Part 45 (1/2)
GROWTH OF THE NATIONS.--FORMATION OF NATIONAL GOVERNMENTS AND LITERATURES.
INTRODUCTORY.--The most important movement that marked the latter part of the Middle Ages was the grouping, in several of the countries of Europe, of the petty feudal states and half-independent cities and towns into great nations with strong centralized governments. This movement was accompanied by, or rather consisted in, the decline of Feudalism as a governmental system, the loss by the cities of their freedom, and the growth of the power of the kings.
Many things contributed to this consolidation of peoples and governments, different circ.u.mstances favoring the movement in the several countries. In some countries, however, events were opposed to the centralizing tendency, and in these the Modern Age was reached without nationality having been found. But in England, in France, and in Spain circ.u.mstances all seemed to tend towards unity, and by the close of the fifteenth century there were established in these countries strong despotic monarchies. Yet even among those peoples where national governments did not appear, some progress was made towards unity through the formation of national languages and literatures, and the development of common feelings, sentiments, and aspirations, so that these peoples were manifestly only awaiting the opportunities of a happier period for the maturing of their national life.
This rise of Monarchy and decline of Feudalism, this subst.i.tution of strong centralized governments in place of the feeble, irregular, and conflicting authorities of the feudal n.o.bles, was a very great gain to the cause of law and good order. It paved the way for modern progress and civilization.
1. ENGLAND.
GENERAL STATEMENT.--In preceding chapters we have told of the origin of the English people, and traced their growth under Saxon, Danish, and Norman rulers (see pp. 375, 411, 433). We shall, in the present section, tell very briefly the story of their progress under the Plantagenet kings, thus carrying on our narrative to the accession of the Tudors in 1485, from which event dates the beginning of the modern history of England.
The era of the Plantagenets, which covers three hundred and thirty-one years, was a most eventful one in English history. The chief political matters that we shall notice were the wresting of Magna Charta from King John, the formation of the House of Commons, the Conquest of Wales, the Wars with Scotland, the Hundred Years' War with France, and the Wars of the Roses. [Footnote: The name Plantagenet came from the peculiar badge, a sprig of broom-plant (_plante de genet_), adopted by one of the early members of the House. Following is a table of the sovereigns of the family:-- Henry II.... ... . 1154-1189 Richard I... ... . 1189-1199 John ... ... ... 1199-1216 Henry III... ... . 1216-1272 Edward I ... ... . 1272-1307 Edward II... ... . 1307-1327 Edward III ... ... 1327-1377 Richard II ... ... 1377-1399
HOUSE OF LANCASTER.
Henry IV ... ... . 1399-1413 Henry V... ..... 1413-1422 Henry VI ... ... . 1422-1461
HOUSE OF YORK.
Edward IV... ... . 1461-1483 Edward V ... ... . 1483 Richard III... ... 1483-1485]
MAGNA CHARTA (1215).--Magna Charta, the ”Great Charter,” held sacred as the basis of English liberties, was an instrument which the English barons and clergy forced King John to grant, in which the ancient rights and privileges of the people were clearly defined and guaranteed.
King John (1199-1216), the third of the Plantagenet line, was as tyrannical as he was unscrupulous and wicked. His course led to an open revolt of the barons, who were resolved upon the recovery of their ancient liberties. The tyrant was forced to bow to the storm he had raised. He met his barons at Runnymede, a meadow on the Thames, and there affixed his seal to the instrument that had been prepared to receive it.
Among the important articles of the paper were the following: No freeman should be deprived of life, liberty, or property, ”save by legal judgment of his peers.” No taxes (save several feudal aids specified) should be imposed ”save by the Common Council of the realm.” [Footnote: This article respecting taxation was suffered to fall into abeyance in the reign of John's successor, Henry III., and it was not until about one hundred years after the granting of _Magna Charta_ that the great principle that the people should be taxed only through their representatives in Parliament, became fully established.]
Besides these articles, which form the foundation of the English Const.i.tution, there were others abolis.h.i.+ng numerous abuses and confirming various time-honored rights and privileges of the towns and of different cla.s.ses of freemen.
The Great Charter was often disregarded and broken by despotic sovereigns; but the people always clung to it as the warrant and basis of their liberties, and again and again forced tyrannical kings to renew and confirm its provisions, and swear solemnly to observe all its articles.
Considering the far-reaching consequences that resulted from the granting of _Magna Charta_,--the securing of const.i.tutional liberty as an inheritance for the English-speaking race in all parts of the world,--it must always be considered the most important concession that a freedom- loving people ever wrung from a tyrannical sovereign.
