In the eighth and ninth centuries hardly any trade was known in France, other than that carried on in markets and fairs; these were, therefore, almost the only places for providing oneself with necessaries. Artificers and dealers lived apart, dispersed in the country; the towns were chiefly inhabited by the clergy and some handicraftsmen, with few or no monks or nuns, the far greater part of the monasteries being either in the open country or the neighbourhood of the cities. The nobility lived on their estates, or attended the Court. The _Pote_ people were so far under their Lord’s power as not to quit the place of their birth without his leave; the villain was annexed to the estate, and the slave to the master’s house or land. Such a dispersion was little promotive of trade, which loves large and policed communities; _and it was to remedy this inconvenience that its Kings established so many fairs_. _Vide_ “Extracts translated from New Hist. of France,” 1769, i. 65. There seem to have been three grades of fairs.—1. _Free fairs_, to which all might come without restriction of toll or other limitation. 2. Fairs having their franchises restricted by some local right or usage. 3. Common fairs, without any special franchises whatever. I shall mainly confine myself to a notice of those falling under the first of these definitions—free fairs. CHAMPAGNE AND BRIE. I may speak of the fairs of these provinces collectively. They were not only amongst the most celebrated of France or of Europe, but possess the charm of great antiquity. They are believed to have been founded by the earls of those provinces. Sidonius Apollinaris alludes to them, in the fifth century. They were held in seventeen of the chief cities—some of which had as many as six yearly, others four, none less than two. I have already given (in the first chapter in this book) some account of the commercial importance of these fairs in Europe, and need not re-traverse that ground. They have a great interest from an English point of view for reasons which will presently appear. These districts were not indeed provinces of France at the early date above named. They only became so in 1284, and so far from their fairs gaining any additional lustre by the annexation, the very reverse appears to have been the fact. The domination of the crown of France spread awe instead of confidence into the minds of their wealthy traders! The truth I suspect to be that charges and restrictions previously unknown were imposed. This view indeed finds direct support in the fact that in 1349 Philip de Valois granted letters patent confirming ancient franchises, and suppressing the new impositions. By means of this document we learn precisely what the ancient privileges were. The patent consisted of thirty-six articles, but the more material may be grouped under five heads, viz.: