Chapter IV,

The General Chapter — Rights of the Emperor — Of his Lieu- tenant — Of the Stuhlherrn, or Tribunal-Lords.
To complete the sketch of the Fehm-tribunals and their proceedings, we must state the rights and powers of the general chapter and of the emperor, his lieutenant, and the tribunal-lords.
The general chapter was a general i assembly of the Westphalian tribunal-lords, counts, and schoppen, summoned once a-year by the emperor or his lieu- tenant. Every count was bound by oath to appear at it. It could only be holden in Westphalia, and almost exclusively at Dortmund or Arensberg. No one could appear at it who was not initiated, not even the emperor himself. The president was the emperor, if present and initiated, otherwise the lieu- tenant or his substitute.
The business of the general chapter was to in- quire into the conduct and proceedings of the diffe- rent Fehm-courts. The counts were therefore to give an account of all their proceedings during the past year ; to furnish a list of thcnames of the schop- pen who had been admitted, as well as of the suits which had been commenced, with the names of the accusers, the accused, the forfehmed, &c. Such counts as had neglected their duty were deposed by the general cKapter.
The general chapter was, as we have above ob- served, a court of appeal from all the Fehm-tribunals. In matters of great importance the decrees of th^
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lower courts were, to give them greater weight, con- firmed, by tlie general chapter. It was finally at the general chapter that all regulations, laws, and re- formations, concerning the Fehm-law u.n
The emperor, even when the imperial authority was at the lowest, was regarded in Germany as the fountain of judicial authority. The right of passing capital sentence in particular 'was considered to einanale either mediately or immediately from him. The Fehm-courts were conspicuous for their readi- ness Id acknowledge him as the source of their authority, and all their decrees were pronounced in
As superior lord and judge of all the counts and tribunals, the emperor had a right of inspection and reformation over them. He could summon and pre- side in a general chapter ; lie might enter any court ; and the presiding count was obliged to give way and allow him lo preside in his stead. He had the power to make new schiippen, provided he did so on West- (ihalian soil. Every schijppe was moreover bound to give a true answer to the emperor when he asked whether such a one was forfehmed or not, and jn what court. He could also depose disobedient counts, but only in Westphalia.
The emperor could even withdraw a cause out of the hands of the tribunals. The right of appeal to him has been already noticed ; but, besides this, he had a power of forbidding tile count to proceed in the cause when the accused offered himself to him fur honour and right ; and it was at his own risk then that the count proceeded any further in the business. The emperor could also grunt a safe-con- diict lo any person who might apply for it under ap- preliension of having been forJcltTned, which safe- ponduct the aclioppen dared not violate. Even when
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a person had been Jbrfekmcd, the emjwrar could Have him by issuing his command la stay execution of the Benlence for a hundred years, sis weeks, and a
It is plain, thai, to be able to exercise Ihese riglits, the emperor must be himself initiated, for otherwise he could not, for instance, appear where a coiu-t was . sitting:, make alterations in laws with which, if igno- rant, he must ueceiiBarily be unacquainted, or extend mercy when he could not know who v/a,sforfehmed or not. In the laws establishing the rights of the emperor it was therefore always inserted, pro- vided he be initiated, and the acH of uninitiated emperors were by Ihe Fehm-courts frequently de- clared invalid. The emperor had, therefore, his choice of setting a substitute over the Febm-courts, or of being himself initiated. The latter course was naturally preferred, and each emperor, at liis corona- tion at Aix-la tary Count of Dortmund. Though Aix-la-Chapelle was not in Westphalia, the law sanctioned this de- parture from the general rule that frei-schoppen should only be made in that country.
The emperor's lieutenant, who was almost always the Archbishop of Cologne, had the rifiht of con- firming such counts as were presented to him by the Tribunal-lords, and of investing them with the powers of life and death. He could also summon general chapters, and preside and exercise the other imperial rights in Ihem. He might decide, with the aid of some schoppen, in cases of appeal to him, without bringing the affair before the general chap- ter ; and he had the power of making schoppen at any tribunal in Westphalia, which proves that, like the emperor, he had free access to them all. Hence 't is clear that he also must have beeu iuitiateil.
