_Secondly_, the individual dependence of territorial property; _Thirdly_, the stationary condition of territorial wealth. Why the system of beneficiary property, that is to say, the feudal system, was necessary to the formation of modern society and of powerful states. Lecture XVI.--Page 132 Of the state of persons, from the fifth to the tenth century. Impossibility of determining this, according to any fixed and general principle. The condition of lands not always correspondent with that of persons. Variable and unsettled character of social conditions. Slavery. Attempt to determine the condition of persons according to the _Wehrgeld_. Table of twenty-one principal cases of _Wehrgeld_. Uncertainty of this principle. The true method of ascertaining the condition of persons. {xiii} Lecture XVII.--Page 141 Of the _Leudes_ or Antrustions. Men, faithful to the king and to the large proprietors. Different means of acquiring and retaining them. Obligations of the _Leudes_. The _Leudes_ are the origin of the nobility. Bishops and heads of monasteries were reckoned among the _leudes_ of the king. Moral and material of the bishops. Efforts of the kings to possess themselves of the right of nominating bishops. Free men. Did they form a distinct and numerous class? The _arimanni_, and _rathimburgi_. Mistake of M. de Savigny. Rapid and general extension of the feudal hierarchy. The freedmen. Different modes of enfranchisement: _First_, the _denariales_, enfranchised with respect to the king: _Second_, the _tabularii_, enfranchised with respect to the church: _Third_, the _chartularii_, enfranchised by a charter. Different consequences resulting from these different modes of enfranchisement. Lecture XVIII.--Page 148 Simultaneous existence of three systems of institutions, after the settlement of the Franks in Gaul. Conflict of these three systems. Summary of this conflict, its vicissitudes, and results. Its recurrence in local and central institutions. Of local institutions under the Frankish monarchy. Of the assemblies of free men. Of the authority and jurisdiction of the great landowners in their estates. Of the authority and jurisdiction of the dukes, counts, and other royal officers. Lecture XIX.--Page 154 Government of Charlemagne. Apparent revival of free institutions. Individual independence and social liberty. Organization of monarchical power under Charlemagne. His active surveillance over his vassals and agents. Rapid decline of monarchical institutions after his death. Definitive predominance of the feudal system. Central institutions during the same epoch: royalty. Causes of the progress of royalty, and of the principle of hereditary succession among the Franks.