***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BEACON LIGHTS OF HISTORY, VOLUME V***

      E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Charlie Kirschner,
 and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
 
     
 
 Editorial note:
 
 Project Gutenberg has an earlier version of this work, which is titled Beacon Lights of History, Volume III, part 1: The Middle Ages.  See E-Book#1498, http://www.gutenberg.net/etext98/31blh10.txt or http://www.gutenberg.net/etext98/31blh10.zip.   The numbering of volumes in the earlier set reflected the order in which the lectures were given.  In the current (later) version, volumes were numbered to put the subjects in historical sequence.

 LORD'S LECTURES.
     
 

 BEACON LIGHTS OF HISTORY.

 BY JOHN LORD, LL.D.

 AUTHOR OF "THE OLD ROMAN WORLD," "MODERN EUROPE," ETC., ETC.
     
 

 VOLUME V.

 THE MIDDLE AGES.

 CONTENTS.

     MOHAMMED.
     SARACENIC CONQUESTS.
     Change of public opinion about Mohammed
 Astonishing triumph of Mohammedanism
 Old religious systems of Arabia
 Polytheism succeeds the doctrines of the Magians
 The necessity of reform
 Early life of Mohammed
 Cadijeh
 Mohammed's meditations and dreams
 His belief in a personal God
 He preaches his new doctrines
 The opposition and ridicule of his countrymen
 The perseverance of Mohammed amid obstacles
 His flight to Medina
 The Koran and its doctrines
 Change in Mohammed's mode of propagating his doctrines
 Polygamy and a sensual paradise
 Warlike means to convert Arabia
 Mohammed accommodates his doctrines to the habits of his countrymen
 Encourages martial fanaticism
 Conquest of Arabia
 Private life of Mohammed, after his success
 Carlyle's apology for Mohammed
 The conquest of Syria and Egypt
 Conquest of Persia and India
 Deductions in view of Saracenic conquests
 Necessity of supernatural aid in the conversion of the world
 Authorities
 

     CHARLEMAGNE.
     REVIVAL OF WESTERN EMPIRE.
     Ancestry and early life of Charlemagne
 The Merovingian princes
 Condition of Europe on the accession of Charlemagne
 Necessity for such a hero to arise
 His perils and struggles
 Wars with the Saxons
 The difficulties of the Saxon conquest
 Forced conversion of the Saxons
 The Norman pirates
 Conquest of the Avares
 Unsuccessful war with the Saracens
 The Lombard wars
 Coronation of Charlemagne at Home
 Imperialism and its influences
 The dismemberment of Charlemagne's empire
 Foundation of Feudalism
 Charlemagne as a legislator
 His alliance with the clergy
 His administrative abilities
 Reasons why he patronized the clergy
 Results of Charlemagne's policy
 Hallam's splendid eulogy
 Authorities
 

     HILDEBRAND.
     THE PAPAL EMPIRE.
     Wonderful government of the Papacy
 Its vitality
 Its contradictions
 Its fascinations
 The crimes of which it is accused
 General character of the popes
 Gregory VII. the most famous
 His personal history
 His autocratic ideas
 His reign at the right time
 Society in Europe in the eleventh century
 Character of the clergy
 The monks, and the need of reform
 Character of the popes before Gregory VII.
 Celibacy of the clergy
 Alliance of the Papacy and Monasticism
 Opposition to the reforms of Hildebrand
 Terrible power of excommunication
 Simony and its evils
 Secularization of the clergy
 Separation of spiritual from temporal power
 Henry IV. of Germany
 Approaching strife between Henry and Hildebrand
 Their respective weapons
 Henry summoned to Rome
 Excommunication of Henry
 Henry deserted and disarmed
 Compelled to yield to Hildebrand
 His great mistake
 Renewed contest
 Humiliation of the Pope
 Moral effects of the contest
 Speculations about the Papal power
 Authorities
 

