e privileges were lost; but that was
only an accidental circumstance, for a great social revolution was
produced, which cleared off at once all the relics of the old age; and
when the work of reconstruction terminated, homage was rendered to the
venerable name of "Commune," which became uniformly applied to all towns,
boroughs, or villages into which the new spirit of the same municipal
system was infused.

[Illustration: Fig. 40.--Various Arms of the Fifteenth Century.]

Private Life in the Castles, the Towns, and the Rural Districts.

The Merovingian Castles.--Pastimes of the Nobles; Hunting,
War.--Domestic Arrangements.--Private Life of Charlemagne.--Domestic
Habits under the Carlovingians.--Influence of Chivalry.--Simplicity of
the Court of Philip Angustus not imitated by his Successors.--Princely
Life of the Fifteenth Century.--The bringing up of Latour Landry, a
Noble of Anjou.--Varlets, Pages, Esquires, Maids of Honour.--Opulence of
the Bourgeoisie.--"Le Menagier de Paris."--Ancient Dwellings.--State of
Rustics at various Periods.--"Rustic Sayings," by Noel du Fail.

Augustin Thierry, taking Gregory of Tours, the Merovingian Herodotus, as
an authority, thus describes a royal domain under the first royal dynasty
of France:--

"This dwelling in no way possessed the military aspect of the chateau of
the Middle Ages; it was a large building surrounded with porticos of Roman
architecture, sometimes built of carefully polished and sculptured wood,
which in no way was wanting in elegance. Around the main body of the
building were arranged the dwellings of the officers of the palace, either
foreigners or Romans, and those of the chiefs of companies, who, according
to Germanic custom, had placed themselves and their warriors under the
King, that is to say, under a special engagement of vassalage and
fidelity. Other houses, of less imposing appearance, were occupied by a
great number of families, who worked at all sorts of trades, such as
jewellery, the making of arms, weaving, currying, the embroidering of silk
and gold, cotton, &c.

"Farm-buildings, paddocks, cow-houses, sheepfolds, barns, the houses of
agriculturists, and the cabins of the serfs, completed the royal village,
which perfectly resembled, although on a larger scale, the villages of
ancient Germany. There was something too in the position of these
dwellings which resembled the scenery beyond the Rhine; the greater number
of