18th century so that Cardinal Newman suggests the middle of the century as representing probably the lowest period in the history of university education, when the students at Oxford and Cambridge scarcely more than "ate their terms," that is, lived in residence to receive their degrees, while Winckelmann, wanting to teach Plato at the end of the century, had to have manuscript copies of the author because no Greek edition had been issued in Germany for over 100 years. Philosophy, however, was the subject of a good deal of attention and exploitation usually on the part of men not directly connected with the universities. It is the age of Locke, of Hume and of Bishop Berkeley in England, whose stay in America influenced Jonathan Edwards, of Voltaire and the Encyclopedists in France and of Kant in Germany. The work of these men lived to influence the 19th century. Religion was at a low ebb and it was an age of scepticism. The work of the devoted John Wesley in England, which proved the incentive for the Oxford Movement of the succeeding century, was the first index of reaction. French philosophy in its atheistic aspects was curiously enough a child of English scepticism. Voltaire and the French Encyclopedists (see ENCYCLOPEDIA) attracted attention rather by the brilliancy of their style, the keenness of their wit and their biting satire than by depth of thought. Voltaire himself pronounced the period an "age of trivialities." Rousseau suggested the abandonment of artificial culture and refinement and the going back to the primitive state of nature because it seemed hopeless to guide men by reason. Adam Smith's "Wealth of Nations represented the English philosophy of independent morality applied to practical life. The 18th is above all the century of the fundamental organization of the physical sciences in their modern form. The period crystallized the data of scientific information, till then held in solution, and gave the physical sciences the form they have maintained since. Physics, chemistry, botany, zoology, comparative anatomy, electricity and psychology as well as the elements of social science both in history and in statics took shape. Lancisi at the beginning of the century in Italy and at the end of the century Hunter and Bichat in England and France revolutionized methods and results in the sciences related to medicine. Morgagni founded pathology. Jenner's discovery of vaccination marked the dawn of a new era in therapeutics. Auenbrugger initiated clinical diagnosis, and the example of such men as Percival Pott, after whom Pott's disease (q.v.) and Pott's fracture are named, gave a new impetus to accuracy of surgical diagnosis. The Vienna School of Medicine began its work as an inheritance from some great students of Boerhaave at the beginning of the century, and such men as Cullen, Heberden, Currie, Fothergill. Huxham left an indelible impress upon medical history. Franklin, Galvani, Volta laid the foundations of the science of electricity while Priestley, Lavoisier and Scheele were doing similar work in chemistry. Laplace, La Grange and others were adding to the magnificent work that Newton had accomplished at the beginning of the 18th century, recognizing very clearly the surpassing value of their predecessor's work. La Grange declared that Newton, whose 'Prin cipia' received its final form in this century, "was the greatest genius that ever existed." Beside him deserve to be named such men as Halley of the comet, Euler, the Bernouillis, the elder Herschel and Legendre. The century was also particularly fruitful in mathematical genius. In the biological sciences Cuvier, Buffon, Geoffroy St. Hilaire and Lamarck, most of whose work was accomplished before the century closed, did work that was destined to leave its impress deeply upon their sciences. It required much more than merely talent and application to make the first great steps in these sciences and only positive genius could have done what these men achieved. The greatest heritage of the century to succeeding generations was what has come to be called the industrial revolution. Up to the latter half of the 18th century men had paid very little attention to mechanical inventions and their development. The people of western Europe did their farming, made their cloth and continued to do most of the domestic manufactures at least almost in the same way as the ancients had done. It has been said that "if a peasant, a smith or a weaver of the age of Cæsar Augustus had visited France or England 1800 years later he would have recognized the familiar flail, forge, distaff and hand loom of his own day." (Robinson). All this was to be changed in the course of a single generation, however. A series of machines came to replace hand labor and accomplish ever so much more in vastly shorter time than before. The essential processes remained the same, only now by the aid of machinery they were accomplished more rapidly. once In 1767 Hargreaves, an English spinner, invented what was called the spinning jenny. With this a single workman by the help of a wheel could spin 8 or 10 threads at and thus do the work done formerly by as many spinners. In 1768 Arkwright invented a machine for rolling threads. Some 10 years later Crompton combined Hargreaves' spinning jenny and Arkwright's roller machine into what was called the spinning mule. With this as many as 200 threads could be spun at once, and when the steam engine came and power was applied a few hands could do the work of hundreds. The gradual improvement of the steam engine by James Watt, who had been called in to repair a model of a steam engine made more than half a century before by an English mechanic named Newcomen, greatly facilitated the development of industry. In 1785 a steam engine was first employed to run spinning machinery, Arkwright adopted it in 1790, and after this such engines became extremely common and the factory system replaced the old domestic system of manufacture almost completely. This so called labor-saving machinery threw many out of employment, though it brought together a great many workmen in the employ of a new class that now developed in the popu lation, the capitalist. John Stuart Mill about the middle of the 19th century, when he could see clearly the result of the industrial revolution, declared that all our labor-saving machinery in spite of its name had never saved mankind an hour of drudgery, but on the contrary had made it possible for a large number of workmen to work for a few and usually to work long hours in unsanitary, ill-ventilated factories, compelling them to live in crowded slums not far from the factories because their long working day did not allow them the time to go or come farther to their work. The industrial revolution worked an immense amount of social harm, led to the employment of women and children for such long hours and under such unsuitable conditions as proved seriously detrimental to health, and it took more than a century before humanity wakened up to the necessity for regulating industry in such a way as to conserve the rights of man. JAMES J. WALSH, Author of The Thirteenth the Greatest of Centuries. PRINCIPAL EVENTS OF THE 18TH CENTURY. 1701. Frederick (III) Elector of Brandenburg is crowned first King of Prussia, 18 Jan. 1702. Anne, Queen of Great Britain, begins her reign. 1703. St. Petersburg is founded by Peter the Great. 1704. Battle of Blenheim. 1707. The union of Scotland with England is ratified and the first parliament of Great Britain assembles. 1708. The British defeat the French at Oudenarde. 1709. Charles XII of Sweden is defeated at Pultowa, 30 June. Battle of Malplaquet, 11 Sept. 1713. Treaty of Utrecht signed, 30 March. 1714. George I, Elector of Hanover, becomes King of Great Britain. 1715. Scotland revolts; the Stuart Pretender appears, but his supporters are defeated at Sheriffmuir. Louis XIV of France dies. 1717. The Turks are defeated at Belgrade. 1718. Charles XII of Sweden is killed at the siege of Frederickshall, Norway. 1720. The South Sea Scheme, 7 April-29 September, collapses. Victor Amadens, duke of Savoy, becomes King of Sardinia. 1722. Peter the Great assumes the title of Czar of Russia. 1725. Death of Peter the Great. Persecution of Protestants in France. 1727. George II becomes King of Great Britain. 1736. Kien-Lung ascends the throne of China. He receives embassies from Russia, Holland and Great Britain. 1739. Nadir, Shah of Persia, conquers the greater part of the Mogul Empire. 1740. Frederick the Great begins to reign. Maria Theresa becomes Queen of Hungary. 1743. The Allies defeat the French at Dettingen. 1744. Great Britain declares war against France, 31 March. Commodore Anson completes his voyage around the world. 1745. Battle of Fontenoy, 30 April. British forces take Cape Breton, N. S. Rebellion in Scotland. English forces defeated at Gladsmuir, 21 Sept. 1746. English forces defeated at Falkirk, 17 Jan. Scotch forces defeated at Culloden, 16 April, and the rebellion suppressed. 1747. Defeat of the allied army at Lafeldt. British victory over the French fleet. The Prince of Orange becomes Stadtholder. 1748. Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle between Great Britain, Spain, Austria and Holland. 1752. Calendar revised in Great Britain, Sept. 3 becoming Sept. 14. 1756. Seven Years' War begins. Rupture between Great Britain and France. 1757. Damien's conspiracy against Louis XV. Prussian victory at Rosbach over French and Austrians, 5 Nov. King of Prussia becomes master of Silesia. 1759. France loses Canada in the final battle of the Heights of Abraham. 