THE
HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF EUROPE
VOL. I.
LONDON: PRINTED BY
SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE
AND PARLIAMENT STREET
THE
HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY
OF
EUROPE
BY
EDWARD A. FREEMAN, D.C.L., LL.D.
HONORARY FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, OXFORD
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. I.—TEXT
LONDON
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
1881
All rights reserved
PREFACE.
It is now several years since this book was begun. Ithas been delayed by a crowd of causes, by a temporaryloss of strength, by enforced absence from England, byother occupations and interruptions of various kinds.I mention this only because of the effect which I fearit has had on the book itself. It has been impossibleto make it, what a book should, if possible, be, theresult of one continuous effort. The mere fact that thekindness of the publishers allowed the early part to beprinted some years back has, I fear, led to somerepetition and even contradiction. A certain changeof plan was found unavoidable. It proved impossibleto go through the whole volume accordingto the method of the earlier chapters. Instead oftreating Europe as a whole, I found it needful to divideit into several large geographical groups. The resultis that each of the later chapters has had to go overagain some small amount of ground which had beenalready gone over in the earlier chapters. In somecases later lights have led to some changes of viewor expression. I have marked these, as far as I{i}could, in the Additions and Corrections. If in anycase I have failed to do so, the later statement is theone which should be relied on.
I hope that I have made the object of the workclear in the Introductory Chapter. It is really a veryhumble one. It aims at little more than tracing outthe extent of various states at different times, and atattempting to place the various changes in their duerelation to one another and to their causes. I am not,strictly speaking, writing history. I have little to dowith the internal affairs of any country. I have lookedat events mainly with reference to their effect on theEuropean map. This has led to a reversal of what tomany will seem the natural order of things. In aconstitutional history of Europe, our own island wouldclaim the very first place. In my strictly geographicalpoint of view, I believe I am right in giving it the last.
I of course assume in the reader a certain elementaryknowledge of European history, at least asmuch as may be learned from my own General Sketch.Names and things which have been explained there Ihave not thought it needful to explain again. I needhardly say that I found myself far more competent todeal with some parts of the work than with others.No one can take an equal interest in, or have anequal knowledge of, all branches of so wide a subject.Some parts of the book will represent real originalresearch; others must be dealt with in a far less{ii}thorough way, and will represent only knowledge gotup for the occasion. In such cases the reader willdoubtless find out the difference for himself. ButI have felt my own deficiencies most keenly in theGerman part. No part of European history is to memore a