The Church, to its great honor, lifted a protesting voice
against this evil. It proclaimed a "Peace of God" and forbade attacks
on all defenseless people, including priests, monks, pilgrims, merchants,
peasants, and women. But it was found impossible to prevent the feudal lords
from warring with each other, even though they were threatened with the eternal
torments of Hell; and so the Church tried to restrict what it could not
altogether abolish. A "Truce of God" was established. All men were to
cease fighting from Wednesday evening to Monday morning of each week, during
Lent, and on various holy days. The truce would have given Christendom peace
for about two hundred and forty days each year; but it seems never to have been
strictly observed except in limited areas.
ABOLITION OF PRIVATE WARFARE
As the power of the kings increased in western Europe,
they naturally sought to put an end to the constant fighting between their
subjects. The Norman rulers of Normandy, England, and Sicily restrained their
turbulent nobles with a strong hand. Peace came later in most parts of the
Continent; in Germany, "fist right" (the rule of the strongest)
prevailed until the end of the fifteenth century. The abolition of private war
was the first step in Europe toward universal peace. The second step—the
abolition of public war between nations—is yet to be taken.
