The Expansion of Christian Europe

[Dana Carleton Munro, The Middle Ages, 395-1272 (New York: The Century Company, 1921), pp. 387-405]

Ommiads in Spain. The supremacy of the Ommiads in the Spanish peninsula lasted for about three hundred years. During much of the time the rulers were weak and the Moslem dominion was troubled by the struggles of the different factions and peoples among its subjects. Of these, the Arabs and Berbers were mutually hostile; the "Slav" body-guard, which included Slavs, Franks, Lombards, and others, frequently attempted to play the role that had been acted by the praetorian guard at Rome; and the conquered Christians were always a possible source of danger. From time to time a strong ruler reestablished order and governed wisely. The tenth century was the period when conditions were best, civilization most advanced, and the people happiest. After the death in 1002 of Almansor, the able prime minister, the Ommiads lost their power, and in place of one caliphate a score of independent governments were set up in Moslem Spain.

Rise of Christian States. At the time of the Arab conquest the whole peninsula had been subdued, except a small tract protected by the mountains in the northwest. According to an Arabic chronicler, nothing remained unconquered except a steep mountain on which "Old Pelayo" had taken refuge with thirty men and ten women. "Would to God that the Moslems had then extinguished the sparks of fire which were fated to consume all the dominions of Islam in those lands!" Gradually the hardy mountaineers were reinforced, and began to make raids, occasionally capturing a town or village. The kingdoms of Leon and Navarre were formed in the northwest. Castile was at first merely the frontier of Leon, defended by the castles from which it took its name; as the conquests extended southward the name Castile marched with them. In the northeast was the country of Barcelona, an outgrowth of the Spanish March of Charles the Great, which had become independent because the later Carolingians were too weak to protect it. At the beginning of the eleventh century the Christians in Spain held only the two kingdoms and the two counties.

Conquests in the Eleventh Century. The weakness of the Mohammedans was an opportunity for the Christians to extend their conquests. At first Navarre was the strongest of the Christian states, but the king, Sancho the Great, 970 1035, used his position to get control over the other Christian states rather than to wage war on the Moslems Because of his success he received the title of emperor At his death he divided his empire among his sons; one getting Navarre; a second, Castile, now made a kingdom; and the third, the territory which was later to be Aragon. For a time the Christians were occupied in fighting one another, but under Alfonso VI, 1073-1109, king of Leon and Castile, the conquests from the Moslems were very rapid and were frequently the result of alliances between the Christians and Moslem rulers. Madrid was captured and, in 1085, Toledo. The Mohammedans were profoundly moved by the loss of Toledo and in their despair decided to call to their aid their fellow Moslems in Africa.

The Almoravides. There, a fanatical sect of marabouts, or saints, controlled by Berbers from the Sahara, had set up a new dynasty, generally known as the Almoravides. Their leader, Yusuf, landed in 1086 and in a single battle routed the Castilians. He was hailed as the "Emir of Andalous." Fortunately for the Christian cause, he was soon engaged in strife with the other Moslem rulers in Spain, who considered Yusuf and his followers half savage and filled with religious bigotry. The lax and effeminate Moorish rulers were opposed in every respect to these newly converted, zealous, and puritanical followers of the Prophet The common people, however, welcomed the Almoravides, who abolished most of the taxes. Profiting by these divisions among their enemies, the Christians made further conquests, including Lisbon; but their success was only temporary, as Yusuf, after he had overcome the Moslem rulers, won back the strongholds that the Christians had taken. He died in 1106, and it is said that he was one hundred years old; if this is true, he was eighty when he first went to Spain. By the time of his death his followers were already becoming weak and degenerate, demoralized by the luxuries and vices that they had not known in their desert home. They had lost the support of the common people by their cruelty and arrogance, and by their intolerance and persecutions they had aroused the hatred of the Christians living under Moslem rule. In Africa their rule was threatened by the rise of a new sect led by Berbers from the mountains. Under these conditions the Christians were easily successful in their raids. Their practice was to destroy all the crops and fruit trees, burn the villages, and carry the people away into slavery. The lands (Castile and Andalusia) over which they fought for generation after generation became impoverished, and these raids contributed to increase the unproductive areas in Spain.

