large number of hereditary States, possessed much of the Suabian territory. (See Suabia, p. 270.)

10. In the year 1438 the German princes elected an emperor from the house of Austria; and, ever since, an Austrian prince, with scarcely any intermission, has occupied the throne of Germany. Near the close of the fifteenth century the German States, then under the reign of Maximilian of the house of Austria, made an important change in their condition, by which the private wars and feuds, which the laws then authorized, and the right to carry on which against each other the petty States regarded as the bulwark of their liberty, were made to give place to regular courts of justice for the settlement of national controversies. In the year 1495, at a general diet held at Worms,' the plan of a Perpetual Public Peace was subscribed to by the several States: oppression, rapine, and violence, were made to yield to the authority of law, and the public tranquillity was thus, for the first time in Germany, established on a firm basis.

ZERLAND.

11. For a considerable period previous to the beginning of the fourteenth century, Switzerland, the Helvetia of the RoVII. SWIT- mans, had formed an integral part of the Germanic empire; but in the year 1307 the house of Austria, under the usurping emperor Albert, endeavored to extend his sway over the rude mountaineers of that inhospitable land. The tyranny of Austria provoked the league of Rutuli; the famous episode of the hero William Tell' gave a new impulse to the cause of freedom; and in

formed south of the Danube, by a body of militia which protected the south-east of Germany from the incursions of the Asiatic tribes. In 1156 its territory was extended north of the Danube, and made a duchy. In 1438 the ruling dynasty of Austria obtained the electoral crown of the German emperors, and in 1453 Austria was raised to an arch-duchy. In 1526 it acquired Bohemia and Hungary, and attained the rank of a European monarchy. (Map No. XVII.)

1. Worms is on the west bank of the Rhine, forty-two miles south-west from Frankfort. (Map No. XVII.)

2. Rutuli was a meadow slope under the Salzburg mountain, in the canton of Uri, and on the west bank of the Lake of Lucerne, where the confederates were wont to assemble at dead of night, to consult for the salvation of their country. (Map No. XIV.)

3. The story of William Tell, one of the confederates of Rutuli, is, briefly, as follows Gessler the Austrian governor had carried his insolence so far as to cause his hat to be placed upon a pole, as a symbol of the sovereign power of Austria, and to order that all who passed should uncover their heads and bow before it. Tell, having passed the hat without making obeisance, was summoned before Gessler, who, knowing that he was a good archer, commanded him to shoot, from a great distance, an apple placed on the head of his own son,-promising him his life if he succeeded. Tell hit the apple, but, accidentally dropping a concealed arrow, was asked by the tyrant why he had brought two arrows with him? "Had I shot my child," replied the archer, "the second shaft was for thee:-and, be sure, I should not have

the year 1308 the united cantons of Uri, Schwytz, and Unterwalden,' struck their first blow for liberty, and expelled their oppressors from the country. In 1315 the Swiss gained a great victory over the Austrians at Morgarten,' and another at Sempach' in 1386; but they were regarded as belonging to the Germanic empire until about the close of the fifteenth century, when, in the famous Suabian war, army after army of the Austrians was defeated, and the emperor Maximilian himself compelled to effect a disgraceful retreat. This was the last war of the early Swiss confederates in the cause of freedom; and the peace concluded with Maximilian in 1499 established the independence of Switzerland.

12. The condition of Italy during the central period of the Middle Ages has already been described. (Sec II.) At the close of that period Italy still formed, nominally, a part of the Germanic empire; but the authority of the German em- HISTORY. perors had silently declined during the preceding cen

VIII. ITALIAN

turies, until at length it was reduced to the mere ceremony of coro nation, and the exercise of a few honorary and feudal rights over the Lombard vassals of the crown. In the twelfth and thirteenth cen. turies, numerous republics had sprung up in Italy; and, animated by the spirit of liberty, they for a time enjoyed an unusual degree of prosperity; but eventually, torn to pieces by contending factions, and a prey to mutual and incessant hostilities, they fell under the tyranny of one despot after another, until, in the early part of the fifteenth century, Florence, Genoa, and Venice, were the only im

missed my mark a second time." Gessler, in a rage not unmixed with terror, declared that although he had promised Tell his life, he should pass it in a dungeon; and taking his captive bound, started in a boat to cross the Lake of Lucerne, to his fortress. But a violent storm arising, Tell was set at liberty, and the helm committed to his hands. He guided the boat successfully to the shore, when, seizing his bow, by a daring leap he sprung upon a rock, leaving the barque to wrestle with the billows. Gessler escaped the storm, but only to fall by the unerring arrow of Tell. The death of Gessler was a signal for a general rising of the Swiss cantons. 1. Uri, Schwytz, Unterwalden, see Map No. XIV.

2. Morgarten, the narrow pass in which the battle was fought, is on the eastern shore of the small Lake of Egeri, in the canton of Schwytz, seventeen miles east from Lucerne. (Map No. XIV.)

