European Background Of American History
by
Edward Potts Cheyney
Part 5 out of 5
sovereigns is J. H. Mariejol, L'Espagne sous Ferdinand et Isabelle: le
Gouvernement, les Institutions, et les Moeurs (1892). William H.
Prescott, The Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic (various
editions), is less uncritical in character, and consequently more
trustworthy, than the other works of this author. An important study of
the personal character of Isabella is Clemencin, Elogio de la Reina
Catolica, in Real Academia de la Historia, Memorias, IV. An important
and suggestive study of this period is W. Maurenbrecher, Spanien unter
den Katholischen Konigen: Studien und Skizzen zur Geschichte der
Reformationszeit (1857). Of somewhat similar character is W. Havemann,
Darstellungen aus der inneren Geschichte Spaniens wahrend des XV., XVI.
und XVII. Jahrhunderts (1850). The more purely political history is
best given in M. Danvilla y Collado, El Poder Civil en Espana (6 vols.,
1885-1887). The expulsion of the Jews is described in the third volume
of J. Amador de los Rios, Los Judios de Espana y Portugal (3 vols.,
1875-1876); that of the Moriscos in H. C. Lea, The Moriscos of Spain,
their Conversion and Expulsion (1901). Much valuable description of
this period is also given in H. C. Lea, Chapters from the Religious
History of Spain (1890). Mr. Lea has also an important article, "The
Policy of Spain towards the Indies" (Yale Review, August, 1899). The
military history of Ferdinand's reign is given in P. Boissonade,
Reunion de la Navarre a la Castille (1893), and in the large general
histories of Spain, such as A. Canovas del Castillo, Historia General
de Espana (1894), and Vicente de la Fuente, Historia General de Espana
(30 vols., 1850-1867).
The organization of the Casa da Contractacion is fully described in
Primeras Ordenanzas ... de la Contractacion de las Indias, by J. de
Veitia Linage (1672, "made English" by Captain John Stevens, under the
title The Spanish Rule of Trade to the West Indies, 1702). It is also
described in Richard Hakluyt, Principal Navigations, IV. Economic
conditions are further described in two books by K. Habler, Geschichte
der Fugger'schen Handlung in Spanien (1897); Die Wirtschaftliche Blute
Spaniens im XVI. Jahrhundert und ihr Verfall (1888).
FRANCE IN THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES
The great mass of contemporary writings for this period is published
partly in the great Collection de Documents Inedits (about 280 vols.,
1835-), partly in other collections, such as that of Michaud et
Poujoulat, Correspondance D'Orient, 1830-1831 (7 vols., 1835), and
partly as individual publications. The royal enactments down to 1514
are best edited in Ordonnances des Roys de France (21 vols., 1723-
1849). The Recueil General des Anciennes Lois Francaises, edited by
Isambert and Taillandier (29 vols., 1822-1833), extends later in time
but is inferior in fulness and accuracy.
A short general history of France during this period is A. J. Grant,
The French Monarchy, 1483-1789 (2 vols., 1900). Of the excellent work,
Lavisse, Histoire de France, the latest section to appear is V., pt.
i., by H. Lemonnier, which covers the period 1492-1547.
For the commercial history of France valuable works are H. Pigeonneau,
Histoire du Commerce de la France (2 vols., 1887-1889); Pierre Clement,
Histoire de la Vie et de L'Administration de Colbert (2 vols., 1846);
G. Fagniez, "Le Commerce de la France sous Henri IV.," in Revue
Historique, May-June, 1881; and F. Bourquelot, Etude sur les Foires de
Champagne (Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres de L'Institut de
France, series II., vol. V., 1865). For the commercial companies in
Canada, see H. P. Biggar, Early Trading Companies of New France (1901).
