The Struggle for the Investitures, which destroyed the power and the influence of the German imperial and feudal church from a political and religious point of view, destroyed also its influence in literary life. The schools of Liège were abandoned and, from the first quarter of the twelfth century on, students turned their eyes toward Paris. In Flanders, literary influence, as was the case with artistic movements, was French rather than German. Tournai, the artistic capital, was also the intellectual center, and Tournai was a Romance bishopric. The school of St. Mary had only French teachers and contributed in spreading a knowledge of the French language among the Flemish clergy. Essentially theological and dialectical, however, the teaching of St. Mary was less important than the teaching of St. Lambert of Liège. Thus, during the tenth and eleventh centuries, the civilization of Belgium was influenced by the culture of its powerful neighbors. Nevertheless, the elements of German and French civilization were not simply absorbed; they were transformed, adapted, and nationalized, and became a real part of the life of the nation. CHAPTER III THE RISE AND INFLUENCE OF THE COMMUNES A new epoch opens with the twelfth century in the history of Belgium. The era is frequently called the “Time of the Communes,” because the internal political life of the country, from then on, was dominated by the development of the free cities (communes) and of their municipal institutions. And it has been said that “in the part played by the cities since the twelfth century lies the best of the history of the Netherlands.” Until the rise of the communes, only two classes of people, the noblemen and the priests, were given any recognition. There remained, of course, the peasant farmers, but they had no political or social power. After the twelfth century, a new class sprang into existence--the burgesses (_bourgeois, burgers_), the citizens of the free cities--and the rise of that class exerted a tremendous influence on the political and social development of the nation. To the tyranny of feudalism it opposed the spirit of personal and collective freedom, and the social construction of the nation was materially influenced by the introduction of the new elements it represented. The origin and development of the communes was mainly due to economic conditions: the Belgian cities of the Middle Ages were the daughters of trade and industry. [Illustration: THE BELFRY OF GHENT On the right the Town Hall]