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Introductory Notes}
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Title:       History Of Europe During The Middle Ages
Book:        Special Introduction
Author:      Hallam, Henry

Introductory Notes

The World's Great Classics: History Of Europe During The Middle Ages

     It is now more than three-quarters of a century since the first edition
of Hallam's "Middle Ages" appeared.  The author's volume of supplemental notes
was published thirty years later; but this is already more than fifty years
ago.  During these two generations vast advances have been made in the study
of almost every aspect of the mediaeval period.  Whole sciences, concerning
themselves largely with it - as, for example, the science of Romance Philology
- have been born.  New methods of studying history and institutions have been
elaborated.  Immense numbers of documents, literary and historical, that were
practically buried in uncatalogued archives and libraries, have been brought
to the light of day, and made accessible to all scholars.  Multitudes of
obscurities that made the middle ages literally a period of darkness have been
cleared up, and the modern student may ascertain almost as much about the
political, social, and literary conditions of the time, as about those of any
portion of human history, except the most recent.  Perhaps most important of
all, the general attitude of men's minds towards the subject of mediaeval
studies has profoundly changed.  The passion for romantic glamor that found
its clearest expression in the poetry of the German Tieck and his followers,
but that to some extent affected all men's minds, has given way to the
curiosity of science and the intellectual passion for exact knowledge.  Much
has been gained; something, too, has been lost. But it is now impossible for
anyone to approach the matter in quite the same spirit as did the men of the
first years of the century.

     In view of all this, it is a natural question why it should be worth
while to issue again a book which from the nature of the case can give no
account of the results obtained by so long a period of systematic study. In
the case of most books there could be but one answer to this question - it
would not be worth while to republish them.  But with regard to the present
work this is very far, indeed, from being true.  And the explanation in a word
is that the book is a classic, and that as such it has qualities that make it
hardly less valuable than when it first appeared.

     No one has yet hit upon a receipt for the composition of a classic, or
has been able to give a really adequate explanation of the phenomenon when a
classic has actually been composed.  It would be useless then to try to show
all the causes that have combined to give to Hallam's work this notable
quality.  It is, however, possible to indicate some of the reasons why it is
still worth while for the general reader and, indeed, for the technical
student to use the book.  Undoubtedly, the most fundamental reason of all is
that Hallam, despite the relative insufficiency of the material at his
disposal, was yet able to discern the permanent sources of interest in that
material, and to set these forth with enough illustration to impress them upon
the mind as truly essential. His cool and sober intelligence was not misled by
the romantic hue and cry about him; the very lack of imagination that has
sometimes been made a reproach to him kept him from following poetic
will-o'-the-wisps; and he was too sane to suppose himself to be the prophet of
a new gospel, whether in literature, society, or religion.  He wished his book
"to exhibit a comprehensive survey of the chief circumstances that can
interest a philosophical inquirer during the period usually denominated the
middle ages." The phrase is significant, particularly in view of the time when
it was written.  And the best of it is that the verdict of seventy-five years
must be that he succeeded in doing what he undertook to do.

     To make this clear must be the purpose of this brief introduction. And
first of all, we may remark that one fundamental truth, only now fairly
established for the world at large, seems to have been perfectly clear to
Hallam from the start.  This truth is that in the middle ages we should not
see a kind of gap in nature, a period of barbarism and intellectual decay,
thrust in between the civilization of the ancients and that of the moderns.
This was the view of the men of the Renaissance, and has been that of all the
children of the Renaissance down to our own day. But an idea more full of
untruth was surely never promulgated.  The real fact is that in the middle
ages we are to see the beginnings of ourselves. We are the perfectly
legitimate descendants of mediaeval men, and we have no ideas, no
institutions, no manners that are not shot through and through with thread of
mediaeval spinning.  To study the middle ages then is not to spend our time
upon what is remote, and for that reason an object of purely intellectual
curiosity, like the culture of the ancient Egyptians or of the Assyrians.
Rather it is to ascertain the sources and history of innumerable practices and
habits of mind that are still very much alive and concern us in our daily
walks of life.  This all-important fact Hallam seems clearly to have
discerned; and that he did so is one of the chief causes of the permanent
value of his book.

