GERMAN HISTORY.
P. 189, c. 1.—“Charlemagne.” After the death of Charlemagne, 814, the kingdom fell to his son Louis. In 843 it was divided between the three sons of the latter. The kingdom remained with the Carlovingian house until 911, when the dynasty became extinct. The entire country was divided into many territories or states ruled by dukes, and the election of the king was given to them. After the death of the last of the Carlovingians the electors chose Conrad I., a Franconian, after whom the Saxons held the throne until 1024. The Franconians succeeded, ruling until 1125, when the Hohenstauffen dynasty began. This latter ended with the death of Conrad IV., in 1254.
“Interregnum.” The first meaning of the word is the time between the death of one king and the accession of his successor; hence a time in which the execution of the government is suspended. Here it refers to an extended period between the death of Conrad IV., 1254, and the rise of the house of Hapsburg. Rudolph I. was the first of this line, and was chosen in 1273, but the house did not become strong until about the time of the Reformation, after which time until the death of the empire, in 1806, it was almost stationary on the throne.
“Dark Ages.” In the broadest sense the term “dark ages” refers to a period extending from the fifth century to about the middle of the fifteenth, in which the intellectual activity of Europe was at its lowest point, and corresponding almost to the middle ages. As used here, however, “dark ages” refers to a period in the literary life of Germany, particularly in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. After the time of the Minnesänger and the poets of chivalry there followed nearly two hundred years of great decay in literature. Hallam in his “Literary History,” quotes Herren as saying that the thirteenth century was one of the most unfruitful for the study of ancient literature, and Leibnitz as declaring that the tenth century was a golden age of learning compared with the thirteenth; and says himself: “The fourteenth century was not in the slightest degree superior to the preceding age.”
“Huss.” (1273-1415.) Born at Hussintz, near the border of Bavaria, and educated at Prague, where he afterward became a professor. Having been installed as a preacher he began to declare against the vices of the clergy and the extravagant expenditures in ornamenting the churches. Huss had been made rector of the university, and his bold speech brought about a war between the archbishop of the cathedral at Prague, and the university. The archbishop had burned the writings of Wickliffe, and Huss declared against the act, using such strong arguments that the former was condemned. The charge of heresy was soon after raised against Huss; he was condemned and ordered to leave Prague. He did not remain away long, but was brought back by his zealous partisans. His doctrines, however, again brought down the papal wrath, and he was pronounced a heretic. He continued to preach and write until summoned in 1414 to a general council at Constance. After a long delay the council condemned him as a heretic, and he was burned at the stake. D’Aubigne says in his “History of the Reformation:” “He seemed to enter more deeply than all who had gone before him into the essence of Christian truth. But he attacked rather the lives of the clergy than the errors of the church. And yet he was, if we may be allowed the expression, the John the Baptist of the Reformation. The flames of his martyrdom kindled a fire which shed an extensive light in the midst of the general gloom, and was destined not to be speedily extinguished.”
“Henry IV.” His father, Henry III., died when the boy was but five years old. His mother was not strong enough to hold in order the nobles of the kingdom, and when Henry was thirteen years old, the regency was seized by an archbishop. After Henry’s trouble with the pope, here related, he returned to Germany to find that a new king, called the priest’s king, had been elected. Henry immediately appointed a new pope, and began war against Rudolph, the new king. Having defeated him he went to Italy, besieged Rome, and after three years took the city and was crowned emperor. His triumph was short, for his sons soon after rebelled, and Heinrich called his father to sign his own abdication. The old king soon after died in great poverty.
P. 189, c. 2.—“Simony,” sim´o-ny. The term is derived from the proper name Simon, who wished to buy the power of the Holy Ghost, (Acts, vii.,) and is applied to the practice of buying ecclesiastical preferment, and of raising parties to church positions for reward.
“Worms,” wurmz. A city of Hesse on the Rhine. It is one of the oldest of German cities, and was the scene of the Nibelungenlied. Many diets of the empire were held there.
