Page:The history of medieval Europe.djvu/159

 GERMAN KINGDOMS IN THE WEST 123 just about the time that they were permitted to intermarry. Under this law of Chindaswind the court organization and procedure were Roman rather than German. Documentary evidence was much used and the old German methods of 1 proof were not recognized. Torture was employed as in the late Roman Empire. Everywhere economic life tended more and more to be- come purely agricultural. Grass grew in many erstwhile busy city streets and ruins of once thickly peo- Economic ! pled quarters were now hidden by vegetable gar- llfe dens and vineyards. Gradually the municipal governing bodies disappeared and the bishop was alone left to look after the public welfare. Some town sites were entirely abandoned. In the country the estate of the great landholder was as prevalent as ever. Probably for a time the number of small landowners was increased by the allotment of lands j to the conquering barbarians, for it scarcely seems as if all I their warriors could have received large estates. But these small farmers were unable to hold their own for long, and presently began to "commend" themselves to some power- ful local magnate. On the whole the wars and lack of strong government had the effect of increasing the amount of serf- dom and, at least among the conquering Franks, the num- ber of slaves. The monastery was a local center of economic activity of which we shall treat in the ninth chapter. At first there was a considerable social distinction be- tween German and Roman. Intermarriage was forbidden except among the Franks and, after 652, among. the West Goths. But among the Franks the Salic law fixed the Wergeld of a Frank at twice that of a Roman. The Vandals regarded the North Africans as a conquered population without rights; the East and West Goths treated the Romans more as equals. About the king in each state centered a new nobility who derived their privileges from him as a reward for services rendered. Otherwise the old social divisions v among the Germans and Romans were continued. The Jews, whom the Emperor Theodosius in 388 had forbidden to marry Christians, were