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CHAPTER 1. An Ecclesiastical World-Power — Against the Most High — Christ’s Letters to His Church — Consequence of the Apostasy.

CHAPTER 2. The Visigoths in the Middle Ages — Theodoric, the Visigoth — The Visigothic Empire.

CHAPTER 3. The Suevi in the Middle Ages — Portuguese Discoveries — Discovery of the Indies and China.

CHAPTER 4. The Franks in the Middle Ages — Subjection of the Burgundians — Clovis Sole King of the Franks — The Mayors of the Palace — Empire of Charlemagne — The Invasions of the Northmen — The Formation of Normandy — Establishment of the Capetian Dynasty — The Feudal System.

CHAPTER 5. The Alemanni in the Middle Ages — Establishment of the German Kingdom — Establishment of the “Holy Roman Empire” — Origin of the Reigning House of England — Splendor of Frederick II — The Great Interregnum: Anarchy — End of the “Holy Roman Empire.” CHAPTER 6. The Burgundians in the Middle Ages — The Marathon of Switzerland — Switzerland Free.

CHAPTER 7. The Angles and Saxons in the Middle Ages — Britain Becomes England — Kings, Aldermen, Earls, Churls, Thralls — Northumbrian Supremacy — The Danish Invasions — Danish Domination — Imperial England — Danish Kings of England — Reign of King Canute — William the Conqueror — The Making of Doomsday Book — English Conquest of Normandy — English Empire, House of Plantagenet — Captivity of Coeur de Lion — John Gives England to the Papacy — The Great Charter — John Desolates the Kingdom — “The Rule of Law and Not of Will” — The Hundred Years’ War.

CHAPTER 8. Pagan Philosophy the Strength of the Papacy — The New Platonic Philosophy — The First Orders of Monks — The Monkish Fanatacism — Introduced into Rome — The Stylites — “A Man of Sense Ought Hardly to Say It” — Plato’s Fallacious Reasoning — Life Only in Christ — Jesus and the Resurrection — Let this Mind Be in You — Ministers of the Inquisition.

CHAPTER 9. Theological Controversy — Council of Ephesus — Alexandria and Constantinople — Chrysostom Deposed — Both Appeal to the Pope — Cyril of Alexandria — Nestorius of Constantinople — Appeals to Rome — General Council Called — Preliminaries to the Council — Condemnation of Nestorius — Cyril Bribes the Court and Wins — The Deification of Mary.

CHAPTER 10. Theological Controversy — Second Council of Ephesus — The Eutychian Controversy — Eusebius in a Dilemma — Forecast of the Inquisition — Appeals to Rome — Instructions to the Council — The Murder of Flavianus — Regularity of the Council.

CHAPTER 11. Theological Controversy — Council of Chalcedon — Growth of the Papal Spirit — Rome’s Boundless Ambition — Another Council Decreed — “A Frightful Storm” — Condemnation of Dioscorus — Leo’s Letter the Test — Leo’s Letter Approved — The Egyptian Bishops — Leo’s Letter Completes the Creed — The Creed of Leo and Chalcedon — The Council’s Letter to Leo — Imperial Edicts Enforce the Creed — The Pope the Fountain of the Faith — Results of Theological Controversy.

CHAPTER -The Papal Temporal Power Established — The Popes as Mediators — The Lands of the Church — The Herulian Kingdom Rooted Up — The Ostrogothic Dominion — Papal Proceedings in Rome — The Papacy Put Above the State — Conspiracies Against the Ostrogoths — Justinian and the Papacy — The Trisagion Controversy — The Vandal Kingdom Uprooted — The Ostrogothic Kingdom Destroyed — The Papacy Now a World-Power.

CHAPTER 13. Restoration of the Western Empire — Justinian and Pope Vigilius — The Popes Changes of Faith — The Title of Universal Bishop — Gregory the Great — Gregory the Great to Phocas — Bishop of Rome Decreed Universal Bishop — The Lombards and the Papacy — Introduction of Image Worship — The Pope Teaches Image Worship — The Pope Appeals to the Franks — Pepin Made King — The Pope Visits Pepin — “St Peter” Writes to the Franks — Pepin’s Donation to the Papacy — Charlemagne’s Donation — Charlemagne, King of Lombardy — Image Worship Established — Charlemagne Made Emperor — Original Rome Continued in the Papacy — Western Empire Retransplanted — An Imperial Theocracy — Ecclesiastical Position of the Emperor.

CHAPTER 14. The Papacy and the Barbarians — Clovis Becomes a Catholic — The “Holy Wars” of Clovis — The Visigoths Become Catholic — Catholicism Invades Britain — Augustine and the British Christians — England Becomes Catholic — The Saxons Made Catholic — Catholicism in France — The Papacy Corrupts the Barbarians.

CHAPTER 15. The Holy Roman Empire — The Popes and the Emperors — The Pope Shields Murder — Attempted Reforms Fail — The Pope Humbles the Emperor — Saracens in the Papal States — The Pope and the Eastern Empire — Nicholas Asserts His Infallibility — Nicholas to the King of Bulgaria — The Pope to Charles the Bald — Charles the Bald to the Pope — Papal States Declared Independent — Papacy Pays Tribute to the Saracens — Pope Stephen to the Eastern Emperor — The Pope Prosecutes the Dead Formosus — The Abomination of Desolation — Romish Women Govern the Papacy — Marozia’s Son Is Made Pope — Marozia’s Grandson Is Made Pope — Pope John XII and the Emperor’s Council — Pope John XII Deposed — John XII Pope Again — Papal Reign of Terror — French Council to the Pope — “The Man of Sin, the Mystery of Iniquity” — Papacy Prohibits Marriage of the Clergy — Papacy Sold at Auction — Reform Means Ruin to the Papacy — The Normans and the Papacy — Cardinal Damiani Describes the Bishops — More Attempts to Reform the Papacy — Papal War — Hildebrand Becomes Pope.

CHAPTER 16. The Papal Supremacy — Gregory VII To Calixtus II — Hildebrand Against Married Clergy — The Meaning of “Gregory VII” — Hildebrand’s Theocratical Scheme — Gregory VII Conceives the Crusades — The War Against Marriage — Woe Inflicted By Gregory VII — The War of Investitures — Gregory Summons Henry IV — Henry IV to the Pope — Gregory Excommunicates Henry — The Empire Against Henry IV — Henry at Canossa — Henry Freed from Excommunication — A Rival King Elected — Gregory Again Excommunicates Henry — Henry IV Victor — Rome in Ruins: Gregory Dies — Maxims of Gregory VII — Origin of the Crusades — Pope Urban’s Crusade Speech — Reward and Character of the Crusaders — The First Crusade — The Capture of Jerusalem — Character of the Crusades — War of Investitures Renewed — Pope Pascal II: King Henry V — Henry V Captures the Pope — The Pope Yields to Henry V — Pascal’s Contribution to the Papacy — The Papacy in the Twelfth Century.