“Mayence,” ma´yangs. The French for Mentz. A city of Germany on the left bank of the Rhine, near its conjunction with the Main. It has been an important city since the time of the Romans. Gutenberg was born and died there.
“Augsburg,” owgs´burg. A city of Bavaria, first established by Augustus in the first century. For several centuries it was free, and a most important commercial center.
P. 190, c. 1.—“Canossa,” ca-nos´sa. A town in the northeastern part of Italy.
“Parma.” See The Chautauquan for December.
“Holy Feme.” These tribunals rose in the twelfth century and disappeared in the sixteenth. Sir Walter Scott, in “Anne of Geierstein,” has given an account of the Westphalian Fehmgericht, as it was called.
“Westphalia,” west-phā´li-a. A western province of Prussia, bordering on Holland.
“Dortmund,” dort´mŏont. A town of Prussia in the province of Westphalia.
“Hildebrand,” hĭl´de-brand. (1018?-1085.) Pope Gregory VII. He was educated in a monastery and became a monk. Having been made prior of the abbey of St. Paul, he reformed many abuses and became prominent in the church. He at first refused the office of pope, but was compelled to accept. He immediately, on taking the position, instituted strong measures against simony and the licentiousness of the clergy. He summoned Henry to Rome to answer for his conduct, when there followed the trouble already related. Just before the capture of Rome the pope fled. Although Robert Guiscard soon after triumphed over his (the pope’s) enemies, his health was broken, and he retired to Salerno, where he died. His last words are said to have been: “I have loved righteousness and hated wickedness, therefore do I die in exile.”
“Peter the Lombard.” (1100?-1160.) An Italian theologian, He was a pupil of Abè, and the tutor to the son of the king of France. He afterward became a professor in the university of Paris, and bishop of the city. His greatest work was a collection of passages from the church fathers on doctrinal points. This is still in repute.
“Seven Sacraments.” The seven sacraments of both the Latin and Greek Churches are: Baptism, confirmation, penance, the eucharist, extreme unction, order or ordination, and matrimony.
“Eugene IV.” (1383-1447.) Pope from 1431 until his death. During this period two important councils were held; that of Basel, in which there were efforts made to heal the Hussite schism, reform the clergy, and bring about a union between the eastern and western churches and the council of Florence. Eugene’s term was embittered by civil wars and the outbreaks of numerous enemies.
“Transubstantiation.” The Roman Catholic Church believes the bread and the wine used in the eucharist to be converted into the body and blood of Christ.
“Lateran,” lat´e-ran. In the Lateran Church at Rome have been held eleven important historical councils. The fourth, at which this doctrine was proclaimed, occurred in November, 1215, and is said to have been “the most important ecclesiastical council ever convened.”
“Auricular,” au-ric´ū-lar. Literally, told in the ear.
P. 190, c. 2.—“Council of Trent.” The nineteenth œcumenical council was caused by Luther’s doctrines. It began in 1545, and after twenty-five public sessions, adjourned in 1563. The chief results of the council were: Tradition was declared to be equally with the Bible a standard of faith; the Catholic doctrines of sin, justification and the sacraments were defined; and the doctrines of extreme unction, ordination, celibacy, marriage, purgatory, relics, indulgences, etc., were promulgated.
“Gutenberg,” goo´ten-bĕrg. (1400-1468.) The partnership between Faust and Gutenberg was closed in five years (1455) because Gutenberg failed to pay the money advanced. After this Gutenberg carried on a printing house alone until, in 1465, he entered the services of Adolphus of Nassau, as a gentleman of court.
“Faust,” fowst. He was a rich goldsmith, and probably had nothing to do with the invention of printing. The books produced by this firm were an indulgence, “An appeal to Christendom against the Turks,” and a celebrated Latin Bible called the Mazarin Bible. After the dissolution of this firm Schöffer and Faust carried on the business.
“Schöffer,” shö´fer.