The "Cid". The most noted of all the warriors was a Castilian noble, Rodrigo Diaz of Bivar. By his exploits while still a youth he won the title of campeador, or challenger; that is, one who at the beginning of a battle challenges an opponent to single combat. Exiled, he became the leader of a band of freebooters, fighting indiscriminately in the service of Christian or infidel, and plundering indifferently mosques or churches to get booty to pay his followers, Christians and Moslems. The name by which he is best known, the "Cid," or master, is the one that his Moorish. followers gave him. The Spanish people have made of him their national hero, and some have suggested his canonization as the national saint. In the literature that has grown up about him, he is represented as the champion of the Christian faith and an exemplar of Christian virtues. The real Cid was a brave, ruthless leader, a true product of his age, and mated with a lady worthy to be his bride. His greatest exploit was the capture of Valencia, which was accompanied by much brutality. Her greatest exploit was the defense of the same city for two years after the death of the Cid, in 1099, and then her triumphant departure with the body of her dead lord. Their deeds are told in the Chronicle of the Cid, of which Southey has given such a delightful English version. Although the Chronicle is eulogistic and not very accurate, it was written only a half century after the Cid's death, and consequently gives many a detail that reflects the point of view of the twelfth century and enables us to reconstruct much of the spirit of the age.

Las Navas de Tolosa –1212. The Christians had made great progress in civilization. The nobles no longer stabled their war-horses in their bedrooms with their wives and children. The people no longer dressed in the skins of wild beasts. The nobles were still very poor, making their living mainly by fighting, and ever ready to sell their arms to the highest bidder. The wars between the Christian kings were frequent, and prevented united action against the infidel. This was forced upon them by a new danger. In Africa another sect had arisen--the Almohades, or Unitarians, led by hardy mountaineers from the Atlas. They conquered the Almoravides, first in Africa, and then, in the middle of the twelfth century, in Spain. They defeated the Christians and checked their advance. For sixty years they, ruled Moorish Spain from their headquarters in Africa. Then Innocent III succeeded in bringing about union among the Christian monarchs in Spain, with the exception of the king of Leon, and also induced many crusaders from other lands to join the Spaniards. Some crusaders had already fought in the Spanish wars. Portugal, which had become a kingdom in 1143, had profited especially by the aid of crusaders, who stopped there on their way to the Holy Land. Lisbon had been conquered with the help of the English in 1147, and had been made the capital of the new kingdom. In 1212 the Christians fought the Almohades at Las Navas de Tolosa, and won a victory that decided the fate of the Moors. "After this fatal day the empire of the Saracens in Spain weakened constantly, and they no longer had any success." The Christians pushed on with their conquests, and a half-century later the Moors held only Granada.

Spain in the Thirteenth Century. Granada became very thickly populated, wealthy and prosperous, as the Moors flocked thither from the lands conquered by the Christians. The king of Castile forced the ruler of Granada to pay tribute, but was too busy at home to attempt to conquer the land. In all the Christian kingdoms the people were occupied in adjusting themselves to new conditions. The organization and customs that had been formed during the "perpetual crusade" had to be modified to suit the new needs, and an enormous tract of land conquered from the Moors had to be settled. Barcelona had won an important position in the Mediterranean trade, and commerce was becoming more important and was influencing conditions. Contact with the outside world was reflected in the internal progress in civilization. Cathedrals were built, universities were founded, a literature developed in the vernacular tongue.