CHAPTER 17. The Papal Supremacy — Innocent III To Boniface VIII — The Pope Gives Ireland to England — The World’s Opinion of the Papacy — Innocent III and the King of France — Innocent III and John of England — Origin of the Quarrel with John — England under Interdict — England Given by John to Rome — Innocent’s War in Germany — Innocent Selects and Emperor — Innocent’s Emperor Turns Against Him — Crusaders Capture Constantinople — Prodigious Claims of Innocent IV — The Pinnacle of Temporal Power.

CHAPTER 18. The Papal Empire — Universality of Papal Rule — The Bishops and Their Election — Military Bishops — Papal Plunderers — “A Terror to All” — Universal Wretchedness — “A Curse to the People” — Results of Celibacy — A Most Singular Standard of Morality — Church of Rome Responsible — Judicial Oppression — Mendicant Monks — Papal Fetichism — Indulgences — Fetichism of Relics — “An Unmitigated Curse.” CHAPTER 19. “That Woman Jezebel” — Who Calleth Herself a Prophetess — Christianity in the Middle Ages — The Waldenses — The Paulicians — Paulician Martyrs — Christianity Permeates Europe — Arnold of Brescia — Waldenses Translate the New Testament — Waldensian and Paulician Missionaries — The Centers of Christianity — Jezebel’s Existence Threatened — Jezebel calls for the Sword — Jezebel’s Wrath toward Christians — The Christians Still Multiply — Innocent III Reigns — Confessed Character of the Condemned — The Papacy Compels to Sin — Acknowledged Corruption of Catholics — The Whole Strength of the Church — Papists Try to Imitate Christians — Excommunication and Interdict — Cruel Treatment of Raymond — The Nations Move at Last — The Land Laid Desolate — Supreme Hypocrisy — A Modern Perversion of History.

CHAPTER 20. The Anarchy of the Papacy — Clement V Destroys the Templars — John XXII Taxes Sinning — The Emperor against John XXII — Nicholas Resigns to John — Treasure Left by John XXII — “As Drunk as a Pope” — Jubilee Reduced to Fifty Years — Clement VI to his Cardinals — The Papacy Returns to Rome — Rome Demands a Roman Pope — Urban VI Repudiated — The Two- Headed Papacy — The Anarchy Increases — Universal Simony — University of Paris on the Papacy — “Pope I Am: Pope I Will Remain” — Papal Efforts at Unity — Cardinals Unite Against Both Popes — Council of Pisa — Confusion Worse Confounded — The Triple-Headed Papacy — The Council of Constance — Pope John Flees — Pope John XXIII Deposed — Gregory XII Takes the Council — One Pope Again — The Pinnacle of Blasphemy.

CHAPTER 21. The Spirit of the Papacy — The Secret of the Papacy — The Heavenly Cherubim — The Foundation of God’s Throne — The Cherub That Sinned — Change of God’s Law Demanded — God’s Eternal Purpose — Lucifer Reflects upon God — Self Can Not Save Self — In Chains of Darkness — Sin Must be Rooted Out — Freedom of Choice — Satan Comes to This World — The Temptation in Paradise — Enmity Against God — All of Self and None of God — Enmity Against Satan — The Mystery of God — The Humility of Christ — The Change of God’s Law.

CHAPTER 22. The Reformation — England — John Wicklif Made Responsible — Wicklif Against the Papacy — The True Minister of Christ — The Friars a Moral Pestilence — The High Service of the Preacher — “Poor Priests,” “Lollards,” “Bible Men” — The True Head of the Church — The Pope Against Wicklif — Wicklif Puts the Bible into English — Sufficiency of the Scriptures — The Truth Shall Prevail — The Risen Sun of the Reformation.

CHAPTER 23. The Reformation — Bohemia — The Ministry of Militz — Militz in Rome — The Pope Denounces Militz — Matthias of Janow — Antichrist Described — The True Law of Christ — The Times of Antichrist — Bethlehem Chapel and John Huss — Wicklif’s Writings Condemned — Wicklif Still Followed Up — Wicklif’s Writings Burnt — Huss’s Love of Truth — The Papacy Condemns Huss — Crusade of Pope John XXIII — Huss Denounces Indulgences — Huss Against the Pope — “Not in the Power of the Pope” — Students Burn the Pope’s Bulls — The Papal Party Takes Life — Wicklif’s Writings Again Condemned — Huss Excommunicated — Efforts to Obtain Peace — The Only True Peace — Christ the True Head — The Holy Spirit, the True Guide — The Greater Miracles — The Abomination of Self-Deification — Huss Departs for Constance — Huss Is Entrapped — Huss Imprisoned — Huss on His “Trial” — The Emperor Against Huss — TheNoble Knight of Chlum — Christ’s Fellowship with Huss — FaithfulUnto Death — Jerome of Prague Arrested — Jerome’s Discourses — Effect of Death of Huss and Jerome.

CHAPTER 24. The Reformation — Germany — Justification By Faith — “The True Gate of Paradise” — The Faith of Jesus — The Works of the Law — Indulgences — Elector Frederick’s Dream — Theses Against Indulgences — How To Study the Scripture — The Pope Outlaws Luther — Luther Appeals to a Council — The Leipsic Discussion — A Bull Against Luther — The First Thing Necessary — The Office of the Cardinals — Let the Clergy Marry — Definition of the Papacy — Luther’s Letter to Leo — The Liberty of the Christian — Luther RenewsAppeal Against Rome — Luther Burns the Pope’s Bull — The Diet of Worms — Duke George Against Rome — The Emperor Calls Luther — Luther Stands Before the Diet — Luther Given Time — Luther’s Answer — “I Can Retract Nothing” — Imperial Edict Against Luther — “Liberty Is the Essence of Faith” — The Protest, Protestants — The Charter of Protestantism — Christianity Free Again.

CHAPTER 25. Protestantism — True and False — Theological Controversy Again — The Synergistical Controversy — Persecutions of the Anabaptists — Controversy on Philosophy — Calvinism Against Free Grace — On Papal Ground — Henry VIII Both King and Pope — Calvin’s Government Only Papal — Puritan Intolerance — Roger Williams’s Protest — Roger Williams Banished — The Most Touching Appeal in History — Persecution of John Wesley — Protestants False to Principle — Martin Luther and Roger Williams.

CHAPTER 26. The Christian Principle Triumphant — Government by the People — The Perfect Principle of Civil Government — Can Not Be Annihilated — Religious Right — Presbytery of Hanover — Religion Disestablished — Establishing Religious Freedom — Madison for Religious Right — Virginia’s Remonstrance — Fruits of Religious Establishments — Dangerous Usurpation — Religious Right Made Constitutional — The People on Religious Right — The Christian Idea — The Beacon Light of the World.

