separation from them. Hatto of Basel, the most illustrious of his elder
bishops, often inveighed against the monarch's weaknesses, yet
Charlemagne not only bore the bishop's censures, but sent him on a
highly honourable mission to the Court of Constantinople, and chose
him as one of the witnesses to his last will. The emperor's friendship
with Pope Hadrian was quite remarkable, and, in spite of many
differences, was deep and lasting. On hearing the news of Hadrian's
death, Charlemagne burst into tears, and eulogized him in the most
flattering terms. The emperor's management of his royal estates was
in the highest degree prudent, skilful, energetic, and in every way
admirable. To his property he gave the
[Pg 64]
closest and most constant inspection, down to the very eggs
produced on his farms.
He gathered round him scholars, artists, and teachers, from Italy and
Greece, and a Court school was opened by Alcuin, the Anglo-Saxon
scholar—the English were then the most cultured of the German
peoples—and a body of English pupils followed him to France. Alcuin
became the friend, and in matters educational the counsellor, of
Charlemagne, by whom he was entrusted with the revision of the
Bible. Warnfried Paulus Diaconus, the famous Lombard writer, was
ordered to compile a collection of homilies from the Fathers. Copies
of both these remarkable manuscripts—Bible and Homilies—were
presented to the church of Zurich, and one, the beautiful Alcuin Bible,
is still extant and among its literary treasures. Thronging the learned
circle whose poetic centre was Charles himself, with his wife and
daughters, and two sisters, were Einhard the German, the confidant
and biographer of the emperor; Augilhard, the knightly poet; the Goth
Theobald, Bishop of Orleans, a scholar and man of the world; as well
as many another illustrious man. Charlemagne's two sisters were
nuns, and one of them, Gisela, was the great friend of Alcuin.[18]
Charlemagne was fond of visiting and occasionally teaching in his
Court school. He took great interest in the progress of his scholars,
praising the diligent and admonishing the indolent. The "Monk"
informs us that on one occasion finding the compositions of the
poorer boys praiseworthy, whilst those of the
[Pg 65]
young nobles were unsatisfactory, the emperor rose up in anger and
warned these latter youths that their high birth and fine manners
should not screen them from punishment if they did not get rid of their
laziness. Then, turning to the poor but meritorious youths, he highly
commended them, and exhorted them to be always thus diligent,
promising them rewards and preferment if they continued in their
good course. Charlemagne indeed gained imperishable glory by his
educational efforts, through which a foundation was laid for after
ages. Full of the conviction that religion and learning were essential to
happiness, he yearned to spread education amongst his people, and
made it the chief object of his later years. All parents ought, he says,
"to send their boys to school, and let them abide there till they are
well informed," a principle only imperfectly understood and acted
upon even in our own day. This ideal side of his complex activity lifts
him far above the other rulers of the Middle Ages. To our mind there
is but one who bears comparison with him for greatness of character
and lofty aims—Alfred the Great, of Wessex. Clerical colleges, and
secular schools attached to them, sprang up all over the country, and
the knowledge of the Scriptures, hitherto confined to the clergy, was
freely placed before the people.
The bishops were charged by the emperor to take care that the
priests were "well qualified as religious teachers." Theobald enjoins
his clergy to open schools and "teach the children with love, and to
accept no fees but what the parents choose to give."
[Pg 66]
Such was the emperor's educational zeal, that he ordains whipping
and deprivation of food even for men and women if they do not know
by heart the Confession of Faith and the Lord's Prayer, and are not
able to repeat them in Latin to the priests. Yet he makes allowances
for the dunces who are permitted to learn and repeat these exercises
in their own illiterate language. He admonishes the monks to learn
better grammar, and get rid of their uncouth modes of speech. He
strongly reprimands a choirboy whose wrong notes grate on his
delicate ear.
Amongst the bishops of Switzerland, Hatto of Basel, and Remedius of
Chur-Rhætia, were Charlemagne's chief supporters and lawgivers in
their own dioceses. The latter prelate was a great friend of Alcuin,
and held a brilliant Court with many vassals. The power of these
theocratic governors was very great. It may be mentioned, as an
example of this, that Remedius decreed that persons guilty of
sacrilege should be covered with hot tar and made to ride thus on a
donkey through the villages. The emperor's protection to church and
school foundations was exercised in many cases in Switzerland.
According to tradition, Sion was enriched with landed property; and to
St. Maurice was presented a fine onyx cup adorned with beautiful
Greek relievi, still amongst the treasures of that church. Zurich
attributes her oldest churches and schools to the emperor's bounty.
