[Illustration: Louis IV Leaving Alexandria on the 24th of April 1507 To
chastise the city of Genoa.
From a miniature by Jean Marot. No 5091, Bibl. nat'le de Paris.]
These efforts to obtain individual liberty displayed themselves more
particularly in towns; but although they became almost universal in the
west, they had not the same importance or character everywhere. The feudal
system had not everywhere produced the same consequences. Thus, whilst in
ancient Gaul it had absorbed all social vitality, we find that in Germany,
the place of its origin, the Teutonic institutions of older date gave a
comparative freedom to the labourers. In southern countries again we find
the same beneficial effect from the Roman rule.
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