CHAPTER 27. National Apostasy A Most Astonishing Thing — The Old Order of Things — Religio-Political Combination Ready — The Papal Theory Reproduced — Unites with the Papacy — The Bond of Union — Congress Legislates Religiously — Congress Interprets Scripture — A Claim to Infallibility — The Pivot of Papal Infallibility — National Adoption of Papal Principle — The Sign of Papal Salvation — The Papacy Steps in — Republican Principle Repudiated — The Constitution Abandoned — Every Principle of Liberty Slain — National Apostasy Complete — “That They Should Make an Image” — The Image of the Beast — Papacy Again Exalted.

CHAPTER 1.

AN ECCLESIASTICAL WORLD-POWER.

THE Roman Empire had perished. “Never had the existence of a nation been more completely overthrown.” — Guizot. F1 New peoples in ten distinct kingdoms, in A.D. 476, occupied the territory which for five hundred years had been Roman. These are the nations which, inextricably involved with the papacy, are the subject of the mediaeval and modern history of Western Europe, that we are now to trace. 2. The establishment, the growth, and the reign of the papacy as a worldpower, is distinctly a subject of prophecy, as really as is the fall of Rome and the planting of the Ten Kingdoms upon the ruins thereof. Indeed, the prophecy of this is an inseparable part of the prophecy of the other. To any one who will closely observe, it will plainly appear that in the three great lines of prophecy in Daniel 7, and Daniel 8, and Daniel 11, the great subject is Rome. In the Scriptures in each of these chapters far more space is given to the description of Rome than is given to Babylon, Medo- Persia, and Grecia all together. And in Daniel 11:14 when the entrance of Rome upon the scene is marked, it is definitely and significantly stated “the children of robbers shall exalt themselves to establish the vision.” That is to say: Rome is the particular object of the vision; and when Rome is reached and she enters upon the scene, the vision is established. 3. In Daniel 7, the four great world-empires — Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome — are pictured by four great beasts. The last characteristic of the fourth is that “it had ten horns.” Then, says the prophet, “I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them anotherLITTLE horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.” F2 This “little horn” the prophet beheld even till “the Judgment was set and the books were opened.” And then he says, “I beheld then [at the time of the Judgment] because of the great words which the horn spake. I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.” 4. Note that the prophet is considering the “little horn” in its career even to the end. But when that “little horn” comes to its end, it is not said, I beheld till the horn was broken; but, “I beheld till the beast was slain.” At the time of the Judgment “I beheld then because of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain.” This shows beyond all question that that which is symbolized by the “little horn” is simply another phase of what is symbolized by the great and terrible beast. The “little horn” is but the continuation of the beast in a different shape: the same characteristics are there: the same spirit is there: the same thing that is the beast continues through all the time of the little horn until its destruction comes; and when the destruction of the little “horn” does come, it is “the beast” that is slain and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame. 5. In Daniel 8 the thought is the same, except that both phases of this power which is Rome, are symbolized in “a little horn which waxed exceeding great toward the south and toward the east and toward the pleasant land;” that “waxed great even to the host of heaven;” who magnified himself even to the Prince of the host, and by whom the daily sacrifice was taken away and the place of His sanctuary was cast down.”

The further sketch of Rome in its whole career, and under whatever form, from its entrance into the field of the world’s affairs unto the end, is given in In Daniel 8:23-25: “And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practice, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.” 6. When in chapter 7 the angel explained to Daniel the meaning of these things, he said: “The ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall arise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of times.” F3 7. Of the fourth great kingdom — Rome — the angel said that not only was it “diverse from all the kingdoms that were before it,” but that it was “diverse from all kingdoms.” Rome was diverse from all the powers that were before it, and also diverse from all kingdoms, in that it was a republic.

It is true that this republic degenerated into a one man power, a terrible imperial despotism, in which it was also diverse from all that were before it, and even from all; yet, the name and form of a republic were still retained, even to its latest days. 8. That empire perished, and in its place stood ten powers which were called kingdoms. But, now of this other peculiar one which comes up amongst the ten, before whom three of the ten are rooted out — of this one it is written: “He shall be diverse from the first.” The first was diverse from “all;” and yet this is diverse even from that one. This shows, then, that the power here referred to would be diverse from all, even to a degree beyond that one which is plainly declared to be diverse from all: that it would be of an utterly new and strange order. 9. Note that of this power it is written that he should “speak great words against the Most High;” that he should “wear out the saints of the Most High;” and that he should “think to change times and the law” F4 of the Most High. In the description of the same power, given in Daniel 8:25, it is stated that “he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes.”

Throughout the book of Daniel the expression “stand up,” where used in connection with kings, invariably signifies “to reign.” F5 This power, then, would reign in opposition to Christ; for only He is the Prince of princes. 10. Further information with respect to this power, is given by Paul in <530201> Thessalonians 2, where, in writing of the day of the coming of the Lord he said: “That day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God showing himself that he is God.”

And that this instruction is derived directly from the passages which we have quoted from Daniel 7 and Daniel 8, is clear from the fact that Paul appeals to the Thessalonians: “Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?” When he was yet with them, and telling them these things, he “reasoned with them out of the Scriptures.” The only Scriptures that they then had were the Old Testament Scriptures. And the only place in the Old Testament Scriptures where these things are mentioned which he cited, is in these chapters of the book of Daniel. 11. These specifications of scripture make it certain that the power referred to is an ecclesiastical one — it deals particularly with “the Most High:” it reigns in opposition to “the Prince of princes.” The specifications show that it is more than simply an ecclesiastical power: it is an ecclesiastical world-power, a theocratical world-kingdom, requiring worship to itself: putting itself above all else that is worshiped, even sitting “in the temple” — the place of worship — “of God, showing himself that he is God.” 12. All this is emphasized by the further description of the same power: “I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns... And upon her forehead was a name written,MYSTERY,BABYLON THE GREAT,THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” F6 These saints and martyrs of Jesus are in this same book symbolized by another woman — “a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars” — who “fled into the wilderness” F7 while this terrible woman on the scarlet-colored beast is doing all in her power utterly to “wear out the saints of the Most High.”

The condition as thus revealed, is woman against woman — Church against Church: a corrupt Church opposed to the pure Church. 13. The book of Revelation is the complement of the book of Daniel.

