, Las Casas persuaded
his
king, Charles V, to put an end to Indian slavery of every form.
His success came too late to benefit the natives of the West
Indies.
They had decreased until almost none were left. It is said that
there
were two hundred thousand Indians in Espanola in 1492, and that
in 1548
there were barely five hundred survivors. The same decrease had
taken
place in the other islands. But the work of Las Casas came in
time to
save the Indians on the mainland from the fate of the luckless
islanders.
NEGRO SLAVERY. Las Casas later regretted that he had advised the
planters to obtain negroes to take the place of the Indians. Some
negroes had been captured by the Portuguese on the coast of
Africa
during their explorations and taken to Europe as slaves. Columbus
carried a few of these to the West Indies with him, and others
had
followed his example, but negro slavery had grown very slowly
until
after Las Casas stopped Indian slavery, when it increased rapidly
in
Spanish America.
[Illustration: LAS CASAS After the picture by Felix Parra in the
Academy, Mexico. Las Casas is supposed to be imploring Providence
to
shield the natives from Spanish cruelty]
THE MISSIONS OF THE MAINLAND. Las Casas became at one time a
missionary to a tribe of the most desperate warriors located on
the
southern border of Mexico, in a region called by the Spaniards
the “Land
of War.” Three times a Spanish army had invaded the country, and
three
times it had been driven back by the native defenders. Las Casas
wished
to show the Spaniards that more could be accomplished by treating
the
Indians kindly than by bloody warfare and conquest.
He and the monks whom he took with him learned the language of the
Indians, and went among them not as conquerors but as Christian
teachers. Their gentle manners and endless patience won the
friendship
of the Indians in time and changed the land of constant warfare
into one
of peace. They led the natives to destroy their idols and to give
up
cannibalism. The mission established among them and kept up by
the monks
who were attracted to it was only one of a great number which
sprang up
on the mainland.
THE WORK OF THE MISSIONS. Influenced by the work of Las Casas
against Indian slavery and for Indian missions, the Spaniards
bent their
efforts to preserve and Christianize the natives wherever they
came upon
them in America. Catholic priests gathered the Indians into
permanent
villages, which were called missions. Within about one hundred
years
after the death of Columbus, or by 1600, there were more then
5,000,000
Indians in such villages under Spanish rule. Priests taught them
to
build better houses, checked their native vices, and suppressed
heathen
practices.
Every mission became a little industrial school for children and
parents
alike, where all might learn the simpler arts and trades and the
customs
and language of their teachers. Each Indian cultivated his own
plot of
land and worked two hours a day on the farm belonging to the
village.
The produce of the village farm supported the church. The monks
or
friars who had charge of the mission cared for the poor, taught
in the
schools, preserved the peace and order of the village, and looked
after
the religious welfare of all.
[Illustration: RUINS OF A SPANISH MISSION HOUSE]
Gradually Spanish emigrants settled in the mission stations, and
planters established farms around them, and they became Spanish
villages
in every respect like those in the islands or in the Old World,
except
that many inhabitants in the towns on the mainland were Indians.
The
emigrants freely intermarried with the Indians and a mixed race
took the
place of the old inhabitants. The customs, language, religion,
and rule
of Spain prevailed in this New Spain, though in some ways the new
civilization was not so good as that of the Old World.
QUESTIONS
1. In what ways did the Aztecs resemble the Europeans? How did
they
differ from them? Why were the Spaniards particularly anxious
to
conquer Mexico?
2. Why did many of the Mexicans refuse to fight the Spaniards?
How
many soldiers and Indian allies did Cortes lose in one battle?
How
long did it take Cortes to conquer Mexico?
3. What other Indian people was conquered a few years later? By
whom? What seemed to be the main object of these conquerors,
Cortes
and Pizarro, in their expeditions?
4. Why did the Spaniards make slaves of the Indians in the West
Indies? Why did they later cease making slaves of Indians and
begin
making slaves of negroes? What share had Las Casas in this
change?
5. What good work did the priests and monks in the Spanish
Missions
accomplish? What became of the Aztecs or other Indian tribes
in Mexico?
EXERCISES
1. Find all you can about the houses, food, clothing, and
occupations of any Indians living in your part of the United
States,
or if none are there now, learn this from your parents or from
some
neighbor who knew the Indians. Did they resemble the Aztecs in
these
respects or the West Indians?
2. Review the account of emigrating to Spanish America four
hundred
years ago. Who could not go to Spanish America then? Find out
who
may not come into the United States to-day. What did it cost
one
traveler to get to America in the sixteenth century? Find out
the
cost of a voyage from Europe to America to-day. How long did it
take
to make such a voyage? Find out the usual length of a voyage
from
Europe to-day.
PONCE DE LEON. While men like Cortes were exploring and conquering
the countries on the west shore of the Gulf of Mexico, others
began to
search the vast regions to the north. One of these explorers was
Ponce
de Leon, who had come to Espanola with Columbus in 1493. He
afterwards
spent many years in the West Indies capturing Indians, and
understood
from something they said that a magic fountain could be found
beyond the
Bahamas which would restore an old man to youth and vigor, if he
bathed in it.
[Illustration: PONCE DE LEON]
As Ponce de Leon was beginning to feel aged he went in search of
this
wondrous fountain, but he found instead a coast where flowers
grew in
great abundance. It was the Easter season in 1513. Since the
Spanish
call this season Pascua Florida or Flowery Easter, Ponce
called the
new flowery country Florida. He went ashore near the present site
of St.
Augustine, and later, while trying to establish a settlement,
lost his
life in a battle with the Indians.
EXPLORATIONS OF NORTH AMERICAN COAST. Other Spanish explorers
between 1513 and 1525 followed the whole Gulf coast from Florida
to Vera
Cruz, and the Atlantic coast from Florida to Labrador. They
sought
continually for a passage to India. Every large inlet was
entered, for
it might prove to be the long-looked-for strait. Slowly the coast
of
North America took shape on the maps of that time. Two famous
expeditions into the interior of the country did much to enlarge
this
knowledge. One was made by De Soto through the region which now
forms
seven southern states of the United States, and the other was by
Coronado through the great southwest.
[Illustration: HERNANDO DE SOTO]
DE SOTO. Hernando de Soto, a noble from Seville in Spain, had won
fame and fortune with Pizarro in Peru. The King of Spain, to
reward his
bravery and skill in conquering Indians, made him Governor of
Cuba. In
those days the Governor of Cuba controlled Florida. It was a
larger
Florida than the present state of that name, for Spanish Florida
included the whole north coast of the Gulf of Mexico running back
into
the continent without any definite boundary.
THE STORY OF THE GILDED MAN. De Soto had heard a fanciful story of
a country so rich in gold that its king was smeared every morning
with
gum and then thickly sprinkled with powdered gold, which was
washed off
at night. De Soto thought this country might be somewhere in
Florida,
and prepared to search for the Gilded Man, or in the Spanish
language
El Dorado.
THE COMRADES OF DE SOTO. More than six hundred men, some of them
from the oldest families of the nobility of Spain and Portugal,
flocked
to De Soto's banner. They sold their possessions at home and
ventured
all their wealth in the hope of obtaining great riches in
Florida.
DE SOTO'S ROUTE THROUGH THE SOUTH OF NORTH AMERICA. De Soto crossed
from Cuba to the west coast of Florida in 1539, and advanced
northward
by land to an Indian village near Apalachee Bay. Here he spent
the first
winter. A white man, whom the Indians had taken captive twelve
years
before and finally adopted, joined De Soto and became very useful
as an
interpreter.
[Illustration: SPANISH KNIGHT OF 16TH CENTURY]
In the spring De Soto renewed his explorations. It was like a
journey
into the interior of Africa. The expedition passed northeasterly
through
the country now within Georgia and South Carolina, as far,
perhaps, as
the border of North Carolina. From here it passed through the
mountains,
and turned southwesterly through Tennessee and Alabama until a
large
Indian village called Mauvilla was reached. This was near the
head of
Mobile Bay. Mobile was named from the Indian village Mauvilla.
The
Alabama Indians, whose name means “the thicket clearers,” were
near by.
Here again De Soto changed his course to the northwest into the
unknown interior.
THE HARDSHIPS OF THE JOURNEY. His army was almost exhausted by the
difficulties of the journey. A road had to be cut and broken
through
thickets and forest, paths had to be made through the many
swamps, and
fords found across the rivers. It frequently became necessary to
stop
for months at a time, to let the horses, worn out from travel and
starving because of the scarcity of fodder, fatten on the grass.
The
stores which the army brought with them soon gave out. The men
were
forced to live like Indians, and were often reduced to using the
roots
of wild plants for food. Where they could, they robbed the
Indians of
their scanty stores of corn and beans.
[Illustration: INDIANS BROILING FISH]
CRUEL TREATMENT OF THE INDIANS. De Soto was cruel in his treatment
of the conquered natives along his route. Many of his officers
came with
him really for the purpose of obtaining Indian slaves for their
plantations in Cuba. Indian women were made to do the work of the
camp.
Indian men were chained together and forced to carry the baggage.
The
chiefs were held as hostages for the good behavior of the whole
tribe.
The Indians who tried to shirk work or offered resistance were
killed
without mercy.
[Illustration: MAP OF DE SOTO'S ROUTE—1539-1542]
De Soto's cruelties made the Indian of the South hate the white
men, and
left him the enemy of any who should come to those regions in
after-years. More than once De Soto narrowly escaped destruction
at the
hands of the enraged savages. They attacked the Spaniards with
all their
strength at Mauvilla, and again while they were in camp in
northern
Mississippi for the winter of 1540-1541. These two battles with
the
Indians cost the Spaniards their baggage, which was destroyed in
the
burning villages. New clothing, however, was soon made from the
skins of
wild animals. Deerskins and bearskins served for cloaks, jackets,
shirts, stockings, and even for shoes. The great army must have
looked
much like a band of Robinson Crusoes.
THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. De Soto marched on northwesterly
until May 8, 1541, when he was somewhere near the site of the
present
city of Memphis. There he came upon a great river. One of his
officers
tells us that the river was so wide at this point that if a man
on the
other side stood still, it could not be known whether he were a
man or
not; that the river was of great depth, and of a strong current;
and
that the water was always muddy.
De Soto called it, in his own language, the Rio Grande or Great
River,
but the Indians called it the Mississippi. Americans have adopted
the
Indian name. Other Spanish explorers had probably passed the
mouth of
the Mississippi River before De Soto, and wondered at its mighty
size,
but De Soto was the first white man to approach it from the land
and to
appreciate the importance of his discovery.
WANDERINGS WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI. The Spaniards cut down trees,
made them into planks and built barges on which they crossed the
Mississippi. Then they wandered for another year through the
endless
woods and marshes of the low-lying lands now within the state of
Arkansas. They probably went as far west as the open plains of
Oklahoma
or Texas. In these border regions between the forests and the
prairies
they met Indians who used the skins of the buffalo for clothing.
[Illustration: BURIAL OF DE SOTO IN THE MISSISSIPPI]
DEATH AND BURIAL OF DE SOTO. The severe winter of 1541-1542
discouraged the hardy travelers, who had now spent nearly three
years in
a vain search. The natives whom they had found made clothing from
the
fiber in the bark of mulberry trees and from the hides of
buffaloes, and
stored beans and corn for food, but such things seemed of little
value
to the seekers for the Gilded Man.
