by voluntary associations. Of such organizations may be
instanced the Sisters of Charity and, in recent years, the various
orders of deaconesses. For although charity has gone outside the
bounds of the Church, its ministrations are directly traceable to the
convents, and it yet finds its most appropriate relations and allies
to be religion and the Church.

CHAPTER VIII

THE WOMEN OF THE INDUSTRIAL CLASSES

The most remarkable fact of the twelfth century in England was the
growth of the towns. As has been already observed in a previous
chapter, the conquest of Britain by the Normans modified the
insularity of the people and brought them into closer communication
with the people of the continent. One of the most marked effects of
this change was the introduction into the country of skilled Norman
craftsmen. The stimulating effect of the influx of these specialized
workmen was in result not unlike the general awakening of trade and
commerce throughout Europe, at a later time, as the result of the
Crusades.

The expansion of England's industry was also favored by the vigorous
administrations of Henry I. and Henry II. Another contributive factor
was the decline in power of the barons. Henry I. pitted the town
against the castle in order to counterbalance the vast influence which
was exerted by each. Henry's policy of limiting the independence of
the barons was furthered by the introduction of scutage, by which
the king was enabled to call to his aid mercenary troops and did not
have to rely wholly upon the feudal forces. Then, too, the Assize of
Arms restored the national militia to its former importance. Such,
in brief, were the constitutional measures by which the towns were
advantaged and their position as related to the castles in a sense
reversed. The liberty of the latter became increasingly curtailed,
while that of the former was correspondingly augmented.

The town and the castle, however, were not antagonistic, the interests
of the former being furthered by the protection of the latter. The
monastery, also, aided the town by attracting trade. There was little
difference in conditions of life between the town and the country;
both engaged in agriculture as well as in trade, and both were
governed by a royal officer, or, it might be, by some lord's steward,
while, of course, the houses were somewhat more clustered in the town
than in the country, and the town possessed the merchant guild. It is
impossi