2 THE KING'S MIRROR 



Yet the thirteenth century also had its attractive fig- 

 ures and its important movements. The old social order 



bnt in its p1a.ce Appeared two 



fnrpps wliiVh wpre to inherit tjip power a.nd nppor- 



gnpjfl.1 ]jfp' these were 



wide sovereign powers, and 



the new national consciousness, which was able to think 

 in larger units. In England the century saw the develop- 

 ment of a new representative institution, which has be- 

 come the mother of modern legislative assemblies. The 

 Italian cities were growing rich from the profits of Ori- 

 ental trade; in the Flemish towns the weaver's industry 

 was building up new forms of municipal life; the great 

 German Hansa was laying hold on the commerce of the 

 northern seas. In the realms of higher intellect, in 

 science, philosophy, and theology, the age was a notable 

 one, with Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus, and Thomas 

 Aquinas as the leaders, each in his field. The century 

 also meant much for the progress of geographical knowl- 

 edge, for it was in this period that Marco Polo pene- 

 trated the mysterious lands of the Far East. 



As the historian looks back into this age, he is, there- 

 fore, able to find broad traces of much that is regarded 

 as fundamental to modern life. Of first importance in 

 this regard i^the employment of popular idioms in liter- 

 ary productions^French literature saw its beginnings in 

 the eleventh century with the chansons de geste, songs of 

 valorous deeds from the heroic age of the Frankish 

 kingdom. In the next century the poets began to use the 

 themes of the Arthurian legends and sang the exploits 

 of the famous British king and the knights of his Round 



