yons. In the centre of France, at Poictiers, Tours, Moulin, &c., the
urban progress only manifested itself in efforts which were feeble and
easily suppressed; but in the north, on the contrary, in the provinces
between the Seine and the Rhine, and even between the Seine and the Loire,
the system of franchise took footing and became recognised. In some
places, the revolution was effected without difficulty, but in others it
gave rise to the most determined struggles. In Normandy, for instance,
under the active and intelligent government of the dukes of the race of
Roll or Rollon, the middle class was rich and even warlike. It had access
to the councils of the duchy; and when it was contemplated to invade
England, the Duke William (Fig. 35) found support from the middle class,
both in money and men. The case was the same in Flanders, where the towns
of Ghent (Fig. 36), of Bruges, of Ypres, after being enfranchised but a
short time developed with great rapidity. But in the other counties of
western France, the greater part of the towns were still much oppressed by
the counts and bishops. If some obtained certain franchises, these
privileges were their ultimate ruin, owing to the ill faith of their
nobles. A town between the Loire and the Seine gave the signal which
caused the regeneration of the North. The inhabitants of Mans formed a
community or association, and took an oath that they would obtain and
maintain certain rights. They rebelled about 1070, and forced the count
and his noble vassals to grant them the freedom which they had sworn to
obtain, though William of Normandy very soon restored the rebel city to
order, and dissolved the presumptuous community. However, the example soon
bore fruit. Cambrai rose in its turn and proclaimed the "Commune," and
although its bishop, aided by treason and by the Count of Hainault,
reduced it to obedience, it only seemed to succumb for a time, to renew
the struggle with greater success at a subsequent period.

[Illustration: Fig. 36.--Civic Guard of Ghent (Brotherhood of St.
Sebastian), from a painting on the Wall of the Chapel of St. John and St.
Paul, Ghent, near the Gate of Bruges.]

We have just mentioned the Commune; but we must not mistake the true
meaning of this word, which, under a Latin form (_communitas_), expresses
originally a Germanic idea, and in its new form a Christian mode of
living. Societies of mutual defence, guilds, &c., had never disappeared
from Germanic a