was assisted in Italy by the writings of Dante, Boccaccio, and Petrarch.

In Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal, the Teutonic, and in Roumania the Slavonic and Teutonic words gave way gradually before those of Latin derivation, but the northern grammar prevailed over the southern, and the new languages thus formed presented, with the English, German, and Scandinavian, a new class of tongues, differing greatly from the Latin, Greek, Sanscrit, and most other Aryan languages in the paucity of their inflections, and the simplicity of their grammatical structure. There are thirteen hundred grammatical derivatives, each different in form, framed by inflection from one regular radical verb, in Greek, whereas in English we have only six different forms of derivatives in regular verbs, formed by inflection: thus, from love we derive loving, loved, loves, lovest, loveth, and lovedst; or, six in all. We depend upon the nominative usually to distinguish the person and number of the verb, and upon auxiliaries to distinguish most of the tenses. the French and Spanish there are about ten times as many derivatives from each infinitive among the regular verbs as in English; in Greek about two hundred times as many.

In

SEC. 137. Feudalism.-The Teutonic conquerors established a new political system, called feudalism, in Western Europe. The monarch by conquest became, in theory, the owner of all the land, which he divided out among his chief captains, who, in return, were required to acknowledge his sovereignty, and to serve him in war without pay-if he should so require, for a fixed period in every year, usually not more than three months-with a number of men proportioned to the size of the dukedom, carldom, county, barony, or

other possession. The dukes, earls, and counts, sometimes sublet their lands to minor nobles. In most countries the tillage was done by serfs, who were attached to the soil, bound to cultivate it, and under obligation to serve their lord in war, and to give to him a portion of the crop-usually one-half or more. They were entitled to no money wages. The condition of the free men, who could change their residences and occupations without leave of any lord, was little better than that of serfs, and sometimes not so good. In some countries the law provided that every piece of land and every tiller of the soil must have a feudal lord.

In feudal times heavy-armed horsemen obtained an importance in war unknown in antiquity, while chariots, and chariots with scythes, entirely disappeared. The change was due partly to the invention of stirrups, which gave the rider a more secure seat, and to horseshoes, which fitted the horses for longer and more steady service. Both inventions were made in the dark period after the Teutonic conquest. One armed horseman was counted equivalent in battle to a multitude of footmen; and the institution of chivalry, in which all the honors of society were reserved for the knights, followed.

SEC. 138. Nobility.-Feudalism was designed to establish the authority of the Teutonic conquerors over the Latin and Gallic population, and to provide a method for speedily calling out a formidable military power. It controlled the forces of the whole kingdom, and yet relieved the king from many of the troubles of administration. If a noble failed to obey the summons, he was dispossessed. The main purpose of the feudal system being military at first, the feudal possessions went with the military commands, so that, when a duke died, his

dukedom was given, not to his minor child, but to some experienced captain fit to aid his king in war. As, however, the Roman and Gallic populations readily accepted the Teutonic yoke, the fiefs soon began to pass from father to son, and thus the hereditary nobility of modern Europe arose. It was strictly feudal in its origin.

SEC. 139. Feudal Evils.-The great feudal lords had the larger part of the administration in their hands. They maintained courts of justice, coined money, and made war on one another, without violating their duties to their sovereign. The subordinate could not transfer his estate, the serf and the orphan girl of noble family could not marry without the consent of the superior, and he frequently exacted pay for it. Each great noble, holding his fief directly from the crown, led his own men in war, and kept them separate from other forces, so far as possible; and it was probably the custom of meeting in arms that fixed the boundaries of dialects in most cases, every county or dukedom having its own. The modern ideas of nationality were slow in taking shape. The nobles frequently used their right of makYing war on one another, and, of course, their serfs suffered and formed animosities inconsistent with national feeling. Gradually the right of private war was restricted. In 1245 an ordinance was published in France forbidding any one to commence hostilities against the friends or vassals of his adversary till forty days after the offense for which the war was undertaken. In 1296 it was ordered that no private war should be prosecuted while the king was fighting a foreign enemy; and it was not until 1413 that private wars ceased in that country.

SEC. 140. Free Cities.-The nobles claimed a des

potic power, including the right to levy unlimited taxes and tolls on all business established in, and on all merchandise passing through, their fiefs. When the monarchs began to consolidate their kingdoms, and weaken the power of the nobles, they saw that they must strengthen the people, and they did this by granting charters to towns and cities, conferring upon them important rights. Some of the old Roman cities may have retained certain ancient privileges, including that of electing their municipal councils; but many new charters were issued as early as the middle of the tenth century. The free cities generally had the rights of managing their local municipal affairs, erecting fortifications, enlisting soldiers, making war, administering justice, and being exempt from all taxes, save those specified in their charters. The government was placed in the hands of the burghers, or governing citizens, who were always householders, and usually a minority of the adult males within the walls. In some cities all the burghers were men of wealth or influence. Among the common privileges of burghers were, that they could demand the settlement of their disputed rights before courts of justice without resort to duel, a test in which they were unfairly matched against the warrior nobles; they might require dangerous enemies to give bonds to keep the peace; they could demand civil process to enforce the collection of their debts; they were entitled to protection in their rights by their fellow-burghers and the city; felons, convicted in their courts, were not to be released for money payments; and new burghers were not to be created unless they were householders, or, in most cases, owners of their own dwellings. As a general rule, a burgher lost his burghership when he became insolvent.

These privileges gave advantages so great that the cities rapidly rose in importance and wealth, while the nobles lost their power, and serfdom rapidly decreased. The cities of Italy were the first to become opulent, and those of Flanders soon followed in prosperity. After the expulsion of the crusaders from Palestine, Jerusalem began to lose its credit as a resort for pilgrims, and Rome became the centre of attraction for them, and the Italian peninsula was enriched by them. in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Venice, Milan, Florence, Pisa, and Genoa, shared the benefit of the pilgrimages with Rome. About the same time, Bruges, Ghent, and Liege, were the great manufacturing cities of Northern Europe. The Duke of Brabant, in 1339, and the Duke of Milan, in 1367, gave to their daughters marriage portions such as were given by no king in that century.

SEC. 141. Germany and France.-Charlemagne ascended the Frankish throne in 768, and he reigned. forty-six years over an empire that extended from the Elbe to the Ebro, and from the North Sea to Hungary and Naples. He was Teutonic in blood and speech, and the main strength of his armies came from districts that were almost exclusively Teutonic. He conquered the Saxons and compelled them to accept Christianity; allowed the pope to crown him; and, in return, he granted a temporal sovereignty over the city of Rome to the papacy. Education had great value in his eyes, and he made strenuous efforts to advance it. Soon after his death the empire was divided, and Germany and France were separated. The latter was recognized as a kingdom, the former as an empire, the successor in dignity of the ancient Roman Empire, with dominion over a large part of Italy.