MEDIIEVAL FRANCE.* There are, perhaps, few more fascinating periods of
history than that which is covered by the term " 31ediwval France,' extending from the reign of Hngues Capet to that of Louis X1L, and including all the romance and adventure of the Crusades, the thoughts and doings of that marvellous person, St. Louis, the wars with England, internal struggles and ambitions without end, the craft of Louis XI., the victories of Charles VIII.; all the time, through darkness of struggle and storm, in a country racked and torn by its own great men as much as by its enemies, architecture, history, poetry, music, civilisation, working their way forward, to days of Francois I. and Henri IV. to follow. Looking over the contents of this volume of "The Story of the Nations," one said, "What a delightful book this will be !" And most surely it is no fault of the subject, if after having read the volume through, one is obliged to say, "What a delightful book this might have been !" And yet, perhaps, this savour of disappointment is partly our own fault. We are so accustomed nowadays to have our history written for us with a charm of style that takes the bare facts, and tells them so that they are more pleasant to read than any novel, with an atmosphere of the old time about them, the catching of which is one of the most marked developments of historical talent in the present day—learning and enjoyment have become so far identical—that we perhaps expect too much, and are in some danger of only valuing our information according to the way in which it is presented to us.
The old chroniclers, the glory of medimval France, have naturally done their best for this book. The author was familiar with them ; and his descriptive list of them at the beginning is one of the most valuable parts of his work. He also gives excellent chronological tables, most useful to a student, in which political events, the Church, Science and Literature, stand in parallel columns. These are followed by a list of the Chancellors of France, a short account of the Parliaments, a genealogical table of the Kings, from Hugues * Meclizroal France. (" The Story of the Nations.") By Gnstave Masson. London : T. Fisher Unwin. 1888. le Grand to Louis XII. and his family, a "tabular view" of the States-General from their commencement in 1302. We have also maps of France before and after the Crusades, a useful glossary of medileval words, and a full index to the whole book. On the question of words, we should like to ask whether there is any authority for translating the. French journee into the English "journey." It is, however, the old: translator of Froissart who seems responsible for this.
The book is crammed with information ; nothing is left out. We have a full account of the laws of chivalry, the growth and gradual destruction of the feudal system, the Crusades and their results, the commercial movement, the peasantry, their oppressions and revolts, religion, trade, learning. This, is by no means a History dealing with Kings and battles only and so far it is quite up to the modern standard of these things. If the general effect is a little confused, if the materials seem almost too much for the book, one must remember that the period covered is one of the most varied in the history of Europe, and that such a wild crowd of facts and figures requires, to set it in historical order, a clearness of sight and touch not given to many writers. It is not every country that has, or can have, a. Green's Short History among its literature. The best and most interesting part of the book, in our opinion, is the early part, and especially all that concerns the life and reign of Louis IX. For him and his reforms M. Masson is enthusiastic :—
"The thirteenth century," he says, "marks the most brilliant epoch of the Middle Ages, and in that epoch the reign of Saint Louis forms, so to say, the central point. After the death of that glorious monarch, decay sets in, the old order of things falls. gradually to pieces, and to the prevalence of honour, courage,. loyalty, and self-sacrifice succeeds the triumph of insolence,. cowardice, treachery, avarice, and selfishness."
This sounds rather strong language, for though no doubt the following days were dark, the light shed by one good King could not shine into every corner—see the revolt of the Pastoureaux—and France was hardly Arcadia even in his reign. Still, he is a very curious and beautiful figure in that early history, as we see him painted by his friend Joinville, who paints himself so delightfully at the same time :— "The good King, once calling me to him, said he wanted to talk with me on account of the quickness of understanding he knew I possessed. In the presence of several persons he added : I have called these two monks, and before them ask you this question respecting God : Seneschal, what is God ?'—' Sire,' replied I, He is so supremely good nothing can exceed Him.'—' In truth,' answered the King, 'that is well said, for your answer is written in the little book I have in my hand. I will put another question to you : Whether you would rather be a leper, or have committed, or be about to commit, a mortal sin ?'—But I, who would not tell a lie, replied that I would rather have committed thirty deadly sins than be a leper When the two friars were gone away, he called me to him alone, making me sit at his feet, and said : 'How could you dare to make the answer you did to my last question ?'—When I replied, Were I to answer it again, I should repeat the same thing,' he instantly said : 'Ah! foolish idiot, you are deceived ; for you must know there can be no leprosy so filthy as mortal sin, and the soul that is guilty of such
is like the devil in hell I therefore entreat of you, first. for the love of God, and next for the affection you bear me, that you retain in your heart what I have said, and that you would much rather prefer having your body covered with the most filthy leprosy than suffer your soul to commit a single deadly sin, which is of all things the most infamous."
