148 



CIIARLEROV CHARLES. 



occupy both tanks of the Meuse, about twenty-five 

 miles above Namur, at the junction of several roads, 

 i 11 a steep mountain. The two places completely 

 command the river, and serve as a point of support 

 to a friendly array, advancing along the Meuse, and 

 as a serious obstruction if the forces belong to the 

 enemy, obliging them to leave behind a corps of ob- 

 servation, at least double the number of that wlu'ch 

 composes the garrison. 'Hit- castle and small town of 

 ( harlemont were built in 1555, by Charles V. Louis 

 XIV., who luul obtained possession of the place by 

 the peace of Nimeguen, as it was capable of con- 

 taining only two battalions, enlarged it oy fortifying 

 the small town of Givet, wlu'ch lies at the foot of the 

 hill, and by increasing the fortifications of Charle- 

 mont. At present, the place consists of four for- 

 tresses, two of which, Cliarlemont, and Great Givet, 

 lie on the left bank of the Meuse, and the other two, 

 Little Givet, and Mont d'Haur, upon the right. 

 Ciiarlemont rises from a narrow rock, which is two 

 1 minimi feet high, commands almost every direction, 

 descends perpendicularly towards the Meuse, and 

 the west side, on the north, is very steep, and de- 

 scends with a gentle slope on the east. This last 

 side, the only one on which an attack can be appre- 

 hended, is defended by six bastions, a horn and a 

 crown-work, and several detached works. Almost 

 all the moats are hewn in the rock, and well provid- 

 ed with casemates. Great Givet has four bastions 

 and three ravelins with dry ditches. Little Givet 

 contains four bastions, and full ditches, but no covered 

 way ; and Mont d'Haur, a hill opposite to Charle- 

 nioiit, is included witliin the lines of the fortress by 

 a strong crown-work, and may, at the same time, 

 serve as a fortified camp. The fortress is calculated 

 for a garrison of 11,000 men, but, in case of neces- 

 sity, can contain 25,000, and may be defended by 

 3 4000 men. Though the two Givets and Mont 

 d'Haur would not offer great obstacles to an attack, 

 yet Charlemont is almost impregnable. It has never 

 yet been seriously attacked. The Prussians, indeed, 

 contemplated assailing it, in 1815, but abandoned the 

 design, although the Givets and Mont d'Haur had 

 already capitulated. By the treaty of Paris, it was 

 occupied by a Russian garrison. 



CHARLEROY, or CHARLES SUR SAMBRE; 

 a town in the Netherlands, in Namur, on the north 

 side of the river Sambre, in a place formerly called 

 Charnoy ; twenty miles E. N. E. MODS, twenty N. E. 

 Maubeuge; lat. 50 26' N.; Ion. 4 32' E.; popula- 

 tion, 3744. it has manufactures of glass, hardware, 

 and woollen stuffs, and in the neighbourhood are ex- 

 tensive pits of turf and coal. It was taken by the 

 French, under general Valence, in the month of 

 November, 1792, with 4000 prisoners. It was re- 

 covered by the Austrians, in the month of June, 

 1793, when the French were twice defeated; once 

 with the loss of 4000 men, and again of 7000. July 

 25, 1794, it again surrendered to the French at dis- 

 cretion, with the garrison of 3000 men and sixty 

 pieces of cannon. 



CHARLES ; the name of many important person- 

 ages, whose lives are here given or referred to, in 

 the following order : page 



Charles Martel .148 



Charles IV., emperor of Germany, 



Charles V., emperor of Germany, and king of Spain, 149 



Charles VI., emperor of Germany, . . 152 



Charles VII., 152 



Charles the Bold, .... 



Charles IX., king of France, . . 154 



Charles I., king of England, . . 154 



Charles II., king of England, . . 157 



Charles Edward Stuart, . . . 158 



Charles XII., king of Sweden, . . .159 



Charle* XII I., king of Sweden, . 161 



Charles Emanuei, duke of Savoy, . . . 161 



Charles IV., king of Spain, . 101 



For (lie sovereigns of this name not enumerated here, 

 we refer the reader to the history of the countries to 

 which they belong. 