It was more difficult to build up strong governments. The nobles were divided into ricos hombres, owners of vast estates, and hidalgos, who were often very poor. All were proud and independent, holding allegiance to their kings very lightly; they could disown a king at any time by a simple notice, and transfer their services to a rival monarch. The clergy were probably more powerful than in any other country. Many cities had been founded as military colonies planted on the frontier, and consequently had received great privileges, or fueros, conferring an unusual degree of independence. The cities had learned to associate together in leagues, or hermandadas, which could be used as a weapon against all aggressors, even their king. The adjustment in each kingdom was necessarily slow, and was not completed in the thirteenth century. It was hindered by the ambitions of some of the monarchs to play a role outside of the peninsula. Alfonso X of Castile, called "the Wise," had himself elected emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and clung fondly to the empty title. Peter III of Aragon married the heiress of Manfred, son of Frederic II, and thus eventually secured Sicily. When the inhabitants revolted against the cruel rule of Charles of Anjou, conqueror of Manfred, they turned for aid to Peter. This led to the acquisition, later, of the kingdom of Naples.

The Slavs. The expansion of Christian Europe to the eastward was due mainly to the conversion of the Slavs. Of these people Herder, an eighteenth-century German historian, said, "They hold a larger place on the map than in history." Unfortunately, in one sense this is still true. Too little attention has been paid to their history, and some of the most important problems are still unsolved. Specialists differ even as to the fundamental characteristics of the race; some speak of the Slavs as cowardly, and assert that they have never been able to fight successfully except when under foreign leadership; others call them "brave and enterprising" and "good pirates." Possibly a brief summary of some o£ the facts in their history may show why either view may be held, according to the prejudices of the writer.

Early History. The original home of the Slavs seems to have been the marshy land about the river Pripet, northwest of Kiev. The nature of the country prevented them from keeping cattle, and their diet was chiefly vegetables and fish. They had many bees, and from the honey they made mead. They grew flax and hemp as materials for clothing. The marshes made it difficult to get from one village to another. In the sixth century Procopius said: "The Slavs live scattered widely in wretched huts, and they very often change their place of abode." He also said: "The Slavs are not ruled by one man, but have lived from the earliest times in democracy." They appear to have had no ability to get together, even for self-defense. Consequently, as they made useful slaves, they were preyed upon by all their neighbors. When the slave-hunter appeared, the Slav fled to the forests or into the water. "Settled in places very hard of access, forests, rivers, lakes, they provide their dwellings with several exits with a view to accidents, and they bury everything that is not absolutely necessary.... When they are suddenly attacked, they dive under the water, and, lying on their backs on the bottom, they breathe through long reeds, and thus escape destruction." But many did not escape; the word "slave" is derived from "Slav," as the Slav came to be the commonest and most valuable slave.

Extent of Territory. In spite of the slave raids, the population increased, and it was necessary for the Slavs to seek homes elsewhere. The extent of the territory over which they had spread at the end of the seventh century is very remarkable. On the north their settlements extended along the Baltic to west of the Elbe, on the south they had occupied almost the whole of the Balkan peninsula; eastward, from the middle course of the Danube far into Russia, they formed the great bulk of the population. They were divided into many tribes; these were subdivided into clans, which acted together only when some great danger threatened. Their villages were located in the forests on marshy ground.

The Avar Empire. In the sixth century the Slavs were held in subjection by the Avars, a nomadic people who had conquered a temporary "empire" in central Europe. As the Avars could not pasture their animals in the open in the winter, they quartered themselves on the Slavs, whom they forced to build round villages suitable for cattle-pens and to store up fodder for their use. After the Avar empire began to break up, early in the seventh century, a part of the territory formed a Slav state under the rule of Samo, a Frank. When he died, there was no one strong enough to succeed him.

Were the Slavs Valiant. It has often been said that "the Slavs themselves became effective warriors in the cruel Avar school. "This has recently been denied; but it is difficult to believe that the Slavs, whom the Greek emperors dreaded and the Germans had such great difficulty in conquering, were not brave warriors. An Arab historian says: "The Slavs are such a powerful and terrible people that if they were not divided into a multitude of tribes and families no one in the world could resist them. The lands inhabited by them are the most fruitful and richest of all, and they devote themselves zealously to agriculture and other kinds of industry, wherein they surpass all other northern peoples." They were able to protect these lands, no small task in the Middle Ages. Yet it is true that, because of their lack of political skill and consequent dissensions, many were long held in subjection by the nomads. From their forced association with these tyrannical guests, who borrowed their wives, the Slavs, who were a fair race with blue eyes and yellow hair, have become a dark race.

