SPAIN.

The two successors of Recardede, Liuva II. and Vitteric, died by assassination. Gondemar gained a few advantages over the Greeks, who were driven out of Spain by Sisebert, 612-620. This prince, celebrated for the composition of a not inelegant Latin poem on the eclipses of the sun and moon, conquered Tangier and Ceuta, as well as part of Mauritania. His son Recardede II. died shortly after his coronation; and his second son Suintilla, was nominated his successor by the bishops; but was overthrown by Sisenand, governor of Septimania, 631. Under this ruler, the fourth council of Toledo declared that no one could ascend the throne without the consent of the prelates and the chief officers of state; that the king should take oath not to pronounce any judgment on capital matters without the advice of his court; that the bishops might summon to the councils, or exclude from them, any persons whatever; and that, finally, the ecclesiastics should be exempt from charges and taxation. Thus was Spain placed under the control of a sacerdotal aristocracy.

Chintilla, A. D. 636, expelled the Jews from Spain, in obedience to the orders of the sixth council of Toledo, which further decreed that no election of a successor should take place during the life of the reigning king. Tulga, deposed by the nobles, left his crown to Chindasvind, who associated his son Recesvind with him on the throne. The latter still further augmented the power of the bishops, repelled an invasion of the Gascons, and defended Mauritania against the first attacks of the Arabians. His successor Wamba, 672, had to check the numerous revolts which broke out on every side, and was at length deposed after several successful campaigns against the Mussulmans. The noble Erwiga, instigated by the Archbishop of Toledo, mixed opium in his wine, cut off his hair during sleep, and took away the silver keys, the ensigns of royalty. On his awaking, the sovereign not unwillingly resigned a throne which he had accepted only on compulsion.

The new king Erwiga was compelled to reward the services of the head of the Spanish church by new concessions, and by the privilege of nominating to the vacant sees. By this act the crown lost almost the only useful prerogative which remained, for the great civil and military dignities having become hereditary, the king had no other means of opposing the nobles than by filling the bishoprics with trusty men. Under Egiza, 687, the Jews formed secret relations with their African brethren, in the hope of receiving protection and aid from the Saracens. The plot having been discovered, the exercise of the Jewish worship was forbidden; children of seven years old and under were taken from their parents to be educated as Christians; and all who apostatized were deprived of their wealth and liberty. This reign was disturbed by the claims of the Archbishops of Toledo, who were desirous of conducting the affairs of the kingdom by a regency. Witizen beheld the increase of the factions, to which he himself became a victim, 710: being dethroned by Roderick, the son of a nobleman whose eyes he had ordered to be torn out.

THE CHURCH.

The true doctrines of Christianity were fast becoming obseared in the East, from the ambition of the patriarchs and the subtle spirit of the

people. Heraclius, who was said to have recovered the relics of the True Cross from the hands of the infidels,-a victory still celebrated in the Romish ritual,—did not confine himself to opposing the enemies of the empire, but mingled in theological discussions and controversies on the faith. The Eutychians had modified their opinions to give them new vigour, and the patriarch Sergius openly disseminated their heresy, which tended to confound the divine and human nature of Christ. The emperor published an edict in favour of the Eutychian dogmas, and Pope Honorius, deceived by a letter of Sergius, forbade all discussion of their errors. This disposition to temporize alarmed the orthodox, and Sophronius, bishop of Jerusalem, wrote to inform the Pope of the real state of affairs. John IV., who then occupied St. Peter's chair, condemned the error, and also the imperial decree which defended it. A short time before his death Heraclius disavowed his edict; but his grandson Constans II. again reasserted it, and deposed the venerable pontiff. Constantine Pogonatus, wishing to restore peace to the church, convoked the sixth general council at Constantinople, 680, at which the papal legate presided. The errors of the monothelites were condemned as well as all their followers, and this heresy became ever after confounded with that of the Eutychians.

TRIPLE CROWN.-The emperor Anastasius having invested Clovis with the dignity of patrician and consul, sent him a crown of gold; the king of the Franks presented it to Pope Symmachus, 498, and it was the first of those which composed the papal diadem. The second was added by Boniface VIII., who ascended the spiritual throne in 1294; and the third by John XXII., 1316.-The title of pope, it should be observed, was not exclusively applied to those who held the see of Rome until Hildebrand issued a bull to that effect, towards the close of the 11th century. Before the time of Sabinianus, 604, they were simply styled bishops.

EIGHTH CENTURY.

GREEK EMPIRE.-717, Leo III.-Saracens at Constantinople.-726, Iconoclast War.-797, Empress Irene.

ARABIA.-711, Northern Africa and Spain subdued.-749, Abbassides.-786, Haroun al Raschid.

SPAIN.-711, Arabians in Spain.-755, Independent Caliphate.

ITALY.-715, Pope Gregory II.-774, End of Lombard Kingdom.-795, Leo III., first Bishop of the West.-728, Luitprand takes Ravenna.-749, Astolphus.

FRANCE.-714, Charles Martel.-732, Victory of Tours.-752, Carlovingian Dynasty-Pepin.-768, Charlemagne.

CHURCH.-720, Dionysian or Vulgar Era introduced.-769, Worship of Images. LITERATURE. Bede, d. 735; Boniface, Apostle of the Germans, d. 754; Alcuin, d. 804.

GREEK EMPIRE.

