Зображення сторінки
PDF
ePub

A.D. 925

bushels of gold and silver (a vague exaggeration) from the smok-
ing ruins of their country. In these annual excursions from the
Alps to the neighbourhood of Rome and Capua, the churches,
that yet escaped, resounded with a fearful litany: "Oh! save
and deliver us from the arrows of the Hungarians!" But the
saints were deaf or inexorable; and the torrent rolled forwards,
till it was stopped by the extreme land of Calabria. A com-
position was offered and accepted for the head of each Italian
subject; and ten bushels of silver were poured forth in the
Turkish camp.
But falsehood is the natural antagonist of vio-
lence; and the robbers were defrauded both in the numbers of
the assessment and the standard of the metal. On the side of
the East the Hungarians were opposed in doubtful conflict by
the equal arms of the Bulgarians, whose faith forbade an alliance
with the Pagans, and whose situation formed the barrier of the
Byzantine empire. The barrier was overturned; the emperor
of Constantinople beheld the waving banners of the Turks; and
one of their boldest warriors presumed to strike a battle-axe into
the golden gate. The arts and treasures of the Greeks diverted
the assault; but the Hungarians might boast, on their retreat,
that they had imposed a tribute on the spirit of Bulgaria and
the majesty of the Cæsars.44 The remote and rapid operations
of the same campaign appear to magnify the powers and numbers
of the Turks; but their courage is most deserving of praise,
since a light troop of three or four hundred horse would often
attempt and execute the most daring inroads to the gates of

43 Muratori has considered with patriotic care the danger and resources of Modena. The citizens besought St. Geminianus, their patron, to avert, by his intercession, the rabies, flagellum, &c.

Nunc te rogamus, licet servi pessimi,
Ab Ungerorum nos defendas jaculis.

The bishop erected walls for the public defence, not contra dominos serenos (Antiquitat. Ital. med. Evi, tom. i. dissertat. i. p. 21, 22), and the song of the nightly watch is not without elegance or use (tom. iii. diss. xl. p. 709). The Italian annalist has accurately traced the series of their inroads (Annali d'Italia, tom. vii. p. 365, 367, 393, 401, 437, 440; tom. viii. p. 19, 41, 52, &c.).

44 Both the Hungarian and Russian annals suppose that they besieged, or attacked, or insulted Constantinople (Pray, dissertat. x. p. 239; Katona, Hist. Ducum, p. 354-360), and the fact is almost confessed by the Byzantine historians (Leo Grammaticus, p. 506 [p. 322, ed. Bonn]; Cedrenus, tom. ii. p. 629 [ii. p. 316, ed. Bonn]), yet, however glorious to the nation, it is denied or doubted by the critical historian, and even by the notary of Béla. Their scepticism is meritorious; they could not safely transcribe or believe the rusticorum fabulas; but Katona might have given due attention to the evidence of Liutprand; Bulgarorum gentem atque Graecorum tributariam fecerant (Hist. 1. ii. c. 4, p. 435 [= c. 7]).

Thessalonica and Constantinople. At this disastrous æra of the ninth and tenth centuries, Europe was afflicted by a triple scourge from the North, the East, and the South; the Norman, the Hungarian, and the Saracen sometimes trod the same ground of desolation; and these savage foes might have been compared by Homer to the two lions growling over the carcase of a mangled stag.45

46

Henry the

A.D.934 [933]

Riada]

The deliverance of Germany and Christendom was achieved Victory of by the Saxon princes, Henry the Fowler and Otho the Great, Fowler. who, in two memorable battles, for ever broke the power of the Hungarians. The valiant Henry was roused from a bed of sickness by the invasion of his country; but his mind was vigorous and his prudence successful. "My companions," said he on the morning of the combat, "maintain your ranks, receive on your bucklers the first arrows of the Pagans, and prevent their second discharge by the equal and rapid career of [Battle of your lances." They obeyed, and conquered; and the historical picture of the castle of Merseburg expressed the features, or at least the character, of Henry, who, in an age of ignorance, entrusted to the finer arts the perpetuity of his name."7 At the end of twenty years, the children of the Turks who had fallen by his sword invaded the empire of his son; and their force is defined, in the lowest estimate, at one hundred thousand horse. They were invited by domestic faction; the gates of Germany of Otho the were treacherously unlocked; and they spread, far beyond the 955

45

-λέονθ' ως δηρινθήτην,

Ωτ ̓ ὅρεος κορυφῇσι περὶ κταμένης ελάφοιο

Αμφω πεινάοντε μέγα φρονέοντε μάχεσθον. [ΙΙ. 16, 756.]

46 They are amply and critically discussed by Katona (Hist. Ducum, p. 360368, 427-470). Liutprand (1. ii. c. 8, 9 [= c. 24-31]) is the best evidence for the former, and Witichind (Annal. Saxon. 1. iii. [c. 84-49]) of the latter; but the critical historian will not even overlook the horn of a warrior, which is said to be preserved at Jazberin.

