End of the war who, to their lasting dishonor, burned her as a witch, her example nerved the French to further resistance. The English gradually lost ground and in 1453 A.D., the year of the fall of Constantinople, abandoned the effort to conquer a land much larger than their own. They retained of the French territories only the port of Calais and the Channel Islands.1 Effects of the war Few wars have had less to justify them, either in their causes or in their consequences, than this long struggle between England and France. It was a calamity to both lands. For England it meant the dissipation abroad of the energies which would have been better employed at home. For France it resulted in widespread destruction of property, untold suffering, famines, and terrible loss of life. From this time dates that traditional hostility between the two countries which was to involve them in future conflicts. One beneficial effect the war did have. It helped to make the two nations conscious of their separate existence. The growth of a national feeling, the awakening of a sentiment of patriotism, was especially marked in France, which had fought so long for independence. Years' War Shortly after the conclusion of the Hundred Years' War the two branches of the English royal family became involved in desperate struggle for the crown. It was known as the War of the Roses, because the house of York took as its England after the Hundred badge a white rose and the house of Lancaster, a red rose. The contest lasted till 1485 A.D., when the Lancastrians conquered, and their leader, Henry Tudor, ascended the throne as Henry VII. He married a Yorkist wife, thus uniting the two factions, and founded the Tudor dynasty. The War of the Roses arrested the progress of English freedom. They created a demand for a strong monarchy which could keep order and prevent civil strife between the nobles. The Tudors met that demand and ruled as absolute sovereigns. It was more than a century before Parliament, representing the 1 Calais went back to the French in 1558 A.D. The Channel Islands are still English possessions. people, could begin to win back free government. It did this only at the cost of a revolution. France after France also issued from the Hundred Years' War with an absolute government. Strengthened by victory over the English, the French kings were able to reduce both the nobility and the commons to impotence. the Hundred Years' War During the reign of Louis XI (1461-1483 A.D.) the royal domains were enlarged by the addition of Anjou, Provence, and the duchy of Burgundy. His son, Charles VIII (1483-1498 A.D.), made Brittany a possession of the French crown. The unification of France was now almost complete. 189. Unification of Spain (to 1492 A.D.) The Spanish peninsula, known to the Romans as Hispania, is sharply separated from the rest of Europe by the Pyrenees Mountains. At the same time the nearness of The Spanish the peninsula to Africa has always brought it into peninsula intimate relations with that continent. Just as Russia has formed a link between Asia and Europe, so Spain has served as a natural highway from Africa to Europe. The first settlers in Spain, of whom we know anything, were the Iberians. They may have emigrated from northern Africa. After them came the Celts, who overran a large The Spanish part of the peninsula and appear to have mingled people with the Iberians, thus forming the mixed people known as Celtiberians. In historic times Spain was conquered by the Carthaginians, who left few traces of their occupation, by the Romans, who thoroughly Romanized the country, by the Visigoths, who founded a Germanic kingdom, and lastly by the Moors, who introduced Arabian culture and the faith of Islam.1 These invaders were not numerous enough greatly to affect the population, in which the Celtiberian strain is still predominant. The Moors never wholly conquered a fringe of mountain territory in the extreme north of Spain. Here a number of 1 See pages 164, 169, 244, 378. The Arabs and Berbers who settled in Spain are generally called Moors. Christian states of Spain small Christian states, including León, Castile, Navarre, and Aragon, came into being. In the west there also arose the Christian state of Portugal. Geographically, Portugal belongs to Spain, from which it is separated only by artificial frontiers, but the country has usually managed to maintain its independence. Recovery of Spain from the Moors Acting sometimes singly and sometimes in concert, the Christian states fought steadily to enlarge their boundaries at the expense of their Moslem neighbors. The contest had the nature of a crusade, for it was blessed by the pope and supported by the chivalry of Europe. Periods of victory alternated with periods of defeat, but by the close of the thirteenth century Mohammedan Spain had been reduced to the kingdom of Granada at the southern extremity of the peninsula. The Cid The long struggle with the Moors made the Spanish a patriotic people, keenly conscious of their national unity. The achievements of Christian warriors were recited in countless ballads, and especially in the fine Poem of the Cid. It deals with the exploits of Rodrigo Diaz, better known by the title of the Cid (lord) given to him by the Moors. The Cid of romance was the embodiment of every knightly virtue; the real Cid was a bandit, who fought sometimes for the Christians, sometimes against them, but always in his own interest. The Cid's evil deeds were forgotten, however, and after his death in 1099 A.D. he became the national hero of Spain. Union of 1479 A.D. Meanwhile the separate Spanish kingdoms were coming together to form a nation. León and Castile in 1230 A.D. combined into the one kingdom of Castile, so named because its frontiers bristled with castles against the Moors. But the most important step in the making of Spain was the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon to Isabella of Castile, leading in 1479 A.D. to the union of these two kingdoms. About the same time the Castilian language began to crowd out the other Spanish dialects and to become the national speech. Conquest The new sovereigns of Spain aimed to continue the unification of the peninsula by the conquest of Granada. No effort was made by the Turks, who shortly before had captured Constantinople, to defend this last stronghold of Islam in the West. The Moors, though thrown upon their own resources, made a gallant resistance. At least once Ferdinand wearied of the struggle, but 1492 A.D. UNIFICATION OF SPAIN DURING THE MIDDLE AGES Isabella's determination never wavered. In 1492 A.D. Granada surrendered, and the silver cross of the crusading army was raised on the highest tower of the city. Moslem rule in Spain, after an existence of almost eight centuries, now came to an end. Rule of Ferdinand and Isabella belong in the front rank of European sovereigns. Like their contemporaries, Henry VII and Louis XI, they labored with success to build up an absolute monarchy. Spain had found, as England and France had found, that feudalism spelled disorder, and that only a strong central government could keep Ferdinand and Isabella the peace, repress crime, and foster trade and commerce. Ferdinand and Isabella firmly established the supremacy of the crown. By the end of the fifteenth century Spain had become a leading European power. Its importance in the councils of Europe was soon to be increased by the marriage of a daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella to the heir of the Austrian house of Hapsburg. 190. Austria and the Swiss Confederation, 1273-1499 A.D. The name Austria in German Osterreich Rise of means simply the eastern part of any kingdom. It came to be applied particularly to the territory on the Danube east of Bavaria, which Otto the Great had formed into a mark or border province for defense against the Magyars.1 This mark, soon to be known as Austria, gained an important place among German states. The frontiers were pushed down the Danube valley and the capital was finally located at Vienna, once a Roman city. Frederick Barbarossa raised Austria to the rank of a duchy. Rudolf of Hapsburg, who became emperor in 1273 A.D., first brought the country into the hands of the Hapsburg family.2 Growth of The Hapsburgs founded the power of the present Austrian monarchy. At the end of the fourteenth century their dominions included a large part of eastern Germany,3 reaching from beyond the Danube southward to the Adriatic. Early in the sixteenth century they secured Bohemia, a Slavic land thrust like a wedge into German territory, as well as part of the Magyar land of Hungary. The possession of these two kingdoms gave Austria its special character of a state formed by the union under one ruler of several wholly distinct nations. Meanwhile the right of election as Holy Roman Emperor became hereditary in the Hapsburg family. The duchies of Upper and Lower Austria, Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, and the county of Tyrol., |