--Effect of the Crusades. --Heresy and Persecution. --The Orders of Knighthood. --Conquests of the German Order. --Rise of the Cities.

--Robber-Knights. --The Hanseatic League. --Population and Power of the Cities. --Gothic Architecture. --The Universities. --Seven Cla.s.ses of the People. --The small States. --Service of the Hohenstaufens to Germany. --Epic Poetry of the Middle Ages.

--Historical writers.

[Sidenote: 1256. CHANGES IN GERMANY.]

The end of the Hohenstaufen dynasty marks an important phase in the history of Germany. From this time the character of the Empire is radically changed. Although still called "Roman" in official doc.u.ments, the term is henceforth an empty form, and even the word "Empire" loses much of its former significance. The Italian Republics were now practically independent, and the various dukedoms, bishoprics, princ.i.p.alities and countships, into which Germany was divided, were fast rendering it difficult to effect any unity of feeling or action among the people. The Empire which Charlemagne designed, which Otto the Great nearly established, and which Barbarossa might have founded, but for the fatal ambition of governing Italy, had become impossible. Germany was, in reality, a loose confederation of differently organized and governed States, which continued to make use of the form of an Empire as a convenience rather than a political necessity.

The events which followed the death of Konrad IV. ill.u.s.trate the corrupt condition of both Church and State at that time. The money which Pope Innocent IV. so freely expended in favor of the anti-kings, Henry Raspe and William of Holland, had already taught the Electors the advantage of selling their votes: so, when William was slain by the farmers of Friesland, and no German prince seemed to care much for the t.i.tle of Emperor (since each already had independent power over his own territory), the high dignity so recently possessed by Frederick II., was put up at auction. Two bidders made their appearance, Richard of Cornwall, brother of Henry III. of England, and king Alphonso of Castile, surnamed "the Wise." The Archbishop of Cologne was the business agent of the former: he received 12,000 silver marks for himself, and eight or nine thousand apiece for the Dukes of Bavaria, the Archbishop of Mayence, and several other electors. The Archbishop of Treves, in the name of king Alphonso, offered the king of Bohemia, the Dukes of Saxony and the Margrave of Brandenburg 20,000 marks each. Of course both purchasers were elected, and they were proclaimed kings of Germany almost at the same time. Alphonso never even visited his realm: Richard of Cornwall came to Aix-la-Chapelle, was formally crowned, and returned now and then, whenever the produce of his tin-mines in Cornwall enabled him to pay for an enthusiastic reception by the people. He never attempted, however, to govern Germany, for he probably had intelligence enough to see that any such attempt would be disregarded.

[Sidenote: 1256.]

This period was afterwards called by the people "the Evil Time when there was no Emperor"--and, in spite of the two kings, who had fairly paid for their t.i.tles, it is known in German history as "the Interregnum." It was a period of change and confusion, when each prince endeavored to become an absolute ruler, and the knights, in imitating them, became robbers; when the free cities, encouraged by the example of Italy, united in self-defence, and the ma.s.ses of the people, although ground to the dust, began to dream again of the rights which their ancestors had possessed a thousand years before.

First of all, the great change wrought in Europe by the Crusades was beginning to be felt by all cla.s.ses of society. The attempt to retain possession of Palestine, which lasted nearly two hundred years,--from the march of the First Crusade in 1096 to the fall of Acre in 1291,--cost Europe, it is estimated, six millions of lives, and an immense amount of treasure. The Roman Church favored the undertaking in every possible way, since each Crusade instantly and greatly strengthened its power; yet the result was the reverse of what the Church hoped for, in the end. The bravery, intelligence and refined manners of the Saracens made a great impression on the Christian knights, and they soon began to imitate those whom they had at first despised. New branches of learning, especially astronomy, mathematics and medicine, were brought to Europe from the East; more luxurious habits of life, giving rise to finer arts of industry, followed; and commerce, compelled to supply the Crusaders and Christian colonists at such a distance, was rapidly developed to an extent unknown since the fall of the Roman Empire.