1760. George III begins his reign. 1763. Seven Years' War ends with Frederick victorious. Peace ratified at Paris between Great Britain, France and Spain. 1764. The British Parliament grants Mr. Harrison $50,000 for discovering the longitude by his chronometer. 1766. American Stamp Act repealed. 1769. Captain Cook's discoveries in the Pacific Ocean. 1772. First Partition of Poland by Russia, Prussia and Austria. Revolution in Sweden. 1773. Captain Cook's voyage to the Antarctic, reaching 71° 10 south latitute. 1774. Louis XVI of France begins his reign. 1775. The American Revolution begins, 19 April. Battle of Bunker Hill, 7 June. 1776. The American Declaration of Independence proclaimed, 4 July. 1777. The surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga, N. Y., 7 Oct. 1778. Alliance of the French and Americans, 30 Oct. 1779. Siege of Gibraltar. Captain Cook killed at Hawaii. 1780. British naval victory over the Spaniards near Cape St. Vincent, 16 Jan. American defeat at Camden, 16 Aug. 1781. The surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, 18 Oct. 1783. Treaty of Peace between Great Britain and the United States. 1786. Warren Hastings impeached for misrule in India. Shay's rebellion in Massachusetts. 1787-88. United States Constitution drafted at Philadelphia and ratified. 1789. The States General meets in Paris. The French Revolution begins. The King accepts the declaration of the Rights of Man. France divided into 83 departments. Washington elected President of the United States. 1790. Titles of nobility suppressed in France. 1791. Coalition between Austria and Prussia, 27 Aug. French Constitution ratified, 3 Sept. 1792. Peace of Jassey, 9 Jan. Gustavus III of Sweden assassinated, 16 March. The September massacres in France. France declared a republic, 22 Sept. The 1793. King Louis XVI beheaded, 21 Jan. Queen Marie Antoinette beheaded, 15 Oct. War declared by England against France, 1 Feb. Toulon captured by the English, 28 Aug. Reign of terror in France. 1794. Robespierre beheaded. English defeat the French fleet. Battle of Fleurus, 26 June. 1795. Holland invaded by the French. Belgium annexed to the French Republic. The remainder of Poland partitioned between Russia, Austria and Prussia. Jay's treaty between United States and Great Britain. 1796. Bonaparte's campaign in Italy. 1798. Irish Rebellion. Bonaparte's campaign in Egypt. The Battle of the Pyramids. 1799. The siege of Acre. Death of Washington. Bonaparte made First Consul. 1800. United States capital removed from Philadelphia to of Washington. Union Ireland with Great Britain ratified by Parliament. EIGHTH CENTURY, The. The 8th century is a cardinal epoch in modern history because it witnessed the culmination of the struggle in the east and west of Europe by which it was decided that European civilization should be Christian rather than Mohammedan in character. The failure of the Saracens to capture Constantinople in the early part of the century (718) and the decisive defeat inflicted upon the Moors at Tours (732) by Charles Martel followed by Charlemagne's successful campaign (777) which pushed Moorish dominion below the Ebro in Spain definitely settled that Christianity was to have an opportunity for free development in Europe. It was the fashion a generation or two ago to suggest the possibility that civilization might have advanced more rapidly under Mohammedan dominion than actually proved to be the case under Christianity. The opinion was dictated primarily by the love of paradox though undoubtedly supported by the tendency to minimize the really great work of the Middle Ages through ignorance of their genuine achievement and to exaggerate the place of the Moors in education, literature and, especially, in science. What actually happened in the Mohammedan countries in spite of the magnificent incentive afforded them by their close touch with Greek civilization in the East is the historical demonstration that their definite repulse in the 8th century was for the benefit of humanity. At the beginning of the 8th century the caliphs ruled from India over Persia, Arabia, Syria, Armenia, Egypt, Morocco, Spain and what is now France beyond Narbonne, as well as most of the islands of the Mediterranean and not a little of southern Italy. The backwardness in civilization of all of these regions that remained under Mohammedan rule is the answer of history to the insinuations of Gibbon and his imitators as to the benefits the Arabs might have conferred on humanity. Fortunately in the 8th century there came a division of the caliphates which greatly diminished Moham medan power and reunion never took place. The raising of the siege of Constantinople (718) was due more to one man, Leo, known as the Isaurian, than to any other factor. Leo was the son of a