The book of Daniel has for its great subject national history, with Church history incidental. The book of Revelation has for its great subject Church history, with national history incidental. Accordingly, that which is but briefly mentioned in the book of Daniel concerning this ecclesiastical kingdom which takes such a large place in the world, is quite fully treated in the book of Revelation: and treated in both its phases, that of the true Church and that of the false; that of the faithful Church, and that of the apostate. 14. The line of prophecy of the Seven Churches of the book of Revelation, is a series of seven letters addressed by the Lord to His own Church in the seven phases of the complete round of her experience from the first advent of Christ unto the second. In each of these seven letters not only is counsel given in the way of right, but there are pointed out the dangers and evils that beset the Church, against which she must be especially guarded, and which, in order to remain pure, she must escape. 15. To the Church in her first stage — the Church of Ephesus — He says: “I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love.

Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works.” F8 This points definitely to the falling away that is mentioned by Paul to the elders of the Church at Ephesus ( Acts 20:30), and that is again mentioned and dwelt upon by him in 2 Thessalonians 2, which falling away, when continued, developed “that man of sin,” “the son of perdition,” “who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped” — the ecclesiastical State now under consideration. The time of this phase of the Church is by the letter itself, shown to be the days of the apostles, F9 and therefore ended about A.D. 100. 16. The letter to the Church in her second phase, is wholly commendatory.

This shows that, while individuals had continued in the apostasy mentioned in the first letter, yet the Church herself had heeded the counsel given by the Head of the Church, and had repented and returned to “the first works.” The time of this phase of the Church’s experience is definitely suggested in the letter itself, by the statement that she should “have tribulation ten days.” F10 This refers to the ten years of persecution in the reign of Diocletian, from A.D. 303-313; which was ended by the Edict of Milan, issued by the two emperors, Constantine and Licinius, March, A.D. 313. F11 17. The letter to the Church in the third phase of her experience gives the key to this particular thought which is now before us — the identification of that ecclesiastical State. In this letter Christ mentions with commendation the fact that His Church had held fast His name, and had not denied His faith, “even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr.” F12 This word “Antipas” is not a person’s name, but is a term characteristic of the times. It is composed of two words, anti, and pappas. “anti” signifies against, and “pappas” signifies papa, which is our English, and also the universal, word for “papa.” And this word “papa” is but the repetition of the simple word “pa,” and is the original of the word “pope.” 18. Therefore, the word “Antipas” — “against ‘pas’ or ‘papas’” — shows the growth of the papa-cy in the period immediately following A.D. 313.

This was the period of Constantine and onward, in which the papa-cy itself was distinctly formed. And history records that in that time, while the other principal bishops of the Church bore the title of “patriarch,” the bishop of Rome studiously avoided that particular term, as placing him on a level with other “patriarchs.” He always preferred the title of “papa,” or “pope” (Schaff F13 ): and this because “patriarch” bespeaks an oligarchical Church government — that is government by a few; whereas “pope” bespeaks a monarchial Church government — that is government by one. F14 Thus the history, and the word of the counsel of Christ, unite in marking as the characteristic of that phase of the Church’s experience, the formation of the papa-cy, and the assertion of the authority of the pope. 19. And thus, beyond all question, the papacy is identified, and that by the very Word of God itself, as that ecclesiastical State, that church-kingdom, sketched by Daniel, in Daniel 7 and Daniel 8; described by Paul, in 2 Thessalonians 2; and fully traced by John, in the Revelation. The time covered by this third letter of Christ to His Church is, by that letter itself, shown to be the time of the making of the papacy; and to the words of that letter correspond exactly the facts of the history in the period reaching from the Edict of Milan to the ruin of the empire. The “falling away,” the leaving of the “first love,” mentioned in the first letter, had, in this time of the third letter, culminated in the formation of the papacy. 20. Now this same course is traced on the side of the apostasy, in the first three steps of the line of prophecy of the Seven Seals of the book of Revelation. Under the First Seal there was seen going forth a white horse ( Revelation 6:2), corresponding to the Church in her first phase — that of her original purity, her “first love.” But the counsel of Christ in His first letter said that there was even then a falling away from that first love: and this is signified in the Second Seal, at the opening of which “there went out another horse that was red.” F15 And, under the Third Seal “I beheld, and lo a black horse!” F16 Thus the symbols of the seals, passing in three steps from white to black, mark identically the course of the apostasy in the three steps, from the first love, in which Christ was all in all, in the first stage of the Church, to the third stage, in which, “where Satan’s seat” was, and where Satan dwelt, a man was put in the place of God, in that which professed to be the Church of God, “passing himself off for God.” 21. The immediate effect of this apostasy, which developed the papacy in the Roman Empire, was the complete ruin of the Roman Empire. And, this consequence of the apostasy, which is traced in the first three steps of the two lines of prophecy of the Seven Churches and the Seven Seals, is sketched in the first four trumpets of the line of prophecy of the Seven Trumpets. And here it is — in the Seven Trumpets — that national history enters, as an incident, in this book of Church history; as in the rise of the little horn amongst the ten, in the book of Daniel, there enters Church history, as an incident, in that book of national history. The Seven Trumpets aptly enter here, because the trumpet is the symbol of war; and it was by the universal war of the floods of barbarians from the north, that there was swept away that mass of corruption that was heaped upon the Roman Empire by its union with the apostate Church, in the making of the papacy. F17 CHAPTER 2.

THE VISIGOTHS IN THE MIDDLE AGES.

THE Ecclesiastical Empire is the grand center of the history that we are now to study. Yet with this there are inseparably connected other empires, and the Ten Kingdoms of Western Europe. In the nature of the case, these will have to be considered to a greater or less extent. Therefore, in order that each of these may have its due attention, as well as that the history of the Ecclesiastical Empire itself may be followed uninterruptedly and the more intelligently, it will be best first to sketch the kingdoms of Western Europe through the Middle Ages. 2. The Ten Kingdoms could not continue in either undisturbed or undisturbing relations, even among themselves. As ever in human history from the day of Nimrod, the desire to enlarge dominion, the ambition for empire, was the chief characteristic, the ruling passion, among these. 3. The first to make their power predominant among the Ten Kingdoms was the Visigoths. It will be remembered F18 that under Wallia the Visigoths as early as A.D. 419 had gained a permanent seat in Southwestern Gaul, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Bay of Biscay, and from the River Loire to the River Rhone, with their capital at Toulouse.

