Effects of the Crusades.

329

and further recognition as to secular affairs in the European states. The church was enriched by succeeding to lands bequeathed to her by crusaders who might die, and often did die, without heirs, and by endowments made by such as shirked the duty of personal service in the cause of the Cross.

2. There is no stronger bond of communion than that which unites those who have fought and bled on the same International battle-fields, shared the same adventures, and en- sympathy. countered the same dangers, trials, and misfortunes. The journeying to and from the Holy Land, and the deeds done there against the infidels, were the common simultaneous work of various Western nations, who thereby came to know each other better, to have a fellow-feeling and a mutual respect, and to cast away the prejudices born of ignorance and isolation. Enlightenment in this way came to Europe, in no small degree, from the crusades.

3. The power of the feudal aristocracy was lessened in many quarters through the encumbering of estates with Effect on debt in meeting the heavy expenses of an expedition feudalism. to the East. One consequence of this was that land was acquired by members of the rich trading class that had begun to arise, and so a new aristocracy of wealth gained by enterprise and skill, instead of by rapine and extortion, was by slow degrees created. The edifice of feudalism was undermined in the alienation of the estates of proud, martial, and oppressive barons, and in the frequent extinction even of their race by death in war. As Gibbon says, "Their poverty extorted from their pride those charters of freedom which unlocked the fetters of the slave, secured the farm of the peasant and the shop of the artificer, and gradually restored a substance and a soul to the most numerous and useful part of the community. The conflagration which destroyed the tall and barren trees of the forest gave air and scope to the vegetation of the smaller and nutritive plants of the soil." In other words, modern society is indebted to the crusades for the beginnings of its best constituent, the great middle class.

4. The growth of chivalry will be dealt with in the next chapter: the institution acquired a new splendour Effect on and dignity through the crusades. At this time chivalry. chivalry became distinctly religious as well as military: "for many ages the recovery of the Holy Land was constantly at the heart of a brave and superstitious nobility; and every knight

Effect on

was supposed, at his creation, to pledge himself to that cause. The defence of God's law against infidels was his primary and standing duty. A knight, whenever present at mass, held the point of his sword before him while the gospel was read, to signify his readiness to support it. In the ceremonial connected with the conferring of knighthood, everything was contrived so as to identify his new condition with the defence of religion.” 5. The commercial republics of Italy-to be noticed hereafter -received much benefit from the crusades. The commerce. large numbers of troops that went to Palestine wholly or partially by sea were borne in transport vessels supplied by these maritime states, which also did a great trade in provisions and supplies for warlike purposes. The ships returned on the homeward voyage filled up with products of the East before unknown or little used in Europe, and new markets for commerce became established at many points upon the eastern coasts of the great inland sea. New arts and processes in manufactures were also introduced to Europe.

and other

effects of Crusades.

6. The mental stir aroused by the experience of an advenIntellectual turous change of scene could not but have the happiest effect upon the stagnation and stolidity engendered among those who never move from home. The men of Western Europe went forth into the East, and found there, in the foes whom they encountered on the field of battle, not only warriors as gallant as themselves, but their superiors in knowledge, industry, and art. The nations of the west of Europe had abundant energy of character, and an active, imitative spirit, and thus derived essential good from intercourse with the Arabians and Greeks who then possessed the highest culture of the world. It was at a later period, indeed, that learning thoroughly revived, and the Latin conquerors of Constantinople early in the thirteenth century were still too rude to understand and master the treasures of literature existing in her libraries and schools. But rudiments of learning, in mathematical and medical science especially, were at anyrate acquired in the East, and the way for better things was smoothed. A revival of thought, a growth of liberal ideas, arose out of the expeditions which were due, in the beginning, to a spirit of fanatical enthusiasm, but in the end did much to lessen religious bigotry and prejudice concerning those whom Christian knights found to be as brave, as generous, as truly chivalrous as themselves. Amongst the minor benefits conferred by the East upon

the West during the times of the crusades may be recounted windmills, invented first in Asia Minor, and introduced to Normandy in 1105, and such luxuries as silk and sugar, brought from Greece and Egypt into Italy by the traders of the great commercial states.

