ners, customs, and all the relations of social life. I tent with his share of this very reasonable This commingling of languages and manners was partition, which gave the most German now limited by the frontiers of that kingdom; and the Germans were the better secured against the intrusion of Romane words and ways, because, in all that portion of Lothar's dominions which bordered upon Germany, life and speech were exclusively German." provinces to Germany, the most French to France. The successors of the brothers were still less so; aud Lotharingen continued to be, as in truth it has ever since been, the cause and the theatre of constantly recurring wars. But harmony could not be thus introduced into the Carlovingian family, where, In November, 887, the last legitimate as amongst the supplanted Merovingians of male Carlovingian, Charles the Fat was yore, guilt and discord reigned. With deposed, and with him (who died two these matters, however, we need not con- months afterwards) ended the sort of amity cern ourselves, but must speak briefly of which, amidst all its divisions and subdithe subsequent fate of Lothar's unshapely visions, had hitherto existed in the empire empire. This emperor, at his death, divi- of Charlemagne, from the rights of mutual ded his lengthy strip of dominions amongst succession amongst the several kings. Arhis three sons. The eldest, Lewis, inherit- nulf, Duke of Carinthia, an illegitimate ed the imperial title, with its then esteemed grandson of Lewis the German, and a distininseparable adjunct, Italy, or at least Lom-guished warrior, aspired to the whole empire bardy. Lothar, the second, had the portion and at once possessed himself of the crown north of the Alps, which now received the of Germany; but whilst he was engaged name of Lotharingen or Lothringen, mean- in securing the submission of the different ing the possessions of Lothar; a name German nations, (i. e., the Franks, Saxons, since Frenchified into Lorraine, and grad- Thuringians, Bavarians, and Swabians,) ually restricted to the single province so Eudes, Count of Paris, ascended the throne called until the French Revolution. From of France, whilst a Duke Rannolf proclaimLotharingen some south-western provinces ed himself King of Aquitaine. Lewis, a were severed for the youngest son, Charles, Carlovingian by the female side, reigned in and, upon his untimely death, divided be- the kingdom of Arles, as the provinces of tween Lewis and Lothar. In 869, Lothar Lotharingen lying between the Rhone and likewise died without legitimate children, the Alps were now called; and Rudolph, and Lotharingen became the subject of another descendant from the daughters of contests and wars, ending in a division; that family, established a kingdom of Upfrom which, however, the natural heir, Lo- per Burgundy in the Alps, extending norththar's brother, the emperor Lewis, was ex-ward over more level districts of Lotharincluded, according to Luden, for the follow-gen; the northern provinces of that kinging reasons: "The unnaturalness of the connexion of the Netherlands with Italy and the severing mountains was generally felt. It was perceived that the Emperor Lewis, who had constantly to struggle and to fight in Italy, could be nothing to the Netherlands unless he deserted Italy, and nothing to Italy should he reside in Lotharingen. Italy, if still to belong to the Carlovingians, must needs have a king of her own; and the vassals seem to have thought themselves at liberty to select any prince of Charles the Great's descendants for their lord. "On the 23th of July, the two brothers, (Lewis the German and Charles the Bald,) met at Mersen, and remained together until the 10th of August. In this time they arranged a division of Lotharingen, in great detail, to prevent the possibility of future misunderstanding Generally speaking, Lewis obtained all the country beyond the Rhine contained within a frontier line, beginning from Basle, and running past Metz, Aix, and Utrecht, which towns were assigned to him; giving Toul, Verdun, and Cambrai to Charles's kingdom, to gether with all to the west and south, Burgundy and Provence" meaning by Burgundy, be it observed, not the province of Burgundy, but the southern kingdom of the old Burgundian kings. Neither brother seems to have been con dom being overrun by, and some actually in the hands of, the Northmen, whilst the Sclavonians assailed the north of Germany. In Italy, Berengar, Duke of Friuli, son of a daughter of Lewis the Pious, and Guido, whom both our German authors denominate Wido, Duke of Spoleto, contended for the sovereignty, and were successively and severally crowned by the Pope, as King of Italy, and Emperor. With Eudes Arnulf presently concluded a treaty of mutual acknowledgement and friendship. Lewis of Arles at once owned Arnulf for his suzerain, or superior lord, as Rudolph, after a long War and the loss of his lowland