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Essentials in mediæval history. Harding, Samuel Bannister, 1866–1927. 
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THE EMPEROR CHARLEMAGNE.Dürer's painting (1510), showing the insignia of later Emperors. Contemporary portraits all show Charlemagne without a beard.

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ESSENTIALS
IN
MEDIÆVAL HISTORY(FROM CHARLEMAGNE TO THE CLOSE OF THE
FIFTEENTH CENTURY)

BY

SAMUEL BANNISTER HARDING

, PH.D.
PROFESSOR OF EUROPEAN HISTORY, INDIANA UNIVERSITY
IN CONSULTATION WITH
ALBERT BUSHNELL HART, LL.D.
PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY

NEW YORK-:-CINCINNATI-:-CHICAGO AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY

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COPYRIGHIT, 1905, 1909, BY
SAMUEL BANNISTER HARDING. ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL, LONDON.

* * * * *

ESSEN. MED. HIST. W. P. 2

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PREFACE

IN a large number of colleges, the first course in European history consists of a general survey of mediæval and modern history; and with the increased acceptance by secondary schools of the programme in history prepared by the Committee of Seven of the American Historical Association, it is becoming feasible to begin such a course with the time of Charlemagne. Even with this limitation, however, it is still a problem, in many institutions, how to cover in the limited time at the disposal of the instructor the many topics which such a course should comprise. Especially is this the case now that the best authorities -- wisely enough -- are insisting upon a fuller and more detailed treatment of more recent history, that included (let us say) within the limits of the last century and a half. The great problem is, then, how to compress the earlier part of the course so as to give adequate time for the more vital things nearer our own day.

One way which has been proposed for accomplishing this is the elimination of a great deal of what is usually taught concerning the political history of the Middle Ages. One advocate of this method proposes the heroic policy of skipping directly from Charlemagne to Otto I. The author of this book believes heartily in the principle underlying this proposal, though he doubts the wisdom of its literal application. By careful selection of the facts to be taught, and placing them in text-book form in the hands of students, he believes that it is possible to accomplish the needful economy of time, while sacrificing little of the continuity of the history, or of the just page: 6[View Page 6] apprehension of the fundamental features of mediæval life and institutions. It is to meet such a need, in elementary college classes in mediæval history, that this book is issued in this form.

It is perhaps needless to say that it is not expected that the book will comprise the whole of the instruction given, even in an elementary course, in this field. Formal and informal lectures by the instructor, collateral reading in the books referred to at the close of the chapters, the use of a source book such as that prepared by Ogg or by Robinson, the preparation of maps to fix geographical facts, and of occasional essays or reports to broaden here and there the narrow trail of classroom instruction, -- all these are presupposed as means of equal if not greater value than the text-book itself. The book affords what it is hoped will be found to be a clear, scholarly, compact outline, which can be filled in in various ways. Its aim is to be accurate in substance and definite in statement, to seize the vital and interesting facts, and as far as possible to give that concreteness of treatment which is necessary in dealing with matters so remote and alien as those which fill the history of the Middle Ages.

These are the ideas which underlie this little book, and it is hoped that its chapters may be as successful elsewhere, as a basis for Freshman instruction in mediæval history, as they have already proved to be in Indiana University.

BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA.

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CONTENTS

EMPIRE AND PAPACY

AGE OF THE CRUSADES

RISE OF NATIONAL STATES

THE RENAISSANCE

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LIST OF MAPS

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SELECT LIST OF BOOKS IN ENGLISH
ON MEDIÆVAL HISTORY

Titles marked with an asterisk (*) denote books which are especially valuable.