     Looking at the subject from this point of view, it is obvious that what
the student of the middle ages needs first to know about is the larger
political movements of the time.  And here one all-important phenomenon must
attract the attention of an inquirer who desires to be "philosophical." The
key-note to mediaeval history is the fact that only after the decline and fall
of the Roman Empire did one - and perhaps we may say, two - of the great
European races find an opportunity to participate in the work of civilization.
During the classical time the Greeks and Romans held what may be called a
monopoly of culture.  Yet in point of numbers, and in some other important
respects, they were entirely over-matched by the two great races that lay to
the north of them - the Celts and the Germans.  These "barbarians," to use the
Greek and Roman term, had also in due time their contribution to make to the
progress of mankind, if only they could find the chance.  And in the middle
ages we have the truly magnificent spectacle of their success.  The Germans,
to be sure, far outweigh the Celts in the importance of their accomplishment.
Modern Europe, as we know it, is, in the main, the ancient world Germanized.
But, here and there, we can see traces of the Celt; and he would be a careless
observer who failed to give heed to these.  Still, in the main, what the
student needs to have firmly fixed in his mind is that the evolution of
mediaeval society, in all its various aspects, can best be comprehended as the
fusion of ancient with Germanic culture.  And the countries in which this
process can be most fully observed are the most important for the student to
know about.  Undoubtedly these are France and England - France even more than
England, but both to a striking degree. It is in these countries that the most
significant and far-reaching political, social, and intellectual achievements
of the middle ages were accomplished.  These are the countries, too, which
throughout modern history have occupied a position of scarcely interrupted
ascendancy in determining the course of modern culture.  Italy, Spain, Germany
proper, have all had their moments of political or intellectual authority; but
in the long run it is France and England that assert the permanent right of
larger control over the culture of modern men.

     To France and England, then, Hallam very rightly gave much the largest
amount of attention in his survey of the middle ages.  He desired his readers
to follow in the first of these countries the development of those notions of
social organization which, in dealing with the mediaeval period, we commonly
call feudal, but which are essentially the basis of modern social relations as
a whole, despite the effort of our own century to rehabilitate the ancient
conception of human equality.  In the other country, England, he drew the
picture of the beginnings and earlier evolution of that new conception of the
function of government, and of the rights and obligations of the subject with
regard to his government, which has resulted in the English constitution of
to-day, and in the method of English government wherever the English race
exists.  As a setting for these larger movements, he gave, indeed, what was
essential concerning the growth and decay of dynasties, the territorial
changes, the internal and external wars, the complicated political relations,
that attended the course of both these great nations.  But the attentive
reader will easily see that to Hallam these are but the circumstance, not the
ultimate reality, of the history of the two peoples.

     The history of France and England, however, cannot be properly understood
without some reference to the other countries of Europe. Moreover, these
countries, quite apart from their relations to France and England, have much
in their history that is significant and enlightening. So we find in Hallam's
book the main lines of their development. Naturally, detail is here much less
abundant, and the complexities of events are more rapidly and summarily
treated.  Italy, as she ought, gets the largest space, both because her
influence on mediaeval and modern culture has been greatest, and because such
phenomena as the growth of her free cities, living by commerce, have immediate
interest for the modern reader.  But Germany, Spain, and even Greece are not
neglected; and the one non-European power than has materially affected the
modern world, that of the Saracens, is sufficiently sketched to serve the
purpose of those who would know the really important forces that have
determined the course of European history.