provinces, was compelled to do. The Northmen Arnulf defeated and drove out of Lotharingen, which, now wholly German, he gave as a tributary kingdom to his illegitimate son Zuentibald. The Sclavonians were again reduced to their usual state of sullen submission, and Arnulf found leisure to visit Italy. Here the struggle was long and arduous, but at length the Emperor Guido died, King Berengar was vanquished, and Arnulf received the imperial crown from from the the Pope, and oaths of fidelity houses. * * "Amongst the Saxons, the ducal dignity became perpetual. Here, too, it was the produce of necessity. Bruno, the first to place himself at their head as duke, was, together with many counts and bishops, slain by the Danes. Precaution against future accidents were the more indispensable, as the Obotrites, &c. sought to profit by the disasters of the Saxons. We accordingly find Otho, Bruno's brother, and his son, King Henry I., succeeded uninterruptedly as dukes of one family, without opposition, as without support, from the Duke Otho took the opportuking. nity to unite many fiefs in his own person, and thence give weight to the dukedom. We have called these leaders of their The condition of Germany was, at this period, more disastrous than ever. The Northmen devastated the sea-coast, extending their ravages far inland. The Sclavonians emulated those ravages on the north-eastern frontier, as did the Magyars, who had recently possessed themselves of Hungary, yet more destructively, in the south-east; whilst the powerful vassals excited and kept up internal broils and dis- several nations official dukes; and such they were, turbances. These last, as well as the abso-created by the exigency of the moment, without any view to a continuous dignity. Commonly the exigency proved continuous, and then so did the duke; in other cases it vanished, and with it the lute inefficiency of the resistance opposed to external enemies, Luden ascribes to the selfish feudal system; and it is certain that this system had all the weakness of a federal government, which it in fact was. We cannot, in this sketch, pretend to unfold the form and effects of feudalism in Germany, but will here extract from Mannert a few statements that may be useful in elucidating the relations of the higher classes amongst themselves :— "The Count usually took his title from the Gau, or district, of which he was governor, and in which considerable beneficia (fiefs) were assigned for his maintenance. In his hereditary possessions he was a commander over subjects; in his official situation he administered justice in the king's name, to the freemen of the province. These Counts were the true Fursten (principes) or princes, the first amongst the people designation which, springing from the forests of Germany, maintained itself through subsequent ages, and has finally assumed the form of a sovereign. The king could undertake nothing with out first obtaining their concurrence at one of the frequent diets; without their solicited support, he could neither wage war nor carry a law into effect. * 66 * duke. # * # "The most considerable Counts of their several nations were the original Dukes, and bear, with contemporary writers, now this title, now that. But if a family wished to maintain itself in the new dignity, it was requisite to acquire great additions to its estates, as well as to gain the favor of the people." To Otho, Duke of Saxony, the mightiest amongst these German dukes, descended in a right line from the old Saxon monarch Witikind, by females from Charles Martel and the Frank Billung, and married to a grand-daughter of Lewis the Pious, the crown of Germany was first offered. He seems to have been little tempted by an exaltation so uneasy; and, excusing himself aupon the plea of advanced age, recommended as his substitute the Franconian Duke Conrad. Luden, however, doubts Conrad's having come so honorably by the crown, and suspects that he had not only conspired against Lewis the Child, but actually made away with him. We cannot pretend to investigate the fairness of the new king's proceedings, but however he may have obtained the crown, Conrad's reign, in spite of the energies of the man, was neither tranquil nor glorious; Lotharingen revolted and attached itself to France, where an illegitimate Carlovingian, Charles the Simple, now reigned. Bavaria, Swabia, and, after Otho's demise, Saxony, were in constant insurrection; the Sclavonians, who had flung off the little more than nominal yoke, harassed the frontiers; the Hungarians carried their predatory incursions into the very heart of the kingdom, and the new monarch had not a moment even to think of Italy and the imperial crown. Conrad left no children, and at his decease is said to have recommended as his successor, Henry, Duke of Saxony, Otho's son. "The Dukes were an exerescence of these counts, they were not those old hereditary