De Soto returned to the Mississippi and prepared to establish a
colony
somewhere near the mouth of the Red River. It was his purpose to
send to
Cuba for supplies, and, with this settlement as a base, make a
farther
search in the plains of the great West. He did not live to carry
out his
plan. Long exposure and anxiety had weakened him. The malaria of
the
swamps attacked him, and he died within a few days. His body was
wrapped
in mantles weighted with sand, carried in a canoe, and secretly
lowered
in the midst of the great river he had discovered.
His successor tried to conceal De Soto's death from the Indians.
The
Spaniards had called their leader the Child of the Sun, and now
he had
died like any other mortal. They were afraid if the Indians found
his
body they would cease to believe that the strangers were immortal
and
would massacre them all. The Indians were told that the great
leader had
gone to Heaven, as he had often done before, and that he would
return in
a few days.
RESULTS OF DE SOTO'S JOURNEY. The weary survivors built boats,
floated down the Mississippi into the Gulf, and sailed cautiously
along
the coasts to Mexico. They had been gone four years and three
months,
and half of the army which set out had perished. However, the
expedition
of De Soto will always remain one of the most remarkable journeys
in the
history of North America. It had extended the Spanish claims far
into
the interior. With it had begun the written history of the
country now
composing at least eight states in the United States, Florida,
Georgia,
South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee,
and
Arkansas. It had perhaps reached the present Oklahoma and Texas,
and had
certainly passed down the Mississippi River through Louisiana.
THE STORY OF THE SEVEN CITIES. While De Soto was exploring the
southeastern part of North America a second expedition searched
the
southwest. Both were looking for rich Indian kingdoms like Mexico
and
Peru. The second expedition came about in this manner. Some of
the
Indians from northern Mexico told the Spaniards a strange tale of
how in
the distant past their ancestors came forth from seven caves.
[Illustration: AN INDIAN OF NORTHERN MEXICO]
The Spaniards, however, confused the tale with a story of their
own
about Seven Cities. They believed that at the time Spain was
overrun by
the Moors in the eighth century, seven bishops, flying from
persecution,
had taken refuge, with a great company of followers, on an island
or
group of islands far out in the Atlantic Ocean, and that they had
built
Seven Cities. Wonderful stories were told in Spain of these
cities, of
their wealth and splendor, though nobody ever pretended to have
actually
seen them. The Spaniards thought the Indians meant to tell them
of these
Seven Cities instead of seven caves.
The mistake was natural, as the Spanish explorers had much trouble
in
understanding the Indian languages. They had long expected to
find the
Seven Cities in America. Indeed there was rumor that white
travelers had
seen them north of Mexico.
THE JOURNEY OF FRIAR MARCOS. In 1539 the Viceroy of Mexico sent a
frontier missionary, Friar Marcos by name, together with a negro,
Stephen, and some Christianized Indians to look for them. Friar
Marcos
traveled far to the north. He inquired his way of the Indians,
always
asking them about Seven Cities. He described them as large cities
with
houses made of stone and mortar. The Indians, half-understanding
him,
directed him to seven Zuni villages or pueblos. The first of
these they
called Cibola. Friar Marcos henceforth spoke of them as the Seven
Cities
of Cibola.
The good friar himself never entered even the first of them. His
negro,
Stephen, had been sent on in advance to prepare the way, but this
rough,
greedy fellow offended the Indians, who promptly murdered him.
When the
friar approached he found the Indians so excited and hostile that
he
dared not enter their village. He did, however, venture to climb
a hill
at a distance, from which he had a view of one of the cities of
Cibola.
The houses, built of light stone and whitish adobe, glistened in
the
wonderfully clear air and bright sunlight of that region, and
gave him
the idea of a much larger and richer city than really existed.
Friar
Marcos, by this time thoroughly frightened, hurriedly retraced
his steps.
CORONADO. There was great excitement in Mexico over the story Friar
Marcos told. The account of what had been seen grew, as such
stories
always do, in the telling and retelling. Nothing else was thought
of in
all New Spain. The Viceroy of Mexico made ready a great army for
the
conquest of the Seven Cities of Cibola. He gave the command to
his
intimate friend, Francisco de Coronado. Everybody wanted to
accompany
him, but it was necessary to have the consent of the viceroy.
Sons of
nobles, eager to go, traded with their more fortunate neighbors
for the
viceroy's permit. Some men who secured these sold them as special
favors
to their friends. Whoever obtained one of them counted it as good
as a
title of nobility. So high were the expectations of great wealth
when
the Seven Cities should be discovered!
[Illustration: A ZUNI PUEBLO FROM A DISTANCE]
THE ARMY OF CORONADO. In the early part of 1540, Coronado set forth
from his home in western Mexico near the Gulf of California. He
had an
army of three hundred Spaniards, nearly all the younger sons of
nobles.
They were fitted out with polished coats of mail and gilded
armor,
carried lances and swords, and were mounted on the choicest
horses from
the large stock-farms of the viceroy. There were in the army a
few
footmen armed with crossbows and harquebuses. A thousand negroes
and
Indians were taken along, mainly as servants for the white
masters. Some
led the spare horses. Others carried the baggage, or drove the
oxen and
cows, the sheep and swine which would be needed on the journey. A
small
fleet carried part of the baggage by way of the Gulf of
California,
prepared also to help Coronado in other ways, and to explore the
Gulf
to its head.
[Illustration: THE ROUTE OF CORONADO]
THE ROUTE OF CORONADO TO CIBOLA. The large army marched slowly
through the wild regions of the Gulf coast. Coronado soon became
impatient and pushed ahead of the main body with a small
following of
picked horsemen. They went through the mountainous wilderness of
northern Mexico and across the desert plains of southeastern
Arizona.
After a march lasting five months, over a distance equal to that
from
New York to Omaha, Coronado came upon the Seven Cities of Cibola;
but
the real Seven Cities of Cibola as Coronado found them bore
little
resemblance to what he had expected.
[Illustration: A ZUNI PUEBLO]
THE REAL SEVEN CITIES OF CIBOLA. The first city of Cibola was an
Indian pueblo of about two hundred flat-roofed houses, built of
stone
and sun-dried clay. The houses were entered by climbing ladders
to the
top and then passing down into the rooms as we enter ships
through
hatches. The people wore only such clothes as could be woven from
the
coarse fiber of native plants, or patched together from the
tanned skins
of the cat or the deer. They cultivated certain plants for food,
but
only small and poor varieties of corn, beans, and melons. They
had some
skill in making small things for house and personal decoration,
mainly
in the form of pottery and simple ornaments of green stone.
The kingdom of rich cities dwindled to a small province of poor
villages
inhabited by an unwarlike people. We know now that Coronado had
found
the Zuni pueblos in the western part of New Mexico. The conquest
of
these was a wofully small thing for so grand and costly an
expedition.
No gold or silver or precious jewels had been found.
[Illustration: CANYON OF THE COLORADO]
THE CANYON OF THE COLORADO. Yet the wonders of the natural world
about them astonished and interested the Spaniards. Some of their
number
found the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River and vividly
described it to
their comrades. As they looked into its depths it seemed as if
the water
was six feet across, although in reality it was many hundred feet
wide.
Some tried without success to descend the steep cliff to the
stream
below or to discover a means of crossing to the opposite side.
Those who
staid above estimated that some huge rocks on the side of the
cliff were
about as tall as a man, but those who went down as far as they
could
swore that when they reached these rocks they found them bigger
than the
great tower of Seville, which is two hundred and seventy-five
feet high.
CORONADO IN NEW MEXICO. Coronado marched from the Cities of Cibola
eastward to the valley of the Rio Grande River, and settled for
the
winter in an Indian village a short distance south of the present
city
of Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Spaniards drove the natives out,
only
allowing them to take the clothes they wore.
A WINTER IN AN INDIAN VILLAGE. The soldiers passed the severe
winter of 1540-1541 comfortably quartered in the best houses of
the
Indian village. A plentiful supply of corn and beans had been
left by
the unfortunate owners. The live stock brought from Mexico
furnished an
abundance of fresh meat. Coronado required the Indians to furnish
three
hundred pieces of cloth for cloaks and blankets for his men, to
take the
place of their own, now worn out. Nor did the officers give the
Indians
time to secure the cloth that was demanded, but forced them to
take
their own cloaks and blankets off their backs. When a soldier
came upon
an Indian whose blanket was better than his, he compelled the
unlucky
fellow to exchange with him without more ado.
Coronado's strenuous efforts to provide well for the comforts of
his men
made him much loved by them, but much hated by the Indians. It is
no
wonder that such treatment drove the Indians into rebellion, and
that
Coronado was obliged to carry on a cruel war of reconquest and
revenge.
THE TALE OF QUIVIRA. An Indian slave in one of the villages cheered
Coronado and his followers with a fabulous tale about a wonderful
city,
many days' journey across the plains to the northeast, which he
called
Quivira. The king of Quivira, he said, took his nap under a large
tree,
on which were hung little gold bells, which put him to sleep as
they
swung in the air. Every one in the city had jugs and bowls made
of
wrought gold. The slave was probably tempted by the eagerness of
his
hearers to make his tale bigger. He perhaps made it as enticing
as he
could in order to lead the strangers away to perish in the
pathless
plains where water would be scarce and corn unknown.
THE SEARCH FOR QUIVIRA. The slave's story deceived the Spaniards.
Coronado grasped eagerly at the only hope left of finding a rich
country
and marched away in search of Quivira. He traveled to the
northeast for
seventy-seven days. There were no guiding land marks. Soldiers
measured
the distance traveled each day by counting the footsteps. The
plains
were flat, save for an occasional channel cut by some river half
buried
in the sand; they were barren, except for a short wiry grass and
a small
rim of shrubs and stunted trees along the watercourses.
QUIVIRA. The most marvelous sight of the long journey was the herds
of buffaloes in countless numbers. The Indians guided Coronado in
the
end to a cluster of Indian villages which they called Quivira.
This was
somewhere in what is now central Kansas near Junction City. The
Indians
were in all probability the Wichitas. Here again the great
explorer met
with a bitter disappointment.
[Illustration: INDIAN TEPEES]
Instead of a fine city of stone and mortar, he found scattered
Indian
villages with mere tent-like houses formed by fastening grass or
straw
or buffalo skins to poles. The people were the poorest and most
barbarous which he had met. Coronado was, however, fortunate in
securing
a supply of corn and buffalo meat in Quivira for his long
return journey.
CORONADO'S OPINION OF THE WEST. A year later a crestfallen army of
half-starved men clad in the skins of animals stumbled back
homeward
through Mexico in straggling groups. Great sadness prevailed in
Mexico,
for many had lost their fortunes besides friends and relatives in
the
enterprise. Coronado seemed to the people of the time to have led
a
costly army on a wild-goose chase. He himself thought that the
regions
he had crossed were valueless. He said they were cold and too far
away
from the sea to furnish a good site for a colony, and the country
was
neither rich enough nor populous enough to make it worth keeping.
