=Development of Cities and the Burgher Class.=--The most noteworthy consequence of this industrial and commercial awakening was the growth of towns and cities. There was little town life in Western Europe during the Middle Ages before the twelfth century, as the old Roman towns had, through the invasions of the Germans, largely disintegrated, and but few new organizations had sprung up in their place. While some towns still existed in Italy and Southern France, most of the people of Europe lived in the country upon feudal estates. These little communities were largely isolated and independent of the rest of the world. They produced among themselves all that their members needed, and little or no money was necessary for their crude forms of exchange. Their life was unbroken in its monotony, there was little opportunity for them to better their condition, and their industries were carried on in a perfunctory and wasteful fashion. But with the growth of commerce and population, these serfs began to find it more profitable to work in the towns and compensate the lord of the manor with money rather than work, and the lords, in turn, found it of advantage to accept money in lieu of services, especially as many of them had been impoverished by the Crusades. Great bodies of serfs flocked to the towns, and new centers sprang up around the manorial estates and monasteries as manufactures, trades, and commerce increased. [Sidenote: and to the development of a burgher class.] Feudalism thus began to be threatened as early as the twelfth century, and within a hundred years the extinction of serfdom was assured. The people soon rebelled against the rule of their lords and either expelled them altogether or secured from them for a monetary consideration a charter conferring more liberal rights and privileges. By these charters, the lord agreed to recognize the gild of merchants, and to permit the people to govern themselves. As industries, trade, and commerce continued to develop, the craftsmen and merchants grew rapidly in wealth and importance. They were soon enabled to rival the clergy in education, and the nobility in the luxury of their dwellings and living. They began to read, and books were written or adapted for their needs. The ‘burgher class’ came to have a recognized position by the side of the clergy and nobility; and the king, in order to retain their support, was forced to take counsel with them. This development of industry and commerce, growth of town and city life, and rise of a ‘third estate’ is one of the most noteworthy changes of the late Middle Ages. [Sidenote: Stages of] [Sidenote: (1) apprentice] [Sidenote: (2) journeyman, and] (3) master.]