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CHAP. VI.: Of the Goths, Burgundians, and Franks. - Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu, Complete Works, vol. 2 The Spirit of Laws [1748]

Edition used:

The Complete Works of M. de Montesquieu (London: T. Evans, 1777), 4 vols. Vol. 2.

Part of: Complete Works of Montesquieu, 4 vols.

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CHAP. VI.

Of the Goths, Burgundians, and Franks.

GAUL was invaded by German nations. The Visigoths took possession of the province of Narbonue, and of almost all the south; the Burgundians settled in the east; and the Franks subdued very near all the rest.

No doubt but these Barbarians retained in their respective conquests the manners, inclinations, and usages of their own country; for no nation can change in an instant their manner of thinking and acting. These people in Germany neglected agriculture. It seems by Cæsar and Tacitus, that they applied themselves greatly to a pastoral life: hence the regulations of the codes of the barbarian laws are almost all relating to their flocks. Roricon, who wrote a history among the Franks, was a shepherd.