[Sidenote: 1256. GROWTH OF INDEPENDENT SECTS.]

As men gained new ideas from these changes, they became more independent in thought and speech. The priests and monks ceased to monopolize all knowledge, and their despotism over the human mind met with resistance.

Then, first, the charge of "heresy" began to be heard; and although during the thirteenth and a part of the fourteenth centuries the Pope of Rome was undoubtedly the highest power in Europe, the influences were already at work which afterwards separated the strongest races of the world from the Roman Church. On the one hand, new orders of monks were created, and monasteries increased everywhere: on the other hand, independent Christian sects began to spring up, like the Albigenses in France and the Waldenses in Savoy, and could not be wholly suppressed, even with fire and sword.

The orders of knighthood which possessed a religious character, were also established during the Crusades. First the Knights of St. John, whose badge was a black mantle with a white cross, formed a society to guard pilgrims to the Holy Land, and take care of the sick. Then followed the Knights Templar, distinguished by a red cross on a white mantle. Both these orders originated among the Italian chivalry, and they included few German members. During the Third Crusade, however (which was headed by Barbarossa), the German Order of Knights was formed, chiefly by the aid of the merchants of Bremen and Lubeck. They adopted the black cross on a white mantle as their badge, took the monkish vows of celibacy, poverty and obedience, like the Templars and the Knights of St. John, and devoted their lives to war with the heathen. The second Grand-Master of this order, Hermann of Salza, accompanied Frederick II. to Jerusalem, and his character was so highly estimated by the latter that he made him a prince of the German Empire.

[Sidenote: 1256.]

Inasmuch as the German Order really owed its existence to the support of the merchants of the Northern coast, Hermann of Salza sought for a field of labor wherein the knights might fulfil their vows, and at the same time achieve some advantage for their benefactors. As early as 1199, the Bremen merchants had founded Riga, taken possession of the eastern sh.o.r.e of the Baltic and established German colonies there. The native Finnish or Lithuanian inhabitants were either exterminated or forcibly converted to Christianity, and an order, called "the Brothers of the Sword," was established for the defence of the colonies. This new German territory was separated from the rest of the Empire by the country between the mouths of the Vistula and the Memel, claimed by Poland, and inhabited by the Borussii, or _Prussians_, a tribe which seems to have been of mixed Slavic and Lithuanian blood. Hermann of Salza obtained from Poland the permission to possess this country for the German Order, and he gradually conquered or converted the native Prussians. In the meantime the Brothers of the Sword were so hard pressed by a revolt of the Livonians that they united themselves with the German Order, and thenceforth formed a branch of it. The result of this union was that the whole coast of the Baltic, from Holstein to the Gulf of Finland, was secured to Germany, and became civilized and Christian.

During the thirty-five years of Frederick II.'s reign and the seventeen succeeding years of the Interregnum, Germany was in a condition which allowed the strong to make themselves stronger, yet left the weaker cla.s.ses without any protection. The reigning Dukes and Archbishops were, of course, satisfied with this state of affairs; the independent counts and barons with large possessions maintained their power by temporary alliances; the inferior n.o.bles, left to themselves, became robbers of land, and highwaymen. With the introduction of new arts and the wider extension of commerce, the cities of Germany had risen in wealth and power, and were beginning to develop an intelligent middle-cla.s.s, standing between the farmers, who had sunk almost into the condition of serfs, and the lesser n.o.bles, most of whom were equally poor and proud.

Upwards of sixty cities were free munic.i.p.alities, belonging to the Empire on the same terms as the dukedoms; that is, they contributed a certain proportion of men and money, and were bound to obey the decrees of the Imperial Diets.

[Sidenote: 1256. ROBBER-KNIGHTS.--CITIES.]