     Finally, no account of the middle ages or of the origins of the modern
world would be complete without a survey of the activities of the one great
non-national, and for that reason most steadily unifying and civilizing,
institution of the period, the Church.  Here we have to seek the explanation,
not merely of the religious development of Europe, but also of many of the
most important political, social, and intellectual tendencies of modern men.
It would be hard to find a fundamental and essential element in our culture
that has not been intimately affected at some time in its evolution by the
powerful influence of the sentiment, the doctrine, or the ecclesiastical
polity of the most venerable form of organized Christianity.  Hallam, then was
in duty bound to describe the significant features of this great institution,
as he found it in the middle ages, its period of most complete ascendancy over
the human mind. He did this, on the whole, calmly, and without partisan zeal
or prejudice. He writes, of course, as a Protestant, having slight sympathy
for Ultramontane tendencies, and not inclined to spare what he regards as
ecclesiastical abuses.  But perhaps it is not on these grounds that a sincere
Catholic would have most reason to complain.  His most serious deficiencies
arise not from his lack of sympathy for the church, but from his indifference
to theology and, indeed, to philosophy (in the technical sense) in all their
forms.  Obviously, a writer to whom the efforts of the human spirit to give an
account of itself, and of its relations to the universe and God, appear
comparatively meaningless, must always seem to those who care for the deeper
significance of Christian history to have missed the real point.  Against this
criticism Hallam can hardly be defended.  On the other hand, it can truly be
said that he recognized the intimate connection between the polity of the
church and the political and social institutions of all the countries he was
describing.

     The larger constituent elements of mediaeval history and culture thus
have all a place in Hallam's pages.  Yet even here the merits of his book do
not end.  The competent scholar is struck, as he reads it, with the clearness
of the author's perception of the importance of matters that do not belong to
what may be called the picturesque side of history - that is, of history as it
is too generally conceived.  Thus he had always a keen eye for economic
conditions; and in this respect was almost two generations in advance of most
of his contemporaries.  In our own time, we have seen a vast development of
the study of the economic history of Europe; most of our universities now have
professors who devote themselves to nothing else, and of books on the subject
there is no end.  But this was not so at all when Hallam wrote.  Few men then
would have felt this to be an essential matter in the historical treatment of
a period.  Hallam did, and it is greatly to his credit.  So, too, he saw that
social life and manners are more than the mere background of history.  In a
sense, they are history itself; and political events do but illustrate them.
The chapters in Hallam's book dealing with these matters might now be greatly
enlarged in the light of documents, particularly literary, that are available
to us, yet Hallam said little on the subject that was not judicious or that
needs complete restatement.

     It may, then, fairly be said that the attentive reader can still obtain
from this work a general view of those essential features of the middle ages
that must be borne in mind by all who desire really to know the period.
Details without number are available, to be later fitted into the scheme thus
obtained.  But all of us have reason to be grateful to the man who, in any
field of studies, can show us the lines of permanent and profitable interest.
Such men are all too few, and their work does not easily become outworn.

     Arthur Richmond Marsh.

Biographical Sketch Of Hallam

     Henry Hallam was born at Windsor, on July 9, 1777.  He was the only son
of Dr. John Hallam, Canon of Windsor from 1775 to 1812, and Dean of Bristol
from 1781 to 1800, a man of high character, and well read in literature.  The
Hallams had long been settled at Boston, in Lincolnshire, and one member of
the family was Robert Hallam, Bishop of Salisbury. Hallam's mother, a sister
of Dr. Roberts, Provost of Eton, was a woman of much intelligence and delicacy
of feeling.

     Hallam was a precocious child.  He is said to have read many books when
four years old, and is credited with having composed sonnets at ten. He was at
Eton from 1790 to 1794, and some of his verses were published in the "Musae
Etonenses" in 1795.  Afterward he was at Christ Church, Oxford, and was
graduated B.A. in 1799.  He was called to the bar, and practised law for some
years on the Oxford circuit.  His father died in 1812, leaving him estates in
Lincolnshire.  He was early appointed to a commissionership of stamps, a post
with a good salary and light duties. In 1807 he married Julia, daughter of Sir
Abraham Elton, of Clevedon Court, Somerset.

     His independent means enabled him to withdraw from legal practice and
devote himself to the study of history.  After ten years of assiduous labor he
produced, in 1818, his first great work, "A View of the State of Europe During
the Middle Ages," which immediately established his reputation.  A
supplementary volume of "Notes" was published in 1848. "The Constitutional
History of England from the Accession of Henry VII. to the Death of George
II.," followed in 1827.  Before the completion of his next work he was deeply
affected by the death of his eldest son, Arthur Henry Hallam, in 1833.  His
other son, Henry Fitzmaurice Hallam, died in 1850.  "I have," he wrote,
"warnings to gather my sheaves while I can."