shoemaker who rose by military and administrative genius to be emperor and founded a dynasty. Like self-made men at all times he was confident that he could solve all problems since he had solved so many, and his interference in Church matters separated Christianity into two parts that in spite of many well-directed attempts have not united again. Leo and his son Constantine Copronymus declared against the worship of images in religion and encouraged the so-called iconoclasts or image breakers who did so much to disturb both religion and art in the East during this century. Defeated in their attempts on Constantinople the Mohammedans forced their way along the northern shore of Africa, crossed the Straits of Gibraltar and succeeded in conquering Spain. In 711 they won a great victory over the Visigoths which made them masters of the country, and by the end of the first quarter of the century they had overrun the peninsula and were crossing the Pyrenees to menace Gaul. The Duke of Aquitaine held them in check for a time, but they defeated him near Bordeaux in 732 and advanced toward Tours. Between Tours and Poitiers their immense host was met by Charles Martel (the Hammer) and completely defeated in one of the decisive battles of history. There are few authentic details of the battle though it would seem to have been, as far as we know, the conflict with the greatest numbers engaged ever fought between men at any time in history except in our present Great War. Charles Martel was the mayor of the palace of the western Frankish king. The Merovingians had ruled since Clovis' time, but weaklings ascended the throne and the Prime Minister, who was called the mayor of the palace, became the real ruler. Charles' son Pepin, surnamed the Short, acquired even more power than his father and finally put to the Pope the question whether the king should reign when his power was gone, received the answer that it seemed better that he who had the power in the state should be king, and so Pepin began the Carolingian dynasty. Pepin was the father of Charlemagne who was destined to consolidate France, conquered the surrounding countries, including a portion of Spain from the Moors, put down the barbarians on the north and acquired dominion over northern Italy. Charlemagne is the heart of the 8th century. The only man in history with whose name the adjective great has become so thoroughly incorporated that most people think of it as an essential part of his name, and he thoroughly deserves that distinction. At his accession Charlemagne's kingdom was the bulwark of the Christianity of the West. At his death his empire included most of western and southern Europe. Thought of usually as a warrior his greatness is reflected much more in his successful pursuit of a far-reaching constructive policy. He put an end to the process of political disintegration which had been at work in Europe since long before the fall of the Roman Empire, and he made it possible for men to think of progress and civilization in place of being constantly occupied with resistance to barbarian aggression which for three centuries had been their one preoccupation. It was a fitting consummation of his work that he was crowned emperor of the Romans by the Pope at Rome on Christmas Eve of the year 800. It was a striking omen of the new outlook for Europe when in the first year of the 9th century and of the Imperial reign an embassy arrived with precious Oriental presents from the great caliph of the East whose name is as well known in history and romance as Charlemagne's own — Haroun al Raschid. Charlemagne lives in romance through his expedition into Spain, whither he went to put an end to the menace of the Moors to his kingdom by attacking them in their own stronghold. After some years of war, begun at the instance of an embassy from Spain, in the year of the mystical number 777, he succeeded in conquering all the district north of the Ebro, and established there the Spanish March, a name given to outlying districts of his domain whose rule was committed to special officials called margraves, or counts of the marches, or marks, from which our word marquis. Charlemagne's defeat of the Moors was the first step in the gradual expulsion of the Mohammedans from Spain which was not to be accomplished in its entirety for over 700 years. On the return from his victorious expedition to Spain the rear guard of Charlemagne's army was attacked and cut to pieces by the Basques in the pass of Roncesvalles, in the Pyrenees. The battle of that name, fought by Roland and his Paladins with surpassing courage to the bitter end, was celebrated in song and story for many centuries afterward. The prodigies of valor there done tinged even the tales of chivalry which were to occupy so much Spanish attention in