As soon, therefore, as there was no superior authority to maintain order and security in the land, a large number of the knights became freebooters, plundering and laying waste whenever opportunity offered, attacking the caravans of travelling merchants, and acc.u.mulating the ill-gotten wealth in their strong castles. Many an aristocratic family of the present day owes its inheritance to that age of robbery and murder. The people had few secured rights and no actual freedom in Germany, with the exception of Friesland, some parts of Saxony and the Alpine districts.

In this condition of things, the free cities soon found it advisable to a.s.sist each other. Bremen, Hamburg and Lubeck first formed a union, chiefly for commercial purposes, in 1241, and this was the foundation of the famous Hanseatic League. Immediately after the death of Konrad IV., Mayence, Speyer, Worms, Strasburg and Basel formed the "Union of Rhenish Cities," for the preservation of peace and the mutual protection of their citizens. Many other cities, and even a number of reigning princes and bishops, soon became members of this league, which for a time exercised considerable power. The princ.i.p.al German cities were then even more important than now; few of them have gained in population or in relative wealth in the course of 600 years. Cologne had then 120,000 inhabitants, Mayence 90,000, Worms 60,000, and Ratisbon on the Danube upwards of 120,000. The cities of the Rhine had agencies in England and other countries, carried on commerce on the high seas, and owned no less than 600 armed vessels, with which they guarded the Rhine from the land-pirates whose castles overlooked its course.

During this age of civil and religious despotism, the German cities possessed and preserved the only free inst.i.tutions to be found. They owed this privilege to the heroic resistance of the republican cities of Italy to the Hohenstaufens, which not only set them an example but fought in their stead. Sure of the loyalty of the German cities, the Emperors were not so jealous of their growth; but some of the rights which they conferred were reluctantly given, and probably in return for men or money during the wars in Italy. The decree which changed a va.s.sal, or dependent, into a free man after a year's residence in a city, helped greatly to build up a strong and intelligent middle-cla.s.s.

The merchants, professional men and higher artisans gradually formed a patrician society, out of which the governing officers were selected, while the mechanics, for greater protection, organized themselves into separate guilds, or orders. Each of the latter was very watchful of the character and reputation of its members, and thus exercised a strong moral influence. The farmers, only, had no such protection: very few of them were not dependent va.s.sals of some n.o.bleman or priest.

[Sidenote: 1260.]

The cities, in the thirteenth century, began to exhibit a stately architectural character. The building of splendid cathedrals and monasteries, which began two centuries before, now gave employment to such a large number of architects and stone-cutters, that they formed a free corporation, under the name of "Brother-builders," with especial rights and privileges, all over Germany. Their labors were supported by the power of the Church, the wealth of the merchants and the toil of the va.s.sals, and the masterpieces of Gothic architecture arose under their hands. The grand Cathedrals of Strasburg, Freiburg and Cologne with many others, yet remain as monuments of their genius and skill. But the private dwellings, also, now began to display the wealth and taste of their owners. They were usually built very high, with pointed gables facing the street, and adorned with sculptured designs: frequently the upper stories projected over the lower, forming a shelter for the open shops in the first story. As the cities were walled for defence, the s.p.a.ce within the walls was too valuable to be given to wide squares and streets: hence there was usually one open market-place, which also served for all public ceremonies, and the streets were dark and narrow.

In spite of the prevailing power of the Roman Church, the Universities now began to exercise some influence. Those of Bologna and Padua were frequented by throngs of students, who attended the schools of law, while the University of Salerno, under the patronage of Manfred, became a distinguished school of medicine. The Arabic university of Cordova, in Spain, also attracted many students from all the Christian lands of Europe. Works on all branches of knowledge were greatly multiplied, so that the copying of them became a new profession. For the first time, there were written forms of law for the instruction of the people. In the northern part of Germany appeared a work called "The Saxon's Looking-Gla.s.s," which was soon accepted as a legal authority by the people. But it was too liberal for the priests, and under their influence another work, "The Suabian's Looking-Gla.s.s," was written and circulated in Southern Germany. The former book declares that the Emperor has his power from G.o.d; the latter that he has it from the Pope.