There the newly established kingdom “gradually acquired strength and maturity.” “After the death of Wallia [A.D. 419], the Gothic scepter devolved to Theodoric, the son of the great Alaric; and his prosperous reign of more than thirty years [A.D. 419-451] over a turbulent people, may be allowed to prove that his prudence was supported by uncommon vigor, both of mind and body. Impatient of his narrow limits, Theodoric aspired to the possession of Arles, the wealthy seat of government and commerce; but” this enterprise failed. 4. “Theodoric, king of the Visigoths, appears to have deserved the love of his subjects, the confidence of his allies, and the esteem of mankind. His throne was surrounded by six valiant sons, who were educated with equal care in the exercises of the Barbarian camp, and in those of the Gallic schools: from the study of Roman jurisprudence they acquired the theory, at least, of law and justice.” “The two daughters of the Gothic king were given in marriage to the eldest sons of the kings of the Suevi and of the Vandals, who reigned in Spain and Africa.” — Gibbon. F19 This domestic alliance with the house of the king of the Vandals was fraught with farreaching and dreadful consequences. The king of the Vandals at that time daughter-in-law had formed a conspiracy to poison him. With Genseric, his own suspicion was sufficient proof of guilt, and upon the hapless daughter of Theodoric was inflicted the horrible penalty of cutting off her nose and ears. Thus mutilated, she was sent back to the house of her father. 5. By this outrage Theodoric was stirred up to make war upon the king of the Vandals, in which he was widely supported by the sympathy of his neighbors. To protect himself and his dominions from this dangerous invasion Genseric by “rich gifts and pressing solicitations inflamed the ambition of Attila,” who, thus persuaded, marched, A.D. 451, with an army of seven hundred thousand men in his memorable invasion of Gaul.

This required that not only the forces of Theodoric, but all the power of the whole West should stand unitedly in defense of their very homes. The battle that was fought was the battle of Chalons. “The body of Theodoric, pierced with honorable wounds, was discovered under a heap of the slain: his subjects bewailed the death of their king and father; but their tears were mingled with songs and acclamations, and his funeral rites were performed in the face of a vanquished enemy. The Goths, clashing their arms, elevated on a buckler his eldest son, Torismond, to whom they justly ascribed the glory of their success; and the new king accepted the obligation of revenge as a sacred portion of his paternal inheritance.” — Gibbon. F20 6. Torismond was murdered in A.D. 453 by his younger brother, Theodoric II, who reigned till 466. In 456 he invaded Spain in an expedition against “the Suevi who had fixed their kingdom in Gallicia,” and who now “aspired to the conquest of Spain,” and even threatened to attack Theodoric under the very walls of his own capital. “Such a challenge urged Theodoric to prevent the bold designs of his enemy: he passed the Pyrenees at the head of the Visigoths: the Franks and the Burgundians served under his standard... The two armies, or rather the two nations, encountered each other on the banks of the River Urbicus, about twelve miles from Astorga; and the decisive victory of the Goths appeared for a while to have extirpated the name and kingdom of the Suevi. From the field of battle Theodoric advanced to Braga, their metropolis, which still retained the splendid vestiges of its ancient commerce and dignity.” — Gibbon. F21 The king of the Suevi was captured and slain by Theodoric, who “carried his victorious arms as far as Merida,” whence he returned to his capital. 7. In A.D. 466 Theodoric was assassinated by Euric, who reigned till 485.

Immediately upon his accession he renewed the Visigothic invasion of Spain. “He passed the Pyrenees at the head of a numerous army, subdued the cities of Saragossa and Pampeluna, vanquished in battle the martial nobles of the Tarragonese province, carried his victorious arms into the heart of Lusitania, and permitted the Suevi to hold the kingdom of Gallicia under the Gothic monarchy of Spain” which he made permanent. F22 8. “The efforts of Euric were not less vigorous nor less successful in Gaul; and throughout the country that extends from the Pyrenees to the Rhone and the Loire, Berry and Auvergne were the only cities, or dioceses, which refused to acknowledge him as their master.” “As soon as Odoacer had extinguished the Western Empire, he sought the friendship of the most powerful of the barbarians. The new sovereign of Italy resigned to Euric, king of the Visigoths [A.D. 476-485], all the Roman conquests beyond the Alps as far as the Rhine and the ocean; and the Senate might confirm this liberal gift with some ostentation of power, and without any real loss of revenue or dominion. 9. “The lawful pretensions of Euric were justified by ambition and success; and the Gothic nation might aspire, under his command, to the monarchy of Spain and Gaul. Arles and Marseilles surrendered to his arms; he oppressed the freedom of Auvergne; and the bishop condescended to purchase his recall from exile by a tribute of just, but reluctant praise.

Sidonius waited before the gates of the palace among a crowd of ambassadors and suppliants; and their various business at the court of Bordeaux attested the power and the renown of the king of the Visigoths.

The Heruli of the distant ocean, who painted their naked bodies with its cerulean color, implored his protection; and the Saxons respected the maritime provinces of a prince who was destitute of any naval force. The tall Burgundians submitted to his authority; nor did he restore the captive Franks till he had imposed on that fierce nation the terms of an unequal peace. The Vandals of Africa cultivated his useful friendship: and the Ostrogoths of Pannonia were supported by his powerful aid against the oppression of the neighboring Huns. The North (such are the lofty strains of the poet) was agitated or appeased by the nod of Euric; the great king of Persia consulted the oracle of the West; and the aged god of the Tyber was protected by the swelling genius of the Garonne.” F23 10. The reign of Euric “was the culminating point of the Visigothic monarchy in Gaul.” — Guizot. F24 He was succeeded, A.D. 485, by his son, Alaric II, at the time “a helpless infant.” Though Alaric II reigned twenty-two years, he so “gave himself up to the pursuit of pleasure” that his reign “was the epoch of the decay of the Visigothic monarchy in Gaul,” which indeed ended at the death of Alaric II by the hand of Clovis the Frank, in the battle of Poitiers, A.D. 507. Alaric II was succeeded by his infant son, Amalaric, who was taken into Spain. And though the Visigoths still held in Gaul “a narrow tract of seacoast from the Rhone to the Pyrenees,” from this time forward their dominion was properly in Spain, to which country it was limited, and wherein its seat was permanently fixed in the reign of Theudes, who succeeded Amalaric in A.D. 531, and reigned till 548. 11. The kingdom of the Visigoths continued to flourish in all Spain until A.D. 711. By that time luxury had so enervated them, and their despotism and persecutions had so estranged the subject peoples, that in a single year, 711-712, Tarik, the Saracen commander, conquered the country from the Straits of Gibraltar to the Bay of Biscay, a distance of seven hundred miles.