     SAINT BERNARD.
     MONASTIC INSTITUTIONS.
     Antiquity of Monastic life
 Causes which led to it
 Oriental asceticism
 Religious contemplation
 Insoluble questions
 Self-expiations
 Basil the founder of Monasticism
 His interesting history
 Gregory Nazianzen
 Vows of the monks
 Their antagonism to prevailing evils
 Vow of Poverty opposed to money-making
 That of Chastity a protest against prevailing impurity
 Origin of celibacy
 Its subsequent corruption
 Necessity of the vow of Obedience
 Benedict and the Monastery of Monte Casino
 His rules generally adopted
 Lofty and useful life of the early monks
 Growth and wealth of Monastic institutions
 Magnificence of Mediaeval convents
 Privileges of the monks
 Luxury of the Benedictines
 Relaxation of discipline
 Degeneracy of the monks
 Compared with secular clergy
 Benefits which Monasticism conferred
 Learning of the monks
 Their common life
 Revival of Learning
 Rise of Scholasticism
 Saint Bernard
 His early piety and great attainments
 His vast moral influence
 His reforms and labors
 Rise of Dominicans and Franciscans
 Zeal of the mendicant friars
 General benefits of Monastic institutions
 Authorities
 

     SAINT ANSELM.
     MEDIAEVAL THEOLOGY.
     Birth and early life of Anselm
 The Abbey of Bec
 Scholarly life of Anselm
 Visits of Anselm to England
 Compared with Becket
 Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury
 Privileges of the Archbishop
 Unwillingness of Anselm to be elevated
 Lanfranc succeeded by Anselm
 Quarrel between Anselm and William Rufus
 Despotic character of William
 Disputed claims of Popes Urban and Clement
 Council of Rockingham
 Royal efforts to depose Anselm
 Firmness and heroism of Anselm
 Duplicity of the king
 His intrigues with the Pope
 Pretended reconciliation with Anselm
 Appeals to Rome
 Inordinate claims of the Pope
 Allegiance of Anselm to the Pope
 Anselm at Rome
 Death of William and Accession of Henry I.
 Royal encroachments
 Henry quarrels with Anselm
 Results of the quarrel
 Anselm as a theologian
 Theology of the Middle Ages
 Monks become philosophers
 Gotschalk and predestination
 John Scotus Erigena
 Revived spirit of inquiry
 Services of Anselm to theology
 He brings philosophy to support theology
 Combats Nominalism
 His philosophical deductions
 His devout Christian spirit
 Authorities
 

     THOMAS AQUINAS.
     THE SCHOLASTIC PHILOSOPHY.
     Peter Abélard
 Gives a new impulse to philosophy
 Rationalistic tendency of his teachings
 The hatreds he created
 Peter Lombard
 His "Book of Sentences"
 Introduction of the writings of Aristotle into Europe
 University of Paris
 Character of the students
 Their various studies
 Aristotle's logic used
 The method of the Schoolmen
 The Dominicans and Franciscans
 Innocent III.
 Thomas Aquinas
 His early life and studies
 Albertus Magnus
 Aquinas's first great work
 Made Doctor of Theology
 His "Summa Theologica"
 Its vast learning
 Parallel between Aquinas and Plato
 Parallel between Plato and Aristotle
 Influence of Scholasticism
 Waste of intellectual life
 Scholasticism attractive to the Middle Ages
 To be admired like a cathedral
 Authorities
 

     THOMAS BECKET.
     PRELATICAL POWER.
     Becket a puzzle to historians
 His early history
 His gradual elevation
 Friendship with Henry II.
 Becket made Chancellor
 Elevated to the See of Canterbury
 Dignity of an archbishop of Canterbury
 Lanfranc
 Anselm
 Theobald
 Becket in contrast
 His ascetic habits as priest
 His high-church principles
 Upholds the spiritual courts
 Defends the privileges of his order
 Conflict with the king
 Constitutions of Clarendon
 Persecution of Becket
 He yields at first to the king
 His repentance
 Defection of the bishops
 Becket escapes to the Continent
 Supported by Louis VII. of France
 Insincerity of the Pope
 Becket at Pontigny in exile
 His indignant rebuke of the Pope
 Who excommunicates the Archbishop of York
 Henry obliged to compromise
 Hollow reconciliation with Becket
 Return of Becket to Canterbury
 His triumphal procession
 Annoyance of Henry
 Assassination of Becket
 Consequences of the murder
 Authorities
 