     He fulfilled his purpose by finishing "The Introduction to the Literature
of Europe in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries," published
during 1837 and 1838.

     During the preparation of these works he lived a studious life,
interrupted only by occasional travels.  He was familiar with the best
literary society of the time, well known to the Whig magnates, and a frequent
visitor to Holland House and Bowood.  His name is often mentioned in memoirs
and diaries of the time, and always respectfully, although he never rivalled
the conversational supremacy of his contemporaries, Sydney Smith and Macaulay.
He took no part in active political life.  As a commissioner of stamps he was
excluded from Parliament, and after his resignation did not attempt to procure
a seat.  After the death of his son Henry, he gave up the pension of L500
(granted, according to custom, upon his resignation), despite remonstrances
upon the unusual nature of the step.

     Hallam's later years were clouded by the loss of his sons.  His domestic
affections were unusually warm, and he was a man of singular generosity in
money matters.  Considering his high position in literature and his wide
acquaintance with distinguished persons, the records of his life are
comparatively few.  He was warmly loved by all who knew him, but his dignified
reticence and absorption in exacting researches prevented him from coming
often under public notice.  He died peacefully, after many years of
retirement, on January 21, 1859.

     Hallam had eleven children, seven of whom died in infancy.  The early
demise of his two promising sons, Arthur and Henry, has been referred to
above.  His daughter, Ellen, died in 1837, and Julia married Captain Cator,
afterward Sir John Farnaby Lennard.  Hallam had one sister, who died
unmarried, and bequeathed her fortune to him.

Hallam's Preface To The First Edition

     It is the object of the present work to exhibit, in a series of
historical dissertations, a comprehensive survey of the chief circumstances
that can interest a philosophical inquirer during the period usually
denominated the Middle Ages.  Such an undertaking must necessarily fall under
the class of historical abridgments: yet there will perhaps be found enough to
distinguish it from such as have already appeared.  Many considerable portions
of time, especially before the twelfth century, may justly be deemed so barren
of events worthy of remembrance, that a single sentence or paragraph is often
sufficient to give the character of entire generations and of long dynasties
of obscure kings.

     "Non ragioniam di lor, ma guarda e passa."

And even in the more pleasing and instructive parts of this middle period it
has been my object to avoid the dry composition of annals, and aiming, with
what spirit and freedom I could, at a just outline rather than a miniature, to
suppress all events that did not appear essentially concatenated with others,
or illustrative of important conclusions.  But as the modes of government and
constitutional laws which prevailed in various countries of Europe, and
especially in England, seemed to have been less fully dwelt upon in former
works of this description than military or civil transactions, while they were
deserving of far more attention, I have taken pains to give a true
representation of them, and in every instance to point out the sources from
which the reader may derive more complete and original information.

     Nothing can be farther from my wishes than that the following pages
should be judged according to the critical laws of historical composition.
Tried in such a balance they would be eminently defective.  The limited extent
of this work, compared with the subjects it embraces, as well as its partaking
more of the character of political dissertation than of narrative, must
necessarily preclude that circumstantial delineation of events and of
characters upon which the beauty as well as usefulness of a regular history so
mainly depends.  Nor can I venture to assert that it will be found altogether
perspicuous to those who are destitute of any previous acquaintance with the
period to which it relates; though I have only presupposed, strictly speaking,
a knowledge of the common facts of English history, and have endeavored to
avoid, in treating of other countries, those allusive references which imply
more information in the reader than the author designs to communicate.  But
the arrangement which I have adopted has sometimes rendered it necessary to
anticipate both names and facts which are to find a more definite place in a
subsequent part of the work.

     This arrangement is probably different from that of any former historical
retrospect.  Every chapter of the following volumes completes its particular
subject, and may be considered in some degree as independent of the rest.  The
order consequently in which they are read will not be very material, though of
course I should rather prefer that in which they are at present disposed.  A
solicitude to avoid continual transitions, and to give free scope to the
natural association of connected facts, has dictated this arrangement, to
which I confess myself partial.  And I have found its inconveniences so
trifling in composition, that I cannot believe they will occasion much trouble
to the reader.