The dignity and pre-eminence of the Archbishi^
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of Cologne, when this office had been conferred on him, caused a good deal of envy and jealousy among the lords of Westphalia, who had been hitherto his equals, and who considered themselves equally en- titled to it with him. They never let slip an occasion of showing their feelings, and they always had their counts invested by the emperor, and not by the arch- bishop; nay, there are not wanting instances of their having such counts as he had invested confirmed and re-invested by the emperor.
There now remain only the Tribunal-Lords (Stuhl- herrri) to be considered.
The Tribunal-lord was, the lord of the district in which there was a Fehin-tribunal. He might him- self, if initiated, become the count of it, having pre- viously obtained the power of life and death from the emperor, or his lieutenant ; or, if he did not choose to do so, he might, as we have already seen, present a count to be invested, for whose conduct he was held responsible ; and, if the count appointed by him misconducted himself, the Stuhl-herr was liable to a forfeiture of his rights. He was, in consequence, permitted to exercise a right of inspection over the Fehm-courts in his territory ; no schoppt^ could be made, no cause brought into the court, not even a summons issued, without his approbation. There even lay a kind of appeal to him from the sen- tence of the count; and he could also, like the emperor, withdraw certain persons and causes from his jurisdiction. But as his power did not extend beyond his own tertitory, the count might refer those causes in which he virished, but was prohibited, to proceed, to the courts in other territories ; he might also, if he apprehended opposition from the Tribunal- lord, require him (if initiated) to be present at the. proceedings.
The Tribunal-lord, if uninitiated, could, like the
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emperor in the same case, exercise these powers only by initiated deputies.
The great advantage which resulted from the right of having Fehm-tribunals induced the high lords, both spiritual and temporal, to be very anxious to become possessed of this species of territorial pro- perty, and in consequence nearly all the lords in Westphalia had Fehm-tribunals. Even towns, such as Dortmund, Soest, Munster, and Osnabruck, had these tribunals, either within their walls, or in their districts, or their neighbourhood, for it would not have been good policy in them to suffer this sort of Status in Statv^ to be independent of their authoritv.
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SKCRIIT TRIBUNALS OF WKSTPHALl.V.
Fehm-courls at Celle— At Brunswick— Tribunal of the Know iii)>iu the Tyrot— The Contlo of Baden— African Purtahs.
We have now g'one thrtiufrh the constitution and modes of procedure of the Fehm-tribunals of West- phnlia, as i'a.T as ihe imperitct notices of them which have reached the present age permit. It remains to trace their history down to ihe last vestiges of them which appear. A matter of some curiosity should, however, be previously touched on, namely, how far they were peculiar to Westphalia, and what institu- tions resembling them may be elsewhere found.
Fehm-tribunals were, in faci, as we have already observed, not peculiar to Westphalia. In a MS. life of Duke Julius of Celle, by Francis Alg^rmaun*. of (he year 1S08, we read the following description of a Felim-court, which the author remembered to have seen holden at Celle in his youth; —
"When the Fehm-iawl- was to be put in opera- tion, all the inhabitants of the district who were above twelve years of age were obliged to appear, without fail, on a healh or !:Kime large open place, and sit down on the ground. Some tables were then set in the middle of the assembly, at which the prince, his councillors, and bailitis, took their seats. The Secret Judges then reported the delinquents and the offences; and they went round with a white wand
' Barck, p. 231, from Spilllefs History of Hun t yimrictil, i.e. Fehm-latu, the Geiinun word, u autliOTjireBEntlf givea adiildiih ctymulug}'.
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which the
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and smote the offenders on the legs. Whoever then had a bad conscience, and knew himself to be guilty of a capital offence, was permitted to stand up and to quit the country within a day and a night. He might even wait till he got the second blow. But if he was struck the third time, the executioner was at hand, a pastor gave him the sacrament, and away with him to the nearest tree.