This can be easily understood from the fact that to the great and decisive battle against the invading Saracens, Roderick, the king of the Visigoths, went “sustaining on his head a diadem of pearls, incumbered with a flowing robe of gold and silken embroidery, and reclining on a litter or car of ivory, drawn by two white mules.” — Gibbon. F25 12. The remnant of the Visigoths, “a scanty band of warriors, headed by Pelayo, probably a member of the Visigothic royal family, found refuge in the cave of Covadonga, among the inaccessible mountains of Asturias” in the extreme northwestern part of the peninsula, “Their own bravery and the difficulties of the country enabled them to hold their own; and they became the rallying point for all who preferred a life of hardship to slavish submission.” 26 This little band of warriors, never subdued, continued to hold their own, and to grow in strength and success. Little by little they pushed back the Saracens, enlarging their territory, and holding all that they gained. This they steadily continued for seven hundred and eighty years, when, in A.D. 1492, the last vestige of Mohammedan power in Spain was broken, and the descendants of the original Visigoths once more possessed the whole country. The present — A.D. 1901 — child-heir to the throne of Spain is Alfonso XIII; and Alfonso I was the grandson of Pelayo, the intrepid leader of that “scanty band of warriors” who in A.D. 712 “found refuge in the cave of Covadonga among the inaccessible mountains of Asturias.” 13. The year of the final recovery of Spain from the Mohammedan power, it will be noted, was also the very year of the discovery of the West Indies by Columbus — A.D. 1492. This era of discovery and conquest opened by Columbus, and continued by Balboa, Cortes, and others, with an intricate complication of territorial accessions in Europe, suddenly at the beginning of the sixteenth century elevated Spain to the place of the leading power, and her king — Charles I — to the position of the greatest sovereign, then in the world. In fifty years, however, she had begun a decline which steadily continued till she was reduced, in 1898, to the bounds of the original kingdom of the Visigoths in the Spanish peninsula, with a few outlying islands.

CHAPTER 3.

THE SUEVI IN THE MIDDLE AGES.

ON the original and permanent settlement of the Suevi, in the Roman Empire, they occupied “the greater portion of Southern and Western Spain; and their capital was Astorga.” In the period between the departure of the Vandals into Africa, A.D. 429, and the coming of the Visigoths into Spain, A.D. 456, the Suevi were “the only barbarian power left in the peninsula.” — Hodgkin. F27 Though in the great battle with Theodoric, the Visigoth, in 456, they were signally defeated and their power was much weakened, yet the distinct Suevic kingdom continued until 587, when, by the power of Leovigild the Visigoth, it became entirely subject and tributary to the Visigothic kingdom. 2. During the time of the occupation of the peninsula by the Mohammedan power, 711, the Suevi, until about 1250, shared the fate of the Visigoths.

As little by little the brave descendants of the unconquerable Pelayo pushed back the bounds of the Mohammedan dominion, the Suevi, inhabiting the territory of what is now Portugal and Galicia, was really the first to be freed. Indeed Alfonso I, grandson of Pelayo, not only drove the Mohammedans out of Galicia, but was able to advance “with his victorious troops” as far as to the River Douro. Alfonso III, 866-910, made expeditions as far south as to Coimbra and Lisbon, though his permanent southern boundary was still the River Douro. 3. Ferdinand the Great, king of Leon, Castile, and Galicia, 1055-1064, and his son, in 1065, carried the boundary southward till it included the present Portuguese province of Beira. Alfonso VI, 1072-1109, compelled the cession of Lisbon and Santerem, which was practically all that part of the province of Estramadura, which lies west and north of the River Tagus. In 1086 the danger that the Mohammedans would regain these territories was so great that Alfonso VI “summoned the chivalry of Christendom to his aid. Among the knights who came to his assistance were Counts Raymond and Henry of Burgundy;... and in 1094 he combined the fiefs of Coimbra and Oporto into one great county,” called Terra Portucalensis, or County of Porto Cale; and, with the hand of his daughter Theresa, conferred it upon Henry of Burgundy, who thus became Count of Portucalensis: Porto Cale: Portugal. And that the Suevi who at the first inhabited Southern and Western Spain and Galicia, were the root of this Portugal, is clear from the fact that “ethnologically the Galicians are allied to the Portuguese, whom they resemble in dialect, in appearance, and in habits, more than any other inhabitants of the peninsula.” F28 4. The history of Portugal as a kingdom, therefore, really begins with this gift by Alfonso VI, descended from Alfonso I, grandson of Pelayo the Visigoth, to Henry of Burgundy, in A.D. 1094. It must be remembered, however, that at that time Portugal was only a county, held in fief by Henry of Burgundy as vassal of Alfonso VI, king of Leon, Castile, and Galicia, who by reason of his great successes assumed the title of “Emperor of Spain.” This grand title, however, vanished with him; and he was no sooner dead than Count Henry, his beneficiary, invaded the kingdom in a contest with four other claimants, to make himself king. He carried on this contest for five years, but failed; and died suddenly at Astorga in 1112, leaving his wife Theresa to rule the county of Portugal during the minority of his infant son, Affonso Henriques. 5. “Affonso Henriques, who, at the age of seventeen, assumed the government [1112-1185], was one of the heroes of the Middle Ages. He succeeded to the rule of the county of Portugal when it was still regarded as a fief of Galicia; and after nearly sixty years of incessant fighting, he bequeathed to his son a powerful little kingdom, whose independence was unquestioned, and whose fame was spread abroad throughout Christendom by the reports of the victories of its first king over the Mohammedans. The four wars of independence which Affonso Henriques waged against Alphonso VII, lasted more than twelve years, and were fought out on the Galician frontier with varying success, until the question of Portuguese independence was peaceably established and confirmed by the valor of the Portuguese knights who overcame those of Castile in the famous tournament of Valdevez, and Affonso Henriques assumed the title of King of Portugal.” F29 6. It was not till the reign of Affonso III, 1248-1279, that the Mohammedans were finally expelled, and Portugal attained its ultimate European limits by the Portuguese conquest of all the territory west of the River Guadilquiver, and southward to the sea. Thus Portugal effected the expulsion of the Mohammedans from her dominions, two hundred and fifty years before Spain completely recovered hers. After this had been accomplished there was a long period of comparative peace, in which the kingdom and the people greatly prospered. About 1400 there was begun by the Portuguese an era of exploration and discovery, that is one of the greatest in the history of the world; that at that time led the world; and that brought to the king of Portugal “an income greater than that of any prince in Europe, so that he had no need of taxes.” 7. This splendid era of discovery was begun by Prince Henry, son of King Joao, or John, who by his energy and success acquired the title “the Navigator.” “Until his day the pathways of the human race had been the mountain, the river, and the plain, the strait, the lake, and the inland sea. It was he who conceived the thought of opening a road through the unexplored ocean — a road replete with danger, but abundant in promise.

Born on March 4, 1394, Prince Henry was a younger son of King Joao of Portugal, and of Philippa of Lancaster, the grandchild of Edward III; so that he was half an Englishman. Prince Henry relinquished the pleasures of the court, and took up his abode on the inhospitable promontory of Sagres at the extreme southwestern angle of Europe.” His great aim was to find the sea-path to the then only known Indies. He did not accomplish it; but he did a great thing in destroying the terror of the great ocean, and so opening the door of courage to those who should come after. His ships and men reached the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo in 1418 and 1420, which were granted to him by the king, his brother, in 1433. They doubled the Cape of Bojador in 1433. In 1435 they went a hundred and fifty miles beyond Cape Bojador. In 1443 they went twenty-five miles beyond Cape Blanco. In 1445 they reached the mouth of the River Senegal. In 1455 he passed Cape Verde and went as far as to the mouth of the River Gambia.