47 Hunc vero triumphum, tam laude quam memoriâ dignum, ad Meres burgum rex in superiori cœnaculo domus per (wypaplav, id est, picturam, notari [leg. notare] præcepit, adeo ut rem veram potius quam verisimilem videas: an high encomium (Liutprand, 1. ii. c. 9 [= c. 31]). Another palace in Germany had been painted with holy subjects by the order of Charlemagne; and Muratori may justly affirm, nulla sæcula fuere in quibus pictores desiderati fuerint (Antiquitat. Ital. medii Ævi, tom. ii. dissert. xxiv. p. 360, 361). Our domestic claims to antiquity of ignorance and original imperfection (Mr. Walpole's lively words) are of a much more recent date (Anecdotes of Painting, vol. i. p. 2, &c.). [This victory is commonly called the battle of Merseburg; but it was fought at Riada (according to Widukind, i. 38, who in such a matter is the best authority), and Riada probably corresponds to Rietheburg, where the streams of the Unstrut and Helme meet. The event should be called the battle of Riada. The Italian Liutprand who names Merseburg is not such a good witness as the Saxon historian.]

Great. A.D.

[August 10]

the Lech

feld]

48

Rhine and the Meuse, into the heart of Flanders. But the vigour and prudence of Otho dispelled the conspiracy; the princes were made sensible that, unless they were true to each other, their religion and country were irrecoverably lost; and the national powers were reviewed in the plains of Augsburg. They marched and fought in eight legions, according to the division of provinces and tribes; the first, second, and third were composed of Bavarians; the fourth of Franconians; the fifth of Saxons, under the immediate command of the monarch; [Battle of the sixth and seventh consisted of Swabians; and the eighth legion, of a thousand Bohemians, closed the rear of the host. The resources of discipline and valour were fortified by the arts of superstition, which, on this occasion, may deserve the epithets of generous and salutary. The soldiers were purified with a fast; the camp was blessed with the relics of saints and martyrs; and the Christian hero girded on his side the sword of Constantine, grasped the invincible spear of Charlemagne, and waved the banner of St. Maurice, the præfect of the Thebean legion. But his firmest confidence was placed in the holy lance, whose point was fashioned of the nails of the cross, and which his father had extorted from the king of Burgundy by the threats of war and the gift of a province. The Hungarians were expected in the front; 50 they secretly passed the Lech, a river of Bavaria that falls into the Danube; turned the rear of the Christian army; plundered the baggage and disordered the legions of Bohemia and Swabia. The battle was restored by the Franconians, whose duke, the valiant Conrad, was pierced with an arrow as he rested from his fatigues; the Saxons fought under the eyes of their king; and his victory surpassed, in merit and importance, the triumphs of the last two hundred years. The loss of the Hungarians was still greater in the flight than in the action; they were encompassed by the rivers

49

48 [Giesebrecht has made it probable that by legion Widukind (iii. 44) meant a company of 1000 men. Geschichte der deutschen Kaiserzeit, i. p. 831.]

49 See Baronius, Annal. Eccles. A.D. 929, No. 2-5. The lance of Christ is taken from the best evidence, Liutprand (1. iv. c. 12 [= c. 25]), Sigebert, and the acts of St. Gerard; but the other military relics depend on the faith of the Gesta Anglorum post Bedam, l. ii. c. 8.

50 [The best account of the battle is in Widukind. The other sources are Annales Sangallenses majores; Flodoard; Continuator Reginonis; Ruotger; and s later but noteworthy account in the Vita Udalrici by Gerhard. See E. Dümmler, Kaiser Otto der Grosse (in the Jahrbb. der deutschen Geschichte), 1876 (p. 256 sqq.), and Giesebrecht, op. cit. (p. 418 sqq.), for details of the battle.]

153 of Bavaria; and their past cruelties excluded them from the hope of mercy. Three captive princes were hanged at Ratisbon, the multitude of prisoners was slain or mutilated, and the fugitives, who presumed to appear in the face of their country, were condemned to everlasting poverty and disgrace. Yet the spirit of the nation was humbled, and the most accessible passes of Hungary were fortified with a ditch and rampart. Adversity suggested the counsels of moderation and peace; the robbers of the West acquiesced in a sedentary life; and the next generation was taught, by a discerning prince, that far more might be gained A.D. 972 by multiplying and exchanging the produce of a fruitful soil. The native race, the Turkish or Fennic blood, was mingled with new colonies of Scythian or Sclavonian origin; 52 many thousands of robust and industrious captives had been imported from all the countries of Europe; and, after the marriage of Geisa with a Bavarian princess, he bestowed honours and estates on the nobles of Germany. The son of Geisa was invested with the regal title, and the house of Arpad reigned three hundred years in the kingdom of Hungary. But the freeborn barbarians were not dazzled by the lustre of the diadem, and the people asserted

