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broke out in Alsace, and the lower class of people assembled under the banners of an innkeeper, who erected himself into a prophet, and persuaded his followers, that it was their indispensable duty to revenge the death of Christ, by an extirpation of the Jews. In obedience to this doctrine, they massacred great multitudes of that unhappy nation. In one place the carnage was so great, that the Jews themselves augmented the horror of the scene; for, being driven to despair, they butchered their own wives and children, and then murdered themselves, to elude the cruelty of their inhuman enemies. After some time, however, these frantic enthusiasts were driven out of the province; their sanguinary leader perished by the hands of the executioner, and the surviving Jews were permitted to live in peace.

In 1356, Charles IV., issued the celebrated Golden Bull, containing a declaration of the fundamental laws of the empire. The edict was so called from a golden seal termed Bulla.

The emperor Sigismund, became also king of Bohemia, in consequence of the death of his brother Winceslas. It was this emperor who betrayed the celebrated reformer, John Huss, to the Elector Palatine, who caused him to be burnt alive. The next year, Jerome of Prague suffered the same fate.

CHINA.

24. A part of the twentieth and twenty-first dynasties of the empire of China, is included in the present period. In the reign of Shistu of the twentieth dynasty, the famous canal was dug, which is nine hundred miles in length. Under some of the princes of this dynasty, the religion of Fo was established in the empire. Shunti was the last of the Tartar race, who held the sceptre in China.

The twenty-first dynasty was that of Ming, founded by Chu, who, ascending the throne, took the name of Fay-tsu. This dynasty, which commenced in 1368, lasted two hundred and eighty-one years, under seventeen emperors.

§ Chu had been a servant in the monastery of the bonzes. Heading a numerous company of revolters, he reduced many considerable cities and provinces, and defeated the imperial army in a battle. His successes were so great, that he assumed the title of emperor and fixed his court at Nankin. In a few months, however, he made himself master of Pekin, and erected that country into a sovereign ty, which he gave to his fourth son. He proved to be a prince of great wisdom and penetration.

It is related of Ching-tsu, one of the emperors of this dynasty, that when specimens of precious stones were brought to him from a mine which had lately been discovered, he ordered it to be shut up, alleging, that it only harrassed his people with useless toil, as these stones could neither feed nor clothe them in times of scarcity.

Distinguished Characters in Period VII.

1. Dante, and

2. Petrarch,

classic Italian poets

3. Boccace, an Italian, one of the restorers of learning 4. Wickliffe, an English theologian and reformer.

5. Froissart, an entertaining French chronicler.

6. Gower, and

7. Chaucer,

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fathers of English poetry.

§ 1. Dante, (Alighieri,) who died at the age of fifty-seven years, early displayed poetical talents; but the ambition of being elevated among the ruling men of his native city, engaged him in continual discord and faction. He and his party were at length defeated, and with them he sought safety in banishment. While he was in this situation, he vented the bitterest reproaches against his enemies. The occasion of his death was, an affront which he received from the Venetians. The prince of Ravenna, (in which place he was in exile,) sent him to negociate with the Venetians, in order to avert a threatened war; but the magistrates of Venice treated the embassador with contempt, and refused to receive him within their walls. The irritable heart of Dante was so affected by this affront, that he could not survive it, and he died on his return to Ravenna.

His literary works owe their origin to his misfortunes and revengeful spirit. His great object seems to have been to pierce his enemies with the shafts of satire. The rancour of his feeling, mingled itself with the sweetness and graces of poetry. His poems are characterized by spirit, fire, and sublimity. His triple poem, of Paradise, Purgatory, and Hell, displays wonderful powers of genius.

2. Petrarch (Francis) is deservedly celebrated as one of the re storers of classical learning, and more, perhaps, than any other person, as the father of modern poetry. He displayed all the powers of genius and poetical inspiration, not only in his own native language, but in Latin. His sonnets are esteemed the sweetest, most elegant, and most highly finished verses, ever written in Italian; and his songs possess uncommon beauty and grace. Petrarch had a most charming fancy.

Some of the events of his life are rather singular; particularly his inextinguishable passion for his mistress Laura. He first saw this beautiful female in 1627, after he had fixed his residence a Vaucluse, near Avignon, and he was smitten with all the pangs of love. But though the soft passion was expressed in the softest law guage of poetry, the heart of the fair one was by no means moved To divert the melancholy which ensued, he travelled through various countries, and was at last persuaded to enter into the service of Pope John XXII. But, "amor vincit omnia," and Petrarch, abandoning the pleasures of curiosity and of greatness, fled to the shades of Vaucluse, to converse with his beloved Laura. He again devoted his hours to studious pursuits, and to the amatory effusions of

his muse. But though the idolized fair one heeded not his poetry, the world did; and Rome, Paris, and Naples, at the same moment, invited him to come and receive the poetical crown. Rome prevailed, and in that famed seat of empire and of genius, the poet's brow was entwined with the resplendent honour. He was occasionally drawn from his favourite residence, on public business; and it was during an absence in 1348, that he was informed of Laura's death, which affected him with the deepest gloom.

The poet's purity in this affair, has been maintained by some, and denied by others; and some parts of his character certainly afford too much ground for the opinion of the latter. Petrarch was an ecclesiastic, though he never took priest's orders. He died at the age of seventy, 1374.

3. Boccace, (John,) born at Certaldo, in Tuscany, 1313, studied under Petrarch, who was his friend and patron. He lived abroad for a time, but afterwards returned to his native village, where he spent the remainder of his days, in literary pursuits. His constitution was weakened by his great application, and he died of a sick ness in the stomach, 1375.