The Saxon is told that no man can justly hold another man as property, and that the people were made va.s.sals through force and wrong; the Suabian is taught that obedience to rulers is his chief duty.

[Sidenote: 1260. CLa.s.sES OF THE PEOPLE.]

From these two works, which are still in existence, we learn how complicated was the political organization of Germany. The whole free population was divided into seven cla.s.ses, each having its own privileges and rules of government. First, there was the Emperor; secondly, the Spiritual Princes, as they were called (Archbishops, reigning Bishops, &c.); thirdly, the Temporal Princes, some of whom were partly or wholly "Va.s.sals" of the Spiritual authority; and fourthly, the Counts and Barons who possessed territory, either independently, or as _Lehen_ of the second and third cla.s.ses. These four cla.s.ses const.i.tuted the higher n.o.bility, by whom the Emperor was chosen, and each of whom had the right to be a candidate. Seven princes were specially ent.i.tled "Electors," because the nomination of a candidate for Emperor came from them. There were three Spiritual--the Archbishops of Mayence, Treves and Cologne; and four Temporal--the Dukes of Bavaria and Saxony, the Margrave of Brandenburg and the King of Bohemia.

The fifth cla.s.s embraced the free citizens from among whom magistrates were chosen, and who were allowed to possess certain privileges of the n.o.bles. The sixth and seventh cla.s.ses were formed out of the remaining freemen, according to their circ.u.mstances and occupations. The serfs and dependents had no place in this system of government, so that a large majority of the German people possessed no other recognized right than that of being ruled and punished. In fact, the whole political system was so complicated and unpractical that we can only wonder how Germany endured it for centuries afterwards.

At the end of the Hohenstaufen dynasty there were one hundred and sixteen priestly rulers, one hundred ruling dukes, princes, counts and barons, and more than sixty independent cities in Germany. The larger dukedoms had been cut up into smaller states, many of which exist, either as states or provinces, at this day. Styria and Tyrol were separated from Bavaria; the princ.i.p.alities of Westphalia, Anhalt, Holstein, Julich, Berg, Cleves, Pomerania and Mecklenburg were formed out of Saxony; Suabia was divided into Wurtemberg and Baden, the Palatinate of the Rhine detached from Franconia and Hesse from Thuringia. Each of the princ.i.p.al German races was distinguished by two colors--the Franks red and white, the Suabians red and yellow, the Bavarians blue and white, and the Saxons black and white. The Saxon _black_, the Frank _red_, and the Suabian _gold_ were set together as the Imperial colors.

[Sidenote: 1260.]

The chief service of the Hohenstaufens to Germany lay in their direct and generous encouragement of art, learning and literature. They took up the work commenced by Charlemagne and so disastrously thwarted by his son Ludwig the Pious, and in the course of a hundred years they developed what might be called a golden age of architecture and epic poetry, so strongly does it contrast with the four centuries before and the three succeeding it. The immediate connection between Germany and Italy, where the most of Roman culture had survived and the higher forms of civilization were first restored, was in this single respect a great advantage to the former country. We cannot ascertain how many of the n.o.bler characteristics of knighthood, in that age, sprang from the religious spirit which prompted the Crusades, and how many originated from intercourse with the refined and high-spirited Saracens; both elements, undoubtedly, tended to revive the almost forgotten love of poetry in the German race.

[Sidenote: 1270. GERMAN EPIC POEMS.]