RESULTS OF CORONADO'S EXPLORATIONS. We know better to-day the
value of Coronado's great discoveries. He had solved the age-long
mystery of the Seven Cities, and explored the southwest of the
United
States of our day. The rich region now included in the great
states of
Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas had been seen,
and it
was soon after described for the European world. His men had
explored
the Gulf of California to its head, and the Colorado River toward
its
source for two hundred miles. They had proved that lower
California was
not an island but a part of the mainland. Others soon explored
the
entire coast of California to the limits of the present state of
Oregon.
HOW DE SOTO AND CORONADO CAME NEAR MEETING. De Soto and Coronado
together pushed the Spanish frontier far northward to the center
of
North America. A story which was told by De Soto's men shows how
close
together the two great explorers were at one time. While Coronado
was in
Quivira, De Soto was wandering along the borders of the plains
west of
the Mississippi River, though neither knew of the nearness of the
other.
An Indian woman who ran away from Coronado's army fell in with De
Soto's, nine days later. If De Soto and Coronado had met on the
plains
there would have been a finer story to tell, almost as dramatic
as the
meeting of Stanley and Livingstone in central Africa. One cannot
refrain
from wondering how different would have been the ending with the
two
great armies united and encouraged to continue their
explorations.
QUESTIONS
1. What story had Ponce de Leon heard in the West Indies? What
did
he find? Why did he call the new country which he discovered
Florida? What was included in Florida as the Spaniards
understood it?
2. What was De Soto looking for in North America? How long did
he
search? What did he find? Was he disappointed? What was he
planning
to do when he died? Why was his journey very remarkable?
Through
what present states of the United States did he pass?
3. Where did the Spaniards expect to find the Seven Cities? Why
did
he expect to find them there? What was the story of the Seven
Cities? Of the Seven Caves?
4. What did Coronado expect to find at the Seven Cities of
Cibola?
What did he find there? Why did he go far on into North America
in
search of Quivira? What did he find on the way to Quivira? What
did
he find Quivira to be?
5. What did Coronado think of his own discoveries? What had he
found
out of interest or value to the rest of the world? Which of the
present states of the United States did his route touch?
REVIEW
1. Review the effect of the discoveries of Columbus,
Magellan, De Soto, Coronado, on the knowledge of the new world.
Important date—1541. The discovery of the Mississippi by De Soto.
THE RIVALS OF SPAIN. When the early voyages to America and Asia were
ended, the French, the English, and the other northern peoples of
Europe seemed to be beaten in the race for new lands and for new
routes to old lands. The French had sent a few fishermen to the
Banks
of Newfoundland, and that was all. The English had made one or
two
voyages and appeared to be no longer interested. (See Chapter
XIV,
Cabot) The Dutch seemed to be only sturdy fishermen, thrifty
farmers,
or keen traders, occupied much of the time in the struggle
against the
North Sea, which threatened to burst the dikes and flood farms
and
cities.
THE TRADE-WINDS. The Portuguese and the Spaniards had a great
advantage in living nearer the natural starting-point for such
voyages.
To go to Asia ships went by way of the Cape of Good Hope. To go
to
America a southern route was taken, for in the North Atlantic the
prevailing winds are from the southwest, while south of Spain the
trade-winds blow towards the southwest, making it easy to sail to
America. To take the northern route, which was the natural one
for
French and English sailors, would be to battle against head winds
and
heavy seas.
THE SPANIARDS AND THE PORTUGUESE DIVIDE THE WORLD. The Spaniards
and the Portuguese believed that their discoveries gave them the
right
to all new lands which should be found and to all trade by sea
with the
Golden East. Two years after the first voyage of Columbus the
Spaniards
agreed with the Portuguese that a line running 370 leagues west
of the
Cape Verde Islands should separate the regions claimed by each.
The
Spaniards were to hold all lands discovered west of that line,
and the
Portuguese all east of it. This left Brazil within the region
claimed by
the Portuguese. The rest of North and South America lay within
the
Spanish claims. It is the future history of this region that
especially
interests us as students of American history.
[Illustration: CABOT MEMORIAL TOWER Erected at Bristol, England,
in memory of the first sailor from England to visit America]
THE MAIN QUESTION. Were the Spaniards to keep what they claimed and
continue to outstrip their northern rivals? The answer to this
question
is found in the history of Europe during the sixteenth century.
Unfortunately for the Spaniards they were drawn into quarrels in
Europe
which cost them many men and much money. The consequence was that
they
were unable to make full use of their discoveries, even if they
had
known how. Before the century was ended their rivals, the English
and
the French, were stronger than they; and the Dutch, their own
subjects,
had rebelled against them.
THE ENGLISH AND THE FRENCH DESIRE A SHARE. Men had such great ideas
of the immense wealth of the Indies that the successes of one
nation
made the other nations eager for some part of the spoil.
Englishmen and
Frenchmen were not likely to allow the Portuguese to take all
they could
find by sailing eastward around the Cape of Good Hope, and the
Spaniards
to keep whatever they discovered by sailing directly westward or
by
following the route marked out by Magellan. Both would search for
new
routes to the East, and both would lay claim to lands they saw by
the
way, regardless of any other nation. Many quarrels came from this
rivalry, but quarrels arose also from other causes.
KING CHARLES AND KING FRANCIS. About the time Cortes conquered
Mexico, his master, King Charles of Spain, began a war against
Francis,
the king of France. As long as these two kings lived they were
either
fighting or preparing to fight. Had Charles been king of Spain
only,
there might have been no trouble, but he ruled lands in Italy and
claimed others which the French king ruled. He also ruled all the
region
north of France which is now Belgium and Holland, and he owned a
district which forms part of eastern France near Switzerland. As
he was
the German emperor besides, the French king thought him too
dangerous to
be left in peace. These wars have little to do with American
history,
except that they helped to weaken the king of Spain and to
prevent the
Spaniards from making the most of their early successes in
colonizing.
RELIGION A CAUSE OF STRIFE. Religion was the most serious cause of
quarrel in the sixteenth century, and the king of Spain was the
prince
most injured by the struggle. At the time of Prince Henry of
Portugal
and of Columbus all peoples in western Europe worshiped in the
same
manner, taught their children the same beliefs, and in religious
matters
they all obeyed the pope. But by 1521 this had changed. The
troubles
began in Germany when Charles V was emperor. Before they were
over
Philip II, son of Charles, lost control of the Dutch, who
rebelled and
founded a republic of their own. The English finally became the
principal enemies of Spain. The French, most of whom were of the
same
religion as the Spaniards, came to hate Spanish methods of
defending
religion, especially after the Spaniards had massacred a band of
French
settlers in America.
[Illustration: EMPEROR CHARLES V]
THE “REFORMERS.” Many men became discontented at the way the Church
was managed. At first all were agreed that the evils of which
they
complained could be removed if priests, bishops, and pope worked
together to that end. After a while some teachers in different
countries
not only complained of evils, but refused to believe as the
Church had
taught and as most people still believed. They did not mean to
divide
the Christian Church into several churches, but they thought they
understood the words of the Bible better than the teachers of
the Church.
THE REFORMATION. At that time people who were not agreed in their
religious beliefs did not live peaceably in the same countries.
The
princes and kings who were faithful to the Church ordered that
the new
teachers and their followers should be punished. Other princes
accepted
the views of the “reformers,” and soon began to punish those of
their
subjects who continued to believe as the Church taught. In
Germany these
princes were called “Protestants,” because they protested against
the
efforts of the Emperor Charles and his advisers to stop the
spread of
the new religion. This name was afterwards given to all who
refused to
remain in the older Church, subject to the bishops and the pope.
CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT LEADERS. The most famous leaders of the
Roman Catholics at this time were Ignatius Loyola, a Spaniard,
Reginald
Pole, an Englishman, and Carlo Borromeo, an Italian. Loyola had
been a
soldier in his youth, but while recovering from a serious wound,
resolved to be a missionary. With several other young men of the
same
purpose he founded the Society of Jesus or the Jesuit Order. Of
the
Protestants the greatest leaders were Martin Luther, a German,
and John
Calvin, a Frenchman. Luther was a professor in the university at
Wittenberg in Saxony, which was ruled by the Elector Frederick
the Wise.
Calvin had lived as a student in Paris, but when King Francis
resolved
to allow no Protestants in his kingdom, Calvin was obliged to
leave the
country. He settled in the Swiss city of Geneva.
THE LUTHERAN CHURCH. Luther's teachings were accepted by many
Germans, especially in northern Germany. He translated the Bible
into
German. After a while his followers formed a Church of their own
which
was called Lutheran. It differed from the Roman Catholic Church
in the
way it was governed as well as in what it taught.
THE FRENCH HUGUENOTS. Calvin lived in Geneva, but most of those who
accepted his teachings continued to live in France. The nickname
Huguenots, or confederates, was given to them. They were not
permitted
by the French king to worship as Calvin taught, but by 1562 so
many
nobles had joined them that it was no longer possible to treat
them as
criminals. They were permitted to hold their meetings outside the
walled
towns. The leader whom they most honored was Admiral Gaspard de
Coligny.
Both he and they, as we shall see, soon had reason to fear and
hate the
Spaniards. But we must first understand the difficulties which
the king
of Spain had in dealing with his Dutch subjects.
THE KING OF SPAIN AND THE NETHERLANDS. Philip II inherited from his
father Charles seventeen duchies, counties, and other districts
north of
France in what is now Belgium and Holland. Charles had known how
to
manage these people, because he was brought up among them. The
task of
managing them was not easy. Each district or city had its own
special
rights and its people demanded that these should be respected by
the
ruling prince. Charles had remembered this, but Philip wished to
rule
the Netherlanders, as these people were called, just as he ruled
the
people of Spain.
[Illustration: THE DIKES ALONG THE YSSEL IN THE NETHERLANDS]
PROTESTANTS IN THE NETHERLANDS. The trouble was made worse because
many of the Netherlanders became followers of Luther or Calvin,
and
brought their books into the country. Now Philip, like his father
Charles, was faithful to the teachings of the Church, and thought
it was
his duty to punish such persons. The result was that Philip soon
had two
kinds of enemies in his Netherland provinces, those who did not
like the
way he ruled and those who refused to believe as the Church
taught, and
the two united against him. After a while most of the Lutherans
were
driven away, but the Calvinists kept coming in over the border
from France.
THE NETHERLANDS. The Netherlands, or Low Countries, are well
named, especially the northern part where the Dutch live, because
much
of the land is below the level of the sea at high tide, and some
of it
at low tide. For several hundred years the Dutch built dikes to
keep
back the sea, or pumped it out where it flowed in and covered the
lower
lands. Occasionally great storms broke through the dikes and
caused the
Dutch months or years of labor. A people so brave and industrious
were
not likely to submit to the will of Philip II. The chances that
they
would rebel were increased by the spread of the new religious
views,
which the Dutch accepted more readily than their neighbors, the
southern
Netherlanders. The southern Netherlanders who became Calvinists
generally emigrated to the northern cities, like Amsterdam, where
they
were safer.
