l his acts of charity. One day, on returning from prayers,
Robert perceived that his lance by the queen's orders had been adorned
with richly chased silver. He looked around his palace and was not
long in finding a poor, tattered wretch whom he ordered to search for
a tool, and the pair locked themselves in a room; the silver was soon
stripped from the lance, the king hastily thrust it into the beggar's
wallet and bade him escape before the queen discovered the loss. The
poor whom he admitted to his table, despite the angry protests of the
queen, at times ill repaid his charity. On one occasion a tassel of
gold was cut from his robe, and on the thief being discovered the
king simply remarked: "Well, perhaps he has greater need of it than I,
may God bless its service to him." The very fringe was sometimes
stripped from his cloak as he walked abroad, but he never could be
induced to punish any of these poor spoilers of his person. It is in
King Robert's reign that we read of one of the earliest revolts
against the institution of slavery, which was regarded as an integral
part of the divine order of things. It was the custom of the Church at
Paris to send serfs to the law courts to give evidence for their
bishop or prior, or to do battle for them in the event of a judicial
duel. The freemen in the eleventh century began to rebel against
fighting with a despised serf, and refused the duel, whereupon early
in the next century the king and his court decided that the serfs
might lawfully testify and fight against freemen, and whoso refused
the trial by battle should lose his suit and suffer excommunication.
The prelates exchanged serfs, used them as substitutes in times of
war, allowed them to marry outside their church or abbey only by
special permission and on condition that all children were equally
divided between the two proprietors. If a female serf married a
freeman he and their children became serfs. Serfs were only permitted
to make a will by consent of their master; every favour was paid for
and liberty bought at a great price. Merchants even and artizans in
towns owed part of their produce to the seigneur. In the eleventh
century burgesses as well as serfs and Jews were given to churches,
exchanged, sold or left in wills by their seigneurs. The story of
mediaeval Paris is the story of the efforts of serf and burgess to win
their economic freedom.

The declining years of King Robert were embittered by the impiety of