Court Life in the strict sense had originated in Italy. There it assumed a Byzantine character—that is, a tendency to the deification of the mon arch. A glimpse of it is shown in Figure 3 (fl.
44), which is copied from a miniature painting of the well-known Codex Grimani. The sovereign is seen eating alone, with head covered, surrounded by courtiers, while his counsellors are making their reports to him. The real coarseness of manners which was glossed over by ceremonial is betrayed by the presence of the two dogs. The time of the sovereign, in so far as it was not employed in warding of danger from his traditional prerogatives, was devoted to pleasure; and it must have been considered a blessing of fortune if the sovereign personally gave himself the slightest concern about the moral welfare of his court or country.
Court ceremonial attained a further development at the rich Burgun dian court. Thence it passed into France, where it was codified into a complete system. In fact, during the reign of Louis XIV. it assumed the nature of a cult and became the model for all other European coun tries. We know from history how French court life fostered the doctrine of absolutism, and how its lofty formalities were in fact a mere superficial cover for underlying frivolity and gross immorality. Nevertheless, it contained an element of civilization that has hitherto been scarcely recognized.
• Social Influence of The Court.—The aspirations for deification which at first affected the French sovereigns afterward spread to other crowned heads—indeed, did not remain limited to courts alone, which were of themselves small enough in Germany, but easily spread to the lower ranks. Not only did every petty nobleman endeavor so far as lay in his power to establish a miniature model of the French court; the passion for becoming something more than was required by mere outward circum stances had taken a firm foothold among all classes of society, and hardly any one of them was so depressed as not to be stirred by the desire of rising above a state of bare and empty existence, of surrounding life with some ornamentation.
The house, which lip to this time had retained much of the character of a mere place of shelter, or at best but clumsily exhibited the owner's wealth, gradually assumed the character of the modern dwelling with its tasteful arrangement and hallowed associations. The earth was no longer regarded as intended simply to nourish its inhabitants, or at most to minister to the taste of the palate; the eye, too, began to make demands for satisfaction; and where poverty of soil refused this, the landscape was enriched by the labors of art. A period came when parks were laid out and places of amusement established in the neighborhood of palaces and cities, when private gardens were ornamented with boskets, and even with hot-houses, and when roads were beautified with long avenues of stately poplars, which the prosaic spirit of modern times has exchanged for its meagre fruit trees.
An xsthetic element made its appearance in the life of the nations—a factor which had thus far been altogether wanting, and which was far from being equalled in compass by the romantic fancies of the Middle Ages. Far from forming any connection with the general corruption which prevailed at the inception of the movement, it became one of the most important agencies in elevating the spirit of the times, and the basis on which our highest culture was raised, although the latter derived force and material from other sources as well. But to investigate these we shall have to go back several centuries in our history.
The Cities.—We have already referred (p. 271) to the historical occur rences which contributed to the advance of the cities. Their prosperity was the reward of industry and skill. As their wealth increased with even unexpected rapidity, the cities did not refrain from seeking satisfac tion outside of mere material enjoyments. The circumstances of such endeavors were conditioned by the fact that their prosperity, although it began during the course of the Middle Ages, did not bear its developed fruit until an entirely different epoch.