     The first chapter comprises the history of France from the invasion of
Clovis to the expedition, exclusively, of Charles VIII. against Naples. It is
not possible to fix accurate limits to the Middle Ages; but though the ten
centuries from the fifth to the fifteenth seem, in a general point of view, to
constitute that period, a less arbitrary division was necessary to render the
commencement and conclusion of an historical narrative satisfactory.  The
continuous chain of transactions on the stage of human society is ill divided
by mere lines of chronological demarcation.  But as the subversion of the
western empire is manifestly the natural termination of ancient history, so
the establishment of the Franks in Gaul appears the most convenient epoch for
the commencement of a new period.  Less difficulty occurred in finding the
other limit.  The invasion of Naples by Charles VIII. was the event that first
engaged the principal states of Europe in relations of alliance or hostility
which may be deduced to the present day, and is the point at which every man
who traces backwards its political history will be obliged to pause.  It
furnishes a determinate epoch in the annals of Italy and France, and nearly
coincides with events which naturally terminate the history of the Middle Ages
in other countries.

     The feudal system is treated in the second chapter, which I have
subjoined to the history of France, with which it has a near connection.
Inquiries into the antiquities of that jurisprudence occupied more attention
in the last age than the present, and their dryness may prove repulsive to
many readers.  But there is no royal road to the knowledge of law; nor can any
man render an obscure and intricate disquisition either perspicuous or
entertaining.  That the feudal system is an important branch of historical
knowledge will not be disputed, when we consider not only its influence upon
our own constitution, but that one of the parties which at present divide a
neighboring kingdom professes to appeal to the original principles of its
monarchy, as they subsisted before the subversion of that polity.

     The four succeeding chapters contain a sketch, more or less rapid and
general, of the histories of Italy, of Spain, of Germany, and of the Greek and
Saracenic empires.  In the seventh I have endeavored to develop the progress
of ecclesiastical power, a subject eminently distinguishing the Middle Ages,
and of which a concise and impartial delineation has long been desirable.

     The English constitution furnishes materials for the eighth chapter. I
cannot hope to have done sufficient justice to this theme, which has cost me
considerable labor; but it is worthy of remark, that since the treatise of
Nathaniel Bacon, itself open to much exception, there has been no historical
development of our constitution, founded upon extensive researches, or
calculated to give a just notion of its character.  For those parts of Henry's
history which profess to trace the progress of government are still more
jejune than the rest of his volumes; and the work of Professor Millar, of
Glasgow, however pleasing from its liberal spirit, displays a fault too common
among the philosophers of his country, that of theorizing upon an imperfect
induction, and very often upon a total misapprehension of particular facts.

     The ninth and last chapter relates to the general state of society in
Europe during the Middle Ages, and comprehends the history of commerce, of
manners, and of literature.  None, however, of these are treated in detail,
and the whole chapter is chiefly designed as supplemental to the rest, in
order to vary the relations under which events may be viewed, and to give a
more adequate sense of the spirit and character of the Middle Ages.

     In the execution of a plan far more comprehensive than what with a due
consideration either of my abilities or opportunities I ought to have
undertaken, it would be strangely presumptuous to hope that I can have
rendered myself invulnerable to criticism.  Even if flagrant errors should not
be frequently detected, yet I am aware that a desire of conciseness has
prevented the sense of some passages from appearing sufficiently distinct; and
though I cannot hold myself generally responsible for omissions, in a work
which could only be brought within a reasonable compass by the severe
retrenchment of superfluous matter, it is highly probable that defective
information, forgetfulness, or too great a regard for brevity, have caused me
to pass over many things which would have materially illustrated the various
subjects of these inquiries.

     I dare not, therefore, appeal with confidence to the tribunal of those
superior judges who, having bestowed a more undivided attention on the
particular objects that have interested them, many justly deem such general
sketches imperfect and superficial; but my labors will not have proved
fruitless if they shall conduce to stimulate the reflection, to guide the
researches, to correct the prejudices, or to animate the liberal and virtuous
sentiments of inquisitive youth:

     "Mi satis ampla
     Merces, et mihi grande decus, sim ignotus in aevum
     Tum licet, externo penitusque inglorius orbi."

