Maurer refers to many other documents;[112] a charter of Louis the Pious, a deed of 748 given by Grandidier, six deeds of 768, 778, 790, 794, 796 and 811 quoted by Schœpflin, and a diploma of 812 in the collection of Neugart. But what do we gather from all this evidence? Every one of these documents is a deed of donation in perpetuity; in every case it is the donation of land situated in a locality described indifferently as _villa_, _finis_ or _marca_: _in fine vel in villa Berkheimmarca_; _in fine vel marca Angehisesheim_; _in villa vel in fine Heidersheim marca_; _in villa Gebunvillare seu in ipsa marca_; _dono portionem meam quæ est in marca Odradesheim_; _in loco et in marca Hortheim_; _in curte vel in marca Ongirheim_; _quidquid in ipso loco et ipsa marca habeo_. All these expressions are synonymous and recur again and again. In 803 Ansfrid makes a gift of whatever he owns _in marca vel villa Sodoja_ and also _in villa vel marca Baldanis_.[113] All these quotations prove no more than this, that the word _mark_, after being originally used in the sense of a boundary of a domain, afterwards came to mean the domain itself; a change in the use of a word, which is familiar enough to students of philology. The same thing has happened with the synonymous terms _finis_ and _terminus_. In Gaul, _villa_ Elariacus and _terminus_ Elariacus are used indifferently; as are Longoviana _villa_ and Longoviana _finis_. In Germany _villa_ or _marca_ are used in the same way. In the examples given by Maurer, I recognise the existence of the mark, but of a mark which was the same thing as a villa, that is a private estate.[114] Maurer has mistaken private domains for common lands. In the thousands of documents in the collections of the _Traditiones_ the name of the domain, which the donor owns either in whole or part, is always given. And we may say that, roughly speaking, out of eight instances we shall find it called _villa_ seven times and _marca_ once, and that there is no other difference between the two sets of documents. Another fact has escaped Maurer’s notice, and that is that these marks frequently bear the name of their owner. It is well known that this was the usual custom with the _villæ_ of Gaul,--_villa Floriacus_, _villa Latiniacus_, _Maurovilla_, _Maurovillare_; and in the same way we have many instances of names like _marca Angehises_, _marca Baldanis_, _marca Munefridi_, _marca Warcharenheim_, _Droctegisomarca_. The resemblance is noteworthy. In the study of history observation is worth more than all the theories in the world.