When the knights of Provence and Italy became as proud of their songs as of their feats of arms; when minstrels accompanied the court of Frederick II. and the Emperor himself wrote poems in rivalry with them; when the Duke of Austria and the Landgrave Hermann of Thuringia invited the best poets of the time to visit them and received them as distinguished guests, and when wandering minstrels and story-tellers repeated their works in a simpler form to the people everywhere, it was not long before a new literature was created. Walter von der Vogelweide, who accompanied Frederick II. to Jerusalem, wrote not only songs of love and poems in praise of Nature, but satires against the Pope and the priesthood. G.o.dfrey of Strasburg produced an epic poem describing the times of king Arthur of the Round Table, and Wolfram of Eschenbach, in his "Parcival," celebrated the search for the Holy Grail; while inferior poets related the histories of Alexander the Great, the Siege of Troy, or Charlemagne's knight, Roland. Among the people arose the story of Reynard the Fox, and a mult.i.tude of fables; and finally, during the thirteenth century, was produced the celebrated _Nibelungenlied_, or Song of the Nibelungen, wherein traditions of Siegfried of the Netherlands, Theodoric the Ostrogoth and Attila with his Huns are mixed together in a powerful story of love, rivalry and revenge. The most of these poems are written in a Suabian dialect, which is now called the "Middle (or Mediaeval) High-German."

Among the historical writers were Bishop Otto of Friesing, whose chronicles of the time are very valuable, and Saxo Grammaticus, in whose history of Denmark Shakspeare found the material for his play of _Hamlet_. Albertus Magnus, the Bishop of Ratisbon, was so distinguished as a mathematician and man of science that the people believed him to be a sorcerer. There was, in short, a general intellectual awakening throughout Germany, and, although afterwards discouraged by many of the 276 smaller powers, it was favored by others and could not be suppressed. Besides, greater changes were approaching. A hundred years after Frederick II.'s death gunpowder was discovered, and the common soldier became the equal of the knight. In another hundred years, Gutenberg invented printing, and then followed, rapidly, the Discovery of America and the Reformation.

CHAPTER XX.

FROM RUDOLF OF HAPSBURG TO LUDWIG THE BAVARIAN.

(1273--1347.)

Rudolf of Hapsburg. --His Election as Emperor. --Meeting with Pope Gregory X. --War with Ottokar II. of Bohemia. --Rudolf's Victories.

--Diet of Augsburg. --Suppression of Robber-Knights. --Rudolf's Second Marriage. --His Death. --His Character and Habits. --Adolf of Na.s.sau elected. --His Rapacity and Dishonesty. --Albert of Hapsburg Rival Emperor. --Adolf's Death. --Albert's Character.

--Quarrel with Pope Bonifacius. --Albert's Plans. --Revolt of the Swiss Cantons. --John Parricida murders the Emperor. --The Popes remove to Avignon. --Henry of Luxemburg elected Emperor. --His Efforts to restore Peace. --His Welcome to Italy, and Coronation.

--He is Poisoned. --Ludwig of Bavaria elected. --Battle of Morgarten. --Frederick of Austria captured. --The Papal "Interdict." --Conspiracy of Leopold of Austria. --Ludwig's Visit to Italy. --His Superst.i.tion and Cowardice. --His Efforts to be reconciled to the Pope. --Treachery of Philip VI. of France. --The Convention at Rense. --Alliance with England. --Ludwig's Unpopularity. --Karl of Bohemia Rival Emperor. --Ludwig's Death.

--The German Cities.

[Sidenote: 1272.]

Richard of Cornwall died in 1272, and the German princes seemed to be in no haste to elect a successor. The Pope, Gregory X., finally demanded an election, for the greater convenience of having to deal with one head, instead of a mult.i.tude; and the Archbishop of Mayence called a Diet together at Frankfort, the following year. He proposed, as candidate, Count Rudolf of Hapsburg (or Habsburg), a petty ruler in Switzerland, who had also possessions in Alsatia. Up to his time the family had been insignificant; but, as a zealous partisan of Frederick II. in whose excommunication he had shared, as a crusader against the heathen Prussians, and finally, in his maturer years, as a man of great prudence, moderation and firmness, he had made the name of Hapsburg generally and quite favorably known. His brother-in-law, Count Frederick of Hohenzollern, the Burgrave, or Governor, of the city of Nuremburg (and the founder of the present house of the Hohenzollerns), advocated Rudolf's election among the members of the Diet. The chief considerations in his favor were his personal character, his lack of power, and the circ.u.mstance of his possessing six marriageable daughters. There were also private stipulations which secured him the support of the priesthood, and so he was elected King of Germany.