53

51 Katona, Hist. Ducum Hungariæ, p. 500, &c.

sa Among these colonies we may distinguish, 1. The Chazars, or Cabari, who joined the Hungarians on their march (Constant. de Admin. Imp. c. 39, 40, p. 108, 109). [The name of the Kabars, a Khazar people, survives in the name of the two Kabar-dabs (Kabar-hills).] 2. The Jazyges, Moravians, and Siculi, whom they found in the land; the last were [according to Simon de Kéza, c. 4] perhaps a remnant of the Huns of Attila, and were entrusted with the guard of the borders. [Siculus (Zaculus in Simon de Kéza) is the equivalent, in chroniclers' Latin, of Székely (plural, Székelyek), which is generally derived from szék, seat, abode. Hanfalvy (Magyarország Ethnographiája, p. 302) explains the word as "bevond the habitations," a name which might be applied to people of a march district. The word would thus be formed like Erdély (= Erdő-ely, beyond the forest), the Hungarian name of Transylvania. Their German neighbours call the Székelyek Szeklers.] 3. The Russians, who, like the Swiss in France, imparted a general name to the royal porters. 4. The Bulgarians, whose chiefs (A.D. 956) were inrited, cum magna multitudine Hismahelitarum. Had any of these Sclavonians embraced the Mahometan religion? 5. The Bisseni and Cumans, a mixed multitade of Patzinacites, Uzi, Chazars, &c. who had spread to the lower Danube. Bisseni Patzinaks; Cumans = Uzi.] The last colony of 40,000 Cumans, A.D. 1239, was received and converted by the kings of Hungary, who derived from that tribe a new regal appellation (Pray, Dissert. vi. vii. p. 109-173; Katona, Hist. Dacum, p. 95-99, 252-264, 476, 479-483, &c.).

Christiani autem, quorum pars major populi est, qui ex omni parte mundi illac tracti sunt captivi, &c. Such was the language of Piligrinus, the first missionary who entered Hungary, A.D. 973. Pars major is strong. Hist. Ducum, p. 517. * The fideles Teutonici of Geisa are authenticated in old charters; and Katona, with his usual industry, has made a fair estimate of these colonies, which had been so loosely magnified by the Italian Ranzanus (Hist. Critic. Ducum, p. 667

Origin of the Rus

archy

A.D. 839

their indefeasible right of choosing, deposing, and punishing the hereditary servant of the state.

III. The name of RUSSIANS 55 was first divulged, in the sian mon- ninth century, by an embassy from Theophilus, emperor of the East, to the emperor of the West, Lewis, the son of Charlemagne. The Greeks were accompanied by the envoys of the great duke, or chagan, or czar, of the Russians. In their journey to Constantinople, they had traversed many hostile nations; and they hoped to escape the dangers of their return by requesting the French monarch to transport them by sea to their native country. A closer examination detected their origin: they were the brethren of the Swedes and Normans, whose name was already odious and formidable in France; and it might justly be apprehended that these Russian strangers were not the messengers of peace but the emissaries of war. They were detained, while the Greeks were dismissed; and Lewis expected a more satisfactory account, that he might obey the laws of hospitality or prudence, according to the interest of both empires. The Scandinavian origin of the people, or at least the princes of Russia, may be confirmed and illustrated by the national annals 57 and the general history of the North. The Normans, who had so long been concealed by a veil of impenetrable darkness, suddenly burst forth in the spirit of naval and military enterprise. The vast, and, as it is said, the populous, regions of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway were crowded with independent chieftains and desperate adventurers, who sighed in the laziness of peace, and smiled in the agonies of death. Piracy was the exercise, the trade, the glory and the virtue, of the Scandina

55 Among the Greeks, this national appellation has a singular form 'Pas, as an undeclinable word, of which many fanciful etymologies have been suggested. [Cp. Appendix 14.] I have perused, with pleasure and profit, a dissertation de Origine Russorum (Comment. Academ. Petropolitana, tom. viii. p. 388-436) by Theophilus Sigefrid Bayer, a learned German, who spent his life and labours in the service of Russia. A geographical tract of d'Anville, de l'Empire de Russie, son Origine, et ses Accroissemens (Paris, 1772, in 12mo), has likewise been of use.

56 See the entire passage (dignum, says Bayer, ut aureis in tabulis figatur) in the Annales Bertiniani Francorum (in Script. Ital. Muratori, tom. ii. pars i. p. 525 [Pertz, Mon. Germ. Hist. i. 434]), A.D. 839, twenty-two years before the era of Ruric. In the tenth century, Liutprand (Hist. 1. v. c. 6 [ = c. 15]) speaks of the Russians and Normans as the same Aquilonares homines of a red complexion.

57 My knowledge of these annals is drawn from M. Levesque, Histoire de Russie. Nestor, the first and best of these ancient annalists, was a monk of Kiow, who died in the beginning of the twelfth century; but his chronicle was obscure, till it was published at Petersburgh, 1767, in 4to. Levesque, Hist. de Russie, tom. i. p. 16. Coxe's Travels, vol. ii. p. 184. [See Appendix 1.]

« НазадПродовжити »