To him she is said to owe her minster, bearing his name and statue;
the Chorherrenstift, or College of Canons, and the Carolinum, a
clerical school for prebends or canons, which developed in 1832 into
the University and Gymnasium respectively, and finally the
Wasserkirche, a chapel by the riverside, on the spot where the
martyrs Felix and Regula once suffered.
[Pg 67]
GREAT MINSTER AND WASSERKIRCHE, ZURICH. (Appenzeller,
Zurich.)
[Pg 68]
Zurich was indeed, according to tradition, a favourite residence of the
great monarch, and his mansion is said to have been the Haus zum
Loch (hole or cavern), standing on a steep incline near the minster.
Connected with this is a charming legend which reflects the character
for justice he had gained amongst the people. This story may also
serve as an example, the only one our space will permit us to give, of
the abundant store of legend collected around the memory of
Charlemagne. There was a chapel on the riverside where he had
placed a bell for people to ring if they wished to appeal to justice. One
day as he was at dinner with his queen this bell began to ring. None
of the servants could inform him what was the matter. The bell rang a
second time, and then a third. On this the emperor rose from the
table, saying, "I am sure there is some poor man you don't wish me to
see." So saying, he walked down the hill to the chapel, where,
hanging to the bell rope, he found a large snake. The reptile crept
down, moved towards him, and wagged her tail to pay her respects.
Then going on in front she led Charlemagne to a tuft of nettles, and
his servants examining the spot found a large toad sitting on the eggs
in the serpent's nest. At once, grasping the meaning of this appeal,
he sat him down in his chair of justice and passed sentence that the
toad should be killed and quartered. The next day at dinner time the
snake
[Pg 69]
appeared in the passage, frightening the attendants grievously.
However, Charles quieted them, and said, "God is wonderful, and we
cannot know the meaning of this." The snake entered the hall,
climbed on the table, and, beckoning the emperor to remove the lid of
his golden goblet, dropped into it a beautiful jewel. Then, descending
from the table, she bowed to the royal couple, and disappeared.
Charles held this to be a good omen, and resolved never to part with
the jewel. The moral is obvious. Charlemagne was so just, and his
reputation for equity so widespread, that even the lower animals
appealed to him, and not in vain.
According to another version, the stone exerted attraction like a
loadstone, for where it was dropped the emperor could not leave the
place. But Archbishop Turpin had dropped it into the springs of
Aachen, and hence Charlemagne no more quitted that royal
residence.
It would be impossible in our space, even if it were interesting to the
general
reader,
to
enter
into
the
discussions
respecting
Charlemagne's foundations in and visits to Zurich. Two things,
however, come out clearly; first (thanks to the labours of the learned
historian, Professor Georg von Wyss), that tradition is not entirely
unworthy of trust, as there is documentary evidence still extant to
prove that Charlemagne reformed the College (Chorherrenstift);
second, that he kept up a close connection with the city, whether he
actually resided there or not.
No doubt this exaltation of Charlemagne's merits is an expression of
the attachment felt for his person,
[Pg 70]
and of the admiration for his marvellous educational efforts. His
grandson, Louis the German, founded the Abbey of our Lady, in 853,
on the site of an old convent erected to the memory of the patron
saints of Zurich. Louis erected this new abbey in order to give a more
brilliant church preferment to his daughter, Hildgard, Lady Principal of
a small convent at Wurzburg. This Princess Abbess received the sole
right of jurisdiction, and the convent rose rapidly, and with it extended
the city commonwealth. (We shall show in a later chapter how this
female government checked the growth of political power in that city,
and yet was the making of her.)
FOOTNOTES:
See Büdinger, "Von den Anfangen des Schulzwanges," Zurich, 1865, p.
10.
Professor Bächtold, "History of German Literature in Switzerland,"
Frauenfeld, 1887.
Professor Bächtold, "History of German Literature in Switzerland,"
Frauenfeld, 1887.
See Gustav Freytag's charming "Pictures of the Middle Ages."
[Pg 71]
VI.
THE KINGDOM OF BURGUNDY; THE DUCHY OF
SWABIA; AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE.
(843-1100.)
The death of the great emperor brought this realm into utter
confusion, the whole fabric of his wise and firm administration falling
to pieces. All the heterogeneous and often refractory elements which
his stern rule had kept in check burst their bounds and gained full
play during the reigns of his descendants, who grew weaker and
weaker, though with here and there an exception. The pretensions of
the Church, which Charlemagne's own protection and fostering care
had, so to speak, ushered in and strengthened; the struggles of
eminent families and dynastic houses for sovereignty in the absence
of one central and undisputed power; the increase of the immunities
and the growth of feudalism—all these were serious difficulties for the
coming rulers to cope with.