[Sidenote: 1273. RUDOLF OF HABSBURG.]

Rudolf was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle. At the close of the ceremony it was discovered that the Imperial sceptre was missing, whereupon he took a crucifix from the altar, and held it forth to the princes, who came to swear allegiance to his rule. He was at this time fifty-five years of age, extremely tall and lank, with a haggard face and large aquiline nose. Although he was always called "Emperor" by the people, he never received, or even desired, the imperial Crown of Rome. He was in the habit of saying that Rome was the den of the lion, into which led the tracks of many other animals, but none were seen leading out of it again.

It was easy for him, therefore, to conclude a peace with the Pope. He met Gregory X. at Lausanne, and there formally renounced all claim to the rights held by the Hohenstaufens in Italy. He even recognized Charles of Anjou as king of Sicily and Naples, and betrothed one of his daughters to the latter's son. The Church of Rome received possession of all the territory it had claimed in Central Italy, and the Lombard and Tuscan republics were left for awhile undisturbed. He further promised to undertake a new Crusade for the recovery of Jerusalem, and was then solemnly recognized by Gregory X. as rightful king of Germany.

But, although Rudolf had so readily given up all for which the Hohenstaufens had struggled in Italy, he at once claimed their estates in Germany as belonging to the crown. This brought him into conflict with Counts Ulric and Eberhard II. of Wurtemberg, who were also allied with king Ottokar II. of Bohemia in opposition to his authority. The latter had obtained possession of Austria, through marriage, and of all Styria and Carinthia to the Adriatic by purchase. He was ambitious and defiant: some historians suppose that he hoped to make himself Emperor of Germany, others that his object was to establish a powerful Slavonic nation. Rudolf did not delay long in declaring him outlawed, and in calling upon the other princes for an army to lead against him. The call was received with indifference: no one feared the new Emperor, and hence no one obeyed.

[Sidenote: 1278.]

Gathering together such troops as his son-in-law, Ludwig of the Bavarian Palatinate, could furnish, Rudolf marched into Austria, after he had restored order in Wurtemberg. A revolt of the Austrian and Styrian n.o.bles against Bohemian rule followed this movement: the country was gradually reconquered, and Vienna, after a siege of five weeks, fell into Rudolf's hands. Ottokar II. then found it advisable to make peace with the man whom he had styled "a poor Count," by giving up his claim to Austria, Styria and Carinthia, and paying homage to the Emperor of Germany. In October, 1276, the treaty was concluded. Ottokar appeared in all the splendor he could command, and was received by Rudolf in a costume not very different from that of a common soldier. "The Bohemian king has often laughed at my gray coat," he said; "but now my coat shall laugh at him." Ottokar was enraged at what he considered an insulting humiliation, and secretly plotted revenge. For nearly two years he intrigued with the States of Northern Germany and the Poles, collected a large army under the pretext of conquering Hungary, and suddenly declared war against Rudolf.

The Emperor was only supported by the Count of Tyrol, by Frederick of Hohenzollern and a few bishops, but he procured the alliance of the Hungarians, and then marched against Ottokar with a much inferior force.

Nevertheless, he was completely victorious in the battle which took place, on the river March, in August, 1278. Ottokar was killed, and his Saxon and Bavarian allies scattered. Rudolf used his victory with a moderation which secured him new advantages. He married one of his daughters to Wenzel, Ottokar's son, and allowed him the crown of Bohemia and Moravia; he gave Carinthia to the Count of Tyrol, and Austria and Styria to his own sons, Rudolf and Albert. Towards the other German princes he was so conciliatory and forbearing that they found no cause for further opposition. Thus the influence of the House of Hapsburg was permanently founded, and--curiously enough, when we consider the later history of Germany--chiefly by the help of the founder of the House of Hohenzollern.