220 COMPARATIVE ARCHITECTURE. in plan, as in the Temple Church, London, and those at Cambridge, Little Maplestead, and Northampton. It is supposed they were erected in imitation of the Rotonda of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. (8.) The Friars, oi which there were several orders, were founded at a later period. Their churches were large, plain, and without aisles, being designed for preaching purposes. (a.) The Dominicans (preaching or black Friars) were founded by S. Dominic about a.d. 1170, and later held a high place in Christian art, Fra Angelico being the best known member of the order. They came to England about A.D. 1217. (b.) The Franciscans (mendicant or grey Friars) were founded by S. Francis of Assisi, in a.d. laog, and were distinguished for intellectual capacity, Roger Bacon being one of the most distinguished members. They first came to England in A.D. 12 16. (c.) The Carmelites (or white Friars), were driven out from Mount Carmel by the Saracens, in a.d. 1098. They came to England in a.d. 1229. (d.) The Austin Friars (or Hermits). (e.) Friars of the Holy Trinity, instituted in a.d. 1197. (/.) Cruiched [or crouched) Friars, instituted in Bologna, in A.D. 1 169. (g.) The Jesuits were established in order to crush the Reformation, and first came to England in a.d. 1538. V. Social and Political. — The system of feudal tenure, or the holding of land on condition of military service, was growing up, and caused important changes in the social and political organiza- tion of states. While through its operation the class of actual slaves died out, still the poorer freemen gradually came to be serfs, bound to the land and passing with it, on a change of ownership. The growth of the towns as civilization advanced is notice- able, and the privileges which they acquired, amounting almost to independence, rapidly gave them importance. Constant warfare rendered the condition of the people unsettled during this period, and skill in craftsmanship was at the lowest ebb. Christianity and civilization gradually extended from southern to western Europe. The clergy — the scholars of the period — directed the building of the churches, while the influence of the freemasons produced important results. vi. Historical. — In the year a.d. 799 the Roman Empire in the West practically passed from the hands of the Romans, by the election of the first Frankish King, Charlemagne, whose election is a convenient date to mark the end of the Roman Empire as such. Till the time of Charlemagne very little
