CHAP. I. Thus having conquered herself, if I may use the PART II phrase, and no longer apprehensive of any foreign FRANCE. enemy, France was prepared, under a monarch

flushed with sanguine ambition, to carry her arms into other countries, and to contest the prize of glory and power upon the ample theatre of Europe.*

But this succession being disputed
by other claimants, and especially
by Louis IX. who had married
her eldest sister, she compromised
differences by marrying Charles
of Anjou, the king's brother. The
family of Anjou reigned in Pro-
vence, as well as in Naples, till
the death of Joan in 1382, who
having no children, adopted Louis
duke of Anjou, brother of Charles
V. as her successor. This second
Angevin line ended in 1481 by
the death of Charles III. though
Renier duke of Lorraine, who was
descended through a female, had a
claim which it does not seem easy
to repel by argument. It was
very easy however for Louis XI.,
to whom Charles III. had be-
queathed his rights, to repel it by
force, and accordingly he took
possession of Provence, which was
permanently united to the crown
by letters patent of Charles VIII.

in 1486.

The principal authority, exclusive of original writers, on which I have relied for this chapter, is the History of France by Velly, Villaret, and Garnier; a work which, notwithstanding several defects, has absolutely superseded those of Mezeray and Daniel. The part of the Abbé

Velly comes down to the middle of the eighth volume, (12mo. edition) and of the reign of Philip de Valois. His continuator Villaret was interrupted by death in the seventeenth volume, and in the reign of Louis XI. In my references to this history, which for common facts I have not thought it necessary to make, I have merely named the author of the particular volume which I quote. This has made the above explanation convenient, as the reader might imagine that I referred to three distinct works. Of these three historians, Garnier, the last, is the most judicious, and, I believe, the most accurate. His prolixity, though a material defect, and one which has occasioned the work itself to become

■ Art de vérifier les Dates, t. ii. p. 445.-Garnier, t. xix. p. 57. 47 4.

CHAPTER II.

ON THE FEUDAL SYSTEM, ESPECIALLY IN FRANCE.

PART I.

State of Ancient Germany-Effects of the Conquest of Gaul by the
Franks-Tenures of Land-Distinction of Laws-Constitution
of the ancient Frank Monarchy-Gradual Establishment of
Feudal Tenures-Principles of a Feudal Relation-Ceremonies of
Homage and Investiture-Military Service-Feudal Incidents of
Relief, Aid, Wardship, &c.-Different Species of Fiefs-Feudal
Law-books.

CHAP.II. GERMANY, in the age of Tacitus, was divided
PART I. among a number of independent tribes, differing
FEUDAL greatly in population and importance. Their

SYSTEM.

Political

state of an

many.

country, overspread with forests and morasses, afforded little arable land, and the cultivation of cient Ger- that little was inconstant. Their occupations were principally the chase and pasturage; without cities, or even any contiguous dwellings. They had kings, elected out of particular families; and other chiefs, both for war and administration of justice, whom merit alone recommended to the public choice. But the power of each was greatly limited; and the decision of all leading questions,

FEUDAL

though subject to the previous deliberation of the CHAP.II. chieftains, sprung from the free voice of a popu- PART I. lar assembly.* The principal men, however, of at German tribe fully partook of that estimation, SYSTEM. which is always the reward of valour, and commonly of birth. They were surrounded by a cluster of youths, the most gallant and ambitious of the nation, their pride at home, their protection in the field; whose ambition was flattered, or gratitude conciliated, by such presents as a leader of barbarians could confer. These were the institutions of the people who overthrew the empire of Rome, congenial to the spirit of infant societies, and such as travellers have found among nations in the same stage of manners throughout the world. And, although in the lapse of four centuries between the ages of Tacitus and Clovis, some change may have been wrought by long intercourse with the Romans, yet the foundations of their political system were unshaken.

lands in conquered pro

When these tribes from Germany and the Partition of neighbouring countries poured down upon the empire, and began to form permanent settlements, vinces. they made a partition of the lands in the conquered provinces between themselves and the original possessors. The Burgundians and Visigoths took two-thirds of their respective conquests,

De minoribus rebus principes consultant, de majoribus omnes; ita tamen, ut ea quoque, quorum penes plebem arbitrium est, apud

Mor. Germ. c. xi. Acidalius and
Grotius contend for prætractentur ;
which would be neater, but the
same sense appears to be conveyed

CHAP.II. leaving the remainder to the Roman proprietor. PARTI. Each Burgundian was quartered, under the gentle FEUDAL name of guest, upon one of the former tenants, SYSTEM. whose reluctant hospitality confined him to the

Alodial and
Salic lands.

smaller portion of his estate.* The Vandals in Africa, a more furious race of plunderers, seized all the best lands.† The Lombards of Italy took a third part of the produce. We cannot discover any mention of a similar arrangement in the laws or history of the Franks. It is, however, clear, that they occupied, by public allotment, or individual pillage, a great portion of the lands of France.

The estates possessed by the Franks, as their property, were termed alodial; a word, which is sometimes restricted to such as had descended by inheritance. These were subject to no burthen except that of public defence. They passed to all the children equally, or, in their failure, to the nearest kindred.§ But of these alodial possessions, there was a particular species, denominated Salic, from which females were expressly excluded. What these lands were, and what was the cause of the

* Leg. Burgund. c. 54, 55.
+ Procopius de Bello Vandal.
1. i. c. 5.

Alodial lands are commonly
opposed to beneficiary or feudal;
the former being strictly proprie-
tary, while the latter depended up-
on a superior. In this sense the
word is of continual recurrence in
ancient histories, laws and instru-
It sometimes however
bears the sense of inheritance; and

ments.

this seems to be its meaning in the famous 62d chapter of the Salic law; de Alodis. Alodium interdum opponitur comparato, says Du Cange, in formulis veteribus. Hence, in the charters of the eleventh century, hereditary fiefs are frequently termed alodia. Recueil des Historiens de France, t. xi. préface. Vaissette, Hist. de Languedoc, t. ii. p. 109.

Leg. Salicæ, c. 62.