criminal were pardoned so that he escaped the gallows, he was to remain dishonored forever.
Although Charles introduced many reforms, what he did came far short of what he would have liked to do. During the reign of his father, the nobility were left to be absolute rulers over the peasants upon their estates; and now, if Charles would be at peace with them, he must leave them to a considerable extent in the enjoyment of their assumed privileges. This is well proved by their refusal to accept the Majestas Carolina. Some of the provisions of this code of laws were such as to make one shudder at the inhumanity of those times, when such laws could be proposed and rejected. Some of the provisions were as follows: “It is not becoming for a lord to put out the eyes of his people or of strangers. Should any one be guilty of this, he falls into the displeasure of the king, and his goods to his mercy. A lord must not carry himself proudly to lay upon the block and cut off the limbs of his subjects.” One would naturally infer that, at times, some of the lords had resorted to such horrible modes of punishment, otherwise Charles would not have incorporated this law in his Majestas Carolina.
Some of the laws in vogue at this time prove the wide difference between peasants and the higher classes. Thus if peasants or citizens had wronged each other, they were permitted to fight with clubs, not swords; for they were chlapi (churls). But if a person of lower birth hit one belonging to one of the upper classes, his hand was cut off, and he was obliged to give security that he would not seek vengeance. Should a peasant strike his lord, his head was forfeit; the lord, however, could do with him what he pleased.