Cyril and Methodius. In the second half of the ninth century the Slav ruler of Moravia took advantage of the weakness of the Carolingians to free himself from their yoke, and then brought under his own power all the neighboring Slavs. Thus was formed the Moravian empire. This fell before the attack of the Magyars at the close of the century, but in its brief history one event had taken place which has had a marked influence upon the Slavonic peoples. This was the missionary work of Cyril and Methodius. Some of the Slavs had already become Christians, but the great mass remained pagans. The ruler of the Moravian empire sent an embassy to the Byzantine emperor to ask for help against the Germans. Whether he asked for Christian teachers, as the tradition states, or whether the patriarch, the learned Photius, suggested it, the result was that the brothers Methodius and Constantine (who later took the name of Cyril) went to Moravia and were received enthusiastically. They celebrated mass in the Slavonic tongue, and Cyril invented a script for the Slavonic alphabet and made the first translation of a Christian book into the Slavonic language. Many details connected with his achievements are in dispute, but there is no question of the services actually rendered by the "apostles to the Slavs." Although Moravia soon gave up the Slavic ritual, it was adopted among other Slavs and is still used in the Orthodox Church. "At first the liturgic language was also the literary language," and its influence was long dominant in Russian, Bulgarian, and Serbian writings.

Separation of the Slavs. At the close of the ninth century new foes appeared who were destined to have a decisive influence upon the fortunes of the Slavs. These were the Hungarians, or Magyars, whose raids upon the west of Europe have already been mentioned. Some have held that they were of Turkish stock, others that they were of Finnish; probably they were a mixture of these and other peoples banded together for plunder. After destroying the Moravian empire they gradually settled in Hungary. By so doing they drove a wedge between the Slavic tribes. This separation was decisive for the future of the Slavs. Those in the east and south were thrown more and more under the influence of the Greek Orthodox Church and of the Byzantine empire; those in the west under the influence of the Germans and the Catholic Church. The Slavs who remained pagans were conquered. Those on the frontiers were especially exposed to attack from their neighbors. The Slavs along the Baltic were conquered by the Danes or the Germans. Most of those in the Balkan peninsula were absorbed in the Byzantine empire and participated in its fortunes; but the Croatians were annexed by Hungary and the Carinthians became subjects of the Germans. Russia, Poland, and Bohemia developed into important Slav states.

Beginnings in Russia. The Slav state of Russia was formed in the ninth century under the leadership of foreign adventurers, called Rus, and took its name from them. These were Scandinavians from eastern Sweden, and their first settlement was at Novgorod. By the rivers Dnieper and "Mother Volga" they could carry their wares to the Black and Caspian seas thence to be transported to Constantinople and Bagdad. These wares were skins swords, and especially Slavs, or "slaves." Of the latter it is said that scarcely one in ten lived to reach the market. To secure protection from the slave raids many Slavs entered the services of the Rus. The traders usually went down the Dnieper to Kiev, where they secured canoes from the Slavs. Below Kiev waterfalls and rapids obstruct the river for a distance of many miles. As this was in the steppe country held by the nomads, who might attack them while carrying their canoes and cargoes around the obstruction the Scandinavians were compelled to travel in one large fleet. Their destination was Cherson, the modern Sevastopol, a Byzantine outpost where they sold their wares to Greek merchants Sometimes they went down the Volga to Itil, the modern Astrakhan, and then from the Caspian Sea on camels to Bagdad. It is said that there were one hundred thousand Scandinavians engaged in this traffic, but the number is undoubtedly greatly exaggerated. At all events, their strength was so great that some soon occupied Kiev, the most important Slav town. According to the Chronicle of Nestor, the oldest Russian chronicle, but posterior by two centuries to these events, the Slavs invited the Rus to come and be their rulers. This is possible; for, while the Slavs had many towns, there was no union among them and those at Kiev were exposed to attacks from the nomads of the steppes. The date generally given for the foundation of the Russian state is 862

