. A history of mediaeval and modern Europe for secondary schools. suze-rains), and against his own vassals, for all kinds of right of private warfare was cherished by even thelowest nobles. The Church, aided sometimes by the kings,tried to mitigate these local wars by the Truce of God (cessation of fighting between Wednesday night and Mondaymorning and on holy days) and by various other restrictions,but to settle ones troubles with sword and battle-axe was a noble right ; it was really a concession, often, if the contend-ing barons fought out their troubles in single combat (the 1
. A history of mediaeval and modern Europe for secondary schools. suze-rains), and against his own vassals, for all kinds of right of private warfare was cherished by even thelowest nobles. The Church, aided sometimes by the kings,tried to mitigate these local wars by the Truce of God (cessation of fighting between Wednesday night and Mondaymorning and on holy days) and by various other restrictions,but to settle ones troubles with sword and battle-axe was a noble right ; it was really a concession, often, if the contend-ing barons fought out their troubles in single combat (the 1 A case to the point is the story of Geoffrey of Anjou (eleventh century), whocaptured Thibaut of Blois, forced him to grant in fief his county of Tours, thendid homage to his prisoner. 132 HISTORY OF EUROPE so-called judicial duel ) before judges who arranged fairplay, and did not embroil the whole countryside in generalwarfare. Quarrels over hunting and fishing rights, over boundariesof fiefs, over titles to fiefs, over the division of a fief between riMO* ft. 1 SACK OF A VILLAGE{From a manuscript of the second half of the fifteenth century, in the GermanicMuseum. Xuremberg) brothers, over the dowry claims of a widowed mother, over theright of the overlord to declare a fief vacant — these were afew of the pretenses for plunging a community into to general belief, feudal wars saw few great 1 Of course, a good many real battles are recorded during the whole course of LIFE IN THE FEUDAL AGES 133 The weaker bands shut themselves up in their castles: thestronger party tried to coerce its foes by burning their openvillages, ravaging their fields, driving off their cattle, perse-cuting their peasantry. What fighting there was usually camein single combats, raids, ambuscades, or skirmishing on a smallscale. The main sufferers were the wretched peasantry, thehelpless prey of either party. At length one party would be-come exhausted. Peace would be made — a
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