[Illustration: Map Of The Netherlands]
WILLIAM OF ORANGE. William, Prince of Orange, was the leader of the
Dutch against Philip II. He had been trusted by Charles, Philip's
father, who had leaned on his shoulder at the great ceremony held
in
Brussels when Charles gave up his throne to Philip. William was
called
the “Silent,” because he was careful not to tell his plans to any
except
his nearest friends. When Philip returned to Spain, William was
made
governor or stadtholder of three of the Dutch
provinces—Holland,
Zealand, and Utrecht. Philip was angry because William and other
great
nobles in the Netherlands opposed his way of dealing with the
heretics
and of ruling the Netherlands. In this both the southern
Netherlanders
and the northern Netherlanders were united, although the southern
Netherlanders remained faithful to the Roman Catholic religion.
SPAIN AND ENGLAND. The English at first had no reason to quarrel
with the king of Spain. They were friendly to the Netherlanders,
who
were his subjects. During the Middle Ages they sold great
quantities of
wool to the Netherland cities of Bruges, Brussels, and Ghent, and
bought
fine cloth woven in those towns. The friendship of the ruler of
the
Netherlands seemed necessary, if this trade was to prosper. It
was the
trouble about religion which finally made the English and the
Spaniards enemies.
HENRY VIII. During the reign of Henry VIII, King of England, the
king, the parliament, and the clergy decided to refuse obedience
to the
pope. The king called himself the head of the Church in England.
Lutheran views crept into the country as they had done into the
Netherlands, but King Henry at first disliked the Lutherans quite
as
much as he grew to dislike the pope.
THE ENGLISH CHURCH. So long as Henry lived not much change was made
in the beliefs or the manner of worship in the Church. During the
short
reign of his son, the English Church became more like the
Protestant
Churches on the Continent, except that in England there were
still
archbishops and bishops, and the government of the Church went on
much
as before. When Henry's daughter Mary was made queen she tried to
stop
these changes, and for a few years her subjects were again
obedient to
the pope, but she died in 1558 and her half-sister, Elizabeth,
became queen.
[Illustration: QUEEN ELIZABETH]
THE ENGLISH CHURCH AND THE CATHOLICS. In religious matters Queen
Elizabeth did much as her father and her brother had done. All
persons
were forced to attend the religious services carried on in the
manner
ordered in the prayer-book. Roman Catholics could not hold any
government office. They were punished if they tried to persuade
others
to remain faithful to the older Church. Philip did not like this,
but
for a time he preferred to be on friendly terms with the English.
[Illustration: COSTUMES AT THE TIME OF ELIZABETH]
QUEEN ELIZABETH. Queen Elizabeth ruled England for forty-five
years. The English regard her reign as the most glorious in their
history. Before it was over they proved themselves more than a
match for
the Spaniards on the sea. They also began to seek for routes to
the East
and to attempt settlements in America. Their trade was
increasing. The
Greek and Roman writers were studied by English scholars at
Oxford and
Cambridge. Books and poems and plays were written which were to
make the
English language the rival of the languages of Greece and Rome.
This was
the time when Shakespeare wrote his first plays.
QUESTIONS
1. Why was it easier to sail toward America from Spain or
Portugal
than from England?
2. What peoples divided the new world between them? Where did
they
draw the line of division?
3. Why were the kings of France and Spain rivals? Over what
countries did King Charles rule?
4. When did religion become a cause of strife? What king was
chiefly
injured by such struggles?
5. Who were called “reformers?” By what other names were they
called?
6. Who were the leaders of the Catholics? of the Protestants?
Who
were the Huguenots? What was their leader's name?
7. Why did Philip II and his subjects in the Netherlands quarrel?
8. What was strange about the land in which the Dutch lived? Who
was
the hero of the Dutch?
9. Why were the English and the Spaniards at first friendly?
What
king of England refused to obey the pope?
10. Why do Englishmen think Queen Elizabeth a great ruler? How
did
Elizabeth settle the question of religion?
EXERCISE
Collect pictures of the Dutch, of their canals, dikes, and towns.
CARTIER. During the reign of Francis I, the French made the first
serious attempts to find a westward route to the Far East and to
settle
the new lands that seemed to lie directly across the pathway. In
1534
Jacques Cartier was sent with two ships in search of a strait
beyond the
regions controlled by Spain or Portugal which would lead into the
Pacific Ocean. Cartier passed around the northern side of
Newfoundland
and into the broad expanse of water west of it. This he called
the Gulf
of St. Lawrence.
CARTIER AT MONTREAL. Cartier made a second voyage in the following
year, exploring the great river which he called the St. Lawrence.
He
went up the river until the heights of Mount Royal or Montreal,
as he
called them, appeared on his right hand, and swift rapids in the
river
blocked his way in front. The name Lachine rapids, or the China
rapids,
which was afterwards given to these, remains to remind us that
Cartier
was searching for a passage to China.
THE FIRST WINTER IN CANADA. Cartier spent the severe winter which
followed at the foot of the cliffs which mark the site of the
modern
city of Quebec. The expedition returned to France with the coming
of spring.
ATTEMPTS TO PLANT A COLONY AT QUEBEC. Several years later, in 1541,
Cartier and others attempted to establish a permanent settlement
on the
St. Lawrence. As it was hard to get good colonists to settle in
the cold
climate so far north, the leaders were allowed to ransack the
prisons
for debtors and criminals to make up the necessary numbers. They
selected the neighborhood of the cliffs where Cartier had
wintered in
1535, where Quebec now stands, as the most suitable place for
their
colony. But the settlers were ill-fitted for the hardships of a
new
settlement in so cold and barren a country. Diseases and the
hostility
of the Indians completely discouraged them, and all gladly
returned
to France.
[Illustration: MAP SHOWING JACQUES CARTIER's VOYAGES
Thus: 1st Voyage——2d Voyage.... 3d Voyage—> —>]
The zeal of the French for American discovery and settlement on
the St.
Lawrence ceased with Cartier. His hope that the St. Lawrence
would prove
the long-sought passage to China had to be given up, but the
river which
he had discovered and so thoroughly explored proved to be a great
highway into the center of North America.
COLIGNY'S PLAN FOR A HUGUENOT COLONY. Nearly thirty years later the
French Protestant leader, Coligny, formed the plan of
establishing a
colony in America, which would be a refuge for the Huguenots if
their
enemies got the upper hand in France. An expedition left France
in 1564,
and selected a site for a settlement near the mouth of the St.
Johns
river in Florida. It seemed a good place. A fort, called Fort
Caroline,
was quickly built. But the first colonists were not well chosen.
They
were chiefly younger nobles, soldiers unused to labor, or
discontented
tradesmen and artisans. There were few farmers among them.
THE MISDEEDS OF THE COLONISTS. They spent their time visiting
distant Indian tribes in a vain search for gold and silver, or
plundering Spanish villages and ships in the West Indies. No one
thought
of preparing the soil and planting seeds for a food supply. It
seemed
easier to rob neighbors. The provisions which they had brought
with them
gave out. Game and fish abounded in the woods and rivers about
them, but
they were without skill in hunting and fishing. Before the first
year
had passed the miserable inhabitants of Fort Caroline were
reduced to
digging roots in the forest for food. Starvation and the revenge
of
angry Indians confronted them.
RELIEF SENT TO THE COLONY. In August, 1565, just as the
half-starved colonists were preparing to leave the country, an
expedition with fresh settlers—mostly discharged soldiers, a few
young
nobles, and some mechanics with their families, three hundred in
all—arrived in the harbor. It brought an abundance of supplies
and
other things needed by a colony in a new country. It looked then
as
though these Frenchmen would succeed in their plan and establish
a
permanent colony in America.
[Illustration: FORT CAROLINE, THE FRENCH SETTLEMENT IN FLORIDA
From De Bry's Voyages]
FORT CAROLINE AND THE SPANIARDS. The French had, however, settled
in Florida. Indeed, it would have been difficult to settle in
America at
any place along the Atlantic coast without doing so. The
Spaniards
regarded all North America from Mexico to Labrador as lying
within
Florida. The attempt of the French to settle on the lands claimed
by the
king of Spain was sure to bring on a war, sooner or later. The
conduct
of the French at Fort Caroline in plundering the Spanish colonies
in the
West Indies made all Spaniards anxious to drive out such a nest
of
robbers and murderers. Besides, the Spaniards hated Coligny's
followers
more than ordinary Frenchmen, because they were Huguenots.
MENENDEZ. At the time the news reached Spain of Coligny's
settlement at Fort Caroline, a Spanish nobleman, Pedro Menendez,
was
preparing to establish a colony in Florida, and thus after a long
delay
carry out the task which De Soto had vainly attempted. Menendez
was
naturally as eager as the king to drive out the French intruders.
So an
expedition larger than was planned at first was hurried off.
Menendez
was to do three things: drive the French out, conquer and
Christianize
the Indians, and establish Spanish settlements in Florida.
THE DEFEAT OF THE FRENCH FLEET. Menendez with a part of his fleet
arrived before Fort Caroline just one week after the relief
expedition
which Coligny had sent over came into harbor. His ships attacked
and
scattered those of the French. The vessels of the French for the
most
part sought refuge on the high seas. They were too swift to be
overtaken, but no match for the Spanish in battle. Menendez
decided to
wait for the rest of his ships before making another attack on
Fort
Caroline. Meanwhile he sailed southward along the coast for fifty
miles
till he came to an inlet. He called the place St. Augustine.
ST. AUGUSTINE FOUNDED. A friendly Indian chief readily gave his
dwelling to the Spaniards. It was a huge, barn-like structure,
made of
the entire trunks of trees, and thatched with palmetto leaves.
Soldiers
quickly dug a ditch around it and threw up a breastwork of earth
and
small sticks. The colonists who came with Menendez landed and set
about
the usual work of founding a settlement. Such was the beginning
of the
Spanish town of St. Augustine, founded in 1565, and the oldest
town in
the United States.
[Illustration: ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA, AS FOUNDED BY MENENDEZ
Pagus Hispanorum as given in Montanus and Ogilby]
FRENCH SAIL TO ATTACK ST. AUGUSTINE. Both sides prepared for a
terrible struggle, the French at Fort Caroline and the Spaniards
in
their new quarters at St. Augustine. The French struck the first
blow. A
few of the weaker and the sick soldiers were left at Fort
Caroline to
stand guard with the women and children. The main body aboard the
ships
advanced by sea to attack St. Augustine, but a furious tempest
scattered
and wrecked the French fleet before it arrived.
MENENDEZ DESTROYS FORT CAROLINE. Menendez now took advantage of the
storm to march overland to Fort Caroline, wading through swamps
and
fording streams amid a fearful rain and gale. His drenched and
hungry
followers fell like wild beasts upon the few French left in the
fort.
About fifty of the women and children were spared to become
captives. As
many men escaped in the forests around the fort, but the greater
part
were killed.
CAPTURE OF THE SHIPWRECKED FRENCH. The French fleet had been
wrecked off the coast of Florida a dozen miles south of St.
Augustine. A
few days later Menendez discovered some survivors wandering along
the
coast, half starved, trying to live on the shell-fish they found
on the
beach, and slowly and painfully working their way back toward
Fort
Caroline. The Frenchmen begged Menendez to be allowed to remain
in the
country till ships could be sent to take them off, but he was
unwilling
to make any terms with them.
