Such feuds were so barbarous in the sixteenth century that not only the active partisans, but also all the friends and retainers of the combatants, were involved; the territories of both parties were laid waste with fire, robbery, and murder; wealthy persons were held in cruel bondage until a heavy ransom was paid for their release. The rural population were the chief sufferers from such disorders, for they lacked the defences of the cities. The churchyards of the larger villages were, it is true, usually provided with defences dating from an early period, but the inroads of robbers were often so unexpected that flight or preservation was impos sible. We have already spoken (p. 275) of the reprisals taken by the cities.
Not only did the nobility wage war among themselves and city arm against city, but even different classes or associations or individuals in the same community engaged in deadly strife. Such evils could be effect ually remedied only when local governments became stronger and local police were established. The imperial government was too distant to oversee, much more to control, all that went on in its vast territory. The empire would have fallen to pieces had it not been for such local authorities. The question of order was paramount to that of unity. The cities, too, would soon have degenerated in their selfish isolation had it not been for the healthy accessions they received from the country.
The preservation and elevation of the peasantry demanded attention in proportion to its backward and deplorable condition. The Church was again the'savior of this oppressed class, not only by the hopes it gave them of eternal life when there should be neither master nor servant, but also by interesting itself in their social condition. Its constitution had a democratic element. Its orders were open to the lowest peasant, and his promotion to its highest honors depended entirely upon his personal qualities and favorable circumstances. Many episcopal seats, even those of the ecclesiastical electors and the papal throne itself, have been occupied, as is well known, by men whose birth gave no prom ise of their future greatness. Every serf who took part in the Crusades was, by command of the pope, made a freeman, and many of the nobles on taking the cross liberated of their own accord, personally or by testa meat, their serfs at their departure. Many serfs absconded to the cities, either by breaking through established law or by availing themselves of the opportunity of some fend. They were treated as " inhabitants of the pale" that is, those who lived outside the walls of the city, hut within its boundary, and enjoyed some of its privileges.
Gradually, with widening knowledge, the relations of superior and vassal become more humane, or at least were based on sounder principles of economy. These relations had always varied according to the circum
stances of the different districts, but nowhere had they degenerated into real slavery. By many lords the obligations of the serfs were limited to fixed services and payments. The latter were made in kind or in money, and gradually became less onerous as money cheapened—a phenomenon that did not originate in modern times.
The new princes of the empire, however, at first looked upon their sub jects entirely in the light of the old feudal system, and there were some among them, even as late as the eighteenth century, who tried by law and force to reduce the overburdened peasants to a condition little higher than that of their hunting-dogs. Still, it was the princes with whom arrangements were finally made for releasing- the serfs from bondage. In some regions, such as Friesland and Lower Saxony, an independent peas ant class had always existed; in others, Swabia, for example, it needed the terrors of the French Revolution to soften the disposition of the rulers.' Oza/aws.—Abont the end of the Middle Ages tramps and vagabonds formed a class recruited from individuals whose social position had been forfeited. Banishment for life or for a term of years, coupled with severe threats against return, was for minor offences a usual form of punishment in the cities. Such individuals were simply expelled, and consequently, if they had no connections elsewhere, were compelled to roam about the country. To this class were added absconding serfs, disbanded soldiers, and the rabble of all other classes. With something like association they molested the smaller settlements by begging and stealing, but principally became troublesome on account of their large numbers.
of .Modern Times.—The evidences of the progress of civiliza tion since the Reformation are to be sought principally in the cities. Legal regulations were thoroughly systematized and tolerably well en forced. Social intercourse advanced as the more highly cultured elements obtained a foothold among the citizens. Reactions necessarily took place, and at first these were not to contemplate. The newly-acquired wealth led to gross sensuality, complaints about which occur as early as the fifteenth century; societies were even formed among all classes for the systematic practice of debaucheries. But the evil worked its own cure. Vice exhausted the wealth of the cities; the city aristocracies impoverished themselves by their competition with the nobles; and extravagance was necessarily followed by economy.