Part 259

The greater mass of the Ostrogoth nation who followed Theodemir (or Theudemer) the elder of the royal brothers, into the territories of the Eastern Empire, were rapidly successful in their adventures. The Court at Constantinople made little attempt to oppose them with arms, but bribed them to peace by gifts of money and a large cession of territory in Macedonia. "Amongst the cities which were abandoned to them was Pella, famous as the birthplace of Alexander the Great. Just after the conclusion of this treaty (in the year 474) Theudemer died, and his son Theoderic, at the age of twenty years, began his long and glorious reign as king of the Ostrogoths." Theodoric had been reared in the imperial court at Constantinople, from his eighth to his eighteenth year, his father having pledged him to the emperor as a hostage for the fulfilment of a treaty of peace. He understood, therefore, the corrupt politics of the empire and its weakness, and he made the most of his knowledge. {1561} Sometimes at peace with the reigning powers and sometimes at war; sometimes ravaging the country to the very gates of the impregnable capital, and sometimes settled quietly on lands along the southern bank of the Danube which he had taken in exchange for the Maeedonian tract; sometimes in league and sometimes in furious rivalry with another Gothic chieftain and adventurer, called Theodoric Strabo, whose origin and whose power are somewhat of a mystery--the seriousness to the Eastern Empire of the position and the strength of Theodoric and his Ostrogoths went on developing until the year 488. That year, the statesmen at Constantinople were illuminated by an idea. They proposed to Theodoric to migrate with his nation into Italy and to conquer a kingdom there. The Emperor Zeno, to whom the Roman senate had surrendered the sovereignty of the Western Roman Empire, and into whose hands the barbarian who extinguished it, Odoacer, or Odovacar, had delivered the purple robes--the Emperor Zeno, in the exercise of his imperial function, authorized the conquest to be made. Theodoric did not hesitate to accept a commission so scrupulously legal.

_H. Bradley, Story of the Goths, chapters 14-15._

GOTHS: (Ostrogoths): A. D. 488-526. The kingdom of Theodoric in Italy.

See ROME: A. D. 488-526.

GOTHS: (Ostrogoths): A. D. 493-525. Theodoric in German legend.

See VERONA: A. D. 493-525.

GOTHS: (Visigoths): A. D. 507-509. The kingdom of Toulouse overthrown by the Franks.

"If the successors of Euric had been endowed with genius and energy equal to his, it is possible that the Visigoths might have made themselves masters of the whole Western world. But there was in the kingdom one fatal element of weakness, which perhaps not even a succession of rulers like Euric could have long prevented from working the destruction of the State. The Visigoth kings were Arians; the great mass of their subjects in Gaul were Catholics, and the hatred between religious parties was so great that it was almost impossible for a sovereign to win the attachment of subjects who regarded him as a heretic." After 496, when Clovis, the king of the Franks, renounced his heathenism, professed Christianity, and was baptized by a Catholic bishop, the Catholics of Southern Gaul began almost openly to invite him to the conquest of their country. In the year 507 he responded to the invitation, and declared war against the Visigoth, giving simply as his ground of war that it grieved him to see the fairest part of Gaul in the hands of the Arians. "The rapidity of Clovis's advance was something quite unexpected by the Visigoths. Alaric still clung to the hope of being able to avoid a battle until the arrival of Theodoric's Ostrogoths [from his great kinsman in Italy] and wished to retreat," but the opinion of his officers forced him to make a stand. "He drew up his army on 'the field of Voclad' (the name still survives as Vouillé or Vouglé), on the banks of the Clain, a few miles south of Poitiers, and prepared to receive the attack of the Franks. The battle which followed decided the fate of Gaul. The Visigoths were totally defeated, and their king was killed. Alaric's son, Amalaric, a child five years of age, was carried across the Pyrenees into Spain. During the next two years Clovis conquered, with very little resistance, almost all the Gaulish dominions of the Visigoths, and added them to his own. The 'Kingdom of Toulouse' was no more. ... But Clovis was not allowed to fulfil his intention of thoroughly destroying their [the Visigothic] power, for the great Theoderic of Italy took up the cause of his grandson Amalaric. The final result of many struggles between Theoderic and the Franks was that the Visigoths were allowed to remain masters of Spain, and of a strip of sea-coast bordering on the Gulf of Lyons. ... This diminished kingdom ... lasted just 200 years."

