HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 



Charles the Fat, the nobles asserted their right to 

 elect each successive sovereign. The first chosen 

 was Arnulph (887-899), Duke of Carinthia, who 

 was thus but one German noble selected by the 

 rest to wear the German crown. The early 

 German emperors were incessantly occupied in 

 confirming their power within Germany, and in 

 extending the empire at the expense of the con- 

 tiguous countries. Henry I. of the House of 

 Saxony, elected in 918, annexed Lorraine to 

 Germany, and extended his dominion at the ex- 

 pense of the Slavonians, from the Elbe to the 

 Oder. His son, Otho I. 'the Great' (936-973), 

 de the Danes and Bohemians submit to the 

 mpire, and renounce paganism ; but his greatest 

 :hievement was the reduction of Italy to a fief of 

 e German Empire. He assumed the crown of 

 taly at Milan (961), and visiting Rome, revived 

 his own favour the dignity of Emperor of the 

 est, and was consecrated as such by the pope 

 2). This pope having become a scandal to 

 urope by his licentiousness, Otho caused him to 

 deposed, and another to be elected ; and 

 laimed for the emperors the right of veto on all 

 future appointments. From this time, every 

 German emperor contined to receive a triple 

 coronation as king of Germany, as emperor of 

 e West, and as king of Rome. After three 

 ore emperors of the Saxon line, the states chose 

 'onrad II. (1024-1039), of the house of Fran- 

 nia. 



We can only afford space to note in passing the 

 rise of the Norman power in Sicily ; the conver- 

 sion of the Hungarians to Christianity, under their 

 onarch Stephen, in the year 1000 ; the establish- 

 ent of a Polish Christian kingdom about the 

 ie time ; and above all, the introduction of the 

 w religion into Russia (988), through the mar- 

 ge of Vladimir the Great with a Byzantine 

 princess. 



Scandinavian Kingdoms. Sweyn, king of Den- 

 mark (1000), renounced the Christianity and 

 .egiance imposed upon his father by Otho of 

 rmany, and extended his sway over Norway 

 d England ; this sway was retained by his son, 

 ute (1014), who reintroduced Christianity into 

 enmark. On the death of Hardicanute (1042), 

 ngland threw off the Danish yoke, as did also 

 orway. Norway and Sweden were both Chris- 

 nised about 1000. 



The history of the British Islands will be given 

 succeeding numbers. 



The Feudal System and the Church. Amid this 

 lultiplicity of independent petty states into which 

 urope was parcelled out, there were two grand 

 influences at work, producing social resemblances, 

 and also a feeling of mutual connection ; these 

 were the feudal system and the church. The 

 Feudal System was in existence in a rudimentary 

 condition among the Franks as early as the time 

 of Clovis, and also among the Lombards in Italy. 

 But it soon acquired a more exact and legal form ; 

 and by the eleventh century, had spread into all 

 the countries to which the German conquests ex- 

 tended, and even to others. Every free German 

 who had assisted his chief in conquering the 

 country received, as his share of the spoil, a par- 

 ticular estate, which was called his allodium or 

 freehold this estate being absolutely his own 

 property. The holders of such allods were subject 

 to the king only in this respect, that they were 



amenable to the general laws established for the 

 government of the state. But as it so happened 

 that the king, who in the general division of the 

 land received, of course, a very large domain as 

 his share, did not usually keep all this land to be 

 farmed by himself as one great estate, but gave 

 portions of it away to his favourites, on certain 

 conditions mutually agreed upon ; and as, in a 

 similar manner, the holders of extensive allods 

 gave away portions of these allods for a like con- 

 sideration, the result was, that there arose in all 

 the Germanic countries a second kind of property 

 called beneficium, fief, or leasehold. This kind of 

 property was not hereditary by right, but was held 

 only during the pleasure of the real owner, and so 

 long as the conditions on which it was granted 

 were duly fulfilled. Holders of this kind of prop- 

 erty were called vassals or liegemen, to distin- 

 guish them from freeholders ; and the real owner 

 of the property which the vassals occupied as ten- 

 ants was called the liege, the seigneur, or the suze- 

 rain. The usual tenure by which vassals held their 

 fiefs was that of military service and homage in 

 other words, the proprietors who held fiefs from 

 the king were bound to attend his court on occa- 

 sions of ceremony, and to assist him in case of war 

 with a stipulated number of men, armed and fur- 

 nished in a stipulated manner ; and the smaller 

 proprietors, who held fiefs under great lords, were 

 bound after the same fashion to appear at the 

 castles of their lords when summoned, and to give 

 them military assistance. The seigneurs, on the 

 other hand, were bound to protect their vassals. 



It very soon happened that the feudal tenure of 

 property prevailed over every other. The great 

 nobles were but too glad to become vassals of the 

 kings, in return for the rich gifts which they had 

 to bestow on them ; and it very frequently hap- 

 pened that the holder of a small allod, or freehold, 

 voluntarily gave it up to a powerful lord in his 

 neighbourhood, whose protection he wished to 

 secure, receiving it back from him as a fief. 

 Gradually, therefore, almost the whole property 

 of a country became a connected system of fiefs : 

 the lands were fiefs ; the offices and dignities, from 

 the governorship of a province down to the pettiest 

 function, were fiefs ; and society, from the king 

 down to the poorest freeman, consisted of a chain 

 of ranks, each retaining from that above it. 



In addition to the influence of this universally 

 prevalent system of feudalism, there was the influ- 

 ence of the Church, contributing in a different 

 manner to the same result. It was customary at 

 this period for churchmen and scholars, born in 

 one country, to leave that country in early or 

 mature life, and either to settle in another country 

 as bishops, monks, or teachers, or to devote them- 

 selves to a missionary life, and wander, as minis- 

 ters of the Gospel, into the remote and still 

 heathen corners of Europe. We have only to 

 conceive this fact distinctly, and to fancy German 

 and French, and Italian and English ecclesiastics, 

 distributed over Europe, all engaged in the same 

 intellectual or spiritual labours, all using the Latin 

 tongue for learned purposes, all considering them- 

 selves members of the great institute of the church, 

 and all communicating, by means of letters and 

 books, with distinguished men of their own order 

 in the chief cities of Europe ; and we shall have 

 a vivid idea of that powerful system of religious 

 communion which pervaded a society, otherwise 



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