lords of the soil who could not bear the title of king because they acknowledged the supremacy of the Franks, still less those duces who only received the title whilst executing some mission intrusted to them, but the king's lieutenants in some of the principal nations, the union of which constituted the German nation. Necessity was, as we have seen, the creator of these Dukes. Neighboring enemies frequently harassed the adjacent German nation; and the king, involved in family broils, could not always afford immediate succor. By his order, or without his knowledge, the suffering nations sought to help themselves, placed the most considerable of their counts at their head, and followed his banners. The earliest instance is found in Thuringia, where the adjacent Sorbes and Dal Charlemagne got rid of most of these old hereditary dukes of the several German nations or tribes, as being, from their great power, detrimental to the royal authority. Having now reached another bright period, another great family, inferior only to the early Carlovingians, we shall indulge in something more of detail; and, inasmuch as Henry I. appears to us, as well as to the two Professors, Luden and Mannert, really far superior to his son Otho, surnamed the Great, though less celebrated, we propose, alternately abstracting and extracting, according to our usual practice, to give some account of his reign; but must preliminarily observe, à propos to the first appearance of a king, not a Frank, that Germany and France were still called East and West Frankland or Francia; and that, all other German nations being deemed of inferior rank to the long-governing Franks, the Saxon duke seems to have been considered as transformed into a Frank, by the very circumstance of his being chosen king. We shall begin with the domestic incidents of Henry's early years, which Luden introduces into the midst of his reign. "When Henry succeeded his father as Duke of Saxony, he was already six or seven and thirty years of age; and up to this time, with the exception of his expedition against the Daleminzians, above related, the only thing known of him is the following incident, recorded by Dithmar, Bishop of Merseberg, but very confusedly, and without any detail. Henry heard of the beauty and opulence of a lady named Hatheburch or Hatburg. She was daughter and heiress to Count Erwin, chief proprietor of the town of Merseburg; but she was a widow and had taken the veil. For her Henry burned with all the ardor of youthful passion, and found means to prevail upon her to forget her conventual vow, and become his wife. At this time Sigismund, a man of great talent and learning, and of zealous piety, was Bishop of Halberstadt; to him the unlawful marriage could not remain unknown. Grieved at the sin committed, he prohibited, under pain of excommunication, all intercourse between the offenders, convoked a synod, and summoned before it the Prince and his nun-bride. Henry, dreading the prelate's wrath, had recourse to Conrad, then king; his revered father likewise applied to the monarch in his behalf, and by Conrad's mediation the threatened blow was averted." Some years afterwards, when Henry was Duke of Saxony, his opinions or inclinations appear to have undergone a change. "Henry was now convinced, it is said, that he had deeply sinned in contracting, and persevering in, his illicit marriage, and transferred his love to a virgin named Matilda, the daughter of Count Theodoric by Reinilda, who is believed to have been a descendant of Witikind. Certain it is, that Henry dismissed his first wife, although she had borne him a son, Tammo or Thankmar, and espoused Matilda. This lady who appears not to have married the Duke without some scrupulous hesitation, was yet more distinguished by talent, high-mindedness, genuine virtue, and exalted piety, than by her beauty. Seldom do we meet with such unanimous and unmingled praise as in all recorded opinions concerning this Matilda." * One of the most valuable annalists of his day. After the death of Conrad, that king's brother, Eberhard, carried the ensigns of royalty to Saxony; and as Mannert informs us, "with his gladsome communication surprised Duke Henry, when engaged in the sport of hawking. This circumstance, mentioned by later older annalists; nevertheless, it must not be rewriters, does not appear in Witikind and other jected as fictitious. The tradition was preserved amongst the people, and received from them by the annalists, who distinguished Henry by the surname of the Fowler, for which there must have been some foundation." Luden, who takes no notice of this little incident, tells us that Eberhard, by Henry's desire "convoked an assembly of all the Franks at Fritzlar, for the beginning of the year 919. Thither Duke Henry repaired, accompanied by the princes and lords of the Saxon people, who triumphed in the honor done to their noble Duke. In