The Story of Mankind [68]
not an English invention, as
seems to ke the general belief, and government by a ``king and
his parliament'' was by no means restricted to the British Isles.
You will find it in every part of Europe. In some countries,
like France, the rapid increase of the Royal power after the
Middle Ages reduced the influence of the ``parliament'' to nothing.
In the year 1302 representatives of the cities had been
admitted to the meeting of the French Parliament, but five
centuries had to pass before this ``Parliament'' was strong
enough to assert the rights of the middle class, the so-called
Third Estate, and break the power of the king. Then they
made up for lost time and during the French Revolution, abolished
the king, the clergy and the nobles and made the representatives
of the common people the rulers of the land. In
Spain the ``cortex'' (the king's council) had been opened to the
commoners as early as the first half of the twelfth century.
In the Germain Empire, a number of important cities had obtained
the rank of ``imperial cities'' whose representatives must
be heard in the imperial diet.
In Sweden, representatives of the people attended the sessions
of the Riksdag at the first meeting of the year 1359. In
Denmark the Daneholf, the ancient national assembly, was re-
established in 1314, and, although the nobles often regained control
of the country at the expense of the king and the people,
the representatives of the cities were never completely deprived
of their power.
In the Scandinavian country, the story of representative
government is particularly interesting. In Iceland, the ``Althing,''
the assembly of all free landowners, who managed the
affairs of the island, began to hold regular meetings in the ninth
century and continued to do so for more than a thousand
years.
In Switzerland, the freemen of the different cantons defended
their assemblies against the attempts of a number of
feudal neighbours with great success.
Finally, in the Low Countries, in Holland, the councils of
the different duchies and counties were attended by representatives
of the third estate as early as the thirteenth century.
In the sixteenth century a number of these small provinces
rebelled against their king, abjured his majesty in a solemn
meeting of the ``Estates General,'' removed the clergy from
the discussions, broke the power of the nobles and assumed full
executive authority over the newly-established Republic of the
United Seven Netherlands. For two centuries, the representatives
of the town-councils ruled the country without a king,
without bishops and without noblemen. The city had become
supreme and the good burghers had become the rulers of the
land.
THE MEDIAEVAL WORLD
WHAT THE PEOPLE OF THE MIDDLE AGES
THOUGHT OF THE WORLD IN WHICH
THEY HAPPENED TO LIVE
DATES are a very useful invention. We could not do without
them but unless we are very careful, they will play tricks
with us. They are apt to make history too precise. For example,
when I talk of the point-of-view of mediaeval man, I
do not mean that on the 31st of December of the year 476,
suddenly all the people of Europe said, ``Ah, now the Roman
Empire has come to an end and we are living in the Middle
Ages. How interesting!''
You could have found men at the Frankish court of Charlemagne
who were Romans in their habits, in their manners, in
their out-look upon life. On the other hand, when you grow
up you will discover that some of the people in this world have
never passed beyond the stage of the cave-man. All times
and all ages overlap, and the ideas of succeeding generations
play tag with each other. But it is possible to study the minds
of a good many true representatives of the Middle Ages and
then give you an idea of the average man's attitude toward
life and the many difficult problems of living.
First of all, remember
seems to ke the general belief, and government by a ``king and
his parliament'' was by no means restricted to the British Isles.
You will find it in every part of Europe. In some countries,
like France, the rapid increase of the Royal power after the
Middle Ages reduced the influence of the ``parliament'' to nothing.
In the year 1302 representatives of the cities had been
admitted to the meeting of the French Parliament, but five
centuries had to pass before this ``Parliament'' was strong
enough to assert the rights of the middle class, the so-called
Third Estate, and break the power of the king. Then they
made up for lost time and during the French Revolution, abolished
the king, the clergy and the nobles and made the representatives
of the common people the rulers of the land. In
Spain the ``cortex'' (the king's council) had been opened to the
commoners as early as the first half of the twelfth century.
In the Germain Empire, a number of important cities had obtained
the rank of ``imperial cities'' whose representatives must
be heard in the imperial diet.
In Sweden, representatives of the people attended the sessions
of the Riksdag at the first meeting of the year 1359. In
Denmark the Daneholf, the ancient national assembly, was re-
established in 1314, and, although the nobles often regained control
of the country at the expense of the king and the people,
the representatives of the cities were never completely deprived
of their power.
In the Scandinavian country, the story of representative
government is particularly interesting. In Iceland, the ``Althing,''
the assembly of all free landowners, who managed the
affairs of the island, began to hold regular meetings in the ninth
century and continued to do so for more than a thousand
years.
In Switzerland, the freemen of the different cantons defended
their assemblies against the attempts of a number of
feudal neighbours with great success.
Finally, in the Low Countries, in Holland, the councils of
the different duchies and counties were attended by representatives
of the third estate as early as the thirteenth century.
In the sixteenth century a number of these small provinces
rebelled against their king, abjured his majesty in a solemn
meeting of the ``Estates General,'' removed the clergy from
the discussions, broke the power of the nobles and assumed full
executive authority over the newly-established Republic of the
United Seven Netherlands. For two centuries, the representatives
of the town-councils ruled the country without a king,
without bishops and without noblemen. The city had become
supreme and the good burghers had become the rulers of the
land.
THE MEDIAEVAL WORLD
WHAT THE PEOPLE OF THE MIDDLE AGES
THOUGHT OF THE WORLD IN WHICH
THEY HAPPENED TO LIVE
DATES are a very useful invention. We could not do without
them but unless we are very careful, they will play tricks
with us. They are apt to make history too precise. For example,
when I talk of the point-of-view of mediaeval man, I
do not mean that on the 31st of December of the year 476,
suddenly all the people of Europe said, ``Ah, now the Roman
Empire has come to an end and we are living in the Middle
Ages. How interesting!''
You could have found men at the Frankish court of Charlemagne
who were Romans in their habits, in their manners, in
their out-look upon life. On the other hand, when you grow
up you will discover that some of the people in this world have
never passed beyond the stage of the cave-man. All times
and all ages overlap, and the ideas of succeeding generations
play tag with each other. But it is possible to study the minds
of a good many true representatives of the Middle Ages and
then give you an idea of the average man's attitude toward
life and the many difficult problems of living.
First of all, remember