PREVALENCE OF PRIVATE WAR
The nobles regarded the right of waging war on one another as their most cherished privilege. Fighting became almost a form of business enterprise, which enriched the lords and their retainers through the sack of castles, the plunder of villages, and the ransom of prisoners. Every hill became a stronghold and every plain a battlefield. Such neighborhood warfare, though rarely very bloody, spread terrible havoc throughout the land.
THE PEACE AND TRUCE OF GOD
The Church, to its great honor, lifted a protesting voice against this evil. It proclaimed a "Peace of God" and forbade attacks on all defenseless people, including priests, monks, pilgrims, merchants, peasants, and women. But it was found impossible to prevent the feudal lords from warring with each other, even though they were threatened with the eternal torments of Hell; and so the Church tried to restrict what it could not altogether abolish. A "Truce of God" was established. All men were to cease fighting from Wednesday evening to Monday morning of each week, during Lent, and on various holy days. The truce would have given Christendom peace for about two hundred and forty days each year; but it seems never to have been strictly observed except in limited areas.
ABOLITION OF PRIVATE WARFARE
As the power of the kings increased in western Europe, they naturally sought to put an end to the constant fighting between their subjects. The Norman rulers of Normandy, England, and Sicily restrained their turbulent nobles with a strong hand. Peace came later in most parts of the Continent; in Germany, "fist right" (the rule of the strongest) prevailed until the end of the fifteenth century. The abolition of private war was the first step in Europe toward universal peace. The second step—the abolition of public war between nations—is yet to be taken.
153. THE CASTLE AND LIFE OF THE NOBLES
DEVELOPMENT OF THE CASTLE
The outward mark of feudalism was the castle, [10] where the lord resided and from which he ruled his fief. In its earliest form the castle was simply a wooden blockhouse placed on a mound and surrounded by a stockade. About the beginning of the twelfth century the nobles began to build in stone, which would better resist fire and the assaults of besiegers. A stone castle consisted at first of a single tower, square or round, with thick walls, few windows, and often with only one room to each story. [11] As engineering skill increased, several towers were built and were then connected by outer and inner walls. The castle thus became a group of fortifications, which might cover a wide area.
[Illustration: PLAN OF CHÂTEAU GAILLARD
The plan is intended to represent that of a typical castle, as the plan of
Kirkstall Abbey represents that of a typical monastery.]