THE NETHERLANDS AND GERMANY IN THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES
The best history of the Netherlands is P. J. Blok, History of the
People of the Netherlands (1892, in part translated by Ruth Putnam, 3
vols., 1898-1900); J. L. Motley, Rise of the Dutch Republic (many
editions), still has value and much interest, but the work is
uncritical and based on inadequate study of the sources. C. M. Davies,
History of Holland and the Dutch Nation (3 vols., 1851), is of special
value for its attention to the internal organization of the Dutch
nation. Robert Fruin, Geschiedniss der Staatsinstellingen in Nederland
(edited by H. T. Colenbrander, 1901), is a much more detailed and
modern work, the first two books of which refer to the period of this
volume. In it are to be found abundant references to the sources of
Dutch institutions. Douglas Campbell, The Puritan in Holland, England,
and America (2 vols., 1892), is a vivacious work including much
description of conditions in Holland and England during this period. It
is, however, written in a spirit of controversial exaggeration which
reduces its historical value to small proportions. The long and
valuable paper "William Usselinx," by J. P. Jameson (American
Historical Society, Papers, II., 1888), contains much information
concerning political and commercial conditions in the Netherlands.
There is a short description of the municipal organization of Holland
in an article by J. F. Jameson in the Magazine of American History,
VIII., 315-330. The charter of the Dutch West India Company is in E. B.
O'Callaghan, History of New Netherland, I., App. A (1855); and in
Samuel Hazard, State Papers, I.
The general history of Germany for this period can be Studied from the
following volumes of the series entitled Allgemeine Geschichte in
Einzeldarstellungen--viz., F. von Bezold, Geschichte der deutschen
Reformation (1890); G. Droysen, Geschichte der Gegenreformation (1893);
G. Winter, Der dreissigjahrigen Krieges (1893); B. Erdmannsdorfer,
Deutsche Geschichte von westfalischen Frieden bis Friedrichs der
Grossen (2 vols., 1892). The last work contains in its first book a
valuable resume of the results of the Thirty Years' War and the
condition of Germany at the time. E. Armstrong, The Emperor Charles V.
(2 vols., 1902), is an excellent account of Germany during the middle
years of the sixteenth century. Anton Gindely, The Thirty Years' War
(English translation, 2 vols., 1884), is a standard work on the Thirty
Years' War.
The religious changes of the time are described in a scholarly but
extremely dry fashion in W. Moeller, History of the Christian Church,
III. (English translation, 1900). L. von Ranke, Deutsche Geschichte im
Zeitalter der Reformation, translated into English (3 vols., 1845-
1847), is a well-known work. More detailed accounts of the Anabaptists
are given in H. W. Erbkam, Geschichte der Protestantischen Sekten in
Zeitalter der Reformation (1848); L. Keller, Geschichte der
Wiedertaufer (1880); and Max Goebel, Geschichte des Christlichen Leben
in der rheinschwestphdlischen evangelischen Kirche (3 vols., 1849-
1860).
ENGLAND IN THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The standard bibliographical guide in early English
history is Charles Gross, Sources and Literature of English History
from the Earliest Times to about 1485 (1900).
GENERAL WORKS.--The best general history of the reign of Henry VII. is
W. Busch, England under the Tudors (I., Henry VII., 1895); on the early
part of the reign of Henry VIII., J. S. Brewer, The Reign of Henry
VIII. (2 vols., 1884); J. A. Froude, History of England from the Fall
of Wolsey to the Defeat of the Armada (12 vols., 1856-1870).
Notwithstanding the criticism to which this work has been subjected it
remains the most detailed, serious, and valuable history of England in
the sixteenth century. A. F. Pollard, England under Protector Somerset
(1900), is a valuable survey of the period 1547-1551. S. R. Gardiner,
History of England from 1603 to 1642 (10 vols., 1883-1884), History of
the Great Civil War, 1642-1649 (4 vols., 1886-1891), and History of the
Commonwealth and Protectorate (3 vols., 1894-1903), form a series of
great value, covering more than half of the seventeenth century. Henry
Hallam, Constitutional History of England (3 vols., 1829), is
serviceable. L. O. Pike, Constitutional History of the House of Lords
(1894), and A. V. Dicey, The Privy Council (1895), are valuable
monographs.
