Allthatcouldbeexpectedthenwastorepairingeneraltheinjuriesdonebothtochurchandstate。[156]Thekingsengagednottodeprivethenobilityoftheirfreemen，andnottogiveawayanymorechurch—landsbyprecepts，[157]sothattheinterestsoftheclergyandnobilityseemedthentobeunited。
ThedreadfuldepredationsoftheNormans，asIhavealreadyobserved，contributedgreatlytoputanendtothosequarrels。
Theauthorityofourkingsdiminishingeveryday，bothforthereasonsalreadygivenandthosewhichIshallmentionhereafter，theyimaginedtheyhadnobetterresourceleft，thantoresignthemselvesintothehandsoftheclergy。Buttheecclesiasticshadweakenedthepowerofthekings，andthesehaddiminishedtheinfluenceoftheecclesiastics。InvaindidCharlestheBaldandhissuccessorscallinthechurchtosupportthestate，andtopreventitsruin；invaindidtheymakeuseofthe。respectwhichthecommonaltyhadforthatbody，[158]tomaintainthatwhichtheyshouldalsohavefortheirprince；[159]invaindidtheyendeavourtogiveanauthoritytotheirlawsbythatofthecanons；invaindidtheyjointheecclesiasticwiththecivilpunishments；[160]invaintocounterbalancetheauthorityofthecountdidtheygivetoeachbishopthetitleoftheircommissaryintheseveralprovinces；[161]itwasimpossibletorepairthemischieftheyhaddone；andaterriblemisfortune，whichIshallpresentlymention，provedtheruinofthemonarchy。
24。ThattheFreemenwererenderedcapableofholdingFiefs。Isaidthatthefreemenwereledagainsttheenemybytheircount，andthevassalsbytheirlord。Thiswasthereasonthattheseveralordersofthestatebalancedeachother，andthoughtheking’svassalshadothervassalsunderthem，yettheymightbeoverawedbythecount，whowasattheheadofallthefreemenofthemonarchy。
Thefreemenwerenotallowedatfirsttodohomageforafief；butinprocessoftimethiswaspermitted：[162]andIfindthatthischangewasmadeduringtheperiodthatelapsedfromthereignofGontramtothatofCharlemagne。ThisIprovebythecomparisonwhichmaybemadebetweenthetreatyofAndelot，[163]byGontram，Childebert，andQueenBrunehault，andthepartitionmadebyCharlemagneamonghischildren，aswellasalikepartitionbyLouistheDebonnaire。[164]Thesethreeactscontainnearlythesameregulationswithregardtothevassals；andastheydeterminetheverysamepoints，underalmostthesamecircumstances，thespiritaswellastheletterofthosethreetreatiesinthisrespectareverymuchalike。