MEDIEVAL LIFE IN EUROPE 291

inspired many a writer and poet to produce gems of roman-
tic literature. It was the age of wandering minstrels and
troubadours.

The growth of towns which gave a deathblow
to feudalism was the dominating characteristic of the later
Middle Ages. While feudalism throve in the rural parts
urban centres developed a different kind of life. Here com-
merce and industry rather than agriculture were the decisive
factors. Guilds and corporations of merchants, and manu-
facturers not only brought prosperity to the towns, but also
imparted to them a spirit of independence. Under their
aegis too, as under the fostering industry of the monasteries,
culture was preserved and developed.

Up to the eleventh century the population of Europe, like
that of India today, was essentially a rural population. But
once the barbarians who upset the old order and prosperity
settled down and became civilised, towns began to revive.
They were a replica of the old- Roman towns which had been
centres of great activity. In medieval Europe there were
three institutions of such civilising importance : they were
the monasteries, the feudal manors, and the organised towns.
We have said something already about the first two. The
last alone will engage our attention here. The monasteries
planted often in out-of-the-way places and far off wilder-
nesses acted as farflung outposts of civilisation. The fortified
castles and their surrounding self-contained manors served to
preserve society from the disrupting forces of anarchy. The
towns, which too were fortified in the Middle Ages, were so
many islands of peaceful industry in a sea of constant war-
fare. They were also the arteries through which flowed the
commerce of the times. Though they were units linked up as
fiefs in the feudal system, they were too powerful to be
swallowed up by the encircling forces. They either bought