SOURCES.--The sources for English history during this period are to be
found principally in the Acts of the Privy Council (in progress 1890-),
Calendars of State Papers (about 300 vols.), Statutes of the Realm,
1235-1713 (11 vols.), Journals of the House of Lords (16 vols. to
1700), Journals of the House of Commons (13 vols. to 1700), Sir S.
D'Ewes, Journals of the Period of Elizabeth (1682), J. Rushworth,
Historical Collections (1703), Historical Manuscripts Commission,
Reports (106 parts), Deputy Keeper of the Rolls, Public Records,
Reports (64 vols.), and in a vast number of detached publications of
contemporary journals, correspondence, etc.
Many of the most important statutes and other state papers are
collected in G. W. Prothero, Select Statutes and other Constitutional
Documents of the Reigns of Elizabeth and James I., 1559-1625 (1894),
and S. R. Gardiner, Constitutional Documents of the Puritan Revolution,
1628-1660 (1889). Each of these collections has an admirable
introduction discussing the history and institutions of the period.
Other collections illustrating the constitutional history of the time
are George B. Adams and H. Morse Stephens, Select Documents of English
Constitutional History (1901); and Mabel Hill, Liberty Documents
(1901). The following collections of sources also illustrate social
conditions: C. W. Colby, Selections from the Sources of English History
(1899); Elizabeth K. Kendall, Source-Book of English History (1900);
Ernest P. Henderson, Side-Lights on English History (1900).
COMMERCIAL HISTORY.--The Merchants Adventurers are discussed and
illustrated in W. E. Lingelbach, Laws and Ordinances of the Merchant
Adventurers (1902), and The Internal Organization of the Merchant
Adventurers (1902); in G. Schanz, Englische Handelspolitik (2 vols.,
1881); Richard Ehrenberg, England and Hamburg (1896); and Charles
Gross, The Gild Merchant (2 vols., 1890). The commercial companies
generally are described in Cawston and Keane, The Early English
Chartered Companies (1896), a book of slight value and limited extent
of information apart from the fact that it is practically the only work
covering the field. David Macpherson, Annals of Commerce (4 vols.,
1802), is a book of old-fashioned learning on the subject. For the East
India Company there is a large literature. Some of the sources are The
Charters of the East India Company (no date or place of publication);
Birdwood and Foster, The First Letter Book of the East India Company,
1600-1619 (1893); Henry Stevens, Dawn of British Trade to the East
Indies (1886). Of more general histories the most recent and one of the
best is Beckles Wilson, Ledger and Sword (1903).
Events in England affecting the early history of Virginia are related
and the original papers given in Alexander Brown, Genesis of the United
States (2 vols., 1891). Valuable articles by H. L. Osgood bearing on
this general subject are: "England and the Colonies" (Political Science
Quarterly, II.); "Political Ideas of the Puritans" (ibid., VI., Nos. 1,
2); and "The Colonial Corporation" (ibid., XI., Nos. 2, 3). See also
his American Colonies in the Seventeenth Century (2 vols., 1904). On
general commercial conditions, William Cunningham, Growth of English
Industry and Commerce (revised ed., 1904).
RELIGIOUS HISTORY.--W. E. Griffis, The Pilgrims in their Three Homes
(1898); Daniel Neal, History of the Puritans (4 vols., 1732-1738); W.
A. Shaw, The English Church During the Commonwealth (1900); E.
Eggleston, Beginners of a Nation (1897), gives interesting and
unfamiliar details of the religious sects in England. A. B. Hinds, The
England of Elizabeth (1895), is a careful study of the origins of
English Puritanism on the Continent. G. P. Gooch, English Democratic
Ideas in the Seventeenth Century (1898), throws light on the various
sects. William Sewel, History of the Quakers (1725), is a standard
history on the origin of that body.