Prince Henry, the Navigator, died Nov. 13, 1460. 8. The enterprise which Prince Henry, the Navigator, had so well begun, was continued after his death. In 1462 the Cape Verde Islands were discovered and colonized. In the same year an expedition under Pedro de Cintra reached a point on the Serra Leone coast, six hundred miles beyond the Gambia. In 1469 another expedition under Fernan Gomez reached the Gold Coast. In 1484 Diogo Cam reached the mouth of the Congo. In Barholomew Dias succeeded in rounding the extreme southern point of Africa, as far as to Algoa Bay. The cape he named Cabo Tormentoso, — Cape Torment, — but the king of Portugal, Joao II, cheered with the prospect that the way was now surely opened to India, named it Cape of Good Hope. 9. This continued series of successes had drawn to Lisbon, the Portuguese capital, adventurous strangers “from all parts of the world;” and among these there came from Genoa, in Italy, in 1470, Christopher Columbus. He entered the service of the king of Portugal, where he remained till 1484, making “several voyages to the coast of Guinea.” As early as 1474 he had determined in his mind that the world is round; that therefore India should be reached by sailing westward; and that he would sail in that direction to find it. His project he made known to King Joao II, who referred him to his Committee of Council for Geographical Affairs. The committee rendered a decidedly adverse report; but the bishop of Ceuta, seeing that the king was inclined to favor Columbus’s view, suggested to him that he reap the advantage of it by sending an expedition unknown to Columbus. The king adopted the suggestion, sent out his expedition which from fear soon returned. Columbus, discovering the trick that had been attempted, in just indignation quitted Lisbon in 1484; and so the glory and the wonders of the discovery of the Western Continent, the New World, was lost to Portugal. 10. The Portuguese, however, having passed the most southern point of Africa, followed up the attempt to reach India by sailing eastward. In July, 1497, Vasco da Gama sailed from Lisbon. November 22 he rounded the Cape of Good Hope. Christmas day, as he was sailing along, land was sighted, which, in honor of the day, he named Natal. April 7, 1498, he reached Mombas, on the east coast of Africa, near the equator; and May 20, 1498, the India problem was solved by his sighting the Malabar coast of Western India, and anchoring his ships before Calicut. March 9, 1500, another expedition left Lisbon, under the command of Pedro Alvarez Cabral, and April 22 discovered the southeast coast of Brazil, taking possession in the name of the king of Portugal. Cabral then sailed for India, arriving at Calicut in September, and continued his voyage southward as far as to Cananore, and finally to Cochin. In 1501 Joao da Nova discovered the island of Ascension, and Amerigo Vespucci discovered the Rio Plata and Paraguay. Ceylon was discovered in 1505. In 1506 Albuquerque “explored the coasts of Arabia and Persia, made the king of Ormus tributary to the king of Portugal, and sent embassies to Abyssinia.” In he conquered Goa, on the Indian coast, a little north of Calicut. In the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, off the east coast of China, were discovered; and in 1517 the grand era of Portuguese discovery was fitly rounded out by the Fernam Peres de Andrade’s discovery of China, and entering “into commercial relations with the governor of Canton.” 11. These discoveries led large numbers of the Portuguese to emigrate in search of fortune; and the great wealth poured into the kingdom by the trade of the new lands, induced luxury and consequent enervation of those who remained at home: while there was also no immigration, and the soil was worked by slaves. These things of themselves weakened the kingdom; but as though to make its decline certain, in 1536 King Joao III established the Inquisition, which “quickly destroyed all that was left of the old Portuguese spirit.” Because of these things at home and the tyranny and corruption of the governors in the colonies, “everything went from bad to worse.” In 1578 the direct royal succession expired with King Sebastian.

The kingdom fell for two years to the late king’s uncle, who was old, and died the last day of January, 1580; and, in the confusion and intrigues of the several aspirants to the throne that followed, Philip II, king of Spain, was successful in seizing the kingdom and making himself also king of Portugal. 12. In 1640 the Portuguese revolted and were successful in casting off the yoke of Spain, in expelling the Spaniards from Portugal; and in reestablishing a kingdom of their own by crowning a king of their own choice — the duke of Braganza as King Joao IV. During “the sixty years’ captivity” to Spain, however, the trade of her wide possessions, and a considerable portion of those possessions themselves, had been absorbed by other nations. From this Portugal never recovered; and has since had very little power or influence outside her proper European limits.

CHAPTER 4.

THE FRANKS IN THE MIDDLE AGES.