the later Middle Ages and whose influence was felt until Cervantes laughed the romances of chivalry away. Charlemagne lives in history much more as a lawgiver, an organizer of the civil functions of his great empire and of education and opportunities for intellectual development than even for his success in arms. At his invitation Alcuin, called a Saxon monk by Charlemagne's earliest biographers, but claimed an Irishman (Albinus) by many writers, was invited to organize the schools all over Charlemagne's dominions. He was given the powers of Imperial Minister of Education. He well deserved Charlemagne's confidence. As Duruy says: "Alcuin was truly a scholar; he was familiar with Pythagoras; often cites Aristotle, Homer, Plato, Virgil and Pliny, and is one of the most noticeable instances of the union of those elements so difficult to harmonize, the spirit of ancient literature with the spirit of Christianity." It is interesting indeed to read of his founding in the palace of Charlemagne an academy in which the emperor and all his family and all the nobility at court were members. In this academy the emperor bore the name of David, Alcuin took the name of Flaccus, while other members took such names as Homer, Plato and Virgil. We have some 300 of his letters addressed by this modern Aristotle to the Alexander of the West. Charlemagne's efforts for the provision of education for his people included women as well as men. His own daughters as well as those of the nobility attended the Palace School, and there are letters of Alcuin which show that they were deeply interested in the intellectual problems of the time. The emperor also recognized the social obligations of the ruler and ordered that there should be hospitals in connection with all cathedrals and monasteries. At this time the word hospital included also refuges for the infirm, the old, the deformed and defective, and even the insane as well as for the homeless wayfarer. In spite of many vicissitudes, wars, political disturbance and human incidental frailties, Charlemagne's work for civilization bore fruit down the generations, though his empire broke up and internal dissensions arose mainly through the custom of dividing the realm among his sons which Charlemagne also followed. He deserves such expressions as that of John Fiske: "When we think of all the work big with promise that went on in those centuries which modern writers in their ignorance used once to set apart and stigmatize as the Dark Age; . . . when we think of the various work of a Gregory, a Benedict, a Boniface, an Alfred, a Charlemagne, we feel that there is a sense in which the most brilliant achievements of pagan antiquity are dwarfed in comparison with these." While Charlemagne was reigning gloriously in Europe at the end of the 8th century a ruler in many ways scarcely less worthy than he and equally famous, Haroun Al Raschid (Aaron the orthodox), occupied the Eastern caliphate. Haroun was the fifth of the Abasside caliphs, an accomplished scholar, a poet of distinction, who gathered wits, poets and musicians around him. It is for this reason that he is so widely and favorably known for it is to the Arabian Nights rather than to history that his fame is due. How much of the real greatness of his reign was due to Yalya, his vizier of the Barmecide family, is difficult to say. Haroun's personal character is revealed by his murder of his sister and his nephews when he learned of her marriage to the brother of his vizier. While all his life he occupied a position of bitter hostility to the Greek emperors, there is a well-established tradition that he sent presents to Charlemagne and endeavored to cultivate his friendship though perhaps only with the idea of thus making less of the rulers of the Eastern Empire. Europe had freed herself from the danger of Mohammedanism attacking from the east and South, but before the end of the century was to witness an invasion of almost more serious nature from the opposite quarter. The Vikings or Norsemen invaded Britain in the last decade of the century and were to prove a serious foe to civilization for the next three centuries in many countries of Europe. Britain and Ireland had succeeded in developing education and culture, and Gaul had made a magnificent beginning under Charlemagne, but the Danes were to prove a serious detriment and obstacle. Alfred overcame them in the next century for a time in Britain, but the northern coast of France had to be given over to them and they obtained a foothold in Sicily and southern Italy. They represent a much more serious impediment to the evolution of civilization at this time than any internal factor. The 8th century was the scene of the career of one of these men who, forgetting themselves in life, are never willingly forgotten. This was