John Lothrop Motley — American Historian born on April 15, 1814, died on May 29, 1877

John Lothrop Motley was an American historian and diplomat... (wikipedia)

With the Germans, the sovereignty resided in the great assembly of the people.
The crusades made great improvement in the condition of the serfs.
A soil, exhausted by the long culture of Pagan empires, was to lie fallow for a still longer period.
The whole territory of the Netherlands was girt with forests.
Thus again the Netherlands, for the first time since the fall of Rome, were united under one crown imperial. They had already been once united, in their slavery to Rome.