_H. Bradley, The Story of the Goths, chapter 12._

ALSO IN: _T. Hodgkin, Italy and Her Invaders, book 4, chapter 9._

_W. C. Perry, The Franks, chapter 2._

_E. Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chapter 38._

See, also, ARLES: A. D. 508-510.

GOTHS: (Visigoths): A. D. 507-711. The kingdom in Spain.

The conquests of Clovis, king of the Franks, reduced the dominion of the Visigoths on the northern side of the Pyrenees to a small strip of Roman Narbonensis, along the gulf of Lyons; but most of Spain had come under their rule at that time and remained so. Amalaric, son of Alaric II. (and grandson, on the maternal side, of the great Ostrogothic king, Theodoric, who ruled both Gothic kingdoms during the minority of Amalaric), reigned after the death of Theodoric until 531, when he was murdered. He had made Narbonne his capital, until he was driven from it, in a war with one of the sons of Clovis. It was recovered; but the seat of government became fixed at Toledo. During the reign of his successor, the Franks invaded Spain (A.D. 543), but were beaten back from the walls of Cæsaraugusta (modern Saragossa), and retreated with difficulty and disaster. The Visigoths were now able to hold their ground against the conquerors of Gaul, and the limits of their kingdom underwent little subsequent change, until the coming of the Moors. "The Gothic kings, in spite of bloody changes and fierce opposition from their nobility, succeeded in identifying themselves with the land and the people whom they had conquered. They guided the fortunes of the country with a distinct purpose and vigorous hand. By Leovigild (572-586) the power of the rebellious nobility was broken, and the independence and name of the Sueves of Gallicia extinguished. The still more dangerous religious conflict between the Catholic population and the inherited Arianism of the Goths was put down, but at the cost of the life of his son, Herminigild, who had married a Frank and Catholic princess, and who placed himself at the head of the Catholics. But Leovigild was the last Arian king. This cause of dissension was taken away by his son Reccared (568-601), who solemnly abandoned Arianism, and embraced with zeal the popular Catholic creed. He was followed by the greater part of his Arian subjects, but the change throughout the land was not accomplished without some fierce resistance. It led among other things to the disappearance of the Gothic language, and of all that recalled the Arian days, and to the destruction in Spain of what there was of Gothic literature, such as the translation of the Bible, supposed to be tainted with Arianism. But it determined the complete fusion of the Gothic and Latin population. After Reccared, two marked features of the later Spanish character began to show themselves. One was the great prominence in the state of the ecclesiastical element. The Spanish kings sought in the clergy a counterpoise to their turbulent nobility. The great church councils of Toledo became the legislative assemblies of the nation; the bishops in them took precedence of the nobles; laws were made there as well as canons; and seventeen of these councils are recorded between the end of the fourth century and the end of the seventh. {1562} The other feature was that stern and systematic intolerance which became characteristic of Spain. Under Sisebut (612-620), took place the first expulsion of the Jews. ... The Gothic realm of Spain was the most flourishing and the most advanced of the new Teutonic kingdoms. ... But however the Goths in Spain might have worked out their political career, their course was rudely arrested. ... While the Goths had been settling their laws, while their kings had been marshalling their court after the order of Byzantium, the Saracens had been drawing nearer and nearer."

_R. W. Church, The Beginning of the Middle Ages, chapter 5._

ALSO IN: _H. Bradley, Story of the Goths, chapters 29-35._

_S. A. Dunham, History of Spain and Portugal, book 2._

_H. Coppée, Conquest of Spain by the Arab-Moors, book 2._

GOTHS: (Ostrogoths): A. D. 535-553. Fall of the kingdom of Theodoric. Recovery of Italy by Justinian.

See ROME: A. D. 535-553.

GOTHS: (Ostrogoths): A. D. 553. Their disappearance from History.