3. Sempach is a small town on the east bank of the small lake of the same name, seven miles northwest from Lucerne. (Map No. XIV.)

4. Genoa, a maritime city of northern Italy, is at the head of the gulf of the same name, seventy-five miles south-east from Turin. After the downfall of the empire of Charlemagne, Genoa erected itself into a republic. In 1174 it possessed an extensive territory in north-western Italy, nearly all of Provence, and the island of Corsica. Genoa carried on long wars with Pisa and Venice,-that with the latter being one of the most memorable in the Italian annals of the Middle Ages.

portant States that had escaped the general catastrophe. Nearly all the numerous free towns and republics of Lombardy had been conquered by the duchy of Milan, which acknowledged a direct de pendence on the German emperor.

13. The Florentines, who greatly enriched themselves by their commerce and manufactures, maintained their republican form of government, from about the close of the twelfth century, during a period of nearly two hundred and fifty years. The Genoese and Venetians, whose commercial interests thwarted each other, both in the Levant' and the Mediterranean, quarreled repeatedly; but eventu ally the Venetians gained the superiority, and retained the command of the sea in their own hands. Of all the Italian republics, Genoa was the most agitated by internal dissensions; and the Genoese, volatile and inconstant, underwent frequent voluntary changes of masters. At the close of the fifteenth century Genoa was a dependency of the duchy of Milan, although subsequently it recovered once more its apcient state of independence.

14. Venice, to whose origin we have already alluded, was the earliest, and, for a long time, the most considerable, commercial city of modern Europe. At a very early period the Venetians began to trade with Constantinople and other eastern cities; the crusades, to which their shipping contributed, increased their wealth, and extended their commerce and possessions; and toward the end of the fifteenth century, besides several rich provinces in Lombardy, the republic was mistress of Crete and Cyprus, of the greater part of the Morea, or Southern Greece, and of most of the isles in the Ægean Sea. The additional powers that at this time shared the dominion of Italy, were the popes, and the kings of Naples; but the temporal domains of the former were small, and those of the latter soon passed into other hands; for the continual wars which all the Italian States waged with each other had already encouraged foreign powers to form plans of conquest over them. In the year 1500 Ferdinand of Spain deprived France of Naples; and from this time the Spaniards, who were already masters of Sicily and Sardinia, became, for more than a hundred years, the predominating power in Italy.

1. The Levant is a term applied to designate the eastern coasts of the Mediterranean, from southern Greece to Egypt. In the Middle Ages the trade with these countries was almost exclusively in the hands of the Italians, who gave to them the general appellation of Levants, or eastern countries. (Italian, Levante: French, Levant.)

2. Morea, the ancient Peloponnesus, or southern Greece, is said to derive its modern name from its resemblance to a mulberry leaf. (Greek, morea, a mulberry tree.)

IX. SPAIN.

15. Turning to Spain, we behold there, in the beginning of the fifteenth century, the three Christian States of Navarre,' Aragon, Castile and Leon united, and the Moorish kingdom of Granada. Frequent dissensions among the Christian States had long prevented unity of action among them, but in the year 1474 Ferdinand V. ascended the throne of Aragon; and, as he had previously married Isabella, a princess of Castile, the two most powerful Christian States were thus united. The plan of expelling the Moors from Spain had long been agitated; and in 1481 the war for that purpose was commenced by Ferdinand and Isabella. Ten years, however, were spent in the sanguinary strife, before the

1. Navarre is in the northern part of Spain, having France and the Pyrences on the north, Aragon on the east, Old Castile on the south, and the Basque provinces (Biscay, Guipuzcoa, and Alava) on the west. A portion of ancient Navarre extended north of the Pyrenees, and afterwards formed the French province of Bearn. (See Map No. XIII.) During many centuries Navarre was an independent kingdom, but in 1284 it became united, by intermarriage, with that of France. In 1329 it again obtained a sovereign of its own. Although still claimed by France, in 1512 Ferdinand of Aragon united all the country south of the Pyrenees to the crown of Spain. In 1590 Henry IV., grandson of Henry king of Navarre, ascended the throne of France; and from that time to the reign of Charles X., the French monarchs, (with the exception of Napoleon,) assumed the title of "king of France and Navarre ;" but only the small portion of Navarre north of the Pyrenees remained annexed to the French monarchy. Spanish Navarre is still governed by its separate laws, and has, nominally at least, the same constitution which it enjoyed when it was a separate monarchy; but its sovereignty is vested in the Spanish crown. (Map No. XIII.)

2. Aragon was bounded on the north by the Pyrenees, east by Catalonia, south by Valencia, and west by Castile and Navarre. While a separate kingdom it was the most powerful of the peninsular States, and comprised, in 1479, under the sovereignty of Ferdinand, exclusive of Aragon proper, Navarre, Catalonia, Valencia, and Sardinia. (Map No. XIII.)