CHAPTER VIII.

CHIVALRY: ITS RISE AND DECAY.

chivalry.

1. Chivalry had its rise in feudalism, and was the noblest product of that institution. On this subject the great historian Hallam writes:-"As the school of moral discipline, the feudal insti- Origin of tutions were perhaps most to be valued. Society had sunk for several centuries after the dissolution of the Roman Empire into a condition of utter depravity, where, if any vices could be selected as more eminently characteristic than others, they were falsehood, treachery, and ingratitude. In slowly purging off the lees of this extreme corruption, the feudal spirit exerted its ameliorating influence. Violation of faith stood first in the catalogue of crimes, most repugnant to the very essence of feudal tenure, most severely and promptly avenged, most branded by general infamy. The feudal law-books breathe throughout a spirit of honourable obligation.

In the reciprocal services of lord and vassal there was ample scope for magnanimous and disinterested energy. The heart of man, when placed in circumstances which have a tendency to excite them, will seldom be deficient in such sentiments. No occasions could be more favourable than the protection of a faithful supporter, or the defence of a beneficent suzerain, against such powerful aggression as left little prospect except of sharing in his ruin. From these feelings, engendered by the feudal relation, has sprung up the peculiar sentiment of personal reverence and attachment towards a sovereign which we call loyalty, alike distinguishable from the stupid devotion of eastern slaves and from the abstract respect with which free citizens regard their chief magistrate. In a moral view, loyalty has scarcely perhaps less tendency to refine and elevate the heart than patriotism itself." Such is one view of the spirit of chivalry, so far as it concerned the maintenance of the peace and order of the social system.

Character of chivalry.

2. But there is much more than this involved. The feudal system arose among the Franks, a German people, and the Teutonic race was always distinguished by its warlike character, and by the great respect shown towards womankind. Hence we have some of the chief marks of the age of chivalry-devotion to exploits of arms and honour paid to the gentler sex. Taking a wider and a deeper view, the same eminent writer observes that "there are three powerful spirits which have from time to time moved over the face of the waters, and given a predominant impulse to the moral sentiments and energies of mankind. These are the spirits of liberty, of religion, and of honour. It was the principal business of chivalry to animate and cherish the last of these three. And whatever high magnanimous energy the love of liberty or religious zeal has ever imparted,

was equalled by the exquisite sense of honour which this institution preserved. The soul of chivalry was individual honour, coveted in so entire and absolute a perfection that it must not be shared with an army or a nation. Most of the virtues which it inspired were what we may call independent, as opposed to those which are founded upon social relations. The knights-errant of romance perform their best exploits from the love of renown, or from a sort of abstract sense of justice, rather than from any solicitude to promote the happiness of mankind. If these springs of action are less generally beneficial, they are, however, more connected with elevation of character than the systematic prudence of men accustomed to social life. This solitary and independent spirit of chivalry, dwelling, as it were, upon a rock, and disdaining injustice or falsehood from a consciousness of internal dignity without any calculation of their consequences, is not unlike what we sometimes read of in Arabian chiefs or the North-American Indians. These nations, so widely remote from each other, seem to partake of that moral energy which among European nations far remote from both of them was excited by the spirit of chivalry.

3. "But the most beautiful picture that was ever portrayed of this charAchilles, re- acter is the Achilles of Homer, the representative of chivalry presentative in its most general form, with all its sincerity and unyielding of chivalry. rectitude, all its courtesies and munificence. Calmly indifferent to the cause in which he is engaged, and contemplating with a serious and unshaken look the premature death that awaits him, his heart only beats for glory and friendship. To this sublime character, bating that imaginary completeness, by which the creations of the poet, like those of the sculptor, transcend all single works of nature, there were probably many parallels in the ages of chivalry, especially before a set education and the refinements of society had altered a little the natural unadulterated warrior of a ruder period. One illustrious example from this earlier age is Ruy Diaz the Cid; and though I will not say that the Spanish hero is altogether a counterpart of Achilles in gracefulness and urbanity, yet was he inferior to none that ever lived in frankness, honour, and magnanimity."1

valric character.