"Totila and Teia, last of the race of Ostrogoth kings, fell as became their heroic blood, sword in hand, upon the field of battle. Then occurred a singular phenomenon,--the annihilation and disappearance of a great and powerful people from the world's history. ... A great people, which had organized an enlightened government, and sent 200,000 fighting men into the field of battle, is annihilated and forgotten. A wretched remnant, transported by Narses to Constantinople, were soon absorbed in the miserable proletariat of a metropolitan city. The rest fell by the sword, or were gradually amalgamated with the mixed population of the peninsula. The Visigoth kingdom in Gaul and Spain, which had been overshadowed by the glories of the great Theodoric, emerges into independent renown, and takes up the traditions of the Gothic name. In the annals of Europe, the Ostrogoth is heard of no more."

_J. G. Sheppard, The Fall of Rome, lecture 6._

GOTHS: (Visigoths): A. D. 711-713. Fall of the kingdom in Spain.

See SPAIN: A. D. 711-713.

GOTHS: End----------

GOURGUES, Dominic de, The vengeance of.

See FLORIDA: A. D. 1567-1568.

GOWRIE PLOT, The.

See SCOTLAND: A. D. 1600.

GRACCHI, The.

See ROME: B. C. 133-121.

GRACES OF CHARLES I. TO THE IRISH.

See IRELAND: A. D. 1625.

GRAF.-GRAFIO.

"The highest official dignitary of which the Salic law [law of the Sulian Franks] makes mention is the Grafio (Graf, Count), who was appointed by the king, and therefore protected by a triple ... leodis [weregild]. His authority and jurisdiction extended over a district answering to the gau (canton) of later times, in which he acted as the representative of the king, and was civil and military governor of the people."

_W. C. Perry, The Franks, chapter 10._

See, also, MARGRAVE.

GRAFTON-CHATHAM MINISTRY, The.

See ENGLAND: A. D.1765-1768, and 1770.

GRAHAM'S DIKE.

See ROMAN WALLS IN BRITAIN.

GRAMPIANS, OR MONS GRANPIUS.

Victoriously fought by the Romans under Agricola with the tribes of Caledonia, A. D. 86. Mr. Skene fixes the battle ground at the junction of the Isla with the Tay.

See BRITAIN: A. D. 78-84.

GRAN CHACO, The.

"This tract of flat country, lying between the tropic and 29° South, extends eastward to the Parana and Paraguay, and westward to the province of Santiago del Estero. Its area is 180,000 square miles. About one-third belongs to Paraguay, and a small part to Bolivia, but the bulk is in the Argentine Republic. ... The Gran Chaco is no desert, but a rich alluvial lowland, fitted for colonization, which is hindered by the want of knowledge of the rivers and their shiftings."

_The American Naturalist, volume 23, page 799._

"In the Quitchoane language, which is the original language of Peru, they call 'chacu,' those great flocks of deer, goats, and such other wild animals, which the inhabitants of this part of America drive together when they hunt them; and this name was given to the country we speak of, because at the time Francis Pizarro made himself master of a great part of the Peruvian empire, a great number of its inhabitants took refuge there. Of 'Chacu', which the Spaniards pronounce 'Chacou" custom has made 'Chaco.' It appears that, at first, they comprehended nothing under this name but the country lying between the mountains of the Cordilliere, the Pilco Mayo, and the Red River; and that they extended it, in process of time, in proportion as other nations joined the Peruvians, who had taken refuge there to defend their liberties against the Spaniards."

_Father Charlevoix, History of Paraguay, book 3 (volume l)._

For an account of the tribes of the Gran Chaco,

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: PAMPAS TRIBES.

GRANADA: The rise of the city.

Granada "was small and unimportant until the year 1012. Before that time, it was considered a dependency of Elvira [the neighboring ancient Roman city of Illiberis]; but, little by little, the people of Elvira migrated to it, and as it grew Elvira dwindled into insignificance."

_H. Coppée, Conquest of Spain by the Arab-Moors, book 6, chapter 5, note (volume 2)._

GRANADA: A. D. 711. Taken by the Arab-Moors.

See SPAIN: A. D. 711-713.

GRANADA: A. D. 1238. The founding of the Moorish kingdom. Its vassalage to the King of Castile.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1212-1238.

GRANADA: A. D. 1238-1273. The kingdom under its founder. The building of the Alhambra.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1238-1273.

GRANADA: A. D. 1273-1460. Slow decay and crumbling of the Moorish kingdom.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1273-1460.

GRANADA: A. D. 1476-1492. The fall of the Moorish kingdom.

