Note 177 — Chapter XII · THE LATER REIGN OF WILLIAM IN NORMANDY.[159] 1051–1066.
Reading edition
The Free Cities of Germany obtained a higher degree of independence than those of Flanders, and those of them which became members of the Swiss League of course became more independent still. Yet, except the Hanseatic towns, none of them rested their greatness so purely on commerce as the Flemish cities, and the Flemish cities were distinctly more democratic in their spirit than any others. Ghent is something quite different either from the Teutonic Rome at Bern or from the Teutonic Carthage at Lübeck.