with his army at Montmartre, consented to give the barbarians fourteen
thousand marks of silver to get rid of them, and they quitted Paris to
go and pillage other parts of France, but as by the treaty they were not
allowed to pass the bridges, in order to ascend the Seine they were
obliged to carry their vessels over the land for about two thousand
yards and again launch them for the purpose of committing farther
depredations. From this period Paris was freed from the attacks of the
the Normans, yet commerce made but slow progress having constant
obstructions arising, to impede its prosperity. Paris having for a long
time ceased to be the royal residence, was no longer considered as the
capital, Charlemagne passed but a very short period of time there,
residing mostly at Aix-la-Chapelle and Ratisbon, and although he founded
many noble institutions in different parts of France, Paris derived but
little benefit from his talents, and his immediate successors displayed
such imbecility of purpose that they suffered their kingdom to become
the prey to marauders. Learning advanced but slowly, although there were
some schools at Paris which, elicited a few authors; amongst the rest
one named Abbon, who wrote a poem in latin upon the siege of Paris by
the Normans, which was not otherwise other-worthy of remark than for its
rarity at the epoch when it was written. Whilst the kings of France
continued to reside in other cities, Paris was confided to the
governments Counts, who held not a very high rank amongst the nobility
in the first instance, but gradually increased their power until Eudes,
Count of Paris, in 922 ultimately became King of France, which also was
the destiny of two other nobles who held the same title, Robert the
brother of Eudes, and Hugh Capet.

The progress of Paris and indeed the whole of France was retarded
continually by famine, fourteen seasons of scarcity happening in the
course of twenty-three years; in fact, from 843 to 899 such was often