The gravest historians of the Netherlands often relieved their elephantine labors by the most asinine gambols, and it was not to be expected that these bustling weavers and cutlers should excel their literary superiors in taste or elegance.
Philip the Fair enrolled himself as a member in one of these societies.
It may easily be inferred, therefore, that they had already become bodies of recognized importance.

The rhetorical chambers existed in the most obscure villages.

The number of yards of Flemish poetry annually manufactured and consumed throughout the provinces almost exceed belief.
The societies had regular constitutions.

Their presiding officers were called kings, princes, captains, archdeacons, or rejoiced in similar high-sounding names.

Each chamber had its treasurer, its buffoon, and its standard-bearer for public processions.