MURDER OF THE CAPTIVES. The unhappy Frenchmen were taken prisoners,
and, a few hours later, put to death. Other shipwrecked refugees
were
captured a few days later, and these suffered the same fate.
Nearly
three hundred perished in this cold-blooded manner. It was a
merciless
deed, and yet such was the character of all warfare at the time.
Menendez believed that he was doing his duty. Nor did the king of
Spain
think Menendez unduly cruel, for when he heard the story of the
fate of
the Frenchmen of Fort Caroline he sent this message to Menendez:
“Say to
him that, as to those he has killed, he has done well; and as to
those
he has saved, they shall be sent to the galleys.”
[Illustration: NORTH AMERICA AS KNOWN AFTER THE EXPLORATIONS OF
DE SOTO CORONADO AND CARTIER]
[Illustration: (map)]
QUESTIONS
1. Who was the leader in the first French efforts to explore and
settle in North America? Find as many reasons as possible why
France
had not tried to settle in America before. What parts of the
continent did Cartier become interested in? Why was he
specially
interested in St. Lawrence region?
2. How did Montreal get its name? Why was the name, Lachine
rapids,
given to the rapids above Montreal on the St. Lawrence river?
3. Why did Cartier fail in his attempts to plant a French colony
in
North America? How much had he and his friends accomplished for
France in North America?
4. Why did Coligny later wish to establish a colony in America?
Where did his people try to settle? Find the place on the map.
Give several reasons why they soon got into trouble with
the Spaniards.
5. What did the king of Spain send Menendez to Florida to do?
What
things did he accomplish? Why do we specially remember St.
Augustine? Find it on the map.
EXERCISES
1. Examine the map of North America in 1541. What parts
of North America were known? What parts were unknown? Can you
see
why the explorers would search each bay or inlet or great
river?
2. Find how far into the continent of North America the French
explored the St. Lawrence river, that is, the distance from
Newfoundland to Montreal by using the scale of miles on a map
in one
of your geographies.
Important Date: 1565. The founding of St. Augustine.
CRUEL TREATMENT OF THE NETHERLANDERS. Two years after the cruel
massacre of the Huguenot colony in Florida, Philip II, the King
of
Spain, decided to put an end to the obstinacy of the
Netherlanders, and
sent an army from Spain commanded by the Duke of Alva, who was as
pitiless as Menendez. Alva began by seizing prominent nobles, and
he
would have arrested the Prince of Orange, but he escaped into
Germany. A
court was set up which condemned many persons to death, including
the
greatest nobles of the land. The people nicknamed it the Council
of
Blood. Alva also turned the merchants against him by compelling
them to
pay the “tenth penny,” that is, one tenth of the price of the
goods
every time these were either bought or sold. Alva made himself so
thoroughly hated that even Philip decided to call him back to
Spain.
THE BEGGARS OF THE SEA. Just then something happened which gave
Coligny and the Huguenots their chance for vengeance. The men who
were
resisting the king's officers in the Netherlands had been
nicknamed the
“Beggars.” When they were driven from the cities they took to the
sea.
The “Beggars of the Sea” sometimes found a port of refuge in La
Rochelle, a Huguenot town on the western coast of France, and
sometimes
they put into friendly English harbors. From these places they
would
sail out and attack Spanish vessels. When Queen Elizabeth in 1572
ordered a fleet of these “Beggars” to leave, they crossed over to
their
own shores and drove the Spanish garrison out of Brille. This
success
encouraged the Dutch and many of the southern Netherlanders to
rise and
expel the Spanish soldiers from their towns.
THE FRENCH PROMISE AID. As soon as Coligny heard the news he urged
the French king to send an army into the Netherlands and take
vengeance
not only for the massacre at Fort Caroline, but also for all the
wrongs
that he and his father and his grandfather had ever received at
the
hands of the Spaniards. The French king agreed and wrote a letter
to the
Netherlanders promising aid.
[Illustration: GASPARD DE COLIGNY After the portrait in the
Public Library, Geneva]
MASSACRE OF HUGUENOTS IN PARIS. The plan was never carried out.
While Coligny and many other Huguenots were in Paris, his enemies
attempted to kill him. When the attempt failed these enemies,
including
the king's mother, persuaded the king that Coligny and the
Huguenots
were plotting against him, and goaded the king into ordering the
murder
of all the Huguenots in Paris and the other cities of France.
Thousands
of Huguenots perished. When the Netherlanders heard of what had
befallen
Coligny and his followers, they were crushed with grief. Coligny
had
missed the chance of vengeance. But the Spanish king was soon to
have
other enemies besides the Huguenots who were ready to help the
Dutch.
These new enemies were the English.
THE ENGLISH DRAWN INTO THE CONFLICT. The religious troubles in
England had been growing more serious. Two or three plots were
made to
assassinate Elizabeth in order to put on the throne Queen Mary of
Scotland, who was the next heir. Philip began to encourage these
plotters, especially after the pope in 1570 had excommunicated
Elizabeth
and forbidden her subjects to obey her as queen. She was sure to
be
dragged into the struggle in the Netherlands sooner or later. We
have
seen that she had once sheltered the “Beggars of the Sea.” The
murder of
Coligny and his followers frightened the English and made many of
them
anxious to join in the conflict before their friends on the
Continent,
the French Huguenots and the Dutch Calvinists, were utterly
destroyed.
GROWTH OF ENGLISH TRADE. If England should be drawn into war, her
safety would depend mainly upon her ships. Englishmen had always
taken
to the sea, as was natural for men whose shores were washed by
the
Atlantic, the Channel and the North Sea, but they were slow in
building
fleets of ships either for trade or for war. The trade of the
country
with other peoples in the Middle Ages was carried on mostly by
foreigners. Yet since the days of Elizabeth's father and
grandfather a
change had taken place. English merchants found their way to all
markets. They also made new things to sell. Refugees driven by
the
religious troubles from France and the Netherlands brought their
skill
to England and taught the English how to weave fine woolens and
silks.
THE NEW ENGLISH NAVY. The English navy was growing. One of the new
ships, The Triumph, carried 450 seamen, 50 gunners, and
200 soldiers.
Besides harquebuses for the soldiers, there were many kinds of
cannon
with strange names, such as culverins, falconets, sakers,
serpentines,
and rabinets. Four of the cannon were large enough to shoot a
cannon-ball eight inches in diameter. But it was on the skill and
courage of her men rather than upon the size of her ships that
England
relied for victory.
[Illustration: SIR FRANCIS DRAKE After the painting at Buckland
Abby, England]
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. One of these men was Francis Drake. He was son
of a chaplain in the navy and as a boy played in the rigging of
the
great ships-of-war, as other boys play in the streets. In time
young
Drake was apprenticed to the skipper of a small trading vessel.
Fortune
smiled on the lad early in life. His master died, and out of love
for
the apprentice who had served him so well, left him the vessel.
Francis
Drake became thus a shipmaster on his own account, and in time
the most
popular of Queen Elizabeth's sea-captains.
SLAVE-TRADERS. He often went with his cousin, John Hawkins, on
voyages to Africa. They bought negro slaves from slave-traders
along the
coast, or kidnaped negroes whom they found, and carried them to
the
Spanish planters of the West Indies. Hawkins and Drake were as
devout
and humane as other men of their time. They simply could not see
any
wrong in enslaving the heathen black men in Africa. Besides, they
enjoyed the wild life of the slave-trader with its dangers and
rich rewards.
WHY DRAKE HATED THE SPANIARDS. The king of Spain tried to keep the
trade in slaves for his own merchants, and attempted to prevent
the
trade of the English slavers with the West Indies. Spanish
ships-of-war
ruined one of the voyages from which Hawkins and Drake hoped for
large
profits. The Spaniards won thereby the undying hatred of Drake.
THE DRAGON OF THE SEAS. It was a time, too, when Drake's countrymen
at home shared his intense hatred of the Spaniard. While England
and
Spain were not at war with one another, English and Spanish
traders
fought whenever they met on the high seas. The English made the
Spanish
settlements in America their special prey. At certain times of
the year
Spanish ships, called government ships, carried to Spain gold and
silver—the royal share of the products of America. Drake, like
many
another of his countrymen, lay in wait to rob these ships of
their
precious cargoes. He managed to gather a fortune by his cunning
and
courage. More than once he was forced to bury his treasures in
the sand
to lighten his ships that they might sail the faster, and escape
his
pursuers. The Spaniards came to know and to fear Drake as the
Dragon
of the Seas.
[Illustration: SPANISH TREASURE SHIP]
DRAKE'S VENTURE. Drake once formed the plan to take a fleet into
the Pacific Ocean in order to plunder the treasure ships where
they
would be less on their guard. A fleet of five ships was made
ready.
Contributions from wealthy merchants and powerful nobles, perhaps
a gift
from Queen Elizabeth herself, gave him the means for unusual
luxuries in
the equipment of his fleet. Skilful musicians and rich furniture
were
taken on board Drake's own ship, the Pelican, or the
Golden Hind as
he afterwards christened it. The brilliant little fleet left
Plymouth in
1577. One after another of the ships turned back or was destroyed
on the
long voyage of twelve months across the Atlantic and through the
Strait
of Magellan.
BEYOND THE STRAIT OF MAGELLAN. The Golden Hind alone remained
to
carry out the original project. As it entered the Pacific Ocean a
furious
storm drove the little vessel southward beyond Cape Horn to the
regions
where the oceans meet. No one before had sailed so far south.
THE FIRST PRIZES. Drake regained control of his ship when the storm
had passed, and sailed northward along the coast, plundering and
robbing
as he went. Once, as a land-party was searching along the shore
for
fresh water, it came upon a Spaniard asleep with thirteen bars of
silver
beside him. His nap was disturbed long enough to take away his
burden.
Further on they met another Spaniard and an Indian boy driving a
train
of Peruvian sheep laden with eight hundred pounds of silver. The
Englishmen took their place, and merrily drove the sheep to their
boats.
A treasure ship, nicknamed the Spitfire, on the way to
Panama, was
captured after a long chase of nearly eight hundred miles. Drake
obtained from it unknown quantities of gold and silver. With such
a rich
load, his thoughts turned to the homeward voyage.
DRAKE'S VOYAGE AROUND THE WORLD. By this time a host of Spanish
war-ships were on Drake's track. They expected to capture him on
his
return through the Strait of Magellan. Drake, now confronted with
real
danger, cunningly outwitted his enemies. He and many other
Englishmen of
his day were sure a passage would be found somewhere through
North
America between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Spanish, French,
and
English explorers had all carried on the search for this passage.
Drake
decided to return by such a route, if it were possible. He
followed the
coast of California, and probably passed that of Oregon and
Washington
as far as Vancouver
[Illustration: MAP OF DRAKE'S VOYAGE]
When it grew colder and the coast turned to the westward, he gave
up the
search.
After making some needed repairs in a small harbor a few miles
above the
modern San Francisco, Drake set out boldly across the Pacific to
return
home, as Magellan's men had done before him, by going around the
world.
He touched at the Philippines, visited the Spice Islands, and
slowly
worked his way around the Cape of Good Hope. The Golden Hind, long
since given up as lost, reached England in the fall of 1580,
after
nearly three years' absence. For a second time a ship had sailed
around
the world. Drake was the first Englishman to gain the honor.
