With such arms, and at the head of such an army, the popes seemed almost secure of universal empire; and we shall soon behold their power at its very climax, but yet on the point of declension, from causes that were in operation against it.

Italy-Lombard Cities.

The principal cities in the north of Italy had, under the Lombard and French kings, been subject, with their districts, to counts, and these again to dukes. The Saxon emperors separated from them the greater part of the territory, and the authority of the count was usually confined to the town: the bishop often obtained the government. The feudal law of Italy was not so definite as that of France; there was frequent war between the vavassors and their superior lords; the cities were strong and populous; bishops were elective and not hereditary, and less bold and energetic than lay princes. From all these causes the cities gradually increased in strength and power, made war on each other, obtained charters from the emperors - became, in fact, perfectly independent. As the possessions of the rural nobility had been originally part of their territory, they reclaimed them, reduced the castles of the nobles, and compelled them to reside in the towns. Here the nobles aimed at obtaining the municipal offices, and the government was at this period chiefly in their hands. The policy of the citizens was liberal: they encouraged settlement among them. Their mutual and bitter wars and animosities were the great blemish they presented.

Germany - House of Franconia.

A. D.

On the death of Henry II. the house of Saxony 1024. became extinct. Conrad, surnamed the Salic, a nobleman of Franconia, was chosen to succeed. This prince endeavoured to increase the power of his family by bestowing several duchies on his relatives. In his reign Burgundy was annexed to the empire. His son, 1039. Henry III., trod in his steps: he disposed at his will of

duchies, controlled the papal power, and may be reA.D. garded as the most powerful and absolute of the Ger1056. man emperors. Henry IV., his son, was left a ininor: his mother Agnes administered the government: the nobles thought the opportunity good for recovering their power; the archbishop of Mentz carried away the young king, and governed in his name: the education of Henry was neglected, and he grew up dissolute and addicted to low company, but brave and good natured. The Saxons rebelled: the quarrel about investitures broke out between the pope and the emperor. Henry was excomniunicated and deposed by Gregory VII., and Rodolf duke of Swabia was raised to the throne. Henry defended his rights with vigour: Rodolf was slain in battle. The pope excited Henry's son to rebellion against him; and at the end of thirty years of continued war, in which he had fought sixty battles, the unhappy emperor sunk in death, and his body lay for years unburied, as he had died ex1106. communicated. Henry V., a rebel to his father, at the instigation of the holy see, was as tenacious as any of his predecessors of the right of investiture. After a long contest the matter was, as we have seen, settled by com1125. promise between him and the pope. With Henry V. ended the house of Franconia.

France.

997.

Robert, son of Hugh Capet, neglected his father's projects for extending the royal power. His successor, 1031. Henry I., attempted to recover Normandy during the mi

nority of William, afterwards the Conqueror, but with1060. out success. Philip I. took advantage of the crusades to

enlarge the limits of the royal power; yet so narrow were 1108. these limits, that at the accession of Louis VI., the Fat, it was almost confined to the cities of Paris, Orleans, Bourges, and their districts; and it cost the king no little trouble to reduce the lords of Mont Chery and other places near Paris. In the reign of this monarch properly began the wars between France and England, which lasted three centuries and a half; Louis taking

the part of William, son of Robert duke of Normandy, against Henry I. of England, who had usurped that duchy.

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England.

1066.