CHARLES MARTEL ; a son of Pepin Heristel 

 (mayor of the palace under the last kings of the Me- 

 rovingian dynasty). His father had governed under 

 the weak kings of France with so much justii .-, and 

 so much to the satisfaction of the people, that iie was 

 enabled to make his office hereditary in his family. 

 Chilperic II., king of the Franks, refusing to ac- 

 knowledge Charles Martel as mayor of the palace, 

 the latter deposed him, and set Clotliaire IV. ii. II'N 

 place. After the death of Clothaire, he reston-,1 

 Chilperic, and, subsequently, placed Thierri on the 

 throne, showing how absolute was the control of the 

 mayor, and tliat the royal dignity was a mere phan- 

 tom. Charles Martel rendered his reign famous by 

 the great victory which he gained, in October, 732, 

 over the Saracens, near Tours, from which he ac- 

 quired the name of Martel, signifying hammer. He 

 died 741. His son Pepin the Short governed the 

 Franks till the year 752, nominally under the effem- 

 inate king Childeric III.; but, in this year, pope 

 Zachary replied to a question put to him by the states 

 of France, that he ought to be king who had the 

 royal power ; in consequence of which the Franks 

 declared Pepin king at Soissons, in 752. He died 

 in 768, highly honoured by his subjects. His sons 

 were Charlemagne and Charloman. See Charle- 

 magne. 



CHARLES IV., emperor of Germany, of the house 

 of Luxemburg, was born hi 1316, and- educated at 

 Paris. His father, John of Luxemburg, king of 

 Bohemia, celebrated in history for his chivalric spirit, 

 fell in the battle of Crecy. The quarrels of the em- 

 peror Louis the Bavarian with the king of Bohemia, 

 the father of Charles, the choice of the latter, in the 

 room of the emperor, excommunicated by Clement 

 VI., and the victory which Louis, far his superior in 

 power and talents, obtained over his rival, we have 

 not room to relate. After the death of Louis, Oct. 

 21, 1347, Charles of Luxemburg, who inherited the 

 kingdom of Bohemia, and had been chosen emperor 

 in 1346, by five electors, hoped to occupy the impe- 

 rial throne without opposition. But the very means 

 which had raised him to the throne created him ene- 

 mies. The princes of the empire regarded him as a 

 servant of the pope. Ten years had not yet elapsed, 

 since Germany, at the diet of Rense, had adopted the 

 most energetic measures against the claims of the 

 holy see. The election of Charles IV. was the first 

 infringement of the celebrated constitution of 1338. 

 In consequence, the archbishop of Mentz, whom 

 Clement IV. had deposed, the electors of Branden- 

 burg and the palatinate, the duke of Saxe Lauen- 

 burg, who arrogated a vote in the election, assembled 

 at Lahnstein, declared the choice of Charles to be 

 void, and elected Edward III. of England, brother- 

 in-law of the last emperor ; but this monarch, then 

 at war with France, made use of the offer of the 

 electors so far only as to secure the neutrality of the 

 king of Bohemia, and rejected the proffered crown. 

 Equally fruitless was the choice of Frederic the 

 Severe, landgrave of Meissen ; upon which the ene- 

 mies of Charles elected the virtuous and heroic count 

 Gunther of Schwarzburg, whom Charles, as some 

 writers, though without sufficient authority, assert, 

 put out of his way by poison. Those who surround- 

 ed Gunther in his last moments extorted from him 

 an abdication, for which they were munificently paid 

 by Charles, who was as liberal, when the gratifica- 

 tion of his ambition was concerned, as he was unjust 

 and rapacious in satisfying his avarice. Charles now 

 used every effort to appease his enemies. He married 

 the daughter of the elector of the palatinate, gave 



