e western knight was
still a good deal of a country bumpkin. He also brought with him several
new food-stuffs, such as peaches and spinach which he planted in his
garden and grew for his own benefit. He gave up the barbarous custom of
wearing a load of heavy armour and appeared in the flowing robes of
silk or cotton which were the traditional habit of the followers of
the Prophet and were originally worn by the Turks. Indeed the Crusades,
which had begun as a punitive expedition against the Heathen, became
a course of general instruction in civilisation for millions of young
Europeans.

From a military and political point of view the Crusades were a failure.
Jerusalem and a number of cities were taken and lost. A dozen little
kingdoms were established in Syria and Palestine and Asia Minor, but
they were re-conquered by the Turks and after the year 1244 (when
Jerusalem became definitely Turkish) the status of the Holy Land was the
same as it had been before 1095.

But Europe had undergone a great change. The people of the west had been
allowed a glimpse of the light and the sunshine and the beauty of the
east. Their dreary castles no longer satisfied them. They wanted a
broader life. Neither Church nor State could give this to them.

They found it in the cities.

THE MEDIAEVAL CITY

WHY THE PEOPLE OF THE MIDDLE AGES SAID THAT "CITY AIR IS FREE AIR"

THE early part of the Middle Ages had been an era of pioneering and of
settlement. A new people, who thus far had lived outside the wild range
of forest, mountains and marshes which protected the north-eastern
frontier of the Roman Empire, had forced its way into the plains of
western Europe and had taken possession of most of the land. They were
restless, as all pioneers have been since the beginning of time. They
liked to be "on the go." They cut down the forests and they cut each
other's throats with equal energy. Few of them wanted to live in cities.
They insisted upon being "free," they loved to feel the fresh air of
the hillsides fill their lungs while they drove their herds across the
wind-swept pastures. When they no longer liked their old homes, they
pulled up stakes and went away in search of fresh adventures.

The weaker ones died. The hardy fighters and the courageous women who
had followed their men into the wilderness survived. In this way they
developed a strong race of men. They cared little for the graces of
life. They were too busy to play th