on the field of battle. According to ancient historians this was the most bloody battle ever fought in Europe.®

In A. D. 455 Rome was again taken and pillaged fourteen days. The city was robbed of its riches and treasures. The table of shewbread and the golden candle-stick, which Titus after the destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70 had brought from the temple to Rome, were now carried to Carthage in Africa."

These and other wars caused the fall of the Roman empire, on whose ruins kingdom after kingdom arose, to the number of ten. From these ten the great kingdoms of western Europe have originated.

The Crusades.

In the Middle Ages protracted wars were carried on between the Christians and the Mohammedans in Asia. These wars were called the Crusades. In the seventh century the Arabs conquered Palestine and took Jerusalem. At first the Arabs or Turks who were Mohammedans treated the Christians very friendly, and allowed them to go up to Jerusalem to worship. But in the eleventh century the Pilgrims were ill-treated. This aroused very naturally the anger of the Catholics, and the pope himself was deeply moved thereby. They began immediately to organize an army for the purpose of driving the Mohammedans out of Palestine and from the Holy City.

In the year 1097 an army of about 600,000 men, exclusive of women and priests, marched against Jerusalem under the leadership of Godfrey of Bouillon. They suffered so fearfully from famine, pestilence, and the attacks of the Mohammedans that 560,000 men died before they reached Jerusalem. It was on It was on a bright summer morning (1099)

6 Library of Universal Knowledge, art. Attila.

'Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chap. xxxvi.

that 40,000 Crusaders, the miserable remnant of those who two years before had laid siege to Nice, obtained their first glimpse of Jerusalem. The emotion was intense, the scene sublime. After a siege of five weeks Jerusalem was delivered out of the hands of the infidels, and Godfrey of Bouillon was elected king of Jerusalem. Thus Palestine came under the reign of the Catholics, which lasted about fifty years.

After this the Mohammedans once more began to obtain supremacy in Palestine. This caused a new Crusade. The king of France and the emperor of Germany marched for the Holy Land with an army of 1,200,000 soldiers. This was early in 1147. The expedition however proved a total failure. This great host of warriors was destroyed by the Greeks and Turks, by hunger, pestilence, and storms. When they came to Palestine, only a few remained, and they returned home without having accomplished anything.

In 1187 Sultan Saladin invaded Palestine, took town after town, and finally compelled Jerusalem to capitulate after a siege of fourteen days. This led to a third Crusade. The chiefs of this were Frederick I, emperor of Germany, Philippe August, king of France, and Richard the Lionhearted, king of England. The first mentioned accidentally lost his life in Asia Minor. The other two monarchs joined their forces before Acre, besieging this important city. After a siege of twenty-three months the place surrendered. Philip soon after returned to France, but Richard remained and concluded a treaty with Saladin, by which the people of the West were allowed to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem.

Crusade after Crusade was started against the Turks, but nothing definite or lasting was effected. There were in all seven Crusades. The sixth was started in 1249 by Louis IX of France. He was utterly defeated and taken prisoner by the sultan of Egypt. His liberty was secured

by the payment of a large ransom. Afterwards he started the seventh and last Crusade. He died at Tunis in 1270 on his way to Palestine. Prince Edward of England continued the expedition, but soon returned to England, having accomplished nothing.

It is impossible to describe the terrible wickedness that existed in connection with these Crusades. Thousands of men, women, and children followed the armies. All kinds of criminals also followed. Most of them received letters of indulgence, because they went to war against the enemies of the church.

Thousands died of

These armies all suffered terribly. sickness, pestilence, and other plagues, besides the immense multitude that was slain in war. Voltaire says that about ten million men perished in these Crusades. certainly been the cause of much sorrow and misery.

Wars During the Last Thousand Years.

They have

In most of the countries in Europe there have been many wars during the last thousand years. We can only speak briefly of a few of the principal ones in the most prominent kingdoms.

England. During the eleventh century several wars occurred in England. William the Conqueror invaded England, and obtained the crown by the famous battle of Hastings, Oct. 14, 1066. The same year he was crowned king of England and reigned till his death, 1087.

England conquered Ireland 1170. A number of wars and great battles occurred in the twelfth century. There were also wars in England a good share of the time in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Fifteen great battles are noted in the history during this time. In 1513 England gained the victory in two great battles during the wars with France and Scotland. In the seventeenth and

8 Universal Knowledge, art. Crusades; Religious Cyclopedia, art. Crusades.

eighteenth centuries England had several civil wars besides wars with other countries. Several great battles occurred in which many thousand people perished.

France. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries France. had several civil wars besides wars with England and other powers.

Only by reading the history of this kingdom can a person obtain some idea of the terrible wars and great battles in which thousands upon thousands were killed or destroyed.

The well-known French Revolution began 1789 and continued to 1799. Sept. 25, 1793, the king was condemned to die, and the execution took place the following day. This opened the way for the Reign of Terror, which was distinguished by horrible outrages and streams of blood. Besides many thousand people who were killed in civil wars during the time of the Revolution, more than 18,000 were beheaded by means of the guillotine. Robespierre, the leader of the Reign of Terror, fell July 28, 1794. His death ended this fearful reign."

Germany and other European Kingdoms. — The famous war, called the Thirty Years' War, began 1618 and continued till 1648. This war was from the beginning a religious rather than a political war. It turned upon the liberty and civil condition of the Protestants. Austria, Spain, and the Catholic princes of Germany fought on one side, and almost all the Protestants on the other. The Catholics prevailed until Gustavus Adolphus, in the year 1630, came to the assistance of the Protestants with a Swedish army. This king fell at Lützen, Nov. 6, 1632, but after his death the Swedes continued the war with good success until the Protestants obtained religious liberty and equal privileges with the Catholics. The treaty of peace of Westphalia put an end to this terrible struggle, Oct. 24, 1648.

9 Universal Knowledge, art. Reign of Terror and Robespierre; Anderson's "Manual of the History of England and France."