the pressed labour of the wretched people of the land. From these strongholds did they exercise over-lordship on plain labourers and rough workmen, whilst they, one and all, rendered due homage to their liege.

The barbarians came, and the barbarians went, hundreds of years rolled by, and nought but the ancient Christian shrine of San Giovanni remained to tell where Florence once had been. There, under its sheltering eaves, the good Baptist, the second Patron of their weal: warlike Mars deposed,-rallied the frightened relics of a city's throng, and the driven refugees from Fortune's frown.

By the river bank clustered frail hovels,-the homes of simple fisher-folk, adding their quota to a new township; and boats began once more to drop adown the stream in search of food and gain. Men breathed again, their hopes revived, and dreams of life and peace, of health and work were theirs. The old fire in their blood awoke the lion of their energies, and up, out of the ashes of the dead, phoenix-like, sprang another Florence.

Under the virile rule of good Queen Theodolinda who, at Ravenna, held her Court, in the years between 556 and 625, busy hands unearthed the blocks of Roman masonry, and around the budding city they threw the Primo Cerchio-the first medieval wall. A turn in the tide of misfortune had set in and fair Florence raised proudly aloft her head to greet the Monarch of the West.

In 786, Charlemagne entered through her gates with an imposing retinue. He found her people rebuilding the RomanoLombardic town and bestirring themselves in many useful industries.

The wise king noted the vigour and the intelligence of the townsfolk, and recognised especially their skill in dressing skins and wool. Greatly did he encourage these worthy crafts and granted new privileges. By decree 1 he extended the Comitatus or Contado to a three miles radius from the Baptistery. The tears he is said to have shed at Leghorn over the sight of intrusive 1 G. Villani, Lib. iii. cap. 1-3.

Viking ships sapping the resources of Tuscany, must have been brushed aside, as, approvingly, he bestowed upon the new city the title:" Firenze la Bella!"-and beautiful she was-a flowerbasket-in the words of Faccio degli Uberti :-" Che lira posta una gran cest dei fiori !"

Two sapient Popes-Adrian I. and Leo III.-did much in the eighth and ninth centuries to encourage the arts and crafts. No Italian could at that time do foundry work, consequently Greek artificers in gold and bronze, especially, were invited to settle in Rome. Rich silken hangings, which could not be manufactured in Europe, were imported from the East, and men were set to work to imitate them.

Paschal I., Gregory IV., and Sergius II. took up the mantle of their predecessors, and encouraged industrial arts of all kinds. Bas-reliefs in metal and sanctuary lamps, glass vessels for the Mass and ornamental glass work, mosaics in pottery, lapidary objects encrusted with gems, enamel painting, fresco decorations, and many other ornamental and useful crafts were fostered not only in the Eternal City, but by craftsmen who travelled all over Italy and made settlements in Florence, and other places.

And still the toilers toiled and still the city grew until, in 825, there was established, as in other centres of population, a Collegium, -a commercial university for the Arts and Crafts,-under the auspices of the Emperor Lothair. This was the Coronation of Florence. Every head of a family, and every captain of a trade, became a ruling councillor in the popular government by public meeting.

Fief of the Romano-German Empire in the tenth century, Florence commercially governed, taxed, and defended herself. Her influence and her example were extended on every side. Her markets attracted dealers and adventurers from every land: her industries workmen and apprentices. By liberating the peasants of the soil from the sway of feudal lords she became the mistress of their destinies as well as of her own.

By all these means Florence laid the foundations of the only

free government possible in the Middle Ages-that of the Commune.

It is a question of unusual difficulty to determine precisely the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance. Italians, and Florentines in particular, never quite sank to the dismal level of other peoples-their faculties and energies were always far more acute and less benumbed than those of most of the inhabitants of the States around them. In a word Florence was a precious lantern, which burnt with unquenchable brilliance, and illuminated all the cities of Europe.

Bonifazio III., Marquis of Tuscany, died in 1076, and left his titular sovereignty to his daughter, the Countess Matilda. Popularly known as "The great Countess," she dwelt at Lucca, holding frequent Courts in Florence-when not engaged sword in hand upon the field of battle. Her fame was such that very many of the children born in Florence, and the Contado, were ever after named "Tessa," or "Contessa " in her honour.

Matilda was renowned for her strict administration of justice, and, in the earlier years of her reign, she presided in person in the Court of Pleas, aided by assessors, whom she chose from among the Grandi, or leading citizens. She greatly encouraged the industries and the commerce of the Commune, and readily sanctioned the warlike expeditions of the Popolani, or traders, against the aggressive nobles of the Empire. The Countess, nevertheless, had ambitions, beyond the circumscribed limits of the Contado, and left the city magnates to govern its affairs, pretty much as they liked.

In 1078 Florence was encircled by her Second Wall, and, at the same date, she was divided into six Sestieri-or Wards-each under the presidency of a Buonuomo, chosen by Matilda from the families of the Grandi. This magistrate administered justice, governed the population, and commanded the armed men, of his ward.

In 1101 the Countess made a prolonged stay in Florence, and