See SPAIN: A. D. 1476-1492.

GRANADA: End----------

GRANADA, Treaty of.

See ITALY: A. D: 1501-1504.

GRANADINE CONFEDERATION, The.

See COLOMBIAN STATES: A. D. 1830-1886.

GRAND ALLIANCES against Louis XIV.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1689-1690, to 1695-1696; SPAIN: A. D. 1701-1702; and ENGLAND: A. D. 1701-1702.

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GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC.

"The Grand Army of the Republic was organized April 6, 1866, in Decatur, the county seat of Macon County, Illinois. Its originator was Dr. Benjamin F. Stephenson, a physician of Springfield, Illinois, who had served during the war as surgeon of the 14th Illinois Infantry. He had spent many weeks in study and plans so that the Order might be one that would meet with the general approval of the surviving comrades of the war, and thus insure their hearty co-operation. He made a draft of a ritual, and sent it by Captain John S. Phelps to Decatur, where two veterans, Messrs. Coltrin and Prior, had a printing-office. These gentlemen, with their employees, who had been in the service, were first obligated to secrecy, and the ritual was then placed in type in their office. Captain Phelps returned to Springfield with proofs of the ritual, but the comrades in Decatur were so interested in the project, that, with the active assistance of Captain M. F. Kanan and Dr. J. W. Routh, a sufficient number of names were at once secured to an application for charter, and these gentlemen went to Springfield to request Dr. Stephenson to return with them and organize a post at Decatur. The formation of a post was under way in Springfield, but not being ready for muster, Dr. Stephenson, accompanied by several comrades, proceeded to Decatur, and, as stated, on April 6, 1866, mustered post No.1, with General Isaac C. Pugh as post commander, and Captain Kanan as adjutant. The latter gave material aid to Dr. Stephenson in the work of organizing other posts, and Dr. Routh served as chairman of a committee to revise the ritual. The title, 'The Grand Army of the Republic, U. S.,' was formally adopted that night. Soon after this, post No.2 was organized at Springfield with General Jules C. Webber as commander. ... Nothing was done in the Eastern States about establishing posts until the opportunity was given for consultation on this subject at a national soldiers' and sailors' convention, held in Pittsburg in September, 1866, when prominent representatives from Eastern States were obligated and authorized to organize posts. The first posts so established were posts Nos. 1 in Philadelphia, and 3 in Pittsburg, by charters direct from the acting commander-in-chief, Dr. Stephenson; and post 2, Philadelphia, by charter received from General J. K. Proudfit, department commander of Wisconsin. A department convention was held at Springfield, Illinois, July 12, 1866, and adopted resolutions declaring the objects of the G. A. R. General John W. Palmer was elected the first Department Commander. ... The first national convention was held at Indianapolis, Ind., November 20, 1866. ... General Stephen A. Hurlbut, of Illinois, was elected Commander-in-Chief. General Thomas B. McKean, of New York, Senior Vice-Commander-in-Chief; General Nathan Kimball, of Indiana, Junior Vice-Commander-in-Chief; and Dr. Stephenson, Adjutant-General. The objects of the Order cannot be more briefly stated than from the articles and regulations.

1. To preserve and strengthen those kind and fraternal feelings which bind together the Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines who united to suppress the late Rebellion, and to perpetuate the memory and history of the dead.

2. To assist such former comrades in arms as need help and protection, and to extend needful aid to the widows and orphans of those who have fallen.

3. To maintain true allegiance to the United States of America, based upon a paramount respect for, and fidelity to, its Constitution and laws, to discountenance whatever tends to weaken loyalty, incites to insurrection, treason, or rebellion, or in any manner impairs the efficiency and permanency of our free institutions; and to encourage the spread of universal liberty, equal rights, and justice to all men.