IT was by the Franks, under the leadership of Clovis, that the Visigothic monarchy was broken and deprived of its possessions in Gaul, which it had held for nearly a hundred years. Thus, of the Ten Kingdoms, after the Visigoths the Franks were the next in order to make their power predominant, and even supreme. 2. As late as “thirty years after the battle of Chalons” the tribes of the Franks who had “settled in Gaul were not yet united as one nation.” “Several tribes, independent one of another, were planted between the Rhine and the Somme; there were some in the environs of Cologne, Calais, Cambrai, even beyond the Seine and as far as Le Mans, on the confines of the Britons... The two principal Frankish tribes were those of the Salian Franks and the Ripuarian Franks, settled, the latter in the east of Belgica, on the banks of the Moselle and the Rhine; the former toward the West, between the Meuse, the ocean, and the Somme. Meroveus, whose name was perpetuated in his line, was one of the principal chieftains of the Salian Franks; and his son Childeric, who resided in Tournay, where his tomb was discovered in 1655, was the father of Clovis, who succeeded him in 481, and with whom really commenced the kingdom and history of France.” — Guizot. F30 3. As late as A.D. 486 there was a small portion of Gaul, embracing the cities of Rheims, Troyes, Beauvais, Amiens, and the city and diocese of Soissons, which was still fairly Roman, and was ruled by Syagrius, a Roman, under the title of Patrician, or, as some give it, king of the Romans. “The first exploit of Clovis was the defeat of Syagrius,” in A.D. 486, and the reduction of the country which had acknowledged his authority. By this victory all the country of Gaul north of the Moselle, clear to the Seine, was possessed by the Franks. “The Belgic cities surrendered to the king of the Franks; and his dominions were enlarged toward the east by the ample diocese of Tongres, which Clovis subdued in the tenth year of his reign.” — Gibbon. F31 4. Until this time the Franks and the Alemanni had made almost equal progress in Gaul, and had made their conquests in that province, apparently in perfect national friendliness. But now both nations had become so powerful that it was impossible that two such fierce and warlike nations should subsist side by side without an appeal to arms for the decision of the question as to which should have the supremacy. 5. “From the source of the Rhine to its conflux with the Main and the Moselle, the formidable swarms of the Alemanni commanded either side of the river by the right of ancient possession, or recent victory. They had spread themselves into Gaul, over the modern provinces of Alsace and Lorraine; and their bold invasion of the kingdom of Cologne summoned the Salic prince to the defense of his Ripuarian allies. Clovis encountered the invaders of Gaul in the plain of Tolbiac [A.D. 496] about twenty-four miles from Cologne, and the two fiercest nations of Germany were mutually animated by the memory of past exploits, and the prospect of future greatness. The Franks, after an obstinate struggle, gave way; and the Alemanni, raising a shout of victory, impetuously pressed their retreat. But the battle was restored by the valor, and the conduct, and perhaps by the piety, of Clovis; and the event of the bloody day decided forever the alternative of empire or servitude. The last king of the Alemanni was slain in the field, and his people were slaughtered, or pursued, till they threw down their arms, and yielded to the mercy of the conqueror. Without discipline it was impossible for them to rally; they had contemptuously demolished the walls and fortifications which might have protected their distress; and they were followed into the heart of their forests by an enemy not less active, or intrepid, than themselves. 6. “The great Theodoric congratulated the victory of Clovis, whose sister Albofleda the king of Italy had lately married; but he mildly interceded with his brother in favor of the suppliants and fugitives, who had implored his protection. The Gallic territories, which were possessed by the Alemanni, became the prize of their conqueror; and the haughty nation, invincible, or rebellious, to the arms of Rome, acknowledged the sovereignty of the Merovingian kings, who graciously permitted them to enjoy their peculiar manners and institutions, under the government of official, and, at length, of hereditary dukes.” — Gibbon. F32 7. The defeat of the Burgundians followed that of the Alemanni, A.D. 499. “The kingdom of the Burgundians, which was defined by the course of two Gallic rivers, the Saone and the Rhone, extended from the forest of Vosges to the Alps and the sea of Marseilles. The scepter was in the hands of Gundobald. That valiant and ambitious prince had reduced the number of royal candidates by the death of two brothers, one of whom was the father of Clotilda; but his imperfect prudence still permitted Godesil, the youngest of his brothers, to possess the dependent principality of Geneva. 8. “The allegiance of his brother was already seduced; and the obedience of Godegesil, who joined the royal standard with the troops of Geneva, more effectually promoted the success of the conspiracy. While the Franks and Burgundians contended with equal valor, his seasonable desertion decided the event of the battle; and as Gundobald was faintly supported by the disaffected Gauls, he yielded to the arms of Clovis [A.D. 500], and hastily retreated from the field, which appears to have been situate between Langres and Dijon. He distrusted the strength of Dijon, a quadrangular fortress, encompassed by two rivers, and by a wall thirty feet high, and fifteen thick, with four gates, and thirty-three towers; he abandoned to the pursuit of Clovis the important cities of Lyons and Vienna; and Gundobald still fled with precipitation, till he had reached Avignon, at the distance of two hundred and fifty miles from the field of battle. A long siege and an artful negotiation admonished the king of the Franks of the danger and difficulty of his enterprise. He imposed a tribute on the Burgundian prince, compelled him to pardon and reward his brother’s treachery, and proudly returned to his own dominions, with the spoils and captives of the southern provinces. 9. “This splendid triumph was soon clouded by the intelligence that Gundobald had violated his recent obligations, and that the unfortunate Godegesil, who was left at Vienna with a garrison of five thousand Franks, had been besieged, surprised and massacred by his inhuman brother. Such an outrage might have exasperated the patience of the most peaceful sovereign; yet the conqueror of Gaul dissembled the injury, released the tribute, and accepted the alliance and military service of the king of Burgundy. Clovis no longer possessed those advantages which had assured the success of the preceding war, and his rival, instructed by adversity, had found new resources in the affections of his people. The Gauls or Romans applauded the mild and impartial laws of Gundobald, which almost raised them to the same level with their conquerors. The bishops were reconciled and flattered by the hopes, which he artfully suggested, of his approaching conversion; and though he eluded their accomplishment to the last moment of his life, his moderation secured the peace and suspended the ruin of the kingdom of Burgundy.” — Gibbon. F33 10. In A.D. 507 Clovis turned his arms against the Visigoths in southwestern Gaul, who were ruled by Alaric II. “At the third hour of the day, about ten miles from Poitiers, Clovis overtook, and instantly attacked, the Gothic army, whose defeat was already prepared by terror and confusion. Yet they rallied in their extreme distress, and the martial youths, who had clamorously demanded the battle, refused to survive the ignominy of flight. The two kings encountered each other in single combat. Alaric fell by the hand of his rival; and the victorious Frank was saved, by the goodness of his cuirass, and the vigor of his horse, from the spears of two desperate Goths, who furiously rode against him to revenge the death of their sovereign. The vague expression of a mountain of the slain serves to indicate a cruel though indefinite slaughter.” — Gibbon. F34 In A.D. 508 a treaty of peace was made between the two peoples. “The Visigoths were suffered to retain the possession of Septimania, a narrow tract of seacoast, from the Rhone to the Pyrenees; but the ample province of Aquitain, from those mountains to the Loire, was indissolubly united to the kingdom of France.” F35 11. In A.D. 510, Anastasius, emperor of the Eastern Empire of Rome, sent to Clovis “at Tours a solemn embassy, bringing to him the titles and insignia of Patrician and Consul. ‘Clovis,’ says Gregory of Tours, put on the tunic of purple and the chlamys and the diadem; then mounting his horse he scattered with his own hand and with much bounty gold and silver amongst the people on the road which lies between the gate of the court belonging to the basilica of St. Martin and the church of the city. From that day he was called Consul and Augustus. On leaving the city of Tours he repaired to Paris, where he fixed the seat of his government.’ 12. “Paris was certainly the political center of the dominion, the intermediate point between the early settlements of his race and himself in Gaul, and his new Gallic conquests; but he lacked some of the possessions nearest to him... To the east, north, and southwest of Paris were settled some independent Frankish tribes, governed by chieftains with the name of kings. So soon as he had settled in Paris, it was the one fixed idea of Clovis to reduce them all to subjection. He had conquered the Burgundians and the Visigoths; it remained for him to conquer and unite together all the Franks. The barbarian showed himself in his true colors, during this new enterprise, with his violence, his craft, his cruelty, and his perfidy.” By the basest treachery and by sheer murder he put out of his way the kings of these Frankish tribes; and “so Clovis remained sole king of the Franks: for all the independent chieftains had disappeared.” — Guizot. F36 13. Clovis died, Nov. 27, 511; and his dominions were divided among his four sons — Theodoric, or Thierry I, Childebert, Clodomir, and Clotaire I.

Theodoric,