OF MODERN CORPORATIONS. a3 
tury of that, which Sismondi and Sigonius assign 
to their revival. That the sphere of this juris- 
diction was humble was inits favour; affording 
no ground of jealousy to the feudal rulers, it 
was allowed to exist in obscurity, till better times 
brought it forth in revived and increased acti- 
vity. From the latter part of the 9th to the 
middle of the 10th century, was a period of ca- 
lamity to the North of Italy ; the factions of the 
Dukes of Spoleto and Friuli and the inroads of 
the Hungarians inflicted much deeper wounds 
than the original invasions of the Goths and Lom- 
bards, and it is not wonderful if amidst such 
confusion it is impossible to trace the history of 
civic institutions.* One result very important to 
the ultimate liberty of the cities was, that being 
no longer defended by the power of the state, 
they began to arm and fortify themselves. 
From the testimony of Sidonius Apollinaris, 
Ep. iv. 17. ‘Rhenanis terris—Latina jura ce- 
ciderunt’ and from the mention of the Roman 
law, in the Ripuarian code, only as that ‘qua 
Ecclesia vivit,’ it may certainly be inferred that 
in Cologne and the other Roman cities on the 
Rhine, the bulk of the inhabitants had ceased 
* L’Italie Septentrionale n’ a eu presque aucun historien dans 
le dixiéne and |’onzieme siécle. Sismondi i. 366. 