     THE FEUDAL SYSTEM.
     Anarchies of the Merovingian period
 Society on the dissolution of Charlemagne's empire
 Allodial tenure
 Origin of Feudalism
 Dependence and protection the principles of Feudalism
 Peasants and their masters
 The sentiment of loyalty
 Contentment of the peasantry
 Evils that cannot be redressed
 Submission to them a necessity
 Division of Charlemagne's empire
 Life of the nobles
 Pleasures and habits of feudal barons
 Aristocratic character of Feudalism
 Slavery of the people
 Indirect blessings of Feudalism
 Slavery not an unmixed evil
 Influence of chivalry
 Devotion to woman
 The lady of the baronial castle
 Reasons why women were worshipped
 Dignity of the baronial home
 The Christian woman contrasted with the pagan
 Glory and beauty of Chivalry
 Authorities
 

     THE CRUSADES.
     The Crusades the great external event of the Middle Ages
 A semi-religious and semi-military movement
 What gives interest to wars?
 Wars the exponents of prevailing ideas
 The overruling of all wars
 The majesty of Providence seen in war
 Origin of the Crusades
 Pilgrimages to Jerusalem
 Miseries and insults of the pilgrims
 Intense hatred of Mohammedanism
 Peter of Amiens
 Council of Clermont
 The First Crusade
 Its miseries and mistakes
 The Second Crusade
 The Third Crusade
 The Fourth, Children's, Fifth, and Sixth Crusades
 The Seventh Crusade
 All alike unsuccessful, and wasteful of life and energies
 Peculiarities and immense mistakes of the Crusaders
 The moral evils of the Crusades
 Ultimate results of the Crusades
 Barrier made against Mohammedan conquests
 Political necessity of the Crusades
 Their effect in weakening the Feudal system
 Effect of the Crusades on the growth of cities
 On commerce and art and literature
 They scatter the germs of a new civilization
 They centralize power
 They ultimately elevate the European races
 Authorities
 

     WILLIAM OF WYKEHAM.
     GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE.
     Roman architecture First form of a Christian church
 The change to the Romanesque
 Its peculiarities
 Its connection with Monasticism
 Gloomy aspect of the churches of the tenth and eleventh centuries
 Effect of the Crusades on church architecture
 Church architecture becomes cheerful
 The Gothic churches of France and Germany
 The English Mediaeval churches
 Glories of the pointed arch
 Effect of the Renaissance on architecture
 Mongrel style of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
 Revival of the pure gothic
 Churches should be adapted to their uses
 Incongruity of Protestantism with ritualistic architecture
 Protestantism demands a church for preaching
 Gothic vaults unfavorable to oratory
 Authorities
 

     JOHN WYCLIF.
     DAWN OF THE REFORMATION.
     Harmony of Protestant and Mediaeval creeds
 The Reformation a moral movement
 The evils of Papal institutions
 The evils of monastic life
 Quarrels and dissoluteness of monks
 Birth of Wyclif
 His scholastic attainments and honors
 His political influence
 The powers who have ruled the world
 Wyclif sent on a mission to Bruges
 Protection of John of Gaunt
 Wyclif summoned to an ecclesiastical council
 His defenders and foes
 Triumph of Wyclif
 He openly denounces the Pope
 His translation of the Bible
 Opposition to it by the higher clergy
 Hostility of Roman Catholicism to the right of private judgment
 Hostility to the Bible in vernacular tongues
 Spread of the Bible in English
 Wyclif as a doctrinal reformer
 He attacks Transubstantiation
 Deserted by the Duke of Lancaster
 But dies peaceably in his parish
 Wyclif contrasted with Luther
 His great services to the church
 Reasons why he escaped martyrdom
 Authorities