Article IV. defines the qualifications of members in the following terms: Soldiers and Sailors of the United States Army, Navy, or Marine Corps who served between April 12, 1861, and April 29, 1865, in the war for the suppression of the Rebellion, and those having been honorably discharged therefrom after such service, and of such State regiments as were called into active service and subject to the orders of United States general officers, between the dates mentioned, shall be eligible to membership in the Grand Army of the Republic. No person shall be eligible who has at any time borne arms against the United States. ... The second national encampment was held in Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pa., January 15, 1868. ... General John A. Logan, of Illinois, was elected Commander-in-Chief. ... That which tended most to attract public attention to the organization was the issuance of the order of General Logan early in his administration, in 1868, directing the observance of May 30th as Memorial Day. ... At the national encampment, held May 11, 1870, at Washington, D. C., the following article was adopted as a part of the rules and regulations: 'The national encampment hereby establishes a Memorial Day, to be observed by the members of the Grand Army of the Republic, on the 30th day of May annually, in commemoration of the deeds of our fallen comrades. When such day occurs on Sunday, the preceding day shall be observed, except where, by legal enactment, the succeeding day is made a legal holiday, when such day shall be observed.' Memorial Day has been observed as such every year since throughout the country wherever a post of the Grand Army of the Republic has been established. In most of the States the day has been designated as a holiday."

_W. H. Ward, editor, Records of Members of the Grand Army of the Republic, pages 6-9._

ALSO IN: _G. S. Merrill, The Grand Army of the Republic (New England Magazine, August, 1890)._

GRAND ARMY REMONSTRANCE, The.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1648 (NOVEMBER-DECEMBER).

GRAND COUNCIL, The.

See VENICE: A. D. 1032-1319.

GRAND MODEL, The.

The "fundamental constitutions" framed by the philosopher, John Locke, for the Carolinas, were so called in their day.

See NORTH CAROLINA: A. D. 1669-1693.

GRAND PENSIONARY, The.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1651-1660.

GRAND REMONSTRANCE, The.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1641 (NOVEMBER).

GRAND SERJEANTY.

See FEUDAL TENURES.

GRAND SHUPANES.

See SHUPANES.

GRANDELLA, OR BENEVENTO, Battle of (1266).

See ITALY (SOUTHERN): A. D. 1250-1268.

GRANDI OF FLORENCE, The.

See FLORENCE: A. D. 1250-1293.

GRANGE, The. Grangers.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1877-1891.

GRANICUS, Battle of the (B. C. 334).

See MACEDONIA: B. C. 334-330.

{1564}

GRANSON, Battle of (1476).

See BURGUNDY: A. D. 1476-1477.

GRANT, General Ulysses S. First Battle at Belmont.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1861 (SEPTEMBER-NOVEMBER: ON THE MISSISSIPPI).

Capture of Forts Henry and Donelson.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (JANUARY-FEBRUARY: KENTUCKY-TENNESSEE).

Battle of Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (FEBRUARY-APRIL: TENNESSEE).

Under Halleck at Corinth.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (APRIL-MAY: TENNESSEE-MISSISSIPPI).

Command of the Armies of the Mississippi and Tennessee.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (JUNE-OCTOBER: TENNESSEE-KENTUCKY).

Iuka and Corinth.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862 (SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER: MISSISSIPPI).

Campaign against Vicksburg.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1863 (JANUARY-APRIL: ON THE MISSISSIPPI), and (APRIL-JULY: ON THE MISSISSIPPI).

The Chattanooga campaign.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1863 (OCTOBER-NOVEMBER: TENNESSEE).

In chief command of the whole army.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1864 (MARCH-APRIL).

Last campaign. See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1864 (MAY: VIRGINIA) to 1865 (APRIL: VIRGINIA).

Presidential election, re-election and Administration.

See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1868 (NOVEMBER), to 1876-1877.

GRANVELLE'S MINISTRY IN THE NETHERLANDS.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1555-1559, to 1562-1566.

GRASSHOPPER WAR, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: SHAWANESE.

GRATIAN, Roman Emperor (Western), A. D. 367-383.

GRAUBUNDEN: Achievement of independence.

See SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1396-1499.

The Valtelline revolt and war.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1624-1626.

Dismemberment by Bonaparte.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1797 (MAY-OCTOBER).

GRAVE: A. D. 1586. Siege and capture by the Prince of Parma.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1585-1586.

GRAVE: A. D. 1593. Capture by Prince Maurice.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1588-1593.

GRAVE: End----------

GRAVELINES: A. D. 1383. Capture and destruction by the English.

See FLANDERS: A. D. 1383.

GRAVELINES: A. D. 1652. Taken by the Spaniards.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1652.

GRAVELINES: A. D. 1658. Siege and capture by the French.