Page:The history of medieval Europe.djvu/398

 348 THE HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE and representatives,- but held a parlamento or mass-meetinj in the public square. Such a gathering sometimes resulte( in a revolution or at least in a street fight between rivj political parties. At the bottom of such factions and parties were the consorterie, or family unions of the nobles, and the arti or trade gilds of the burghers. Life was stirring in these Lombard towns where then was nothing of the monotony of the manor. But war wz Interurban the law of the urban, almost as much as of th( intramural feudal, world. The cities fought against the cas- party strife ties of feudal lords who tried to maintain an independent existence and to prey upon trade in the neigh- borhood of the towns. The cities also fought frequently with one another over questions of boundaries, water- rights, roads, tolls, and from general trade rivalry. Within each town were sharp family rivalries. Every prominent noble or merchant family could count on the support of a multitude of poor relations and retainers. The nobles who were forced to give up their castles and live in town built lofty stone towers in the city streets and waged feuds as they had done before from their country castles. New gilds and the lower classes before long began to clamor for admis- sion to citizenship. Party struggles and street fights often led to the exile of the defeated faction or at least of its leaders, who would then seek the aid of some other city to effect their restoration. Yet the trade, weajth, and productive power of the cities kept increasing, and even their enemies admitted that they Economic were socially and intellectually above the av- lectual erage of that age. The twelfth-century writer advance whom we have already quoted concerning them, Bishop Otto of Freising, says further that, as a result of the intermarriage of the invading Lombards with the native Italians, "their children have derived from the race of their mothers, and from the character of the country and the climate, something of Roman culture and civilization, and retain the elegance and refinement of Latin speech and manners."