After the battle of Hastings, William's claim to the A. D. crown was admitted, the inutility of opposition being apparent. He was crowned at Westminster, and took the usual coronation oath of the Anglo-Saxon monarchs. His reign was at first moderate; only, as it was necessary to gratify the rapacity of his Norman followers, the estates of those who fought against him at Hastings were unjustly confiscated as those of rebels. But these were halcyon days. In the following year he returned to Normandy his Normans, whom he left in England, oppressed and insulted the people in the most opprobrious manner. The English rebelled. William, who, when 1067. he left the kingdom, probably knew what would take place, returned, crushed the incipient insurrection, confiscated estates, and bestowed them on his followers. The following year another rebellion, produced by the same cause, had the same result; and William, if he 1068. ever had any regard for his English subjects, now manifested nothing towards them but hatred and aversion. Many of the English nobles fled from their country to Scotland, to Constantinople, and elsewhere; all places of trust were in the hands of the Normans, and gradually they were becoming possessed of all the lands. Aided by the Danes and Scots, the people rose once more in arms; but the vigour and policy of the king proved too powerful for them. He now increased his rigour; he laid waste the country between the Humber and the Tees, to curb the Northumbrians, and 100,000 people are said to have perished by this odious policy. Having now seized almost the whole of the land of England, he introduced all the rigours of the feudal law; he divided the kingdom into 60,000 knights' fees, which he chiefly bestowed on his Normans, to hold immediately of himself. A large portion of them were formed into 700 baronies, for the principal of his Norman lords, and such of the English

as retained their lands found themselves subjected to the feudal burdens. Besides these baronies, 1422 manors constituted the royal demesne, the rent of which was the chief revenue of the crown. All the dignities of the church were bestowed upon the Normans; an attempt was even made to abolish the English language, which in part unfortunately succeeded, and hence arose the mingled dialect we now speak.

Great as was the suffering caused by the Norman monarchs and their barons, it is to the tyranny of these princes that England is in a great measure indebted for her having preceded the other nations in the establishment of popular liberty and constitutional monarchy. For while elsewhere the nobles could defy the king and oppress the people, here they were obliged to call the people to their aid against the enormous power of the crown. Hence arose the dignity and influence of the commons of England.

William left three sons, Robert, William, and Henry. A. D. To the first he left Normandy; to the second, England. 087. William II. was an oppressive, tyrannical monarch. His

brother Robert at first contested the crown of England with him, but was forced to desist from his claims. Robert was a brave, generous prince; he was inflamed with the general mania of the crusades, and he mortgaged Normandy to William for 10,000 marks, to equip him for the expedition. William earl of Poitiers and duke of Guienne made a similar agreement with him; but as he was preparing a fleet and army to go to take possession of these provinces, he was accidentally shot by an arrow, while hunting in the New Forest, for the formation of 1100. which his father had laid waste the greater part of Hampshire.

Henry on the death of his brother hastened to Winchester to secure the royal treasure, and he married Matilda niece of Edgar Atheling, the last of the Anglo-Saxo royal family. On his return from the East, Robert claimed the kingdom; but Henry was too strong for him; and in consequence of the indolence and remiss

ness of Robert, Henry soon afterwards made himself master of Normandy, and took his brother and confined him for life in the castle of Cardiff. Henry had a long contest with the popes about the right of investiture, and the matter was compromised as in Germany. This king had the misfortune to lose his only son. His daughter Matilda was married to the emperor Henry V.; and Henry dying without issue, she was again married to Geoffrey, son of Fulk, count of Anjou, by whom she had A.D. a son. Henry left Matilda heiress of all his dominions. 1135. Stephen count of Blois was grandson of the conqueror, by his daughter Adela. Henry I. had greatly favoured and enriched him and his brother Henry, whom he made bishop of Winchester. On the death of Henry, Stephen hastened to England, secured the royal treasure, and was crowned. The rights of Matilda were upheld by her natural brother, Robert of Glocester, and several barons. Nearly twenty years elapsed in civil war between the two parties; the power of the crown was greatly diminished; the great barons were rapidly attaining to independence; the papal power was encroaching; and all the evils of relaxed government were felt. A compromise was at last made between Stephen and Henry, son of Matilda, to whom she had made over her rights, that Stephen should reign during his life, and Henry succeed. Stephen did not long enjoy his reign. 1154.

Spain.

In Spain the Christian states continued gradually to gain on the Mohammedan territories. Alfonso VI. of Castile and Leon had recovered from the Moslems Toledo, 1085. the ancient Gothic capital. Alfonso I. of Aragon pushed his conquests to the Ebro, and made himself master of Sa- 1118. ragossa, which he now made the capital of his dominions.

Constantinople.

We have seen Alexius Comnenus valiantly defending 1081. his dominions against the Normans. With equal wisdom and good fortune he maintained himself against the

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