this assembly, Count Eberhard proposed Duke Henry as king. Franks and Saxons with one accord gave him their votes, and Henry, the first of his name, received the oath of allegiance from all. ecclesiastical prince of the empire, offered to Hereupon Heriger, Archbishop of Mainz, the first place the crown upon his head, and to confer upon him in the church the priestly ointment and enced and ready-witted, sought to avoid this holy But the new king, wise, expericeremony, and actually did avoid it, concealing his reluctance under a veil of devout modesty. Sufficiently glorious for me,' said he,' sufficient exaltation above my ancestors is it, that, by God's grace and your favor, I am called king-I am for those who shall be worthy of them, which I king. Let us reserve coronation and anointment benediction. am not.'" Mannert nevertheless asserts that Henry was crowned, and only declined anointment and in fact the old authorities seem to contradict each other upon this, more curious than important, point. Both Professors, however, agree as to the object of the king's refusal, namely, the holding the crown independently of the clergy. At the moment of Henry's election, Burkhard, the turbulent duke of Swabia, was engaged in war with Rudolph II. of Burgundy, whom he had just defeated. “Henry, judging the moment propitious, immediately sent envoys to Burkhard, requiring his acknowledgement of him as king. Burkhard, seeing in Henry only Conrad's successor, rejected the demand. He thought it good, however, to make peace with Rudolph, and the vanquished did not hesitate to accept the fair offers of the victor. Burkhard gave his daughter Bertha to the young king in marriage, and gained, as he hoped, a useful ally in his son-in-law. heightened confidence did he now fancy he might venture to slight King Henry. But this monarch, meanwhile, was hastening with an army to Swabia, to show the audacious duke the difference betwixt himself and Conrad. When Burkhard saw the united force of Saxons, Thuringians and Franks; when he observed the spirit of joyous harmony with which the combined host followed With the standard of the new king, his courage sank, | tion of the country. He could not vanquish the and his stubbornness gave way to prudence; he German warriors, but wrung from them a promise bowed before the king, and submitted himself and to remain quiet. Henry, on the other hand, did his people." not loiter. In the year 923, he led an army across the Rhine. Immediately, one party of the Lotharingians joined, another opposed him. Hostilities ensued, accompanied by devastation and misery. Henry seems to have been obliged to retreat beyond the Rhine. But he soon returned, probaward, attacked Metz, and constrained his most bly the following year, pressed irresistibly onviolent adversary, the archbishop, to submit. And now all Lotharingen acknowledged the sovereignty of the King of Germany. Henry next turned to Bavaria, where Duke Arnulf was deliberating upon the propriety of acceding to the people's wish, and assuming the title of king of Bavaria. But Arnulf, like Burkhard, at once saw that he was no match for Henry. The king invited the duke to a conference. "Arnulf accepted the invitation, and issued from the gates of Ratisbor in full armor. The. king met him unarmed. This confidence subdued the duke, and his crabbed spirit softened at the words of friendliness. Henry now spoke of the German realm, of the German people and fatherland, of the necessity of union against friends and foes, of the blessings of internal peace, of honor and shame, of renown and infamy, so mildly and impressively, that Arnulf, laying aside his wonted stubbornness, yielded to the king, acknowledged his dependence upon the German empire, and promised to be Henry's vassal for evermore. Henry left the government of Bavaria, with kingly authority, to the duke." During these German disturbances, Charles the Simple had invaded and nearly overrun Elsass, the original German of Alsace, then, it will be remembered, included in Lotharingen. But in 921, Henry advanced against him with an army; Charles retired before the German monarch, evacuating Alsace; and negociations ensued. * * "But those Lotharingians who did not speak German were still disaffected. Hence constant disorders, constant confusion. With all his superiority of mind, Henry could never rely upon the Lotharingians. Now he awed them by a display of German forces; now he thought it better to court them by conciliation and kindness, to purchase the fidelity of the great nobles by every sort of favor, and to secure the greatest, Ďuke Ĝiselbert, now by stratagem, now by the ties of consanguinity, giving him his daughter Gerberga in marriage." Of the advantages of this last measure, Mannert thinks highly. He says, "The whole state of affairs henceforth assumed an altered aspect. Giselbert had hitherto been duke in his own possessions; Henry