The Conversion of Russia. The Rus were not content to trade with the Greeks. True Northmen, they attempted several times to conquer Constantinople, the home of so many objects that they coveted. They were beaten off by the superior skill of the Greeks, and especially by the Greek fire; but the emperors were usually ready to make gifts of grain or money on condition that the Russians depart. Vladimir, ruler at Kiev, (972-1015), essayed an easier task and captured Cherson. If we can accept the Russian traditions, he did this because he wanted to be a Christian, but thought it more fitting to force the Greeks to baptize him than to request it. After capturing the city he demanded the emperor's sister Anne in marriage, although he is said already to have rivaled Solomon, having five wives and eight hundred concubines. If Anne was refused him he threatened to advance on Constantinople. The emperors felt it wise to comply with his request, but made a condition that he become baptized. He became a zealous convert. He ordered the national idols thrown into the Dnieper, and also compelled all the inhabitants of Kiev, regardless of age, sex, or rank, to strip off their clothes and stand in the river, while the Greek priests on the banks read the baptismal service. Thus Russia became a Christian state. As she received her Christianity from Constantinople, she was untroubled by any of the conflicts between Church and state that were so common in the West. The liturgy was in the vernacular and not in Latin, the language of the learned; the churches were copied after models in the Byzantine empire, especially St. Sophia. The Russians received, too, the ecclesiastical music, a boon to a people passionately fond of music but wholly untrained.

Rulers of Kiev. The submission to the Rus and the conversion to Christianity were the two most important events in early Russian history. Kiev was the most important center of Russian power till 1169, and her ruler alone bore the title of Grand Prince. At first the rulers had body-guards of Northmen and introduced Scandinavian legal customs; the laws of Yaroslav the Great, successor of Vladimir, deal with ordeals, wager of law, wager of battle, wergeld, just as does any western code of the period. Gradually, however, the rulers turned to the Slavs for support and themselves became assimilated. German and Slavic customs agreed in dividing up the kingdom among the sons, and this custom had an even more fatal effect among the politically incapable Slavs than in the Carolingian empire. During the hundred and seventy years that intervened between the death of Yaroslav and the first appearance of the Tartars in Russia it has been calculated that there were sixty-four different principalities, mostly ephemeral, two hundred and ninety-three princes or pretenders, eighty-three civil wars, and so many invasions that it is impossible to compute them.

Lack Of Union. In 1169 eleven of the other princes joined in attacking Kiev, which they sacked, not sparing even the churches. This was the end of the greatness of Kiev. Twice again it was sacked, but by nomads not Russians, in 1203 and 1240. A few years later Carpini reported: "It was formerly a great and populous city. Now scarcely two hundred houses are left, and the inhabitants are held in the most complete servitude." No other principality secured the supremacy. Novgorod, which still remained the most important center in the north, was a republic, and is said to have had one hundred thousand inhabitants and three hundred thousand subjects; it called itself "My Lord Novgorod the Great." The people of Novgorod elected a prince to rule over them, and, when they wished to, expelled him; but in spite of their independence and wealth they were so divided by factional strife that they allowed the Hanseatic League to take away the control over their own commerce from them, and the Knights of the Sword to conquer Livonia. A folk-song tells of the results of the latter: "The priests strangled us with their rosaries, the greedy knights plundered us, troops of brigands ravaged us, armed murderers cut us q in pieces." Nowhere in Russia was there any care for the common good, any readiness to unite in defense against a common foe.

