History of France | Page 3

had been the queen's confessor; but so far was she from pitying him
that she struck out one of his eyes with her staff, as he was led past her
to the hut where he was shut in and burnt. On Robert's death Constance

took part against her son, _Henry I._, on behalf of his younger brother,
but Henry prevailed. During his reign the clergy succeeded in
proclaiming what was called the Truce of God, which forbade war and
bloodshed at certain seasons of the year and on certain days of the week,
and made churches and clerical lands places of refuge and sanctuary,
which often indeed protected the lawless, but which also saved the
weak and oppressed. It was during these reigns that the Papacy was
beginning the great struggle for temporal power, and freedom from the
influence of the Empire, which resulted in the increased independence
and power of the clergy. The religious fervour which had begun with
the century led to the foundation of many monasteries, and to much
grand church architecture. In the reign of _Philip I._, William, Duke of
Normandy, obtained the kingdom of England, and thus became far
more powerful than his suzerain, the King of France, a weak man of
vicious habits, who lay for many years of his life under sentence of
excommunication for an adulterous marriage with Bertrade de Montfort,
Countess of Anjou. The power of the king and of the law was probably
at the very lowest ebb during the time of Philip I., though minds and
manners were less debased than in the former century.
5. The First Crusade (1095--1100).--Pilgrimage to the Holy Land had
now become one great means by which the men of the West sought
pardon for their sins. Jerusalem had long been held by the Arabs, who
had treated the pilgrims well; but these had been conquered by a fierce
Turcoman tribe, who robbed and oppressed the pilgrims. Peter the
Hermit, returning from a pilgrimage, persuaded Pope Urban II. that it
would be well to stir up Christendom to drive back the Moslem power,
and deliver Jerusalem and the holy places. Urban II. accordingly, when
holding a council at Clermont, in Auvergne, permitted Peter to describe
in glowing words the miseries of pilgrims and the profanation of the
holy places. Cries broke out, "God wills it!" and multitudes thronged to
receive crosses cut out in cloth, which were fastened to the shoulder,
and pledged the wearer to the holy war or crusade, as it was called.
Philip I. took no interest in the cause, but his brother Hugh, Count of
Vermandois, Stephen, Count of Blois, Robert, Duke of Normandy, and
Raymond, Count of Toulouse, joined the expedition, which was made
under Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lorraine, or what we now

call the Netherlands. The crusade proved successful; Jerusalem was
gained, and a kingdom of detached cities and forts was founded in
Palestine, of which Godfrey became the first king. The whole of the
West was supposed to keep up the defence of the Holy Land, but, in
fact, most of those who went as armed pilgrims were either French,
Normans, or Aquitanians; and the men of the East called all alike
Franks. Two orders of monks, who were also knights, became the
permanent defenders of the kingdom--the Knights of St. John, also
called Hospitallers, because they also lodged pilgrims and tended the
sick; and the Knights Templars. Both had establishments in different
countries in Europe, where youths were trained to the rules of their
order. The old custom of solemnly girding a young warrior with his
sword was developing into a system by which the nobly born man was
trained through the ranks of page and squire to full knighthood, and
made to take vows which bound him to honourable customs to equals,
though, unhappily, no account was taken of his inferiors.
6. Louis VI. and VII.--Philip's son, _Louis VI., or the Fat_, was the first
able man whom the line of Hugh Capet had produced since it mounted
the throne. He made the first attempt at curbing the nobles, assisted by
Suger, the Abbot of St. Denys. The only possibility of doing this was to
obtain the aid of one party of nobles against another; and when any
unusually flagrant offence had been committed, Louis called together
the nobles, bishops, and abbots of his domain, and obtained their
consent and assistance in making war on the guilty man, and
overthrowing his castle, thus, in some degree, lessening the sense of
utter impunity which had caused so many violences and such savage
recklessness. He also permitted a few of the cities to purchase the right
of self-government, and freedom from the ill usage of the counts, who,
from their guardians, had become their tyrants; but