4. It was through the crusades that chivalry acquired its character of a Development religious as well as a military institution-a subject on which of the chi- something was said in the last chapter. The progressive refinement of society during the twelfth and two succeeding centuries developed the spirit of gallantry, or respectful devotion to ladies, which became so animating a principle of chivalry. Woman began to have an ascendency in the lighter hours, and then in the serious occupations, of life. "The love of becoming ornament is an instinct which woman has received from nature to give effect to those charms that are her defence; and when commerce began to minister more effectually to the wants of luxury, the rich furs of the North, the gay silks of Asia, the wrought gold of domestic manufacture illumined the halls of chivalry, and cast, as if by the spell of enchantment, that ineffable grace over beauty which the choice and arrangement of dress are calculated to bestow.

1 This flower of Spanish chivalry, the model of the heroic virtues of his age, was called by his enemies, the Moors of Spain, el Cid (" the lord"), and by his king and countrymen Campeador("champion"). His full title is Don Rodrigo (Ruy) Diaz, Count of Bivar; he lived from A.D. 1026 to 1099, fought with great success against the Moors, and is the subject of the oldest Castilian poem (about end of twelfth century), and of many Spanish ballads.

Courtesy had always been the proper attribute of knighthood; protection of the weak was its legitimate duty; but these were heightened to a pitch of enthusiasm when woman became their object. Next, therefore, or even equal, to religious devotion, stood gallantry among the principles of knighthood. But all comparison between the two was saved by blending them together. The love of God and the ladies was enjoined as a single duty. He who was faithful and true to his mistress was held sure of salvation in the theology of castles, though not of cloisters."

Gallantry.

5. One of the feudal princes enjoined his knights to honour, above all, the ladies, and not to permit any one to slander them, "because from them after God comes all the honour that men can acquire." It is from the close union of bravery in knights with this devotion to the fair sex that the same word-gallantry-has been used to express both qualities. Like other good things, this was carried to what appears a ridiculous extreme, when we find the warriors on each side in serious conflict, bearing over their armour scarves and devices, as the livery of their mistresses, and asserting the paramount beauty of her whom they served, in vaunting challenges towards the enemy.

6. In the code of morals prevalent during the best part of the middle ages, three virtues were held by mankind to be essential to the The virtues character of a knight-loyalty, courtesy, and munificence. "The of chivalry: first of these-loyalty-may be defined, in its original sense, as loyalty. fidelity to engagements; whether actual promises, or such tacit obligations as bound a vassal to his lord, and a subject to his prince. It was applied also, and in the utmost strictness, to the fidelity of a lover towards the lady whom he served. Breach of faith, and especially of an express promise, was held to be a disgrace that no valour could redeem. 'False,' 'perjured,' 'disloyal,' 'recreant,' were the epithets which he must be compelled to endure who had swerved from a plighted engagement, even towards an enemy. This is one of the most striking changes produced by chivalry. Treachery, the usual vice of savage as well as of corrupt nations, became infamous during the rigour of that discipline. As personal rather than national feelings actuated its heroes, they never felt that hatred, much less that fear, of their enemies which blind men to the heinousness of ill faith. In the wars of Edward III. of England with France, wars originating in no real animosity, the spirit of honourable as well as courteous behaviour towards the foe seems to have arrived at its highest point. Though avarice may have been the primary motive of ransoming prisoners instead of putting them to death, their permission to return home on the word of honour in order to procure the stipulated sum-an indulgence never refused-could only be founded on experienced confidence in the principles of chivalry. A knight, then, was held to be unfit to remain a member of the order if he violated his faith. He was ill acquainted with its duties if he proved wanting in courtesy.

Courtesy.

7. The word courtesy expressed the most highly refined good-breeding, founded less upon a knowledge of ceremonious politeness, though this was not to be omitted, than on the spontaneous modesty, self-denial, and respect for others which ought to spring from the heart. Besides the grace which this beautiful virtue threw over the habits of social life, it softened down the natural roughness of war, and gradually introduced that indulgent treatment of prisoners which was almost unknown to antiquity.