DRAKE'S REWARD. Queen Elizabeth liked the story Drake told of
outwitting and plundering Spaniards. Arrayed in her most gorgeous
robes
she visited his ship, where a banquet had been prepared. While
Drake
knelt at her feet she made him a knight. And so it was that the
man whom
the Spaniards called with good reason the Master Thief of the
Seas, the
English called by a new title, Sir Francis Drake, and praised as
the
greatest sea-captain of the age. His ship, the Golden Hind, was
ordered to be preserved forever.
THE DUTCH STRUGGLE AGAINST SPAIN. A few years after Drake returned
the English took a deeper interest in the struggle between Philip
and
the Dutch. Although the Dutch had lost hope of help from the
French
Huguenots, they resisted Philip's generals more boldly than ever.
The
Spanish soldiers treated the towns which surrendered so savagely
that
the other towns decided it was better to die fighting than to
yield. The
siege of Leyden became famous because, after food had given out
and the
inhabitants were starving their friends cut the great dikes in
order
that the boats of the “Beggars of the Sea” loaded with provisions
might
be floated up to the very walls of the city. This unexpected
flood also
drove away the Spaniards. Fortunately after the rescue of the
city a
strong wind arose and drove back the waves so that the dikes
could again
be replaced.
[Illustration: QUEEN ELIZABETH MAKING DRAKE A KNIGHT]
THE DEATH OF WILLIAM OF ORANGE. King Philip had come to the
conclusion that unless William of Orange were killed the Dutch
could not
be conquered, and so he put a price on Prince William's head,
offering a
large sum of money to any one who should kill him. The first
attempts
failed, but finally in 1584 he was shot.
SIR PHILIP SIDNEY. The murder of William alarmed the English for
Elizabeth's life, especially as Philip had already aided men who
were
plotting against her. She sent an army into the Netherlands to
aid the
Dutch, although she had not made up her mind to attack Philip
directly.
The army did not give much help to the Dutch, but it is
remembered
because a noble English poet, Sir Philip Sidney, was mortally
wounded in
one of the battles. The story is told that while Sidney was
riding back,
tortured by his wound, he became very thirsty, as wounded men
always do,
and begged for a drink of water. Looking up when it was brought
to him
he saw on the ground a common soldier more sorely wounded than
he. He
immediately sent the water to the soldier saying, “Thy necessity
is
greater than mine.”
THE INVINCIBLE ARMADA. The king of Spain now decided that he could
not subdue the Dutch until he had thoroughly punished the
English. He
even planned to put himself upon the English throne, claiming
that he
was the heir of one of the early kings of England. Months were
spent in
preparing a great fleet, an “Invincible Armada” which was to sail
up the
Channel, take on board the Spanish army in the Netherlands, and
cross
over to England. While these preparations were being made with
Philip's
usual care, Sir Francis Drake swooped down on Cadiz and burnt so
much
shipping and destroyed so many supplies that the voyage had to be
postponed a year. This Drake called “singeing the king of
Spain's beard.”
THE ARMADA IN THE CHANNEL. It was July, 1588, before the
“Invincible Armada” appeared off Plymouth in the English Channel.
Many
of the Spanish ships were larger than the English ships, but they
were
so clumsy that the English could outsail them and attack them
from any
direction they chose. Moreover, the Spaniards needed to fight
close at
hand in order that the soldiers armed with ordinary guns might
join in
the fray. The English kept out of range of these guns and used
their
heavy cannon.
[Illustration: THE SPANISH ARMADA IN THE ENGLISH CHANNEL After
an engraving by the Society of Antiquarians following a tapestry
in the
House of Lords]
DESTRUCTION OF THE ARMADA. With the English ships clinging to the
flanks and rear of the Armada, the Spaniards moved heavily up the
Channel. In the narrower waters between Dover and Calais the
English
attacked more fiercely, and sank several Spanish vessels. Soon
the
others were fleeing into the North Sea, driven by a furious gale.
Many
sought to reach Spain by sailing around Scotland and Ireland, and
some
of these ships were dashed on the rocky shores. Only a third of
Philip's
proud fleet returned to Spain.
EFFECT OF THE DEFEAT OF THE ARMADA ON SPAIN. This was the last
attempt Philip made to attack the English, because Spain had been
exhausted in the effort to collect money and supplies for the
Invincible
Armada. The war dragged on for many years, and the English
attacked and
plundered Spanish vessels wherever they found them.
THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE DUTCH. The ruin of the Armada also meant
that the Dutch would succeed in becoming independent of the
Spanish
king. Seven of the northern provinces had already formed a union
and had
begun to call themselves the United Netherlands. They were
growing
richer while their neighboring provinces on the south, which had
decided
to return to their allegiance to Spain, grew poorer.
FIRST VOYAGE OF THE DUTCH TO THE EAST. Even while the fight was
going on the Dutch traded in places where Philip had not
permitted them
to trade while he could control them. One of these places was
Lisbon,
the capital of Portugal. Here the Dutch obtained spices which the
Portuguese brought from the East Indies. But in 1580 Philip
seized
Portugal, and the Dutch could no longer go to Lisbon. This made
them
anxious to find their way to the East. In 1595 the first fleet
set out.
This voyage was unsuccessful, but other fleets followed, until
soon the
Dutch had almost driven the Portuguese, now subjects of the king
of
Spain, from the Spice Islands. Soon also Dutch sailors ventured
across
the Atlantic to the shores of America.
QUESTIONS
1. What country in northern Europe did Spain rule? What name was
given to those who resisted the Spanish officers in the
Netherlands?
Why were they given this name?
2. What promise did Coligny make to the people of the
Netherlands?
Why was he unable to carry it out? What other people were ready
to
help the Dutch? Can you give one reason at least why the
English
were willing to help the Dutch against Spain?
3. Why had English trade grown important? Did this help to make
a
navy?
4. Why did English sailors like Drake specially hate the
Spaniards?
What was Drake's method of making a living? How did he come to
go
around the world in 1577-1580? How long was it since Magellan
made
his voyage?
5. What did the English think of Drake? What did the Spaniards
think
of him? Why did each people think as it did?
6. Why did Philip of Spain have William of Orange killed? Why
did
this make the conquest of the Dutch even harder?
7. Why did Philip, king of Spain, try to conquer England and
make
himself king of that country? How did he try to carry out his
plan?
Why were the English victorious in the great battle with the
Armada?
Where was the battle fought?
8. How did the defeat of the Armada affect Spain's war in the
Netherlands? Did all of the Netherlands become independent of
Spain?
9. What trade did the Dutch begin to carry on before their war
with
Spain ended?
10. What new people became rivals of the Spaniards and French
for
trade and settlements in America?
EXERCISES
1. What parts of North America did Drake visit on his famous
voyage
around the world?
2. What effect did the quarrels in Europe described in Chapters
19
and 20 have upon the progress in exploring and settling
America?
3. Find out whether the people of the northern Netherlands and
the
southern Netherlands are still separate countries to-day.
ENGLISH INTEREST IN AMERICA AWAKENED. Voyages like those made by
Sir Francis Drake awakened a desire throughout England to learn
more
about the New World. Until this time even the great discoveries
of
Columbus and the Cabots had failed to stir the English people to
take
part in the exploration and settlement of the Americas. The
principal
reason was because their attention was occupied by the struggle
between
their monarchs and the popes to decide whether king or pope
should
govern the English Church. This continued until Queen Elizabeth
had been
on the throne some years.
Other sea-captains, hearing of Drake's success, now turned their
ships
toward the Americas. Many went to the West Indies, as he had
done,
mainly to seize the rich plunder to be found on board the ships
of Spain
bound homeward. Some of them explored the coast of North America,
hoping
to find valuable regions that had not fallen into the possession
of the
Spaniards.
THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE. Martin Frobisher made three voyages, the
last in 1578, in search of a passage through North America to
China. He
entered the bay which bears his name, and the strait which was
later
called after Hudson, but failed to find a passage. Drake
attempted to
find the western entrance to such a passage in 1579 as a short
cut
homeward when he tried to avoid his Spanish pursuers.
GILBERT. A grander scheme was planned by Humphrey Gilbert. He
wished to build up another England across the sea, just as the
people of
Spain were building up another Spain. He planned to do this by
establishing farms to which he and others might send laborers who
could
not find work at home. Queen Elizabeth liked this plan, and to
encourage
him, and to repay him for the expense of carrying the emigrants
over,
she promised him the land for six hundred miles on each side of
his
settlements.
[Illustration: CHARLCOTE HALL An English Manor House of the time
of Queen Elizabeth]
FAILURE OF GILBERT'S EXPEDITION. Gilbert tried twice to plant a
colony in the neighborhood of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Sir
Walter
Raleigh, his half-brother, was one of his captains in the
expedition of
1578. He would have been in the disastrous second attempt in 1583
had
not Queen Elizabeth, full of forebodings of danger to her
favorite,
refused to let him go. As it was he sent a ship at his own cost.
Gilbert
took a large supply of hobby-horses and other toys with which to
please
the savages. Mishap, desertion, and shipwreck pursued the
luckless
commander.
The second expedition left Plymouth with five vessels in 1583. The
ship
that Raleigh sent, the best in the fleet, deserted before they
were out
of sight of England. One was left in Newfoundland. The wreck of
the
largest ship, with most of the provisions, off Cape Breton, so
discouraged the crews that they prevailed upon Gilbert to abandon
the
plan to settle on such barren and stormy shores, Gilbert
attempted to
return on the Squirrel, the smaller of the two remaining
vessels. This
was a tiny vessel of scarcely ten tons burden. What was left of
the
little fleet voyaged homeward by the southern way, and ran into a
fearful storm as it approached the Azores.
Although Gilbert was urged to go aboard the larger vessel, he
refused to
desert his companions, with whom he had passed through so many
storms
and perils, and tried to calm the fears of all by his reply, “Do
not
fear, Heaven is as near by water as by land.” One night the
Squirrel
suddenly sank. All on board were lost. Such was the sad ending of
the
first efforts to establish an English colony in North America.
RALEIGH Sir Walter Raleigh took up the interesting plan which his
kinsman, Gilbert, had at heart. Raleigh was now at the height of
his
favor with Queen Elizabeth. She had made him wealthy, especially
by the
gift of large estates which she had taken from others. She
readily
promised him the same privileges in America which she had offered
to
Gilbert. Raleigh doubtless thought that he might increase his
fortune
and win glory for himself and for his country by planting English
colonies in the New World. No man of the age was better fitted
for the
undertaking. He had shown himself a fearless soldier and an able
commander in the war against Spain in the Netherlands. He had
fortune,
skill, and powerful friends. Like Gilbert, he was a friend of
poets and
scholars and a student of books; like Drake, he was a natural
leader
of men.
[Illustration: SIR WALTER RALEIGH AND HIS SON]
VIRGINIA. Raleigh began in 1584 by sending an expedition to explore
the coast for a suitable site for a colony. His men sailed by way
of the
Canaries, and came upon North America in the neighborhood of
Pamlico
Sound, avoiding the stormy route directly across the Atlantic
which
Gilbert had followed. They found, therefore, instead of the bleak
shore
of Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island, the genial climate of
North
Carolina and Virginia.
