rendal, and only after nearly all the Franks have perished sounds his magic horn to summon aid. Charlemagne, fifteen leagues distant, hears its notes and returns quickly. But before help arrives, Roland has fallen. He dies on the field of battle, with his face to the foe, and a prayer on his lips that "sweet France" may never be dishonored. This stirring poem appealed strongly to the martial Normans. A medieval chronicler relates that just before the battle of Hastings a Norman minstrel rode out between the lines, tossing his sword in air and catching it again, as he chanted the song "of Roland and of Charlemagne, of Oliver and many a brave vassal who lost his life at Roncesvalles." King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were also important figures in medieval legend. Arthur was said to have The romances reigned in Britain early in the sixth century and to have fought against the Anglo-Saxons. Whether he ever lived or not we do not know. In the Arthurian romances this Celtic king stands forth as the model knight, the ideal of noble chivalry. The Norman conquerors of England carried the romances to France, and here, where feudalism was so deeply rooted, they found a hearty welcome. Sir Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur, one of the first books to be printed in England, contains many of the narratives from which Tennyson, in his Idylls of the King, and other modern poets have drawn their inspiration. The Nibelungenlied The greatest epic composed in Germany during the Middle Ages is the Nibelungenlied. The poem begins in Burgundy, where three kings hold court at Worms, on the Rhine. Thither comes the hero, Siegfried, ruler of the Netherlands. He had slain the mysterious Nibelungs and seized their treasure, together with the magic cloud-cloak which rendered its wearer invisible to human eyes. He had also killed a dragon and by bathing in its blood had become invulnerable, except in one place where a linden leaf touched his body. Siegfried marries Kriemhild, a beautiful Burgundian princess, and with her lives most happily. Nibelung treasure, and Siegfried's But a curse attached to the enemy, the "grim Hagen," treacherously slays him by a spear thrust in the one spot where he could be hurt. Many years afterwards Kriemhild marries Attila, king of the Huns, on condition that he help her to vengeance. Hagen and his Burgundians are invited to Hunland, where Kriemhild causes them all to be put to death. The name of the poet who compiled and probably wrote much of the Nibelungenlied remains unknown, but his work has a place among the classics of German literature. No account of medieval literature ought to omit a reference to Reynard the Fox. This is a long poem, first written in Latin, and then turned into the chief languages of Europe. Reynard The characters are animals: Reynard, cunning and the Fox audacious, who outwits all his foes; Chanticleer the cock; Bruin the Bear; Isengrim the Wolf; and many others. But they are animals in name only. We see them worship like Christians, go to Mass, ride on horseback, debate in councils, and amuse themselves with hawking and hunting. Satire often creeps in, as when the villainous Fox confesses his sins to the Badger or vows that he will go to the Holy Land on a pilgrimage. The special interest of this work lies in the fact that it expressed the feelings of the common people, groaning under the oppression of feudal lords. The same democratic spirit breathes in the old English ballads of the outlaw Robin Hood. According to some accounts he flourished in the second half of the twelfth cen- The Robin tury, when Henry II and Richard the Lion- Hood ballads hearted reigned over England. Robin Hood, with his merry men, leads an adventurous life in Sherwood Forest, engaging in feats of strength and hunting the king's tall deer. Bishops, sheriffs, and gamekeepers are his only enemies. For the common people he has the greatest pity, and robs the rich to endow the poor. Courtesy, generosity, and love of fair play are some of the characteristics which made him a popular hero. If King Arthur was the ideal knight, Robin Hood was the ideal yeoman. The ballads about him were sung by country folk for hundreds of years. 202. Romanesque and Gothic Architecture; the Cathedrals The genius of the Middle Ages found its highest expression, not in books, but in buildings. For several hundred years after the barbarian invasions architecture had made little progress in western Europe, outside of Italy, which was subject to Byzantine influence,1 and Spain, which was a center of Mohammedan culture.2 Two archi tectural styles Beginning about 800 A.D. came a revival, and the adoption of an architectural style called Romanesque, because it went back to Roman principles of construction. Romanesque architecture arose in northern Italy and southern France and gradually spread to other European countries. It was followed about 1100 A.D. by the Gothic style of architecture, which prevailed during the next four centuries. The church of the early Christians seems The Roman- to have esque church been modthe Roman eled upon basilica, with its ar rangement of nave and aisles, its circular arched recess (apse) at one end, and its flat, wooden ceiling supported by columns.3 The Romanesque church departed from the basilican plan by the introduction of 3 See pages 284, 344. 1 See page 336. 2 See page 386. The cathedral of Notre Dame at Reims in northwestern France stands on the site where Clovis was baptized by St. Remi. Here most of the French Kings were consecrated with holy oil by the archbishops of Reims. Except the west front, which was built in the fourteenth century, the cathedral was completed by the end of the thirteenth century. The towers, 267 feet high, were originally designed to reach 394 feet. The façade, with its three arched portals, exquisite rose window, and gallery of the kings," is justly celebrated. The cathedral was much damaged by the bombardment to which it was subjected in 1914 A.D. COLOGNE CATHEDRAL The Cathedral, or Dom, one of the finest monuments of Gothic architecture in Europe was begun in the thirteenth century. The work of building pro- |