Further on we have Joinville's wonderful picture of the King- sitting to administer justice under an oak in the Forest of Vincennes, or sometimes in the "Paris gardens,"—
dressed in a camlet coat, with an overcoat of woollen stuff without sleeves, a cloak of black taffetas fastened round his neck, neatly combed, having no cap, but merely a hat with white, peacocks' feathers on his head."
Joinville himself thought his master's second Crusade a terrible mistake; but with all his wisdom and goodness, it was religion only that led Louis IX. into any violence or foolish- ness. The Crusades on which he embarked were fatal to himself and to his country; and his views on Jews and heretics —natural, no doubt, at the time—sound strangely from a man of so much gentleness and justice :— "When a layman hears the Christian faith evil spoken of, he should defend it not only with words, but with a sharp-cutting sword, which he should thrust through the miscreant's body as. far as it will go."
We have alluded before to the style in which lifediamal France' is written. It is curious, and here and there a little difficult to follow, reading sometimes like a rather awkward translation. But we must remember that a man is heavily handicapped
who undertakes to write a book in any language but his own ; and especially so, perhaps, if it is a book about his own country.
Before ending our notice, we should like to quote one more extract from an old chronicler—much less well known than Villehardouin, Joinville, Froissart, Comines—Jean de Venette. M. Masson says it has often been quoted, but we have never met with it before; and it is impossible not to be struck by the atmosphere, the feeling it gives one of that wild, simple old time, that depth of medimval France, as well as by the spirit and colour with which the story is told. The date seems to be about 1360 :—
" There is a strong place in a small village called Longueil, near Compiegne. The inhabitants, seeing that they would run into danger if the enemy were to take possession of that place, occupied it with the permission of the Abbot of Saint Corneille of Com- piegne, to whom it belonged, and of the Regent. They provided themselves with arms and victuals, selected one of themselves as captain, and promised to the Lord Duke that they would defend their fortress to the last. The captain was a tall, handsome man, by name Guillaume des Alouettes. He took as his servant another peasant, quite his match, a man of incredible strength of limbs, well proportioned despite his stature, full of boldness and of vigour, and in his great body having a very low opinion of himself. He was called /e grand Fern'. They therefore assembled in that place, two hundred in number The English, who held the castle of Creil, hearing what sort of men they were, went to Longueil full of contempt, and without precaution, saying : Let us drive away those rustics, and take possession of the place.' Two hundred of them had arrived unnoticed ; finding the gates open, they walked boldly into the yard, when the unskilled soldiers of the garrison were still upstairs, looking out of the windows, and quite stupified at seeing the place full of armed men. The captain descended with some of his fellows, and began to strike ; but soon surrounded by the English, he was killed. The grand Ferre and his companions said to one another : Let us come down, and sell our lives dearly, for we have no mercy to expect.' They assembled in good order, and sallying forth from several gates, they began to knock upon the English just as if they were engaged in their ordinary task of thrashing the corn. The arms rose in the air, fell down upon the English, and every blow was mortal. The grand Ferre, brandishing his heavy axe, did not touch one but he cleft his heavy helmet or struck off his arms. Behold all the English taking to flight ; several jumped into the moat and were drowned. The grand Fe-re killed their standard-bearer, and told one of his followers to carry the standard into the moat. His men showing him a number of English still between himself and the moat : Follow me,' said lc grand, and he went forward, plying his axe right and left till the banner had been cast into the water. He had killed on that day upwards of forty men. On the morrow the English came in great numbers to attack Longueil ; but the people of the village no longer dreaded them, and they ran to meet them, the grand Ferre at their head On this occasion the grand Fern!, heated by his work, drank a good deal of cold water, and was seized with fever. He went to the village, reached his cottage, and took to his bed, not, however, without keeping by his side his good iron axe Having heard that he was ill, the English sent one day twelve men to kill him. His wife seeing them come from a distance, ran to his bed, saying : 'Au! my Fern", here are the English ! I really believe that they are looking out for you. What is to be done ? ' He immediately, forgetting his illness, got up quickly, took his axe and went into his small yard. 'Ah! thieves !' said he ; so you have come to take me in my bed ? You have not caught me yet !' And in his wrath he killed five of them in a moment ; the other seven tock to flight. The victor went to bed again ; but being very hot, he drank more cold water. Fever again seized him, and after a few days, the grand Ferre left this world, having received the sacraments of the Church, and was buried in the village cemetery."
With such materials as these to work upon, what might not a historian do !
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