many works of art, previously spared by the crusaders, were destroyed. Mohammed II then made a triumphal entry into the city and in Sancta Sophia, now stripped of its crosses, images, and other Christian emblems, proclaimed the faith of the prophet. And so the "Turkish night," as Slavic poets named it, descended on this ancient home of civilization. The capture of Constantinople is rightly regarded as an epoch-making event. It meant the end, once for all, of the empire which had served so long as the rearguard An epochof Christian civilization, as the bulwark of the making event West against the East. Europe stood aghast at a calamity which she had done so little to prevent. The Christian powers of the West have been paying dearly, even to our own time, for their failure to save New Rome from infidel hands. 180. The Ottoman Turks in Southeastern Europe Turkey was now a European state. After the occupation of Constantinople the Ottoman territories continued to expand, and at the death of Mohammed II they included Continued what are now Bulgaria, Rumania, Serbia, Albania, Ottoman expansion and Greece. Of all the Balkan states only tiny Montenegro, protected by mountain ramparts, preserved its independence. The Turks form a small minority among the inhabitants of the Balkans. At the present time there are said to be less than one million Turks in southeastern Europe. Even Nature of about Constantinople the Greeks far outnumber Turkish rule them. The Turks from the outset have been, not a nation in the proper sense of the word, but rather an army of occupation, holding down by force their far more numerous Christian subjects. The people who thus acquired dominion over all southeastern Europe had become, even at the middle of the fifteenth century, greatly mixed in blood. Their ancestors were The Turks a natives of central Asia, but in Europe they inter- mixed people married freely with their Christian captives and with converts from Christianity to Islam. So far has this admixture proceeded that the modern Turks are almost entirely European in physique. The Bulgarians, who came out of Asia to devastate Europe, at length turned Christian, adopted a Slavic speech, and entered the family of European nations. The Magyars, Isolation of who followed them, also made their way into the the Turks fellowship of Christendom. Quite the opposite has been the case with the Turks. Preserving their Asiatic language and Moslem faith, they have remained in southeastern Europe, not a transitory scourge, but an abiding oppressor of Christian lands. Every century since 1453 A.D. has widened the gulf between them and their subjects. Turkish The isolation of the Turks has prevented them from assimilating the higher culture of the peoples whom they conquered. They have never created anything in science, art, literature, commerce, or industry. Conquest has influence in been the Turks' one business in the world, and when they ceased conquering their decline set in. But it was not till the end of the seventeenth century that the Turkish Empire entered on that downward road which is now fast leading to its extinction as a European power. Studies southeastern Europe 1. Locate these cities: Bokhara; Samarkand; Merv; Herat; Bagdad; Peking; Delhi; Kiev; Moscow; and Adrianople. 2. Who were Baber, Kublai Khan, Othman, Mohammed II, Constantine Palæologus, and Ivan the Great? 3. Why should the steppes of central and northern Asia have been a nursery of warlike peoples? 4. What parts of Asia were not included in the Mongol Empire at its greatest extent? 5. Trace on the map on page 486 the further expansion of the Mongol Empire after the death of Jenghiz Khan. 6. "Scratch a Russian and you will find a Tartar." What does this mean? 7. Why did the Mongol conquest of Russia tend to strengthen the sentiment of nationality in the Russian people? 8. How did the tsars come to regard themselves as the successors of the Eastern emperors? 9. Compare the Janizaries with the Christian military-religious orders. 10. How was "the victory of the Crescent secured by the children of the Cross"? 11. Why were the invasions of the Mongols and Ottoman Turks more destructive to civilization than those of the Germans, the Arabs, and the Northmen? 12. Enumerate the more important services of the Roman Empire in the East to civilization. 13. On an outline map indicate the extent of the Ottoman Empire in 1453 A.D. CHAPTER XXII EUROPEAN NATIONS DURING THE LATER MIDDLE AGES1 The new nationalism 181. Growth of the Nations THE map of western Europe, that is, of Europe west of the great Russian plain and the Balkan peninsula, shows this part of the continent at present divided into no less than thirteen separate and independent nations. Most of them arose during the latter part of the Middle Ages. They have existed so long that we now think of the national state as the highest type of human association, forgetting that it has been preceded by other forms of political organization, such as the Greek republic, the Roman Empire, and the feudal state, and that it may be followed some day by an international or universal state composed of all civilized peoples. The national state and feudalism These national states were the successors of feudalism. The establishment of the feudal system in any country meant, as has been seen, its division into numerous small communities, each with a law court, treasury, and army. This system of local government helped to keep order in an age of confusion, but it did not meet the needs of a progressive society. In most parts of Europe the feudal states gradually gave way to centralized governments ruled by despotic kings. monarchies A feudal king was often little more than a figurehead, equaled, or perhaps surpassed, in power by some of his own vassals. But The new in England, France, Spain, and other countries a series of astute and energetic sovereigns were able to strengthen their authority at the expense of the nobles. They formed permanent armies by insisting that all military service should be rendered to themselves and not to the feudal 1 Webster, Readings in Medieval and Modern History, chapter xiv, "St. Louis"; chapter xv, "Episodes of the Hundred Years' War"; chapter xvi, "Memoirs of a French Courtier." lords. They got into their own hands the administration of justice. They developed a revenue system, with the taxes collected by royal officers and deposited in the royal treasury. The kings thus succeeded in creating in each country one power which all the inhabitants feared, respected, and obeyed. The senti ment of nationality A national state in modern times is keenly conscious of its separate existence. All its people usually speak the same language and have for their "fatherland" the warmest feelings of patriotic devotion. In the Middle Ages, however, patriotism was commonly confounded with loyalty to the sovereign, while the differences between nations were obscured by the existence of an international Church and by the use of Latin as the common language of all cultivated persons. The sentiment of nationality arose earlier in England than on the Continent, partly owing to the insular position of that country, but nowhere did it become a very strong influence before the end of the fifteenth century. 182. England under William the Conqueror, The last invasion The Normans were the last invaders of England. Since 1066 A.D. the English Channel, not more than twenty-one miles wide between Dover and Calais, has formed a watery barrier against Continental domination. The English people, for eight and a half centuries, have been free to develop their ideals, customs, and methods of government in their own way. We shall now learn how they established a strong monarchy and at the same time laid deep and firm the foundations of constitutional liberty. William the Conqueror had won England by force of arms. He ruled it as a despot. Those who resisted him he treated as rebels, confiscating their land and giving it to William's Norman followers. To prevent uprisings he built despotic rule a castle in every important town and garrisoned it with his own soldiers. The Tower of London still stands as an impressive memorial of the days of the Conquest. But William did not |