From the fifth to the tenth century the Roman Empire crumbles away. The two invasions from the north and the south are accomplished. The new German Empire which Charlemagne attempts to organize is dissolved. We behold everywhere the destruction of the past and the transition to a new social and intellectual condition. From the tenth to the fourteenth century feudalism has its rise. The crusades take place. The Pope and the Emperor contend for the world. The burgher class is reconstituted. This is the mediæval period, simple in its general outlines, which reaches its fullest flowering in the time of Saint Louis of France, with customs, institutions, arts and even a literature peculiar to itself.
