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THE HISTORY

OF THE

OVERTHROW

OF THE

ROMAN EMPI
EMPIR

AND THE

FOUNDATION

OF THE

PRINCIPAL EUROPEAN STATES.

BY

W. C. TAYLOR, LL.D. M.R.A.S. F.S.S. &c.

OF TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN.

AUTHOR OF A HISTORY OF FRANCE, AND THE HISTORICAL
MISCELLANY, &c. &c.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR WHITTAKER & Co.

AVE MARIA LANE.

1836.

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object of this work is to supply the deficient links, to shew how the ancient system of civilization was destroyed, and the new one formed.

But the history of what are called the Middle Ages, is not valuable merely as a connection between ancient and modern times; there is no period in the annals of the human race abounding more in the "philosophy that teaches by example," in incidents that at once gratify the imagination and improve the mind. There is a spirit of romance in the events that at once arrests the attention of the young; there is a simplicity in the order and sequence of the changes that places them within the reach of ordinary capacity; there is little or no disguise of the ends aimed at, and the means employed in the several revolutions of these ten centuries; and their history is therefore in some degree an alphabet or grammar of historical and political knowledge.

These acknowledged facts have often led to proposals for an abridgment of Gibbon : but since the days of that eminent historian, immense stores of information respecting the state both of Europe and Asia in the Middle Ages have been opened to us by eminent scholars in England, France and Germany. Oriental history especially has assumed a new aspect, and the age of the crusades has been freed from a mass of fables and contradictions. Under these circumstances, the author felt it his duty to consult the original sources, to search the chronicles of the West, and the annals of the East, with pleasure to himself, and as he hopes with profit to his readers.

PREFACE.

In a work of such limited extent, it was impossible to dwell at any length upon the peculiar habits, customs, prejudices, and superstitions of the varied ages and nations that passed under his review; he has, however, inserted in notes some of the most striking exemplifications of these characteristics, convinced these are an essential part of history, and are calculated to lead the young to reflect on the connection between habits of thought and habits of action. The Mussulman elegy on the capture of Jerusalem, by Godfrey, for instance, explains the character of the Mohammedans in that age, better than a long and laborious dissertation.

In spelling oriental names, the system of orthography proposed by Sir William Jones has been generally followed; but where the names have been long familiar to English readers, it would seem like pedantry to change the popular form, and they have been left unaltered.

The last siege of Constantinople has been detailed at some length; not merely on account of its importance, as the closing scene of this history, but because it concentrates in a brief space, a view of the chief causes that bring ruin on nations, and teaches lessons that must be useful, while human nature continues unchanged.

It was at first intended to add the list of original authorities to each chapter, but the design was abandoned, because such a parade of names, in a work designed for the higher classes of schools, and persons

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