Louis the Pious, the only surviving son of Charlemagne,
[Pg 72]
and heir to his crown, was clearly quite unfit to cope with these
difficulties satisfactorily. The untimely distribution of the crown lands
insisted on by the imperious Judith, his second wife, in favour of her
own son, and the protracted struggles between the imperial princes,
steeped the realm in intestine wars, and in the end led to its
dissolution. It is impossible in this short sketch to follow to his tragical
end this unworthy son of a great father. The treaty of Verdun (843)
settled the bloody conflicts, but split the empire into three new
dominions; the East Frankish realm devolving on Louis the German:
the West Frankish kingdom falling to Charles the Bald; and the
middle district, including Italy and the strip of land between the two
first divisions just mentioned, and comprising Provence, Burgundy,
Lorraine, and the Netherlands. This last realm fell to Lothair.
The treaty of Verdun, to which the French and German States trace
their origin, also effected the most sweeping changes in Helvetia, and
altered greatly its political aspect. The country was rent into two
halves, East Switzerland, forming the Aare, with Chur-Rhætia, being
incorporated with the East Frankish kingdom; and West Helvetia and
the Valais with Lorraine or the middle kingdom. This naturally tended
to revive the national antagonism between the two Helvetias.
Freed from the iron hand which had crushed all attempts at
insurrection, the peoples began again their struggles for the recovery
of national independence and separate rule, and thence came the
restoration of the kingdom of Burgundy and the Duchy of
[Pg 73]
Alamannia, or Swabia.[19] Burgundy was the first to make sure of her national freedom. On the death of Lothair in 855 his kingdom fell to
pieces. Count Boso, of Vienna, his relative, founded the kingdom of
Burgundy without Helvetia, 879 (Provence or Arles— Arelatisches
Reich). After fruitless attempts by various Burgundian nobles to
establish their sovereignty within Helvetia, a renowned nobleman,
Rudolf, of the illustrious house of the Guelfs, set up as a pretender to
Swiss Burgundy, after the precedent of Count Boso. Rudolf
possessed vast estates in Swabia, on Lake Constance. He had
sworn allegiance to Charles III. (the "Stout"), who, weak as he was,
had, strange to say, once more united the Empire under his sceptre.
On his death, in 888, Rudolf the Guelf was crowned king at St.
Maurice, the venerable abbey-town in the Low-Valais, by a large
assembly of Burgundian bishops and nobles. Thus was established
the Helvetian kingdom of Upper or New Burgundy ( Burgundia
transjurans), which seems to have extended into Lorraine and Savoy.
In 933 both Burgundies were united.
Rudolf not only maintained his independence against the aggressive
spirit of intruding neighbours, but carried his victories into East
Helvetia, as far as Lake Zurich, and on his death in 912 his crown
passed without opposition to his son Rudolf II. This king had inherited
his father's great abilities and restless habits, which engaged him in
numerous wars.
[Pg 74]
His greatest martial achievement was the defeat of the Hungarians,
who were making their fearful inroads into Europe. In East Helvetia,
however, his advance was checked by Burkhard I., Duke of
Alamannia, who routed him at Winterthur, near Zurich, in 919. Led no
doubt by their mutual admiration for each other's prowess, and by
common political interests, they made peace and contracted a lasting
friendship. To seal the union between the two Helvetias, Burkhard
gave his lovely daughter, Bertha, in marriage to the Burgundian king,
and gave her as dowry the land between the Aare and the Reuss, the
district for which he had been contending. He even followed Rudolf
on his expedition to Italy, and fell in a skirmish whilst succouring his
son-in-law. But Rudolf was unable to maintain the authority of his
Italian crown, and exchanged his claim to Lombardy for the kingdom
of Lower Burgundy (Provence) in 933; this arrangement was,
however, much contested.
When not engaged in wars he assisted his queen in her good works.
The Burgundian kings as yet had no fixed residence, and moved from
place to place on their royal estates—to Lausanne, Payerne,
Yverdon, Solothurn, or Lake Thun. When making these rounds
Rudolf loved to do as the judges of Israel of old—to seat himself
under the shade of a fine oak and deal out justice to whoever might
come near and appeal to him. Yet the memory of this good king is
almost eclipsed by the glory of his wife, the famous "Spinning
Queen," and her wisdom and ministry amongst the poor.
Things went less pleasantly with the Alamanni.
[Pg 75]
Their efforts to restore separate or self-government—the passionate
yearning for national independence innate in the German tribes has
done much to bring about the division of the German Empire into its
many kingdoms, principalities, and duchies—met with far steadier
and more violent opposition than was the case with the Burgundians.
