east was Germany, the head of the renewed empire, still preserving some portion of the ancient civilization, and very soon to gain much more. There were to grow up the cities of the Hanseatic League, the pioneers of modern progress, of which famous confederation, formed in the thirteenth century, several of the towns of Holland were among the earliest members.* But more important than all were the close relations. which the Netherlands maintained with Italy. To appreciate the influence of this connection, it must be remembered that Italy never became barbarian. The race was not Teutonized; that is to say, not crushed and transformed to anything like the same degree as the people of the other European countries by the invasion of the northern tribes.+ In the end, the Italians might have shared the fate of their contemporaries, and have lost their civilization under the slow, brutalizing influence of the conquerors; but this disaster was largely averted by the results which followed in the train of the Crusades. In 1096, 1 "The Hansa Towns," Zimmern, p. 214. "The barbarians established themselves on the soil temporarily or imperfectly. The Visigoths, the Franks, the Heruli, the Ostrogoths, all abandoned it or were soon driven away. If the Lombards remained there, they rapidly profited by the Latin culture. In the 'twelfth century the Germans, under Frederic Barbarossa, expecting to find men of their own race, were surprised to find them so Latinized, having discarded the fierceness of barbarians and taken from the influences of the air and soil something of Roman finesse and gentleness; having preserved the elegance of the language and the urbanity of primitive manners, even imitating the skill of the ancient Romans in the constitution of their cities and in the government of their public affairs. Latin is spoken in Italy up to the thirteenth century."-Taine's "Art in Italy," p. 28. ITALY AND THE NETHERLANDS 109 Peter the Hermit led out the first of the vast horde of visionary enthusiasts who for centuries poured into Asia Minor, whitening two continents with their bones in the chivalric attempt to redeem the holy sepulchre. These gigantic expeditions brought to the greater part of Europe only a fearful loss of life and property, compensated for mainly by the impoverishment of the nobles, which aided in breaking up the feudal system. Upon Italy, however, the effect was very different. There dwelt the head of the Church, who acted as guardian for all the pilgrims, regulated their movements, and levied a general tax on the faithful laity of Europe to sustain the wars against the infidels. This tax, known as Saladin's Tenth, poured an unfailing stream of treasure into Rome; while the people of all Italy were also acquiring wealth by furnishing the crusaders with sup plies and transportation to the Holy Land. Still more important, however, was the impetus given to commerce by this opening-up of the unknown regions of the East.* In 1295, Marco Polo, with his father and uncle, after an absence of nearly a quarter of a century, returned to Venice, bringing back their fairy tales of the wonders of far Cathay, and the whole of the Old World was spread out before these enterprising merchants. It was the commerce thus developed that built up the Italian republics, and bred the race of merchant princes who made the Italy of the Renaissance the mother of literature, art, and science. It is probable that the connection between the Neth *The crusaders introduced silk and sugar into Europe. They also introduced the windmill, which, invented in Asia Minor and transported to the Netherlands, was to prove of untold value in the development of that country. See Gibbon, vi. 193. erlands and Italy was never broken; if it was, the reestablishment occurred at a very early day. We find that the guilds to manufacture salt and for the purpose of bringing under cultivation marshy grounds ascend to the Roman epoch.* From the seventh and ninth centuries Bruges, Antwerp, and Ghent are "ports" or privileged markets. They fit out cruisers for the whale fishery; they serve as the entrepôts for the North and the South. The first crusade owed its success in a great degree to the valor and prudence of Godfrey de Bouillon, a Flemish knight, who, it is said, took the field with ten thousand horsemen and eighty thousand infantry. In 1272 there were so many Genoese in Flanders that Charles of Anjou asks to have them banished; but public opinion is too strong, and their expulsion is found to be impracticable. Some twenty years later Philip the Fair of France compels Guy de Dampierre to restore the property which he had taken from the Lombard merchants settled in Flanders. In the next century we find a large number of Italians from Lombardy living in Middelburg, where they establish a banking-house, soon adding commerce in gold and jewels. Their goods were displayed in a special building called the "House of the Lombards." Similar houses existed in other cities. Ludovico Guicciardini, writing in 1563, says that even in Zeeland, though few persons spoke French or Spanish, there were many who spoke Italian. In the *Moke's "Mœurs et Usages des Belges," quoted by Taine. Taine's "Art in the Netherlands,” p. 84. Hutton's "Van Arteveld," chap. ii. § Havard's "Heart of Holland," chap. xiii. London also had its Lombard Street. This writer, who is the leading authority upon the condition of DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE 111 sixteenth century, as the result of geographical exploration, attention was called to botany, and public botanical gardens were established. Their order is significant as showing the influence of Italy: Pisa, 1543; Padua, 1545; Florence, 1556; Rome and Bologna, 1568; Leyden, 1577; Leipsic, 1580; Montpellier, 1597; Paris, 1626; and Oxford, 1680.* Thus Holland stands but thirtyfour years behind the first of the Italian cities. These illustrations are only suggestive of the relations between the countries, of which we shall see much more hereafter. To trace the full connection would involve a large chapter of the history of the Middle Ages. Keeping now in mind the character of the country, its early occupants, and their connection with the civilization of Italy, the course of their development can be readily understood. Beginning with the earliest form of industry, what would be the natural feeling of such a race towards the soil, when we remember that it was their own production? One of the commonest lessons of experience is that men hold in light esteem the gifts of nature which come to them without an effort. The mother's favorite is not the stalwart, healthy child who needs no care, but the weakling or the cripple. The Germans, and to some extent the Gauls, wandering through their Northern wilds, where land was to be had by taking, looked down on agriculture as unworthy of a freeman. The only noble prizes of life were those won by skill or courage, the Netherlands in the sixteenth century, was a Florentine, a nephew of the famous Italian historian. He lived in the Netherlands for about forty years, and in 1563 published, at Antwerp, an extensive work descriptive of the manners, customs, institutions, and resources of the country. * Whewell's "History of the Inductive Sciences," iii. 291. such as the spoils of the chase or battle. But, settled amid the everlasting morasses of the Netherlands, where life was a constant struggle with the elements, these men found the conquests of peace no less difficult, and therefore no less honorable, than those of war. Thus with labor ennobled, the natural result followed. Curbing the ocean and overflowing rivers with their dikes, they came to love the soil, their own creation, and to till it with patient, almost tender care. Hence, as farmers and gardeners, breeders of fine cattle and horses, they early took the place which they have ever since maintained. Even in the fourteenth century we find agriculture taught in the schools of Flanders, spade husbandry greatly affected, and Flemish gardeners and cultivators in much demand in all parts of Europe.* Flax and hemp were grown to a large extent; hops were cultivated for the brewers; the gardens supplied pease, beans, vetches, onions, garlic, and orache-a vegetable now superseded by spinach-and the orchards apples, pears, and cherries in abundance.† England, until a comparatively recent time, knew nothing of these pursuits. When Catherine of Aragon wished for a salad, she was compelled to send for it across the Channel by a special messenger. Furnishing the court with salads, the Low Countries, in time, gave to the English people hops for their beer, cabbages, carrots, beets, and other vegetables for their table, flower-seeds for their gardens, large cattle for *Hutton's "Van Arteveld." Many Flemish farmers went over to England, to the alluvial plains of East Norfolk. As to the excellence of Flemish husbandry for over six centuries, see M'Culloch's Geographical Dictionary, article "Belgium." + Hutton. Hume. |