3. Castile is the central and largest division of modern Spain. The northern portion being that first recovered from the Saracens, is called Old Castile, and comprises the modern provinces of Burgos, Soria, Segovia, and Avila: the southern portion, called New Castile, comprises the provinces of Madrid, Guadalaxara, Cuenca, Toledo, and La Mancha. After the expulsion of the Saracens, and various vicissitudes, the sovereignty of Castile was vested by marriage in Sancho III. king of Navarre, whose son Ferdinand was made king of Castile in 1034. Three years later he was crowned king of Leon. The crowns of Castile and Leon were repeatedly separated and united, till, by the marriage of Isabella, who held both crowns, with Ferdinand, king of Aragon, in 1497, the three kingdoms were consolidated into one. (Map No. XIII.) 4. The kingdom of Leon was bounded north by Asturias, east by Old Castile, south by Estremadura, and west by Galicia and Portugal. During the eighth century, this district, after the expulsion of the Moors, was formed into a kingdom, called after its capital, and connected with Asturias. It was first added to Castile in 1037, in the reign of Ferdinand I. king of Castile, who was king of Leon in right of his wife; but it continued in an unsettled state till 1230, when it was finally united, by inheritance, to the dominions of Ferdinand III. king of Castile. (Map No. XIII)

5. Granada, consisting of the south-eastern part of ancient Andalusia, (Note p. 232,) is on the Mediterranean coast, in the south-eastern part of Spain. On the breaking up of the African empire in Spain, in the year 1238, Mohammed ben Alhamar founded the Moorish kingdom of Granada, making the city of Granada his capital. Granada remained in the possession of the Moors two hundred and fifty years, which comprise the season of its prosperity. In 1492 it surrendered to Ferdinand the Catholic, being the last foothold of Saracen power in Spain. (Map No. XIII.)

Christians were enabled to besiege Granada, the Moorish capital; but the capitulation of that city in January, 1492, put an end to the Saracen dominion in the Spanish peninsula, after it had existed there during a period of eight hundred years. In the year 1512 Ferdinand invaded and conquered Navarre; and thus the whole of Spain was united under the same government..

XI. POR-
TUGAL.

16. Toward the close of the eleventh century, the frontier province of Portugal,' which had been conquered by the Christians from the Moors, was formed into an earldom tributary to Leon and Castile; but in the twelfth centuy it was erected into an independent kingdom, and in the early part of the thirteenth it had reached its present limits. The history of fortugal is devoid of general interest, until the period of those voyages and discoveries of which the Portuguese were the early promoters, and which have shed immortal lustre on the Portuguese name.

III. DISCOVERIES.-1. A brief account of the discoveries of the fifteenth century will close the present chapter. From the subversion of the Roman empire, until the revival of letters which succeeded the Dark Ages, no advance was made in the art of navigation; and even the little geographical knowledge that had been acquired

1. Portugal, anciently called Lusitania, (Note p. 166,) was taken possession of by the Romans about two hundred years before the Christian era; previously to which the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, and Greeks, traded to its shores, and probably planted colonies there. In the fifth century it was inundated by the Germanic tribes, and in 712 was conquered by the Saracens. Soon after, the Spaniards of Castile and Leon, aided by the native inhabitants, wrested northern Portugal, between the Minho and the Douro, from the Moors, and placed counts or governors over this region. About the close of the eleventh century Henry, a Burgundian prince, came into Spain to seek his fortune by his sword, in the wars against the Moors. Alphonso VI. king of Castile and Leon, gave to the chivalric stranger the hand of his daughter in marriage, and also the earldom of the Christian provinces of Portugal. In 1139 the Portuguese earl, Alphonso I., having gained a brilliant victory over the Moors, his soldiers proclaimed him king on the field of battle; and Portugal became an independent kingdom. Its power now rapidly increased: it maintained its independence against the claims of Castile and Leon; and Alphonso extended his dominions to the borders of Algarve, in the south. In 1249 Alphonso III. conquered Algarve, and thus, in the final overthrow of the Moorish power in Portugal, extended the kingdom to its present limits.

The language of Portugal is merely a dialect of the Spanish; but the two people regard each other with a deep-rooted national antipathy. The character attributed to the Portuguese is not very flattering. "Strip a Spaniard of all his virtues, and you make a good Portuguese of him," says the Spanish proverb. "I have heard it more truly said," says Dr. Southey, "add hypocrisy to a Spaniard's vices, and you have the Portuguese character. The two nations differ, perhaps purposely, in many of their habits. Almost every man in Spain smokes: the Portuguese never smoke, but most of them take snuff. None of the Spaniards will use a wheelbarrow: none of the Portuguese will carry a burden: the one says, 'it is only fit for beasts to draw carriages; the other, that it is fit only for beasts to carry burdens,'" (Map No. XIII.)