P. 191, c. 1.—“Schwartz,” shwarts. His true name was Aucklitzen, but his fondness for magic, called the black art, led to his surname of Schwartz, which in German means black. It is considered by many that Schwartz applied the use of gunpowder to war and the chase, as its composition was supposed to have been known before his time.
“Agincourt,” a´zhĭn-koor. A town on the road from Calais to Paris, where, in 1415, Henry V., of England, defeated the French army. See “Pictures from English History,” in The Chautauquan for June, 1883.
“Eisleben,” īs´lā-ben. A town of Saxony of some 13,000 inhabitants. It is interesting as the place where Luther was born and died. The house in which he died still stands.
“St. Martin’s Day.” The day appropriated to St. Martin in the saints’ calendar. He was a pope of the Catholic Church in the seventh century. As he opposed the spread of the doctrine of Monothelitism, or the doctrine that Christ had but one will in his two natures, and, as well, opposed the edict of the ruling emperor, which forbade all discussion on this subject, he was stripped of his clerical honors and banished. He is honored as a martyr.
“Raphael,” răf´a-el. (1483-1520.) The most famous of Italian painters.
“Copernicus,” ko-per´nĭ-kŭs. (1473-1543.) He first studied medicine and afterward spent some time in Italy, studying astronomy, where he also taught mathematics. In 1503 he returned to Prussia as a clergyman. He found time from his duties to study astronomy, and began to investigate the Ptolemaic system, for which he substituted the planetary system. The arguments and proofs of this system he published in six volumes, the first copy of which was placed in his hands the day of his death.
“Eisenach,” ī´zen-ak. A city of Germany on the borders of the Thuringian forest. The castle of Wartburg is near the town.
“Erfurt,” ĕr´fŏort. A city of Saxony of about 43,000 inhabitants. The most interesting building there is the old Augustine convent, where Luther lived; it is now used for an asylum for orphans.
“Elector.” This elector was Friedrich the Wise, of Saxony. (1463-1525.) He founded the university at Wittenberg, and, although not thoroughly in favor of the Reformation, he protected Luther through his whole life. D’Aubigne says of him: “Friedrich was precisely the prince that was needed for the cradle of the Reformation. Too much weakness on the part of those friendly to the work might have allowed it to be crushed. Too much haste would have caused too early an explosion of the storm that from its origin gathered against it. Friedrich was moderate, but firm. He possessed that Christian grace which God has in all times required from his worshipers—he waited for God.”
“Wittenberg.” A town of Saxony of about 12,000 inhabitants. The great elector, Luther and Melancthon are buried here. The town is interesting to art students for several pictures of Cranach’s which it contains. Schadow’s statue of Luther is here, and also one of Melancthon by Drake (see Readings in Art in The Chautauquan for December). The university of Wittenberg was united to that of Halle in 1815.
P. 191, c. 2.—“Scholasticism.” Methods of argument and of philosophy, which are very pedantic or subtile, are said to suit the schools or scholars; that is, they are scholastic.
“Aristotelianism,” ar´is-to-te´li-an-ism. The methods of argument and the philosophy of the time was that of Aristotle; hence the name.
“Papal Indulgences.” The Roman Catholic Church claims that when a sin is committed after baptism, the truly penitent must confess and receive sacramental absolution, but that after this there is a temporal penalty which the sinner must undergo in this world or the next. In the early church, when very severe penance was required of notorious sinners, it was sometimes softened by the prayers or intercessions of outside parties to the pope; this was termed indulgence. When the nations of northern Europe joined the Catholic Church, a custom formed among them was adopted as suitable for penitential atonement. Among these peoples, persons guilty of murder or theft could purchase exemption from the injured parties. When this practice was first admitted the church used the money for the poor, in redeeming captives, and in public worship. Abuses soon followed. The people confounded the remission of temporal penalties with the remission of sins, and the church adopted this method of raising money for the Crusades, to build churches, and finally to enable the popes to gratify their personal extravagance. The abuse was at its height with Tetzel. The council of Trent condemned these measures, and since there have been no conspicuous abuses.
