Page:American Historical Review, Volume 12.djvu/928

 9 1 8 Reviews of Books is a welcome addition to the small number of books written in English concerning medieval municipal histof}'. It gives a good general survey of the early relations of the cities of Northern Italy to the counts and bishops who ruled over them, the rise and development of the Lombard communes in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, their dissensions and leagues, their conflicts with the German emperors, and the rise of the tyrannies and the downfall of municipal liberty in the valley of the Po during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. If Professor Butler had devoted more attention to the growth of communal institutions, his book would be more valuable. For example, the third chapter, which deals with the rise of the communes, does not penetrate deeply into the origins of city government; nor do the later chapters give detailed infor- mation regarding the development of the civic constitutions or the posi- tion of the gilds in the evolution of the municipal polity. Moreover, in the early chapters too much reliance seems to be placed upon older writers, like Leo and Hegel, and the recent literature of the subject is inadequately presented to the reader. The author seems to share the opinion of an English local writer who regards foot-notes as " an aid to bewilderment ". In fact, there are few references to authorities, primary or secondary. The book is not a work of research, based upon the original sources; but it is scholarly and well written. There is, indeed, no other book in English which covers the ground so satis- factorily. Le Comie d'Anjou an A'/*' Sicclc, par Louis Halphen (Paris, Picard, 1906, pp. xxiv, 428.) Few periods of French history, perhaps, in recent years have been more minutely studied than that of the early Capetians. The seed sown by MM. Luchaire and Pfister has brought forth an hun- dredfold since 1884, the year of the appearance of the former's notable Institutions Politiques de la France sons les Capetieits directs. The point of application, however, has somewhat changed, and today the emphasis is upon local history. Yet the field is still vastly unexplored. M. Halphen modestly remarks that however imperfect his book may seem to be, it will not have been written in vain if it stimulates other scholars to make minute studies in the local history of France elsewhere. The introduction consists of a careful survey and estimation of the sources and authorities of the period under consideration, in the course of which the work of Miss Norgate is somewhat severely judged. M. Halphen particularly objects to her treatment of territorial questions (p. 95) and her judgment of Fulk Rechin " comme un soldat sans cour- age et un prince sans esprit de suite" (p. 176). The work is divided into two parts, the first treating of the terri- torial development of the county of Anjou and its early administrative organization ; the second deals with the particular work of Geoffrey le Barbu and Fulk Rechin. The institutional history of Anjou, to the reviewer, seems to be far the most valuable portion of the volume. In this development, the church, especially the regular clergy, had a large