History of European morals from Augustus to Charlemagne by Lecky William Edward Hartpole 1838-1903

Author:Lecky, William Edward Hartpole, 1838-1903. [from old catalog]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Ethics
Publisher: New York, D. Appleton and company
Published: 1873-03-25T05:00:00+00:00

Digitized

by Google

in C5harlemagne, had done their work. The age of the ascetics began to fade. The age of the crusades and of chivalry succeeded it.

It is curious to observe the manner in which, under the influence of the prevailing tendency, the career of Charlemagne was transfigured by the popular imagination. This great emperor had, in fact, been in no degree actuated by the spirit of a crusader; his military enterprises had been chiefly directed against the Saxons, against whom he had made not less than thirty-two expeditions. With the Mahommedans he had but little contact. It was Charles Martel, not his grandson, who, by the great battle of Poictiers, had checked their career. Charlemagne made, in person, but a single expedition against them in Spain, and that expedition was on a scale that was altogether inconsiderable, and it was disastrous in its issue. But in the Carlovingian romances, which arose at a time when the enthusiasm of the Crusades was permeating all Christendom, events were represented in a wholly different light. Charles Martel has no place among the ideal combatants of the Church. He had appeared too early, his figure was not suflSciently great to fascinate the popular imagination, and by confiscating ecclesiastical property, and refusing to assist the Pope against the Lombards, he had fallen under the ban of the clergy. Charlemagne, on the other hand, is represented as the first and greatest of the crusaders. His wars with the Saxons were scarcely noticed. His whole life was said to have been spent in heroic and triumphant combats with the followers of Mahomet.^ Among the achievements attributed to him was an expedition to rescue Nismes and Carcassone from their grasp, which was, in fact, a dim tradition of the victories of Charles

^ Faoriel, Hid, dt la Poime proven^ley tome ii. p. 252.

Digitized

by Google

Martel.^ He is even said to have carried his victorious arms into the heart of Palestine, and he is the hero of what are probably the three earliest extant romances of the Crusades/^ In fiction, as in history, his reign forms the great landmark separating the early period of the middle ages from the age of military Christianity.

On the verge of this great change I draw this history to a close. In pursuing our long and chequered course, from Augustus to Charlemagne, we have seen the rise and fall of many types of character, and of many forms of enthusiasm. We have seen the influence of imiversal empire expanding, and the influence of Greek civilisation intensifying, the sympathies of Europe. We have surveyed the successive progress of Stoicism, Platonism, and Egyptian philosophies, at once reflecting and guiding the moral tendencies of society. We have traced the course of progress or retrogression in many fields of social, political, and legislative life; have watched the cradle of European Christianity, examined the causes of its triumph, the difficulties it encountered, and the priceless blessings its philanthropic spirit bestowed upon mankind. We have also pursued step by step the mournful histoiy

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.