now gives him his daughter Gerberga to wife, names him Duke of Lotharingen, and consequently confers Lotharingen thus rose to the dignity of a national upon him a superintendence over the other nobles. duchy of the realm of the East Franks. In this situation it continued, though in after-times claimed vainly by France. By nature it was and is German, its inhabitants being originally Germans, speaking the German language." "At length, in the month of October, an interview took place near Bonn, in a vessel anchored in the mid-channel of the Rhine, on board which the two kings, attended by some of their bishops But whilst Henry was recovering the forand counts, with all due precaution, simultane- mer frontier of his kingdom to the west, ously repaired from the opposite banks. On board of this vessel peace was concluded betwixt the his hereditary states, as well as the southern kings of the West and East Franks, Charles and provinces, were suffering grievously in the Henry according to the form of older treaties, and east. it was reciprocally ratified by oath, in presence of the bishops and counts. The terms were, that each king should retain the portion of Lotharingen that he possessed before the war." But soon after this transaction began that French insurrection, which ended in the deposal and imprisonment of Charles the Simple, and the usurpation of one great vassal after another; until, after another Carlovingian interval, Hugh Capet finally fixed himself and his dynasty upon the throne. The attachment of any part of Lotharingen to France was solely loyalty to the very shadow of a Carlovingian; and, now "The Lotharingians were divided. One party, headed by Witger, Archbishop of Metz, addressed themselves to Rudolph, the new King of France; another party, whose leaders were Duke Giselbert and Rotgar, Archbishop of Treves, invited the German monarch to take possession of Lothar's realm. Rudolph hastened to Lotharingen, and, at the instigation of the Archbishop of Metz, first turned his arms against Zabern, in Alsace, where Henry had stationed some troops for the protec "The Hungarians were again in Germany. Since Henry's accession, the country had been spared by them, they having found enough to plunder and to do in Italy, where they had fought the battles of the contending kings, readily serving whomsoever would pay them.*** They now revisited Germany. *** In 924, whilst Henry was beyond the Rhine, they passed in swarms through the Sclavonian territories, conjointly with the Sclavonians, burst into Saxony, where they overran the undefended land and wrought frightful devastation. The following year they again appeared, it should seem, in two bodies. One body fell upon Swabia, not unaware probably of the absence of Duke Burkhard, who had marched into Italy to assist his son-in-law, King Rudolph. Bishop Ulrich's gold saved Augsburg; Constance saw its suburbs in flames; the Abbey of St. Gall was visited, and, though found deserted and stripped, was soiled and polluted; and if Count Luitfrid in Alsace repulsed the terrible horde, he did not prevent their penetrating into France, whence they carried off an immense booty. The other body invaded Saxony, which they ravaged with fire and sword. Henry, it is averred, would not risk a pitched battle against the barbarians, because his warriors were unacquainted with their mode of fighting. He therefore patiently awaited a favorable opportunity in the town of Wörla; and preparations; and in the first place offers not in vain. An Hungarian prince, most likely for Duke Zoltan himself, fell into the hands of the some remarks touching the ninth men selectSaxons. The Hungarians- were in despair at this ed for garrison duty. misfortune. They could not storm Wörly; to return home without their prince seemed an impos-enced in war, or villeins? Boldly may we answer "Were these levies fiee men, already experisibility. They therefore offered the king any neither. The proper miles (warrior) was worthless ransom for their captive prince. * Ilenry rejected every offer of the kind, and required a the villein might not bear arms without his lord's as a foot soldier, or for the defence of walls, and lasting peace, The Hungarians were reluctant, command. Free or partially dependent* peasants but had no choice. They concluded a peace nine years, not only recovering their prince, but, merely a regular revival of the general call to arms composed the new infantry, which was in fact under the name of a present, obtaining a tribute that was to be paid them annually. Henry thus in the times of Charles the Great, when every five men were bound to equip the sixth for war, and to procured for his kingdom an interval of repose that had become indispensable, whilst he himself ob- support him. *** Now, effective men only were tained leisure for preparations, institutions, fortifi- raised; they were armed, and their weapons were