Under the pacific rule of Louis the German (843-876) the Alamanni
enjoyed the benefits of his peaceful tendencies, and we hear of no
attempts at insurrection. This sensible and practical monarch left to
East Helvetia the "remembrance of him in good works." Two things
brought him into close relations with this country—his founding of the
Abbey of our Lady at Zurich, where he installed his daughters
Hildegard and Bertha, as has been stated before; and his
benefactions to St. Gall, which he freed from the overlordship of
Constance. Indeed, the chronicler of this latter institution, Notker,
Monachus S. Gallensis, would seem to have been fascinated by his
personal charms and affable manners. Promoted to the position of an
independent abbey, owing allegiance to none but the king himself,
and enriched by continual grants of land on the part of pious donors,
St. Gall developed into a flourishing monastic commonwealth. The
peaceful colony of thrifty and studious monks—Benedictines they
were—who, like their Irish founder, combined manual labour with
learned contemplation, earnest study, and literary skill—form a
society quite unique in its way. The holy men "conjure into their cells
the departed spirits of classical antiquity,"[20] and
[Pg 76]
hold free intercourse with them; given to ecclesiastical learning, whilst
not neglectful of profane studies, these learned and high-bred
scholars constitute a truly mediæval university. Their life and
character is vividly set before us by their chroniclers.
Arnulf of Kaernthen (887-899), grandson of Louis, kept up a close
connection with St. Gall, through his chaplain, Solomon III., its abbot.
He governed the East Frankish kingdom with firmness and great
ability. The military glory of the Carolingians seemed to be restored
when he defeated the Normans brilliantly at Lœwen on the river Dyle.
Unfortunately this vigorous ruler died after a short reign, leaving his
crown to his only son, Louis "the Child," then only six years of age.
Through the reign of this sickly prince (900-911) the country was torn
by party struggles, and the invasions of the Hungarians increased the
distresses of the time. Contemporary writers seem hardly able to
express the horror they felt at the very sight of the Asiatics, who
appeared even loathsome to them. Arnulf was reproached with
having launched them upon Europe when he led them against his
enemies, the Mæhren; whilst Charlemagne's policy had been
altogether opposed to this, he having shut them in by raising gigantic
walls on the Danube against the Avars. These were followers of the
Huns of the fifth century, and resembled them by their savage
warfare and indescribable habits.
"Woe to the realm whose king is a child," writes Solomon III. to a
befriended bishop; "all are at variance, count and vassals, shire and
boundary neighbours; the towns rise in rebellion, the laws are
[Pg 77]
trampled under foot, and we are at the mercy of the savage hordes."
Such was the condition of the country at the opening of the tenth
century. Solomon, who wrote these lamentations, was himself a
powerful political ruler no less than a Church potentate. Next to
Archbishop Hatto, of Mayence, who governed during the minority of
Louis, Solomon was the most influential man at the German Court,
and wielded its destinies after Hatto's death. This high-born
Churchman, educated as a secular priest at St. Gall, became
secretary, chaplain, and chancellor, at the German Court, and
enjoyed the friendship of four successive monarchs. Promoted by
Arnulf to the Abbey of St. Gall in 890, and shortly afterwards to the
see of Constance, he thus combined the dignities of the two rival
institutions. Subtle, versatile, and indefatigable, this high ecclesiastic
was the most consummate courtier and man of the world. Handsome
and magnificent, he captivated his hearers in the council by the
clearness of his argument and his ready wit; and melted the people to
tears by his eloquence in the pulpit. His leadership at St. Gall
promoted the magnificence of the abbey, and formed it into a
prominent literary and political centre. It was, however, robbed of its
ascetic character, Solomon being wanting in genuine piety, for one
thing.
The absolute rule of this powerful prelate greatly checked the national
risings of the Swabian leaders, for he strenuously maintained the
oneness of Church and State. Conrad I. (911-919), the last of the
East Frankish kings, gave all his energies to the one aim of
strengthening and solidifying his rule
[Pg 78]
by the suppression or abolition of the dukedoms, which he saw
undermined the power of the sovereign. Relying on the support of the
clergy, he was strongly influenced by Solomon's insinuations when
he put forth his bloody measures against the Swabian pretenders.
During the reign of Louis the Child the state of anarchy had begotten
numerous national risings, which led to the establishment of the
Bavarian, Frankish, and Saxon duchies. At its very close a similar
attempt was ventured upon in Alamannia. Burkhard, Marquis of Chur-
Rhætia, afterwards Graubünden, one of the most eminent of the
Swabian grandees, put forward claim