Rise of Poland. Little is known of the early history of Poland before 962. Then a strong king came to the throne, and three years later a accepted the Christian faith under the guidance of Rome. s Within two generations Poland had become the greatest of the X Slav states, having conquered Bohemia, Moravia, Pomerania, Silesia, and part of Russia. The kingdom, however, was not organized to hold such an empire, as there was no fixed rule of succession and the kings treated the kingdom as if it were private i property. The lay nobles were very independent and cared only for their own interests; the ecclesiastical nobles had won great authority and wealth and strove to make the Church entirely independent of the state. All the neighbors, Germany in particular, were hostile; the only support the king could count upon was from the pope, and his aid might be forfeited, as it sometimes was, by the misconduct of the king.

Poland in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries. Poland gradually lost most of her conquests, and was left, shut off from the sea-coast, without any natural boundaries to protect the country. Her nobles won greater power; the Church became more independent; there was no third estate, for the peasants were agriculturists and all the commerce was in the hands of foreigners who had been granted special privileges without any compensating duties. Jews had been admitted very early, but the most important colonies were composed of German artisans, who during the twelfth century came in great numbers. Civilization advanced rapidly for a time; but, as it was not based on a strong social order, the gain was not permanent. In the thirteenth century Poland was as much divided as Russia, and from practically the same causes; for the rulers of the separate parts were ambitious but inefficient. Weak through lack of union for a common cause, they invited the Teutonic Knights to protect them from the attacks of the heathen Prussians, and granted these knights much land and many privileges. It has been well said that on the eve of the great disaster of the thirteenth century there was a Polish people but no Polish nation.

Bohemia. Bohemia was converted to Christianity early in the tenth century. After freeing herself from the power of Poland, in the eleventh century she became for a time the leading Slav power in the West. She came more fully under the German influence than Poland, and usually was compelled to acknowledge German overlordship, as her first king had obtained his title from Henry IV, in 1086. In the twelfth century Bohemia welcomed German colonists and shared in the advanced German civilization. It was in the thirteenth century, however, that she attained her greatest power. This was due mainly to three factors: first, the right of primogeniture was established and thus disputes about succession to the throne were avoided; second, the rulers invited German immigration on a large scale to develop their mines and build up their commerce; third, and most important, the rulers very shrewdly exploited the troubled conditions in Germany. They aided the pope against the Hohenstaufens and utilized the interregnum to build up a strong power. In 1273 Bohemia's territory extended to the Adriatic, and all eastern Germany looked to her for protection. Five years later she was crushed by a combined attack from the Magyars and the newly elected emperor Rudolf of Hapsburg.

Magyars. When the Magyars entered Hungary they are said to have numbered two hundred and sixteen thousand men. Probably there were relatively few women and children, as the Magyars had been driven out from their former homes by other nomads, and under such circumstances the victors usually appropriated the women. When they first entered Europe they were described as ugly and repulsive; their development into the notably handsome people of to-day is due to their breeding with the women of subject or neighbor races. They retained their nomadic habits in part for several centuries; and even in the twelfth century they lived in tents in summer. They long continued their raids upon Germany, even after the battle of the Lech. About the year 1000, however, King Stephen made Christianity the national faith, and thus brought Hungary into close association with the Roman Church, which gave to him the title "Apostolic Majesty." This conversion opened again the old land route, the so-called "road of Charles the Great," to the Holy Land. Stephen was a great organizer, and made a nation of the Hungarians, establishing common laws and a firm administration for all the people.

Apogee of Hungary. For two generations the kings were not able to carry on Stephen's work, and the king of Hungary was for a time a vassal of Henry III of Germany. From 1077 to 1114 two strong kings ruled and made Hungary a great power, adding to their territories Croatia, Dalmatia, and a part of Galicia, besides firmly incorporating Transylvania, which up to that time had been only partially subject. The Magyars were brave and also much more "politically minded" than the Slavs, consequently they treated their subject peoples very fairly and won their allegiance. The laws were respected and public order well kept. Otto of Freising has a remarkable passage in which he describes their country as a paradise and the people as short, ugly, barbarous and ferocious in manners and speech. "All obey the princes so well," he says, "that in all the seventy or more counties two thirds of all judicial fines are paid into his treasury ", "the king's will alone is held by all to be right." "When he summons them to war, no one dares to remain at home unless absolutely obliged to." The bishop is evidently contrasting conditions in Germany with those in Hungary.