cations, that he did not allow to pass unused. And always the property of the eldest son of the family; with such advantages, he might well deem the they were regularly trained, not only to the defence of fortified towns, but to service in the field. **** disgrace, that the payment of tribute must be con"A serviceable infantry was thus provided, but fessed to have brought upon Germany, excusable." the heavy-armed cavalry, constituting the chief Henry's internal administration, during force of the kingdom, likewise required improvement. *** These wariors were exercised in arms this period of not very honorable peace, is from their youth, but in no regular order. As the but imperfectly known, such matters not several bodies, each under its own banner, collected being of the kind that interested the old into an army, so they stood ready for the onslaught, chroniclers. We find, however, that he and were assuredly superior to the Hungarians, if wisely conciliated the different German na-how rapidly to open and close their ranks, to overthese could be brought to encounter them. But tions and their dukes, whose submission he take and compel to pitched battle the Hungarians had extorted, thus keeping them ever will- who evaded their shock, of this they knew nothing. ing to obey his summons to the field; and These warriors then required to be exercised in that he retained his hereditary duchies of bodies, and were so by Henry in person. of his orders was, that the warrior who had a good Saxony and Thuringia in his own hands. horse must not gallop away before the rest, in order With regard to military measures, he seems to show his courage, but remain in his place. to have thought first of defensive precau- Light cavalry was still indispensable, to engage the restless Hungarians and give the heavy-armed time tions, and directed his attention to the towns to come up. For this a resource offered, applicable as yet but scarce in Germany, as capable of only at that season. We have already seen that affording personal security against savage great numbers of highway-robbers disturbed the inroads. country, under the Carlovingians; their bands had prodigiously increased during the late feeble reigns. "He strengthened and enlarged the fortifications**** Few were ever caught; they found assistof the existing towns; he provided them with sub- ance even amongst the nobles. Now appeared the urbs and churches for the reception of poor people, king's proclamation: Pardon for the past: the and for recalling the misled and perverted to quiet criminal, in expectation of amendment, shall be fed, and order. He founded new towns, and endeav- and admitted into honorable military service.' By ored to obtain them a permanent population; he this one measure, Henry obtained a numerous favored both old and new, and in every way pro-light cavalry. Horsemen, and expeditious horsemoted their importance." He next provided garrisons for his towns. "From amongst all the land-owners who owed vassal-service, or were bound to oley the king's summons to arms, the ninth man was selected to reside in a town. He prepared dwellings for himself and his eight companions in arms, as also store-houses; inasmuch as the other eight were to sow, reap, and harvest for themselves and for the ninth, the townsman, and to convey one-third of the produce into the town, there to be preserved and secured. In case of danger, all were to betake themselves into the town, and there find protection, military resources and provisions. And now the building of towns was urged on with zealous diligence, by day and by night. Further, what would be needful in war, was practised in peace. Lastly, in order to render the towns more agreeable to the Germans, whose free spirit had of old entertained an aversion to walls, the king ordered that all public diets, provincial assemblies and tribunals, ay, all social meetings, should be held in towns only." Mannert has collected somewhat more information respecting Henry's military *** The men they had ever been; for, on foot no one could Whether Henry found difficulty in enforcing these innovations, devised by an intellect far in advance of his age, is not known, but Luden is convinced that "The beneficial effect of his measures must have been universally felt and acknowledged. The German nations saw in him the first man of his age; the dukes and princes, their pattern, and therefore their king. **** The king showed himself more and more good and noble, more and more deserving of love and admiration. He practised all the observances of religion with humble He was liberal piety, and left no fault unexpiated. to all, and never refused a request made to him. He loved cheerful jests, but even amongst his most *This is the sense in which Mannert seems to use the term horige, as describing men who partially sacrificed their independence, for the sake of a great lord's protection. |