BEGINNING OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS (1265).--The reign of Henry III. (1216- 1272), John's son and successor, witnessed the second important step taken in English const.i.tutional freedom. This was the formation of the House of Commons, Parliament having up to this time consisted of a single House, made up of n.o.bles and bishops. It was again the royal misbehavior that led to this great change in the form of the English national a.s.sembly. Henry had violated his oath to rule according to the Great Charter, and had become even more tyrannical than his father. The indignant barons rose in revolt, and Henry and his son being worsted in a great engagement, known as the battle of Lewes (1264), were made prisoners.
Simon de Montfort, a Frenchman, whom Henry had given a prominent position in the government, now a.s.sumed control of affairs. He issued, in the king's name, writs of summons to the n.o.bles and bishops to meet in Parliament; and at the same time sent similar writs to the sheriffs of the different s.h.i.+res, directing them ”to return two knights for the body of their county, with two citizens or burghers for every city and borough contained in it.” This was the first time that plain unt.i.tled citizens or burghers had been called to take their place with the knights, lords, and bishops in the great council of the nation, to join in deliberations on the affairs of the realm. [Footnote: At first the Commons could only take part in questions relating to taxation, but gradually they acquired the right to share in all matters that might come before Parliament.] The Commons were naturally at first a weak and timorous body, quite overawed by the great lords, but were destined eventually to grow into the controlling branch of the British Parliament.
CONQUEST OF WALES.--For more than a thousand years the Celtic tribes of Wales maintained among their mountain fastnesses an ever-renewed struggle with the successive invaders and conquerors of England--with Roman, Saxon, and Norman. They never submitted their necks to the Roman yoke, but they were forced to acknowledge the overlords.h.i.+p of some of the Saxon and Norman kings. They were restless va.s.sals, however, and were constantly withholding tribute and refusing homage.
When Edward I. came to the English throne in 1272, Llewellyn, the overlord of the Welsh chiefs, with the t.i.tle of Prince of Wales, refused to render homage to the new king. War followed. Llewellyn was slain, and the independence of his race forever extinguished (1282). The t.i.tle of the Welsh chieftain has ever since been borne by the eldest son of the English sovereign.
WARS WITH SCOTLAND (1296-1328).--In 1285 the ancient Celtic line of Scottish chiefs became extinct. Thirteen claimants for the vacant throne immediately arose. Chief among these were Robert Bruce and John Balliol, distinguished n.o.blemen of Norman descent, attached to the Scottish court.
King Edward I. of England, who claimed suzerain rights over the Scottish realm, was asked to act as arbitrator, and decide to whom the crown should be given. He decided the question of the succession in favor of Balliol, who now took the crown of Scotland as the acknowledged va.s.sal of the English sovereign.
Edward's unjust demands on the Scottish king led him to cast off his feudal allegiance. In the war that followed, the Scots were defeated, and Scotland now fell back as a fief forfeited by treason, into the hands of Edward (1296). As a sign that the Scottish kingdom had come to an end, Edward carried off to London the royal regalia, and with this a large stone, known as the Stone of Scone, upon which the Scottish kings, from time out of memory, had been accustomed to be crowned. Legend declared that the relic was the very stone on which Jacob had slept at Bethel. The block was taken to Westminster Abbey, and there made to support the seat of a stately throne-chair, which to this day is used in the coronation ceremonies of the English sovereigns. It is said that the stone once bore this legend:--
”Should fate not fail, where'er this stone be found, The Scot shall monarch of that realm be crowned,”
which prophecy was fulfilled when James VI. of Scotland became James I. of England. [Footnote: ”Whether the prophecy was actually inscribed on the stone may be doubted, though this seems to be implied, and on the lower side is still visible a groove which may have contained it; but the fact that it was circulated and believed as early as the fourteenth century, is certain.”--Dean Stanley's _Memorials of Westminster Abbey_.]
The two countries were not long united. The Scotch people loved too well their ancient liberties to submit quietly to this extinguishment of their national independence. Under the inspiration and lead of the famous Sir William Wallace, an outlaw knight, all the Lowlands were soon in determined revolt. It was chiefly from the peasantry that the patriot hero drew his followers. Wallace gained some successes, but at length was betrayed into Edward's hands. He was condemned to death as a traitor, and his head, garlanded with a crown of laurel, was exposed on London Bridge (1305). The romantic life of Wallace, his patriotic service, his heroic exploits, and his tragic death, at once lifted him to the place that he has ever since held, as the national hero of Scotland.
The struggle in which Wallace had fallen, was soon renewed by the almost equally renowned hero Robert Bruce (grandson of the Robert Bruce mentioned on p. 482), who was the representative of the n.o.bles, as Wallace had been of the common people. With Edward II. Bruce fought the great _Battle of Bannockburn_, near Stirling. Edward's army was almost annihilated (1314).