C. G. Walpole, The Kingdom of Ireland (1882), describes the "Plantation
of Ulster" and the conditions that led to the emigration of the Scotch-
Irish. Of value also are W. E. H. Lecky, England in the Eighteenth
Century (8 vols., 1878-1890); J. P. Prendergast, The Cromwellian
Settlement of Ireland (1865); and H. Green, The Scotch-Irish in America
(1895).
ENGLISH LOCAL GOVERNMENT.--For local government the admirable
bibliography is Charles Gross, Bibliography of British Municipal
History, Including Gilds and Parliamentary Representatives (Harvard
Historical Studies, V., 1897). Contemporary legal treatises concerning
county government are Michael Dalton, Officium Vicecomitum, or the
Office and Authority of Sheriffs (1623), and The Country Justice
(1681); William Greenwood, Authority, Jurisdiction, and Method of
Keeping County Courts, Courts-Leet, and Courts-Baron, etc. (1659);
William Lambarde, Eirenarcha, or the Office of the Justices of Peace
(1588); A. Fitzherbert, L'Office et Authorities de Justices de Peace
(1514), often quoted as "Crompton", an editor who enlarged the original
work in 1583; John Wilkinson, Office and Authority of Coroners and
Sheriffs (1628). All these appear in numerous editions, the above dates
being, as far as ascertained, those of the earliest editions.
Few records of county government exist to any large extent, and very
few have been printed. Among them are three bodies of quarter-sessions
records. John Lister, West Riding Sessions Rolls, 1597-1602 (Yorkshire
Archaeological and Topographical Association, Records Series, III.,
1888); J. C. Jeaffreson, Middlesex County Records, 1549-1608 (Middlesex
County Records Society, 1886-1892); Ernest Axon, in Record Society of
Lancaster and Cheshire, Manchester Sessions, XLII. Some material for
Wiltshire and Worcestershire is published in the Historical Manuscripts
Commission, Reports, VI., VII.
A. H. A. Hamilton, Quarter-Sessions ... chiefly of Devon (1878),
contains much on the subject. E. M. Leonard, The Early History of the
English Poor Relief (1900), is a scholarly study involving much
description of local administration and the central and local
governments.
For the parish, Richard Burn, Ecclesiastical Law (2 vols., 1763);
William Sheppard, Offices and Duties of Constables, Borsholders,
Tythingmen, etc. (1641); William Lambarde, Duties of Church-wardens and
Duties of Constables, affixed to his Eirenarcha (1581); George Meriton,
Duties of Constables (1669). For the actual life of the parish,
recourse must be had to the few bodies of such records that are printed
separately or in local histories. Some of these are as follows: J. L.
Glasscock, Records of St. Michael's Church (1882); Collyer and Turner,
Ilkley, Ancient and Modern (1885); W. T. Woodbridge, Rushbrook Parish
Registers (1903); W. O. Massingberd, History of Ormsby (1893); J. P.
Earwaker, Constables' Accounts of Manchester (3 vols., 1891-1892); John
Nichols, Illustration of the Manners, etc., of England from Accounts of
Church-wardens (1797).
The book that has exerted the most influence on opinion on this subject
is Toulmin Smith, The Parish (1854). It is, however, written in a
spirit of controversy, many of its interpretations of the statutes are
quite incorrect, and it must, therefore, be used with great caution.
Its most valuable contents are its references to sources, and extracts
from local records. Rudolf Gneist, Self-Government, Communalverfassung
und Verwaltungsgeschichte in England (1871), is almost the sole work
covering the whole subject, but it is quite unsatisfactory, being drawn
from a comparatively small group of sources. George E. Howard, Local
Constitutional History of the United States (Johns Hopkins University
Studies, extra vol. IV., 1889), and The Development of the King's Peace
(Nebraska University Studies, I., 1890); Edward Channing, Town and
County Government in the English Colonies of North America (Johns
Hopkins University Studies, II., No. 10), and some other articles by
Herbert B. Adams and others in the same series, include considerable
information on local conditions in England, though their primary
reference is to America.
[Proofer's note: Index omitted.]
END OF VOL. I.
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