His works are both Latin and Italian. He possessed uncommon learning, and he shares with a few others the honour of contributing to the revival of learning in Europe. "Decameron," a licentious, though witty, satirical, and elegantly written romance, is his most celebrated composition. His poetry is not equal to that of Petrarch, but his prose is unrivalled, for its simplicity, grace, and varied elegance.

4. Wickliffe, (John de) was professor of divinity, in the University of Oxford, and deservedly considered as the forerunner of Luther, in the reformation. His elevation to the professorship of Oxford, exposed him to the jealousy of the monks, and he was soon displaced. He felt the indignity keenly, and it was not long before he boldly came out against the errors and encroachments of Rome The Romish clergy, with the pope at their head, took the alarm, and employed every effort to suppress the doctrines of Wickliffe. Most of his doctrines were pronounced as heretical, by the several councils that were called. He was seized as a heretic, by the emissaries of the Pope, and tried; but the judges, although they enjoined him silence, permitted him to depart in safety, as they feared the nobility and people. These, in general, favoured Wickliffe. Not at all intimidated, the reformer continued to preach his peculiar sentiments. and they became still more widely known. But the penal statutes were severe, and some who embraced the new heresy, were delivered over to punishment.

Wickliffe, in the mysterious providence of God, died at a time when nothing was wanting to emancipate the English nation from the tyranny of Rome, but the boldness, perseverance, and eloquence of a popular leader. Wickliffe's noble struggle proved almost abortive, and little was thought of it, till Luther arose to establish the same doctrines on an imperishable basis.

Trialogus, is almost the only work of Wickliffe's that was printed.

5. Froissart, (John,) as an historian, excelled all the writers of his time. His narrative of the events which took place in England, France, and Spain, from 1326 to 1400, is exceedingly lively and entertaining. He personally witnessed many transactions which he has described. He was a chronicler both of political events and of chivalric manners. He was bred to the church, but he was a greater reader of romances, than of his breviary. Of gayety, he was fond to an excessive degree. "Well loved I," as he said of his youth, in one of his poems, (for he wrote poetry as well as history,) “ to see dances and carolling, and to hear the songs of minstrels, and tales of glee. It pleased me to attach myself to those who took delight in hounds and hawks." "My ears quickened at the sound of opening the wine flask; for I took great pleasure in drinking, and in fair array, and in fresh and delicate viands." He began his chronicle at the age of twenty, and continued it many years, travelling through England, Scotland, France, and other places. He was born at Valenciennes, in the year 1337, and died in 1397.

6. Gower (Sir John) was born in Yorkshire, 1320. He was eminent, both in law and poetry. He is, by some, associated with Chaucer, as a father of English poetry. He lived a little longer than Chaucer, though born eight years sooner, and was the successor of the latter in the laurel. His principal production in poetry, was "Confessio Amantis;" though he left behind, other poems of considerable spirit and energy. Though gentle in manner, he inveighed boldly against the debaucheries of the times, the immorality of the clergy, the wickedness of corrupt judges, and the vices of an abandoned court. He died at the age of eighty-two.

7. Chaucer (Geoffrey) was born in London, 1328. Compared with Chaucer, all who preceded him, not excepting Gower, were merely pioneers in English poetry: they were scarcely poets. He is, therefore, more commonly considered the father of English song. Though in the idiom of the fourteenth century, his poetry is not devoid of great smoothness and delicacy; the sentiments are bold, the characters are well supported, and the genius of the poet is every where brilliant, sprightly, and sublime. The Canterbury Tales, are his best production.

Chaucer enjoyed a signal share in the favours of royalty, and his honours and emoluments exceeded far the ordinary lot of poets. This circumstance may, perhaps, be partly owing to the fact, that he had a princely brother-in-law, John Gaunt, duke of Lancaster. At one period of his life, he suffered persecution, in consequence of embracing the tenets of Wickliffe. The latter part of his days was spent at a distance from the bustle and intrigues ef public life, and his retirement at Woodstock, and afterwards at Donnington, he devoted himself to the cultivation of his muse. He died 25th October, 1400.

PERIOD VIII.

The period of the Reformation; extending from the T'aking of Constantinople, 1453 years A. Č., to the Edict of Nantes, 1598 years A. C.

TURKISH EMPIRE.

SECT. 1. The history of the Turkish Empire, at this era, is signalized by the taking of Constantinople, and the consequent extinction of the Eastern Empire of the Romans, 1453. The Turks effected the object under Mahomet the Great, the Turkish Sultan.

Constantine was the name of the last emperor of the East, as it was also the name of the first. His dominions had become exceedingly circumscribed. The Turks had gradually encroached upon its borders, and Constantinople would soon have become the seat of the Ottoman power, had they not been obliged to defend themselves against the Tartars.

Mahomet II., after some delay, commenced the project which had long engaged the attention of the Turks. The indolent inhabitants of Constantinople, made but a feeble preparation for defence, and all Europe was supine and indifferent. The city was assailed both by sea and land-the walls were battered down with cannon, and all who opposed were massacred. The emperor was slain, and the city soon surrendered. The Turks forbore to destroy the imperial edifices, and the churches were converted into mosques. exercise of their religion, however, was allowed to all the christians, and they have, till lately, chosen their own patriarch. The Eastern empire, from the building of its capital. had subsisted 1123 years.

The

After the fall of Constantinople, Greece and Epirus were subdued; and Italy might probably have shared a similar fate, but for the fleet of the Venetians, who opposed the arms of Mahomet with considerable success: but peace was soon concluded between the hostile powers. The death of Ma homet the Great, occurred 1481.

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