ISAURIAN DYNASTY.-A space of six years divided into three short reigns separated the fall of the Heraclian from the rise of the Isaurian Dynasty. Justinian II., put to death in 711, was succeeded by Philip

picus Bardanes, a general raised to the throne by the voice of the soldiery; but this adventurer, after a reign of two years, was overthrown by his secretary Artemius, who governed in the name of Anasta sius II. The revolt of the fleet compelled the latter to take refuge among the Bulgarians; and a new emperor, Theodosius III., succeeded, only to abdicate the following year in favour of a popular officer, whom the army had already proclaimed. LEO, a native of Isauria, had gradually risen from the plebeian rank to the throne, which he had scarcely usurped before his capital was closely besieged by the Arabs. During thirteen months Constantinople was blockaded by land and sea, and was saved only by its lofty walls and the terrible Greek fire. He next quelled a revolt in Sicily, but compromised his success and the peace of the empire by theological disputes. In 726, he interdicted the worship of images, and, in spite of the discontent manifested by the people, broke all the statues in the churches. The inhabitants of the Cyclades, the Italian Greeks, and above all the Romans, refused to obey the imperial decrees; still Leo, unyielding in his faith and his decisions, enforced their execution at the risk of losing several valuable provinces.

CONSTANTINE V., Copronymus, 741, a dissolute and sanguinary tyrant, showed scarcely less iconoclastic zeal than his father. His reign was celebrated, however, by the recovery of Armenia and Syria from the Arabians; by the defeat of the Bulgarians; by the redemption of many captives; and by his judicious measures for repeopling the almost deserted Thracian cities. Leo IV., 775, reigned only five years, and left the crown to Constantine VI., Porphyrogenitus, nnder the regency of his mother IRENE. The worship of images was restored in 787, by the resolutions of the second Nicene council, at which three hundred and seventy bishops condemned the impiety of the innovators. Irene, who was as adroit as she was ambitious, endeavoured to withdraw her son from public business; her schemes prospered until he reached his twentieth year, when she was condemned to exile in a palace on the shores of the Propontis. But here by her intrigues she contrived to seduce the affections of the army and the citizens, by whom he was dethroned and deprived of his eyes. The reign of the unnatural mother, now become sole empress, was not unaccompanied by external splendour; yet the public indignation being excited, she was dethroned by her treasurer NICEPHORUS I., 802. In her solitude at Mitylene she earned a scanty subsistence by the labours of her distaff.

ARABIA.

Walid, a. d. 704, and SOLIMAN I., endeavoured to render themselves masters of Constantinople, but their armies were compelled to retreat with loss. Their want of success in the east of Europe was compensated by the conquest of Spain in the west, 711. Here again they found themselves too weak to contend with the warlike children of the north; for, after the dreadful battle of Tours, the Saracens were driven ignominiously across the Pyrenees, 732. Internal dissensions now began to prevail: the immense empire of the Caliphs of Damascus, composed of elements so various and so suddenly brought together, had not acquired consistency enough to preserve its unity. In other respects, too, the Omniades had failed to conciliate the affections of their subjects,

and all eyes were turned upon the family of the prophet. Of these, the ABBASSIDES, who derive their name from the prophet's uncle Abbas, were the most numerous and active. A black banner was adopted as their peculiar badge, while their opponents were distinguished by a white one. The East was convulsed by the conflicts of these parties, till, on the banks of the Zab, victory deserted the reigning caliph, and MERVAN II., fleeing to Egypt, was pursued and put to death, 750.

THE ABBASSIDES.-Abbas immediately set about confirming his power by destroying every one related to the deposed family. One royal youth with difficulty escaped from those who hunted after his life, and, reaching Spain, Abdalrahman established the throne of Cordova, whence during 275 years the family of the Omniades governed that peninsula. ALMANSOR, on his accession in 754, had to contend against his uncle Abdallah, who had been proclaimed at Damascus. He conquered his rival after a struggle of five months, and treacherously put him to death. The victor himself was also executed a short time afterwards under the eyes of the caliph, who feared his ambition and his talents. This general, it is said, had sacrificed more than 600,000 persons to the Abbassides. His death caused an insurrectiou in Khorassan; and the commander who put it down, being offended at the disproportionate share of booty taken by the caliph, revolted in his turn, seized on Ispahan, and was defeated in Azerbijan.

To strengthen his throne Almansor was often cruel. The Omniades, with one exception, had been extirpated, but the descendants of Ali still survived. These he persecuted with atrocious violence: wishing to discover the hiding-place of Mohammed and Ibrahim, great-grandsons of Hossein, he shut up their father in a close prison; eleven others of the family expired in a dungeon; one of the Othmans perished under the scourge, and his head was carried into Khorassan and exhibited as that of Mohammed. One of the youths being driven to extremity, at last took up arms, but was defeated and killed with his brother, 762.

MOHADI, A. D. 774, a prince as magnificent and prodigal as his father, revived the war against the Greeks, in which his son Haroun, afterwards called Al Raschid (the Just), traversed Bithynia and penetrated to the Bosphorus, whence he menaced Constantinople. By the death of his parent and brother, he was raised to the caliphate in 786, and began the most glorious reign of all the Abbasside dynasty.

HAROUN AL RASCHID.-An insulting demand made by the Emperor Nicephorus led to a new war along the Byzantine frontier. Haroun entered Asia Minor, devastating the country with fire and sword as far as the walls of Heraclea, whence the approach of winter compelled him to retreat beyond the Taurus. He soon found it necessary to repass these mountains, though covered with snow, to meet his enemy, who was secretly advancing at the head of all his forces. At Crasus in Phrygia, the Greeks suffered a terrible defeat; and the emperor was reduced to purchase a cessation of hostilities by the payment of a very large sum of money. It was under the character of opponent to the Greek monarch and to the Caliph of Cordova, that Haroun sent an embassy to Charlemagne in 799. The glory of his reign was tarnished by the cruelty which he practised on the illustrious family of the Barmecides, two of whom, Yahia and his son Jaafar, had the entire manage