lies, and compelled them to
seek new habitations. 18. About the middle of the sixth century they
invaded Italy, which the Eastern emperors had just before wrested
from the Turks, and made themselves masters of the northern part;
which has since borne the name of Lombardy.

THE SLA'VI.

19. These were the last of the barbarian hordes, and are not mentioned
by any author before the sixth century. They first appeared in the
east of Europe, and spreading themselves over the central provinces,
occupied the greater part of the countries that now constitute the
dominions of Austria. The Sla'vi warred chiefly against the Eastern
empire, and their contest with the Grecian forces on the Danube, in
the sixth and seventh centuries, shook the throne of Constantinople.
The VENE'DI and the AN'TES were tribes of the Slavi.

THE NORMANS.

20. The piratical inhabitants of Norway and Denmark were called by the
Franks, Normans, or, Men of the North; in Ireland they were named
Ostmen, or, Men of the East. Their depredations began to attract
notice early in the seventh century, but did not become formidable
before the ninth: when they obtained possession of that part of France
now called Normandy. In the two following centuries they wrested
England from the Saxons, and established kingdoms in Sicily and
southern Italy.

THE BULGARIANS.

21. The Bulgarians were of Scythian or Tartar origin, and became
formidable to the Eastern empire in the latter part of the seventh
century. In the beginning of the ninth, Cruni'nus, their king,
advanced to the gates of Constantinople; but the city proving too
strong, he seized Adrianople, and returned home loaded with booty. The
successors of Cruni'nus did not inherit his abilities, and the
Bulgarians soon sunk into comparative insignificance.

THE SARACENS MOORS AND TURKS.

22. In concluding this chapter, it may be proper to give some account
of the subverters of the Eastern empire, and of their irruption into
Europe. The Arabs, called in the middle ages Saracens, are supposed to
be descended from Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar. During all
the changes of dynasties and empires in the eastern and western
world, they retained their independence, though almost constantly at
war with the surrounding states. "Their hand was against every man,
and every man's hand was against them." In the beginning of the
seventh century, Mohammed, a native of Mecca, descended from a noble
family, laid claim to