Boniface, the apostle of Germany. His name was Winfrid (A. S., "win-peace"), and he received the surname of Bonifacius from the Latin signifying "good face or the benevolent." Born of noble parents in Devonshire, England, he insisted on devoting himself to the spiritual and intellectual life in a monastery at Exeter, and when his talents assured his advancement, he obtained permission to become a missionary to the old Saxons. Some 40 years were spent in missionary labors, and Boniface has been in honor ever since as the apostle of civilization as well as of Christianity to the German people. Distinction came to him unsought and Boniface was made a bishop and subsequently archbishop of Mainz and primate of Germany. Having solved some of the serious problems of ecclesiastical jurisdiction by his genius in the management of men as well as his kindliness of disposition he gave up his archbishopric to become a missionary to the Frisians by whom he was put to death. His letters which have been preserved show us the interests of the time better, perhaps, than almost any other set of documents of the period that we possess. He One of the most interesting of Boniface's developments in Germany was his invitation_to English nuns to help him in his mission. recognized that the German women still swayed that influence in the communities which has been described by Tacitus and realized that women auxiliaries would be of great help on the mission. Thecla and Lioba, to whom the title of Saints has been accorded, accepted this invitation and exercised great influence. Boniface's letters show how thoroughly he appreciated the nuns as intelligent fellow-laborers in his apostolate. The education of the children of the Germans was confided to them and a greater influence was thus brought to bear on the Teuton women than could otherwise have been exercised. It was to the rising generation that Boniface looked for the exhibition of genuine Christianity for it had proved extremely difficult to bend the savage natures of the Germans to the milder virtues of the Gospel. Saint Thecla particularly did much to organize the rising generation of young German women to carry on her missionary work. The 8th century is usually considered one of the low periods of intellectual life in history and yet it contains the careers of three men famous ever after for their intellectual work. The greatest of these is undoubtedly the man who, within two generations of his death, came to bear the title of Venerable Bede, by which he has been known ever since. Something of the place that he secured for himself in Christian scholarship will probably be best appreciated from the fact that in November 1899 Pope Leo XIII decreed to him the title of Doctor of the Church. Bede's influence was very great in his own time, not only in England but throughout all of western Europe, and in spite of the incursions of the Danes which disturbed English Christianity and its influence so much, Bede's work came to be widely known. He has come to be recognized as the greatest scholar of his time-a writer whose style and critical judgment have made him a favorite author even in modern times. With a literary propriety seldom exhibited in his time he referred all his materials to their sources and insisted on copyists giving all the references. His critical, historical judgment has given him a distinct place among the historians. life was a round of study and prayer with occasional visits for a few days to friends and is the ideal scholarly writer's life at all times. The surprise is to find it so well exemplified in the England of the first half of the 8th century. His The second of these great scholars, John of Damascus, or Saint John Damascene, also had the distinction of being enrolled among the Doctors of the Church by Pope Leo XIII. His intellectual distinction is that of being the first of the scholastic philosophers and his 'De fide orthodoxa' is often hailed as the first work of scholasticism. He undoubtedly had a deep influence upon the Arabian scholars of his time, and their philosophy owes much to his inspiration for they admired him as much as his Christian colleagues. The most important of his works is that one known as the Foun tain of Wisdom.' It has a special significance in the history of theology because it is the first attempt at a Summa Theologica that has come down to us, though there were to be many such in all the centuries of the Middle Ages afterward. Damascene's work for the Church is due to Leo the Isaurian's attempt to be head of both Church and state and dictate the beliefs of his people in the matter of the veneration of images. When Leo issued his first edict, John was chief councillor of the city of Damascus and not a cleric, but he took up the defense of Church traditions, and