They carried home glowing reports of the country. They were
particularly
pleased with an island in Pamlico Sound called by the Indians
Roanoke
Island. They noted with wonder the overhanging grape-vines loaded
with
fruit, the fine cedar trees which seemed to them the highest and
reddest
in the world, the great flocks of noisy white cranes, and the
numberless
deer in the forests. The Indians appeared gentle and friendly,
Elizabeth
was so pleased with the accounts of the country that she allowed
it to
be called Virginia after herself, the Virgin Queen, and made
Raleigh
a knight.
THE FIRST ENGLISH COLONISTS. Raleigh made several attempts to plant
a colony in Virginia. The most famous one was led by John White
in 1587.
White had visited Virginia on an earlier voyage, and painted more
than
seventy pictures of Indian life, representing their dress and
their
manner of living. These may still be seen in the British Museum
in
London. His interest in the country and its Indian population
made his
appointment as governor seem a wise choice. Care was taken in the
selection of colonists in order to secure farmers rather than
gold-seekers. Twenty-five women and children were included in the
colony
of about one hundred and fifty persons.
ROANOKE. White and his followers settled on Roanoke Island. They
found that the fort, which one of Raleigh's officers had built
some
years earlier, was leveled to the ground. Several huts were still
standing, but they were falling to pieces. The first task was to
rebuild
the huts and move into them from their ships. A baby girl was
born a few
days after the landing, the first child born of English parents
in the
New World. Her father, Ananias Dare, was one of White's
councilors; her
mother, Eleanor Dare, was the daughter of Governor White. The
baby was
given the name Virginia, the name of the country which was to be
her home.
[Illustration: MAP OF RALEIGH'S COLONIES]
THE COLONISTS IN DANGER. The little colony must have foreseen the
hostility of the Indians and a scarcity of food, for before
Governor
White had been in America two months, he was sent back to England
to
obtain more provisions, White, from his own account, did not wish
to
leave his daughter and granddaughter.
WHITE'S SEARCH FOR AID. White returned to England in the fall of
1587 at the wrong moment to ask for aid. All England was alarmed
by the
rumor that a great Spanish fleet was about to land an invading
army. The
friends of Virginia in England were too busy protecting their own
homes
from the invader to give heed to the needs of the farmer
colonists
across the sea. White traveled through England, seeking aid for
his
friends and family, but was disappointed everywhere.
WHY RALEIGH GAVE NO HELP. Raleigh had by no means forgotten his
colonists, but his queen and his country had the first claim on
him
through the long war with Spain. Twice during this period, he
found time
and means to prepare relief expeditions for Virginia. The queen
stopped
the first one just as it was ready to sail, because all the ships
were
needed at that moment for service in the war. A second expedition
was
attacked by the Spaniards and forced to return.
THE LOST COLONY. White finally secured passage for himself on a
fleet going to the West Indies, not with a fleet and relief
supplies of
his own, but as a passenger on another man's ship. It was the
summer of
1591 when he arrived at Roanoke, four years after his departure.
The
colonists were not to be found. Their houses were torn down. The
chests
which they had evidently buried in order to hide them from the
Indians
had been dug up and ransacked of everything of value. White's own
papers
which he had left behind were strewn about. His pictures and maps
were
torn and rotten with the rain. His armor was almost eaten through
with rust.
One trace of the fate of the settlers was left. The large letters
CROATOAN were carved on a tree near the entrance to the old fort.
White
recalled the agreement made when he left four years before. If
the
colonists should find it necessary to leave Roanoke, they were to
carve
on a tree the name of the place to which they were going. If they
were
in danger or distress when they left, they were to carve a cross
over
the name of the place. White found no cross. The word Croatoan
was the
name of a small island lying south of Cape Hatteras, where
Indians lived
who were known to be friendly. White believed his friends to be
safe
among the Indians at Croatoan, but he could not go farther in
search for
them because the captains of the ships which brought him over
refused to
delay longer. They gave many excuses, but were evidently more
eager to
attack the Spaniards than to find a few luckless emigrants.
[Illustration: AN INDIAN VILLAGE IN 1589
After a drawing by John White, now in the British Museum]
The fate of Raleigh's colony is one of the puzzles of history. It
is
believed that they took refuge with friendly Indians, and lived
with
them until they lost their lives in war or had adopted the ways
of their
protectors.
VALUE OF THE EFFORTS OF THE ENGLISH AND THE FRENCH. Raleigh had
failed to carry out his great plan to plant a new England in
America,
but he had awakened in his countrymen an interest in America, and
made
known the advantages of its soil and climate. The French had
apparently
made no greater headway. Cartier's colony on the St. Lawrence had
broken
up, and the Spaniards had driven the French colony from Florida.
The
history of Coligny's colony at Fort Caroline, Cartier's at
Quebec,
Gilbert's on the coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and Raleigh's
at
Roanoke, had shown how useless were attempts to settle in America
which
were not strongly supported by friends or by the home government.
These
attempts to plant colonies in America were not, however, as bad
failures
as they appeared. Both nations had learned much about the country
and
about the preparations needed for permanent settlements.
WHAT THE SPANISH HAD ACCOMPLISHED. In 1600 Spain seemed to have
achieved much more than either of her rivals. The map of that
time shows
Spain in possession of vast territories in North and South
America. The
English had a small tract, Virginia, in which they had some
interest but
no colonists. The French regarded the St. Lawrence valley as
theirs by
right of discovery, but they could point to no settlements to
clinch
that claim.
The Spaniards, on the other hand, counted more than two hundred
cities
and towns which they had planted in their territories. About two
hundred
thousand Spaniards, farmers, miners, traders, soldiers, and
nobles, had
either migrated from Spain to America or had been born there of
emigrants since Columbus's discovery. Five million Indians had
come
under their rule, and most of them were living as civilized men,
and
called themselves Christians. One hundred and forty thousand
negro
slaves had been carried from Africa to the plantations and mines
in
Spanish America.
[Illustration: Regions in the New World and the East claimed by
the Countries of Europe after a century of exploration.]
The City of Mexico, the largest in all America, was much like the
cities
of Spain. Well-built houses of wood, stone, and mason-work
abounded.
Churches, monasteries, a university, higher schools for boys and
girls,
four hospitals, of which one was for Indians, and public
buildings,
similar to those in the cities of old Spain, already existed.
Spanish
life and Spanish culture had spread over a large area in the New
World,
and the most remarkable fact was that the Old World civilization
had
been bestowed on the Indian population. As Roman culture went
into Spain
and Gaul, so Spanish culture went into a New Spain in a new
world.
THE PROSPECTS OF THE SPANISH COLONIES. But the outlook for Spain in
America was not wholly bright. Her struggle with her Dutch
subjects and
the war with England, which grew out of that quarrel, left her
completely worn out. She no longer had the people to spare for
American
settlements. These ceased to grow as they once had. Negroes and
Indians
outnumbered the Spaniards in most of them. The three races
mingled
together and intermarried until a new people, the Spanish
American,
differing in color and blood from either of the old races, was
formed.
THE LATER STORY OF COLONIZATION. Spain's rivals—the Dutch, the
English, and the French—were just reaching the height of their
power.
They had settled their most serious religious differences. Their
merchants were eagerly looking about for commercial
opportunities. A
considerable population in each of them, but more especially in
England,
was discontented and ready to try its fortunes in a new world.
The
Spaniards had passed by the best parts of North America as
worthless.
The people and the unoccupied land were both ready for the
formation of
colonies on a larger scale. In many ways a greater story of
American
colonization remains to be told. This will be the story of the
Dutch,
the French, and the English colonization of North America.
QUESTIONS
1. Why had the English people not taken more interest in America
before Drake's time? What finally, made the English
sea-captains
turn to American adventure and exploration?
2. What did Gilbert attempt to do? How many reasons can you find
for
his failure?
3. Why was Raleigh specially fitted to begin the task of
planting
English colonies in America? What part of North America did his
men
select for a settlement? Why did it seem a suitable place? What
name
was given to the country?
4. Why did Raleigh fail to help his colony at Roanoke? What did
White think had happened to them? Why didn't he go in search
of them?
5. Why had the French and the English been unsuccessful in their
efforts to settle North America? Had they really gained
anything
from all their efforts?
6. What had Spain accomplished since the voyage by Columbus? Why
were the prospects of Spain not so bright as they had been?
What
rivals were ready to begin colonies in America?
EXERCISES
1. How much territory was Queen Elizabeth willing to give
Gilbert
for his plan in North America? Was there this much (twelve
hundred
miles) of the Atlantic coast of North America unclaimed by the
French and the Spaniards?
2. Find Roanoke Island on the map.
3. Name the regions in the New World and the East claimed by the
English, French, Portuguese, and Spaniards after a century of
discovery and exploration (1492-1600). What parts of North
America
were still unknown? With the use of some map of the world
to-day
make a list of the colonies of the same countries now.
REVIEW
1. Prepare a list of the men who took the chief part in
discovering
the New World, and give for each the name of the region he
found.
2. What had the Greeks learned to do, the knowledge of which
they
carried into Italy? What more had the Romans learned to do, the
knowledge of which they carried into Spain and Gaul and
Britain?
What more had the Spaniards, the French, and the English
learned to
do, the knowledge of which they either were already, as in the
case
of Spain, carrying into Spanish America, or, in the case of
England
and France, were prepared to carry into North America?
REFERENCES FOR TEACHERS
The following references are given in the hope that they will be helpful to the teacher. The list is by no means exhaustive, but enough are given so that one or more books for each subject should be found in any fairly equipped school or public library. Some of these books may be assigned to the brighter or more ambitious members of the class for home readings. Extracts from others may be read to the class directly. Still others will furnish the teacher a variety of stories or fuller statements of fact upon matters treated briefly in the text. A Bibliography of History for Schools and Libraries by Andrews, Gambrill and Tail (Longmans, 1911), will give many more references and further information regarding those that are given here.
A. ANCIENT TIMES. THE GREEK PEOPLE. (For use with chapters ii,
iii,
and iv.)
(a) Histories of the Greeks.
Holm, History of the Greeks, 4 volumes, is the most trustworthy
history of the Greeks. Bury, A History of Greece, 2 volumes;
Botsford, History of the Ancient World; Goodspeed, History of
the
Ancient World; Myers, Ancient History; Wolfson, Essentials in
Ancient History; and West, Ancient World, have brief accounts
of
the Greeks.
(b) Versions of some famous old Greek stories, especially the
story of Hercules and his Labors, the Search for the Golden
Fleece,
the Trojan War, and the Wanderings of Ulysses.
A. J. Church, Stories from Homer; C. M. Gayley, Classical Myths;
H.
A. Guerber, Myths of Greece and Rome; and the same author's The
Story of the Greeks; Haaren and Poland, Famous Men of Greece;
C. H.
and S. B. Harding, Stories of Greek Gods, Heroes and Men;
Charles
Kingsley, Heroes, or Greek Fairy Tales. Hawthorne, in
Tanglewood
Tales, has retold the story of the Search for the Golden Fleece
in a
specially interesting manner. Bryant's translation of the
Odyssey is
one of the best known versions of that story and may generally
be
found in public libraries.