Decadence of Hungary. Even while Otto was writing, conditions were changing in Hungary, where after 1114 monarchs of less ability inherited the throne and wasted the strength of the country in unsuccessful wars, waged to extend their own influence. They allowed the great nobles, both lay and ecclesiastic, to usurp the royal power, and finally agreed that the offices held from the crown should be hereditary. This aroused the lesser nobles, who suffered from the tyranny of the great nobles, and they compelled the king in 1222, to grant the Golden Bull. This has often been compared to the Magna Carta, which in two of its clauses it resembles very closely. Enthusiasts have said that the Golden Bull established a constitutional monarchy, a responsible ministry, and an annual parliament that controlled taxation. If its terms had been enforced these results might have followed; but as a matter of fact the terms were not enforced until later centuries. The king, who had been attacked for his grants to foreigners and the nobles, whose hereditary offices were threatened, were opposed to the petty nobles, and civil strife ensued. The people were practically powerless, as the merchants and artisans who dwelt in the cities were mainly foreigners and the agricultural peasants were very greatly oppressed. Hungary, like Russia and Poland, was weak and lacked union when it was confronted with the great Tartar invasion.

The Mongol Empire. At the close of the twelfth century an ambitious chief of one of the Mongol tribes, far in the east of Asia, was gradually extending his authority over the surrounding tribes. A contemporary Chinese author says that he was "a man of gigantic stature, with broad forehead and long beard, and remarkable for his bravery. As to his people, their faces are broad, flat and four-cornered, with prominent cheek-bones; their eyes have no upper eyelashes; they have very little hair in their beards and mustaches; their exterior is very repulsive." This leader was so successful that in 1206 he assumed the title of Genghis Khan, "inflexible emperor," and was recognized as the supreme chief of all the Mongol tribes. Ten years later he conquered Peking. Leaving subordinates to complete the conquest of China, he started westward to conquer other peoples.

Conquests. At that time the Charismian Turks had control of all central Asia, but they were overcome by Genghis Khan in a single campaign. By 1225 Bokhara, Samarkand, Khiva, Farghana, and parts of Afghanistan, Persia, and Caucasia were conquered. In the meantime Genghis Khan had sent a detachment of twenty-five thousand men under two of his sons to pursue the Charismian Turks. This band made a long excursion westward, probably to spy out the land. In three years they traversed Persia and Armenia, crossed the Caucasus, defeated the Russian army in the battle of Kalka (1223) near the sea of Azov, went on to the Dnieper, and then retraced their course. Genghis Khan now ruled over an enormous empire, which extended from China to the Caucasus and from the far north to the Himalaya Mountains. His conquests had been possible because of the nature of the country and of his subjects, who on their triumphant march took with them their flocks and all their possessions, for there was ample pasturage and the flocks furnished food. Their numbers were constantly swelled by the accession of new tribes of nomads. Genghis Khan was a very able ruler and administrator, and his authority was unquestioned as long as he lived. At his death in 1227 he left no successor competent to hold the empire together, and it had disintegrated before the thirteenth century ended.

Invasion of Europe. For a time the successors of Genghis Khan were busy in Asia, but in 1236 his grandson Batu began a new invasion of Europe. The Russian princes did not unite against the Mongols, and one after another was conquered. City after city was sacked and the inhabitants killed or carried away into slavery. If a city resisted, the Tartars carried out a policy of "frightfulness," torturing the inhabitants in divers ways before putting them to death. When they defeated an army, they cut off an ear from each of the dead foes and filled bags with these as trophies. After Russia had been completely overrun came the turn of Poland and Hungary; in neither country was any resistance made. The Tartars remained for some months in Hungary, which suffered terribly from their ravages and cruelty. They had advanced as far as the Adriatic when the news of the death of the "grand khan" caused Batu to return eastward.

