30 Germany. 



own Duke and its own laws, comprising this new 

 kingdom, namely the Franks, Suabians, Bavarians, 

 Saxons on the right, and the Lorainers on the left 

 bank of the Rhine, while the country East of the Elbe 

 river was mostly occupied by Slovenians. 



With Clovis began the new order of things which 

 was signalized by the aggrandizement of kings, dukes 

 and barons. 



In addition to the rule regarding the ownership of 

 unseated lands there developed, also under Roman 

 law doctrine, the conception of seignorial right, 

 i.e., the power of the king to jurisdiction over his 

 property. This right, first claimed by the duke or 

 king for himself, is then transferred with the territory 

 given to his friends and vassals, who thereby secure 

 for themselves his powers and jurisdiction, immunity 

 from taxes and from other duties, as well as the right 

 to exact taxes and services from others, the favored 

 growing into independent knights and barons. 



The forest, then, originally was communal property 

 and the feeling of this ownership in common remains 

 even to the present day. Indeed, actually it remained 

 in most cases so until the 13th century, although the 

 changes noted had their origin in the 7th century 

 when the kings began to assert their rights of princely 

 superiority. 



In these earlier ages, the main use of the forests 

 was for the hunt, the mast and the pasture, and since 

 wood was relatively plentiful, forest destruction was 

 the rule. Those who became possessed of larger pro- 

 perties through the causes mentioned tried to secure 