(c) Short Biographies of some Greek Heroes. Short accounts of
the
lives of such heroes as Miltiades, Themistocles, Socrates,
Alexander, and Demosthenes will be found in Cox, Lives of Greek
Statesmen; Haaren and Poland, Famous Men of Greece; Jennie
Hall, Men
of Old Greece; Harding, Stories of Greek Gods, Heroes and Men;
E.M.
Tappan, The Story of the Greek People; and Plutarch's Lives.
There
are several abridged editions of the latter, but those by C.E.
Byles, Greek Lives from Plutarch, and Edwin Ginn, Plutarch's
Lives,
are best adapted to the use of schools.
(d) Various features of Greek Life, as the home, the schools,
food, clothing, occupations, amusements, or government have
been
described in the books on Greek Life.
Among these are Bluemner, Home Life of the Ancient Greeks
(translated
by Alice Zimmern); C.B. Gulick, The Life of the Ancient Greeks;
Mahaffy, Social Life in Greece; and T.G. Tucker, Life in
Ancient Athens.
(e) Descriptions of Athens and Alexandria. Descriptions of these
great centers of Greek civilization will be found in any
history of
Greece; that in Gulick, Life of the Ancient Greeks, ch. 2, or
Tucker, Life in Ancient Athens, for Athens, and in Draper,
Intellectual Development of Europe, 1. pp. 187-204, for
Alexandria,
will serve the purpose.
(f) A description of the battle of Marathon, abridged from
the
History of the World by Herodotus, will be found in F.M.
Fling's
Source Book of Greek History. This little book gives many
incidents
in Greek History as the Greek writers told them.
(g) A description of the materials, methods of building,
decoration of public buildings, and the uses of the temples,
theaters, gymnasia, and stadia in Fowler and Wheeler's Greek
Archaeology, ch. 2; and Tarbell's History of Greek Art.
(h) Some may wish to read the careful statement in Holm's
History
of the Greeks, Vol. I, pp. 103-121, on the Truth about the Old
Greek
Legends, or the same author's account, Vol. I, pp. 272-295, of
Emigration to the Colonies in the Olden Day.
B. ANCIENT TIMES. THE ROMAN PEOPLE. (For use with chapters v,
vi,
vii, viii and ix.)
(a) Histories of the Romans.
Either Botsford, History of Rome; Pelham, Outlines of Roman
History;
How and Leigh, History of Rome; or Schuckburgh, History of
Rome;
though the last two do not cover the entire period of Roman
history.
Duruy, History of Rome, 8 volumes, is attractive in style and
supplied with a great variety of pictures and other
illustrative matter.
Botsford, History of the Ancient World; Goodspeed, History of
the
Ancient World; Myers, Ancient History; Wolfson, Essentials in
Ancient History; and West, Ancient World, give short accounts
of the
chief events in Roman history.
(b) Versions of famous old Roman stories, especially the
wanderings of Aeneas, the Story of Romulus and Remus, of the
Sabine
Women, Horatius at the Bridge, and Cincinnatus.
A.J. Church, Stories from Virgil; C.M. Gayley, Classical Myths;
H.A.
Guerber, Myths of Greece and Rome; the same author's Story of
the
Romans; Haaren and Poland, Famous Men of Rome; and Harding,
City of
Seven Hills. Macaulay, Lays of Ancient Rome, gives the story of
Horatius at the Bridge, together with several other stories
from
early Roman history.
(c) Versions of the German myths about Odin (Wodan), Thor,
Freya,
and Tyr (Tiw). C.M. Gayley. Classical Myths; Guerber, Myths of
Northern Lands; Haaren and Poland, Famous Men of the Middle
Ages;
Mary E. Litchfield, The Nine Worlds; H.W. Mabie, Norse Stories;
Eva
March Tappan, European Hero Stories; Alice Zimmern, Gods and
Heroes
of the North.
(d) The Story of Hermann (or the struggle between the Romans and
Germans) is told by Arthur Gilman, Magna Charta Stories, pp.
139-155; and by Maude B. Dutton, Little Stories of Germany.
(e) Short Biographies of some famous Romans. Short accounts of
the
lives of Romulus, the Gracchi, Caesar, Cicero, and Constantine
are
given in Haaren and Poland, Famous Men of Rome; Harding, The
City of
Seven Hills; and several of them in Plutarch's Lives. A simple
account of the Life of Hannibal, the Carthaginian enemy of
Rome,
will also be found in these books.
(f) Interesting phases of Roman Life: for example, the Roman
boy,
country life in Italy, the Roman house, traveling, amusements,
etc.
See W.W. Fowler, Social Life at Rome in the Age of Cicero; H.W.
Johnston, The Private Life of the Romans; S.B. Platner,
Topography
and Monuments of Ancient Rome; T.G. Tucker, Life in the Roman
World
of Nero and St. Paul. Many phases of Roman life are described
in
F.M. Crawford's Ave Roma.
(g) For descriptions of incidents in Roman history and phases
of
Roman life as the Greek and Roman writers told them, see
Botsford,
Story of Rome, and Munro, Source Book of Roman History.
C. THE MIDDLE AGES. (For use with chapters x, xi, xii, and xiii.)
(a) Histories of the people of Europe in the Middle Ages. G.B.
Adams, Growth of the French Nation; U.R. Burke, A History of
Spain
from the Earliest Times to the Death of Ferdinand the Catholic;
J.R. Green, Short History of the English People; E.F.
Henderson, A
Short History of German; H.D. Sedgwick, A Short History of
Italy.
(b) Collection of stories adapted to children of the grades: The
Story of Beowulf, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round
Table,
the Treasure of the Niebelungs, and of Roland. These stories
have
all been written many times, and any librarian can give the
reader
copies of them as told by several writers. The following is a
partial list only:
A.J. Church, Heroes and Romances; E.G. Crommelin, Famous Legends
Adapted for Children; H.A. Guerber, Legends of the Middle Ages;
Louise Maitland, Heroes of Chivalry; and Eva March Tappan,
European
Hero Stories; James Baldwin, The Story of Roland; Frances N.
Greene,
Legends of King Arthur and His Court; Florence Holbrook,
Northland
Heroes (Beowulf); Sidney Lanier, The Boy's King Arthur; Stevens
and
Allen, King Arthur Stories from Malory.
(c) Famous Men of the Middle Ages; for example, Charlemagne,
King
Alfred, Rollo the Viking, William the Conqueror, Frederick
Barbarossa, Richard the Lion-Hearted, King John, Saint Louis of
France, Marco Polo, and Gutenberg.
See A.F. Blaisdell, Stories from English History; Louise
Creighton,
Stories from English History; Maude B. Dutton, Little Stories
of
Germany; H.A. Guerber, The Story of the English; Haaren and
Poland,
Famous Men of the Middle Ages; Harding, The Story of the Middle
Ages; S.B. Harding and W.F. Harding, The Story of England;
M.F. Lansing, Barbarian and Noble; A.M. Mowry, First Steps in
the
History of England; L.N. Pitman, Stories of Old France; Eva
March
Tappan, European Hero Stories; H.P. Warren, Stories from
English
History; Bates and Coman, English History as told by the Poets.
Edward Atherton, The Adventures of Marco Polo, the Great
Traveler,
is a convenient modernized version of Polo's own story of his
travels. Marco Polo's description of Japan and Java has been
reprinted in Old South Leaflets, Vol. II, No. 32.
(d) Viking Tales. The interesting stories of the Northern
discoveries and explorations have been told many times. Jennie
Hall,
Viking Tales, includes the story of Eric the Red, Leif the
Lucky,
and the attempt to settle in Vinland (Wineland).
(e) The Trial of Criminals in the Middle Ages—Ordeals. Other
kinds of Ordeals than those described in this book will be
obtained
in Ogg, Source Book of Mediaeval History, pp. 196-202;
Pennsylvania
Translations and Reprints, Vol. IV, No. 4. pp. 7-16; or in
Thatcher
and McNeal, Source Book, pp. 401-412. See Emerton, Introduction
to
the Middle Ages, pp. 79-81, for excellent explanation of
mediaeval
methods of trial.
(f) Famous accounts of how the People of England won the Magna
Charta.
Use either Cheyney, Readings in English History, pp. 179-181;
Kendall, Source Book of English History, pp. 72-78; Robinson,
Readings in European History, Vol. I, pp. 231-333; or Ogg,
Source
Book of Mediaeval History, pp. 297-303.
(g) Simple descriptions of Mediaeval Life. Maude B. Dutton,
Little
Stories of Germany; for example, the chapters on How a Page
became a
Knight, and A Mediaeval Town. S.B. Harding, The Story of the
Middle
Ages, especially the chapters describing life in castle, life
in
village, and life in monastery. Eva March Tappan, European Hero
Stories, especially the topic, Life in Middle Ages, p. 118, the
Crusades, p. 136, and Winning the Magna Charta, p. 111.
D. THE BEGINNINGS OF MODERN TIMES. The Discovery of America.
(For
use with chapters xiv to xxi inclusive.)
(a) Histories of American Discoveries and Explorations. E.G.
Bourne, Spain in America; Fiske, Discovery of America, 2
volumes;
and Parkman, Pioneers of France in the New World.
(b) Short, easy biographies of famous explorers. (Da Gama,
Columbus, Magellan, De Soto, Coronado, Cartier, Drake, and
Raleigh.)
Foote and Skinner, Explorers and Founders of America; W.F.
Gordy,
Stories of American Explorers; W.E. Griffis, The Romance of
Discovery; Haaren and Poland, Famous Men of Modern Times;
Higginson,
Young Folks' Book of American Explorers; Jeannette B. Hodgdon,
A
First Course in American History, Book I; W.H. Johnson, The
World's
Discoverers, 2 volumes; Lawyer, The Story of Columbus and
Magellan;
Lummis, The Spanish Pioneers; Mara L. Pratt, America's Story
for
America's Children, Book 2; Gertrude V.D. Southworth, Builders
of
our Country, Book I; Rosa V. Winterburn, The Spanish in the
Southwest.
(c) Stories of explorations as told by the explorers themselves.
Columbus' own account of his discovery of America is in Hart,
Source
Readers in American History, No. 1, pp. 4-7. Early accounts of
John
Cabot's discovery and of Drake's Voyage in Hart, Source
Readers, No.
1, pp. 7-10, 23-25. The Death and Burial of De Soto as
described by
one of his followers, in Hart, Source Readers, pp. 16-19. The
Old
South Leaflets, No. 20, Coronado; Nos. 29 and 31, Columbus; No.
31,
the Voyages to Vinland; No. 35, Cortes' Account of the City of
Mexico; No. 36, The Death of De Soto; Nos. 37 and 115, the
Voyages
of the Cabots; No. 89, The Founding of St. Augustine; No. 92,
The
First Voyage to Roanoke; No. 102, Columbus' Account of Cuba;
No.
116, Sir Francis Drake on the Coast of California; No. 118,
Gilbert's Expedition; No. 119, Raleigh's Colony at Roanoke.
(d) The Stories of Indian Life in Spanish America, of Cortes,
Coronado, and the Seven Cities of Cibola, and of the Missions.
(See
Rosa V. Winterburn, The Spanish in the Southwest.)