     April, 1818.

Hallam's Preface To The Supplemental Notes

     Thirty years have elapsed since the publication of the work to which the
following notes relate, and almost forty since the first chapter and part of
the second were written.  The occupations of that time rendered it impossible
for me to bestow such undivided attention as so laborious and difficult an
undertaking demanded; and at the outset I had very little intention of
prosecuting my researches, even to that degree of exactness which a growing
interest in the ascertainment of precise truth, and a sense of its difficulty,
led me afterwards in some parts to seek, though nowhere equal to what with a
fuller command of time I should have desired to attain.  A measure of public
approbation accorded to me far beyond my hopes has not blinded my discernment
to the deficiencies of my own performance; and as successive editions have
been called for, I have continually felt that there was more to correct or to
elucidate than the insertion of a few foot-notes would supply, while I was
always reluctant to make such alterations as would leave to the purchasers of
former editions a right to complain.  From an author whose science is
continually progressive, such as chemistry or geology, this is unavoidably
expected; but I thought the case not quite the same with a mediaeval
historian.

     In the mean time, however, the long period of the Middle Ages had been
investigated by many of my distinguished contemporaries with signal success,
and I have been anxious to bring my own volumes nearer to the boundaries of
the historic domain, as it has been enlarged within our own age.  My object
has been, accordingly, to reconsider those portions of the work which relate
to subjects discussed by eminent writers since its publication, to illustrate
and enlarge some passages which had been imperfectly or obscurely treated, and
to acknowledge with freedom my own errors.  It appeared most convenient to
adopt a form of publication by which the possessors of any edition may have
the advantage of these Supplemental Notes, which will not much affect the
value of their copy.

     The first two Chapters, on the History of France and on the Feudal
System, have been found to require a good deal of improvement.  As a history,
indeed, of the briefest kind, the first pages are insufficient for those who
have little previous knowledge; and this I have, of course, not been able well
to cure.  The second Chapter embraces subjects which have peculiarly drawn the
attention of Continental writers for the last thirty years.  The whole history
of France, civil, constitutional, and social, has been more philosophically
examined, and yet with a more copious erudition, by which philosophy must
always be guided, than in any former age.  Two writers of high name have given
the world a regular history of that country - one for modern as well as
mediaeval times, the other for these alone.  The great historian of the
Italian republics, my guide and companion in that portion of the "History of
the Middle Ages," published in 1821 the first volumes of his "History of the
French"; it is well known that this labor of twenty years was very nearly
terminated when he was removed from the world.  The two histories of Sismondi
will, in all likelihood, never be superseded; if in the latter we sometimes
miss, and yet we do not always miss, the glowing and vivid pencil, guided by
the ardor of youth and the distinct remembrance of scenery, we find no
inferiority in justness of thought, in copiousness of narration, and
especially in love of virtue and indignation at wrong.  It seems, indeed, as
if the progress of years had heightened the stern sentiments of republicanism
with which he set out, and to which the whole course of his later work must
have afforded no gratification, except that of scorn and severity.  Measuring
not only their actions but characters by a rigid standard, he sometimes
demands from the men of past times more than human frailty and ignorance could
have given; and his history would leave but a painful impression from the
gloominess of the picture, were not this constantly relieved by the peculiar
softness and easy grace of his style. It cannot be said that Sismondi is very
diligent in probing obscurities, or in weighing evidence; his general views,
with which most of his chapters begin, are luminous and valuable to the
ordinary reader, but sometimes sketched too loosely for the critical
investigator of history.

     Less full than Sismondi in the general details, but seizing particular
events or epochs with greater minuteness and accuracy - not emulating his full
and flowing periods, but in a style concise, rapid, and emphatic, sparkling
with new and brilliant analogies - picturesque in description, spirited in
sentiment, a poet in all but his fidelity to truth - M. Michelet has placed
his own "History of France" by the side of that of Sismondi.  His quotations
are more numerous, for Sismondi commonly gives only references, and when
interwoven with the text, as they often are, though not quite according to the
strict laws of composition, not only bear with them the proof which an
historical assertion may fail to command, but exhibit a more vivid picture.