  • * Adams, G. B., Civilization during the Middle Ages. N.Y.
  • Archer, T. A., The Crusade of Richard I. (English History from Contemporary Writers.) N.Y.
  • * Archer, T. A., and Kingsford, C. L., The Crusades. (Nations Series.) N.Y.
  • Balzani, Ugo, The Popes and the Hohenstaufen. (Epochs of Church History.) N.Y.
  • * Bémont, C., and Monod, G., Medieval Europe, 395-1270. N.Y.
  • * Bryce, James, The Holy Roman Empire. Enlarged and revised edition. N.Y.
  • Burckhardt, Jacob, The Civilisation of the Renaissance in Italy. N.Y. Cambridge Modern History. (Planned by Lord Acton, and written by associated scholars.) Vol. I. N.Y.
  • Chronicles of the Crusades. (Bohn Library.) N.Y.
  • Commines, Philip de, Memoirs, containing the Histories of Louis XI. and Charles VIII., Kings of France, and Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. (Bohn Library.) N.Y.
  • Cox, G. W., The Crusades. (Epochs.) N.Y.
  • * Creighton, Mandell (Bishop), History of the Papacy from the Great Schism to the Sack of Rome. 6 vols. N.Y.
  • Emerton, Ephraim, Introduction to the Study of the Middle Ages. Boston.
  • * Emerton, Ephraim, Mediœval Europe, 814-1300. Boston.
  • Emerton, Ephraim, Desiderius Erasmus. N.Y.
  • Fisher, Herbert, The Mediœval Empire. 2 vols. N.Y.
  • Freeman, E. A., Historical Essays. 3 vols. N.Y.
  • Froissart, Chronicles. (G. C. Macaulay's edition of Berner's translation.) N.Y.
  • Gardiner, S. R., Student's History of England. N.Y.
  • Gautier, Léon, Chivalry. London.
  • Gibbon, Edward, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Edited by J. B. Bury. 7 vols. N.Y.
  • Gilman, Arthur, The Saracens. (Nations Series.) N.Y.
  • Guizot, F. P. G., History of Civilization. 4 vols. (Bohn Library.) N.Y.
  • t Henderson, E. F., History of Germany in the Middle Ages. N.Y.
  • * Henderson, E. F., Select Historical Documents of the Middle Ages. N.Y.
  • Historians' History of the World. 25 vols. N.Y.
  • Hodgkim, Thomas, Charles the Great. N.Y.
  • Hutton, W. H., Philip Augustus. N.Y.
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  • Kitchin, G. W., History of France. 3 vols. Oxford.
  • Lacroix, Paul, Manners, Customs, and Dress during the Middle Ages. London.
  • Lacroix, Paul, Military and Religious Life in the Middle Ages. London.
  • Lane-Poole, Stanley, Saladin. N.Y.
  • Lea, H. C., History of the Inquisition of the Middle Ages. 3 vols. Philadelphia.
  • Lea, H. C., Studies in Church History. Philadelphia.
  • * Lodge, Richard, The Close of the Middle Ages, 1273-1494. N.Y.
  • McCabe, Joseph, Abélard. N.Y.
  • Masson, Gustave, Mediœval France. (Nations Series.) N.Y.
  • Michelet, Jules, History of France. Translated by G. H. Smith. 2 vols. N.Y.
  • Milman, H. H., History of Latin Christianity. 8 vols. in 4. N.Y.
  • Moeller, Wilhelm, History of the Christian Church. 3 vols. N.Y.
  • Mombert, J. I., Charles the Great. N.Y.
  • Mombert, J. I., A Short History of the Crusades. N.Y.
  • Montalembert, C. F. de T., The Monks of the West, from St. Benedict to St. Bernard. 7 vols. Edinburgh.
  • * Munro, D. C. (editor), Essays on the Crusades. N.Y.
  • * Munro, D. C., and Sellery, G. C. (editors), Medieval Civilization: Selected Studies from European Authors, translated and edited. Enlarged edition. N.Y.
  • * Oman, C. W. C., The Dark Ages, 476-918. N.Y.
  • Oman, C. W. C., Byzantine Empire. (Nations Series.) N.Y.
  • Oman, C. W. C., The History of the Art of War: The Middle Ages. N.Y.
  • Pennsylvania, University of, Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History. 6 vols. Philadelphia and New York.
  • * Poole, Reginald L., Wycliffe and Movements for Reform. (Epochs of Church History.) N.Y.
  • * Robinson, J. H., Readings in European History. Vol. I. Boston.
  • Robinson, J. H., and Rolfe, H. W., Petrarch, the First Modern Scholar and Man of Letters. (Selections from his correspondence, with introduction.) N.Y.
  • Schaff, Philip, History of the Christian Church. 6 vols. N.Y.
  • * Seignobos, Charles, The Feudal Régime. Translated by E. W. Dow. N.Y.
  • Stephens, W. R. W., Hildebrand and his Times. (Epochs of Church History.) N.Y.
  • Stillé, C. J., Studies in Mediœval History. Philadelphia.
  • Symonds, J. A., The Renaissance in Italy. 7 vols. N.Y.
  • Thatcher, O. J., and McNeal, E. H., Source Book for Mediœval History. N.Y.
  • Thatcher, O. J., and Schwill, Ferdinand, Europe in the Middle Age. N.Y.
  • * Tout, T. F., The Empire and the Papacy, 918-1273. N. Y.
  • Willert, P. F., The Reign of Louis XI. N.Y.
  • * Wylie, J. H., The Council of Constance to the Death of John Huss. N.Y.
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