“Tetzel,” tĕt´sel. (1460?-1519.) He was educated at Leipsic, and after entering his order, was frequently employed as a vender of indulgences. He is usually represented as a very immoral man, and his abuse of the indulgence system to have been most flagrant. Catholic historians claim that these statements are overdrawn, although they admit his indiscretion. After his trouble with Luther, Tetzel seems to have lost all his influence with the public.
“Theses.” Here are a few examples of these theses:
1. When our Master and Lord Jesus Christ says ‘Repent,’ he means that the whole life of his faithful servants upon earth should be a constant and continual repentance.
32. Those who fancy themselves sure of their salvation by indulgences will go to the devil with those who teach them this doctrine.
43. We must teach Christians that he who gives to the poor, or lends to the needy, does better than he who buys an indulgence.
95. For it is better, through much tribulation, to enter into the kingdom of heaven than to gain a carnal security by the consolations of a false peace.
“Cajetanus,” or Cajetan, kăj´e-ta´nus. (1469-1534.) A Dominican monk of superior education. He had held several high offices when sent to Germany to hear Luther. Afterward he went on several important embassies.
“Vicar General.” This was Johann Staupitz, a man of superior character and learning. He was a friend of Frederic the Wise, and under his directions the latter had founded the university of Wittenberg. It was he who had secured a professorship for Luther there. In 1522 Staupitz became the abbot of a Benedictine convent.
P. 192, c. 1.—“Melancthon,” me-lănk´thon. (1497-1560.) Called the second leader of the Lutheran Reformation. After a most careful education at Heidelberg and Tübingen he was given a professorship at Wittenberg, in 1518. He at once became a warm friend of Luther and the Reformation. His remarkable learning in classic literature and in Bible study, with his clear mind and elegant style, at once made him the most prominent teacher in the university. Although offered professorships at other universities, he would never leave Wittenberg. He devoted himself to theology, but was never ordained. His work was mainly done by writing. He wrote many sermons, defended Luther against Dr. Eck, wrote a system of Protestant theology, several commentaries, and helped Luther in his translation of the Bible. It was Melancthon who drew up the “Augsburg Confession,” which became the principal book of the Lutheran church. Melancthon was mild and peace loving, presenting a great contrast to Luther. They were, however, friends to the last, though not always agreeing on the measures to be adopted. After Luther’s death Melancthon became the leader of the German Reformation, and so remained until his death.
“Jonas.” (1493-1555.) A theologian who became a professor at Wittenberg in 1521. He joined Luther in his great movement, and was with him at the diet at Worms. He also assisted in Luther’s translation of the Bible. Having become a preacher at Halle he was banished, and went to Eisfeld, where he died.
“Nuncio,” nūn´shĭ-ō. A messenger, or literally one who carries something new. The word is generally applied to a messenger from the pope to a king or emperor.
“Altenburg,” al´ten-burg. A town of about 20,000 inhabitants. The capital of a duchy of the German empire, bearing the same name.
“Eck.” (1486-1543.) He had been a profound student of theology, and was a powerful opponent in argument. He first appeared as an adversary of Luther, in notes made on the Thesis. After the discussion mentioned he went to Rome to urge severe measures against the reformers, and through his entire life tried to heal the breach in the church.
P. 192, c. 2.—“Perseus,” per´se-us. A hero of Grecian legendary lore. The son of Jupiter, who with his mother Danaë, had been cast adrift at sea in a chest. The chest floated to the island Seriphus, where the king wished to marry Danaë, but to get rid of Perseus, sent the latter to fetch the head of the gorgon Medusa. The gorgons were three sisters who had but one eye in common, and turned everything into stone that fell under their gaze. Perseus obtained winged sandals from the Nymphs, and a mirror from Minerva, in which he could see the reflection of Medusa. When the gorgons were asleep he accomplished his errand, and returned in time to rescue his mother and turn the king and his companions into stone. This gorgon head he afterward gave to Minerva, who placed it on her shield.