s of men (_cognationes hominum_) spoken of by Caesar, in the
barbaric laws, and referred to in the histories of the Middle Ages under
the names of _genealogiae, faramanni, farae_, &c.; but the extent of the
relationship (_parentela_) included under the general appellation of
_families_ varied amongst the Franks, Lombards, Visigoths, and Bavarians.
Generally, amongst all the people of German origin, the relationship only
extended to the seventh degree; amongst the Celts it was determined merely
by a common ancestry, with endless subdivisions of the tribe into distinct
families. Amongst the Germans, from whom modern Europe has its origin, we
find only three primary groups; namely, first, the family proper,
comprising the father, mother, and children, and the collateral relatives
of all degrees; secondly, the vassals (_ministeriales_) or servants of the
free class; and, thirdly, the servants (_mansionarii, coloni, liti,
servi_) of the servile class attached to the family proper (Fig. 296).

Domestic authority was represented by the _mund_, or head of the family,
also called _rex_ (the king), who exercised a special power over the
persons and goods of his dependents, a guardianship, in fact, with certain
rights and prerogatives, and a sort of civil and political responsibility
attached to it. Thus the head of the family, who was responsible for his
wife and for those of his children who lived with him, was also
responsible for his slaves and domestic animals. To such a pitch did these
primitive people carry their desire that justice should be done in all
cases of infringement of the law, that the head was held legally
responsible for any injury which might be done by the bow or the sword of
any of his dependents, without it being necessary that he should himself
have handled either of these weapons.

Long before the commencement of the Merovingian era, the family, whose
sphere of action had at first been an isolated and individual one, became
incorporated into one great national association, which held official
meetings at stated periods on the _Malberg_ (Parliament hill). These
assemblies alone possessed supreme power in its full signification. The
titles given to certain chiefs of _rex_ (king), _dux_ (duke), _graff_
(count), _brenn_ (general of the army), only defined the subdivisions of
that power, and were applied, the last exclusively, to those engaged in
war, and the others to those possessing judicial and administrati