     In praising M. Michelet we are not to forget his defects.  His pencil,
always spirited, does not always fill the canvas.  The consecutive history of
France will not be so well learned from his pages as from those of Sismondi;
and we should protest against his peculiar bitterness towards England, were it
not ridiculous in itself by its frequency and exaggeration.

     I turn with more respect to a great name in historical literature, and
which is only less great in that sense than it might have been, because it
belongs also to the groundwork of all future history - the whole series of
events which have been developed on the scene of Europe for twenty years now
past.  No envy of faction, no caprice of fortune, can tear from M. Guizot the
trophy which time has bestowed, that he for nearly eight years, past and
irrevocable, held in his firm grasp a power so fleeting before, and fell only
with the monarchy which he had sustained, in the convulsive throes of his
country.

     "Cras vel atra
     Nube polum Pater occupato,
     Vel sole puro: non tamen irritum,
     Quodcunque retro est, efficiet."

It has remained for my distinguished friend to manifest that high attribute of
a great man's mind - a constant and unsubdued spirit in adversity, and to turn
once more to those tranquil pursuits of earlier days which bestow a more
unmingled enjoyment and a more unenvied glory than the favor of kings or the
applause of senates.

     The "Essais sur l'Histoire de France," by M. Guizot, appeared in 1820;
the "Collection de Memoires relatives a l'Histoire de France" (a translation
generally from the Latin, under his superintendence and with notes by him), if
I mistake not, in 1825; the Lectures on the civilization of Europe, and on
that of France, are of different dates, some of the latter in 1829.  These
form, by the confession of all, a sort of epoch in mediaeval history by their
philosophical acuteness, the judicious choice of their subjects, and the
general solidity and truth of the views which they present.

     I am almost unwilling to mention several other eminent names, lest it
should seem invidious to omit any.  It will sufficiently appear by these Notes
to whom I have been most indebted.  Yet the writings of Thierry, Fauriel,
Raynouard, and, not less valuable, though in time almost the latest, Lehuerou,
ought not to be passed in silence.  I shall not attempt to characterize these
eminent men; but the gratitude of every inquirer into the mediaeval history of
France is especially due to the Ministry of Public Instruction under the late
government for the numerous volumes of Documens Inedits, illustrating that
history, which have appeared under its superintendence, and at the public
expense, within the last twelve years. It is difficult not to feel, at the
present juncture, the greatest apprehension that this valuable publication
will at least be suspended.

     Several chapters which follow the second in my volumes have furnished no
great store of additions; but that which relates to the English Constitution
has appeared to require more illustration.  Many subjects of no trifling
importance in the history of our ancient institutions had drawn the attention
of men very conversant with its best sources; and it was naturally my desire
to impart in some measure the substance of their researches to my readers.  In
not many instances have I seen ground for materially altering my own views;
and I have not of course hesitated to differ from those whom I often quote
with much respect.  The publications of the Record Commission - the celebrated
Report of the Lord's Committee on the Dignity of a Peer - the work of my
learned and gifted friend Sir Francis Palgrave, On the Rise and Progress of
the English Commonwealth, replete with omnifarious reading and fearless
spirit, though not always commanding the assent of more sceptical tempers -
the approved and valuable contributions to constitutional learning by Allen,
Kemble, Spence, Starkie, Nicolas, Wright, and many others - are full of
important facts and enlightened theories.  Yet I fear that I shall be found to
have overlooked much, especially in that periodical literature which is too
apt to escape our observation or our memory; and can only hope that these
Notes, imperfect as they must be, will serve to extend the knowledge of my
readers and guide them to the sources of historic truth.  They claim only to
be supplemental, and can be of no service to those who do not already possess
the "History of the Middle Ages."

     The paging of the editions of 1826 and 1841, one in three volumes, the
other in two, has been marked for each Note, which will prevent, I hope, all
inconvenience in reference. ^*

[Footnote *: In the present edition the "Supplemental Notes" have been
incorporated with the original work, partly at the foot of the pages, partly
at the close of chapters.]

     June, 1848.