The Golden Horde. The Tartars abandoned Poland and Hungary, but maintained their hold on Russia. The state that they established was called Kiptchak, or the Golden Horde, and included the region of the steppes and the lower valley of the Volga. From there they kept the Russians in bondage. Novgorod was the only important city that had not been conquered, and even Novgorod paid tribute. The Tartars did not attempt to administer the country and allowed the Russians to keep their land, laws, and religion but they did insist upon the payment of a heavy tribute, and sent officials throughout the various principalities to number the inhabitants so that they could collect the largest possible amount. The tax-gatherers used torture freely when the taxes were not paid promptly, and any rebellion was put down with the greatest severity. The clergy of the Greek Orthodox Church were the only ones who did not have to pay the poll tax, and this exemption was continued even after the Tartars became Mohammedans, in 1272. Russia remained under the Tartar rule for two centuries.

Scandinavia in the Eleventh Century. In the eleventh century the Scandinavian North played a great role in European history. The most important monarch was Canute the Great, whose empire included Denmark, England, Norway, the Orkneys and Hebrides, Iceland and Greenland, except for the German emperor, he was the greatest lay sovereign in western Europe. Mention has already been made of the exploits of other Northmen during this century- the conquest of England and of southern Italy and the founding of the Russian state. It was in the eleventh century, also, that the Northmen planted the colony of Vinland on the coast of North America, and at the other end of the known world threatened to capture Constantinople. In the Scandinavian lands the most important happening in this century was the introduction of the Christian faith. Denmark, because of its close association with Germany, had been partially Christianized before; but when Canute came to the throne he found half of his people still pagan. Before the century was over the Danes had accepted the Christian faith. The conversion of Norway was due mainly to King Olaf (1015-1028), who, killed in 1030 in an attempt to win back his kingdom from Canute, became the national saint. The faith was introduced in this same century in Sweden, but did not become fully established until the middle of the twelfth century. Many of the sagas were composed in the eleventh century, but they were not put into their final form until a century or two later.

Weakness in the Thirteenth Century. The introduction of Christianity among the Scandinavians was not accomplished easily, because it necessitated social changes that ran counter to the customs of the people. It interfered with their freedom of marriage; it condemned the eating of horse-flesh, their favorite food. The Northmen objected to fasting, doing penance, and paying tithes for the support of the priests and a strong pagan party was formed, especially in Sweden and Norway, which opposed the kings and the Church. In addition to the opposition from the pagans the spirit of independence and adventure was still rife and many resented a central government's restriction of their actions. Civil and foreign wars were frequent in Sweden and Norway, and neither was able to develop into a strong kingdom before the end of the thirteenth century. Denmark had been strong in the twelfth century and had conquered much of the Slavic lands along the Baltic, sometimes unaided, sometimes in association with the Germans. As she had a powerful fleet, she was a valuable ally, and several of the European monarchs, including Philip Augustus, married Danish princesses. In the thirteenth century, however, the king of Denmark was compelled to give up to Germany the Slavic lands that he had conquered, and Denmark ceased to be a powerful state.

Church and State. A survey of the conditions in Europe at the close of the period included in this volume shows that France and possibly Spain were the only countries in which the kings were prosperous and strong. The Byzantine empire and the Holy Roman Empire had lost their power. England, under Henry III, was torn by civil strife. Italy was divided into many political units, and the great cities, such as Venice and Genoa, were at strife with one another. The Slav and Scandinavian kingdoms were weak. All the European peoples had become Christians. The Church was powerful and wealthy, and the papacy had crushed the empire and become the overlord of kings. Its position and dominance, however, were threatened by the rise of the third estate, the growth of the national spirit, and the spread of criticism and skepticism. It still had many loyal and devout adherents, and a movement had begun in the thirteenth century which was destined to win new triumphs for Christianity and the Church. Just as the missionaries in the past had risked their lives to carry the faith to Celts, Germans, and Slavs, now other missionaries were invading Asia, visiting the Tartar hordes and the Chinese Empire, in their zeal to spread Christianity, and thus through their enterprise and devotion making new converts and bringing to Europe the knowledge of new lands.