The unattached person during the Middle Ages was one
either condemned to exile or doomed to death: if alive,
he immediately sought to attach himself, at least to a
band of robbers. To exist, one had to belong to an association:
a household, a manor, a monastery, a guild; there was no
security except in association, and no freedom that did
not recognize the obligations of a corporate life. One
lived and died in the style of one's class and corporation.
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