then, recognizing his lack of knowledge for Christian apologetics, he entered a monastery, gave himself to study and became the great leader of the Christian thought of the time. He suffered bitter prosecution at the hands of the emperor and his satellites, but he was vindicated by the Seventh General Council of Nice (787) and came to be known after the Greek fashion of adding a title of admiration as John Chrysorrhoas, that is, "John of the Golden Stream," because of his golden flow of words in defense of Christianity. Damascene is besides one of the world's great writers of hymns, and modern hymnologists have even spoken of him as the prince of Greek hymnodists. Three of his bymns, 'Those Eternal Bowers,' 'Come, Ye Faithful, Raise the Strain' and Tis The Day of the Resurrection, are widely known and admired in their English version. The third of the scholars of the 8th century whose name is often still mentioned was Vergilius, bishop of Salzburg, who had been an Irish missionary of the name of Fergal or Ferghil. He was received with great favor by Pepin, then mayor of the palace, and his talents and learning led to his being made abbott of Saint Peter's at Salzburg. He was deeply interested in mathematics and astronomy and his teachings that there were antipodes led to his being tried in the ecclesiastical courts, not, however, because of the scientific doctrine, but because it was said that this involved the denial that men had all come from a single origin. Vergilius succeeded in showing that his teaching was not contrary to Scripture and it was after this that he was made bishop of Salzburg. He was canonized in the 13th century by Gregory IX. There seems no doubt that his belief in the existence of people on the other side of the earth and that the earth itself was a sphere was due to his knowledge of the accounts of some of the Irish expeditions that had probably found their way in times of storm if not voluntarily across the Atlantic. The century closed with a woman, Irene, the only woman who ever occupied the position of empress, in the fullest sense of the word, Basileus, in the Eastern Empire. While she had taken a determined stand against the Iconoclastic party which was disturbing both Church and State, she is distinctly one of the least worthy rulers of history. French historians have not hesitated to declare that she was as given to intrigue as Catherine de Medici, and spared not even her own son in her ambition. She schemed against his marriage to Rotrud, a daughter of Charlemagne, and forced him to marry an Armenian totally unsuitable to become his consort. She sanctioned his bigamy with a woman of the court in the hope of ruining his career, and is even said to have blinded him before confining him to prison where he died. She did not long enjoy the fruit of her ambition (797-802), but was deposed by Nicephorus and passed the end of her life on the island of Lesbos in poverty and contempt. The Pope and the people of Rome took advantage of the accession of Irene as the formal empress to repudiate the Eastern Empire and to make a formal break with Constantinople. They declared that a woman could not be Cæsar and Augustus, and thus the path was laid open for a new era and a Western Empire. Pepin, as king of France, had come at the request of Pope Stephen III to save Italy from the Lombards, and was hailed as ruler though he received only the name of patrician which Charles inherited from him. This office was changed to that of emperor, and Pope Leo crowned Charlemagne as emperor in the last days of the 8th century. JAMES J. WALSH, Author of The Thirteenth the Greatest of Centuries. PRINCIPAL EVENTS OF THE 8TH CENTURY, 710. The Saracens conquer Spain. 714. Charles Martel, natural son of Pepin the" major domo," or chief of the Franks, succeeds his father. 719. Boniface of England begins his civilizing mission in Germany. 721. The Saracens invade France. 726. Leo the Isaurian interdicts the worship of images. 731. Bede the Anglo-Saxon scholar completes his great work Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum.' 732. Charles Martel defeats the Saracens at the Battle of Tours, and compels their retreat to Spain, which they almost entirely occupy, driving the Goths to the Asturias. 737-741. Charles Martel, having also subjected several German tribes, becomes duke and prince of the Franks. 752. Pepin the Short, son of Charles Martel, succeeds him and is made King of the Franks. 754. Constantine V of the Eastern Empire suppresses monasteries. 755. Archbishop Boniface, apostle of Germany, is murdered by pagan Frisians at Dokkum. 756. The Lombards of Baltic origin, occupying the north of Italy, are defeated by Pepin, son of Charles Martel and father of Charlemagne. 768. Charlemagne begins to reign in Western Europe. |