" But if a person was struck but once or twice, that was a paternal warning to him to amend his life thenceforward. Hence it was called Jus Venite^ be- cause there was grace in it, which has been corrupted and made Vim-rich f
There were similar courts, we are told, at places named Wolpe and Rotenwald. Here the custom was for the Secret Judges, when they knew of any one having committed an offence which fell within the Fehm-jurisdiction, to give him a private friendly warning. To this end they set, during the night, a mark on his door, and at drinking-parties they managed to have the can sent past him. If these warnings took no effect the court was held.
According to an ancient law-book, the Fehm- court at Brunswick was thus regulated and holden. Certain of the most prudent and respectable citizens, named FehmenoieSf had the secret duty of watching the conduct of their fellow-citizens and giving in- formation of it to the council. Had so many offences been committed that it seemed time to hold a Fehm- court, a day was appointed for that purpose. Some members of the council from the different districts of the town met at midnight in St. Martin's church- yard, and then called all the council together. All the gates and entrances of the town were closed ; ail corners and bridges, and the boats both above and below the town, were guarded. The Fehm-clerk was then directed to begin his office, and the Fehme-^
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notes were desired to give their informations to him to he put into legal form if the time should prove sufficient.
At dayhreak it was notified to the citizens that the council had resolved that the Fehm-court should be holden on this day, and they were directed to repair to the market-pla^e as soon as the tocsin sounded.
When the hell had tolled three times all who had assembled accompanied the council, through the gate of St. Peter, out of the town to what was called the Fehm-ditch. Here they separated ; the council took their station on the space between the ditch and the town-gate, the citizens stood at the other, side of the ditch. The Fehmenotes now mingled themselves among the townsmen, inquired after such offences as were not yet come to their knowledge, and communi- cated whatever information they obtained, and also their former discoveries (if they had not had time to do so in the night) to the clerk, to be put by him into proper form and laid before the council.
The clerk having delivered his protocol to the council, they examined it and ascertained which of the offences contained in it were to be brought before a Fehm-court, and which not ; for matters under the value of four shillings did not belong to it. The council then handed the protocol back to the clerk, who went with it to the Fehm-court, which now took its seat in presence of a deputation of the council.
Those on whom theft had been committed were first brought forward and asked if they knew the thief. If they replied in the negative, they were obliged to swear by the saints to the truth of iheit answer ; if they named an individual, and that it was the first charge against him, he was permitted to clear himself by oath ; but if there was a second charge against him, his own oath was not sufficient.
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und lie was oliliged lo bring; six compiirrcalors to iiwear alung wiih hiai. Shoulil there be a LhJrd ^'harge, his only course was to clear himself by the oriieal. He was forthwith to wash his hand in wator, and to take in it a piece tif glowing-hot iron, which the beadlea and execulioners had always in readi' tiesa on the left of the tribunal, and to carry it a distance of nine feet. The Fehra-count, according lo ancient custom, chose whom he would to find the verdict. The council could dissolve the court vvhen- ever (hey pleased, Sncli causes as had not come on, or were put olf on account of sickness, or any other just impediment, were, on such occasions, noted and reserved for another session.
It is evident, however, that this municipal court, of which the chief object was the punishment of thell, the grand offence of the middle ages, though called a Fehm-court, was widely different from those of the same name in Westphalia.
The Tribunal of the Knowing' (GmcA( der Ww- smden), in Tyrol, ha=al3oheen erroneously supposed lo be the same with the Weslphalian courts. The mode of procedure in this was for the accuser to lay his finger on the head of the accused, and swear that he knevf him to be an infamous person, while six reputable people, laying their fingers on the arm of Ltie accuser, swore that they knew him to have sworn truly and honestly. This was considered sufficient evidence against any person, and tlie court proceeded
The ideal Fehm-cnurt beneath the castle of Baden must not be passed over without notice, as it seems to be the model afler which our popular novelist de- scribed his Fehm-tribunal in Switzerland ! A female ' writer in Germany* informs us that beneath the
' FricJerika Bnin. Kpisocli^a au; Bcis^u diiicb das Sdil-
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cnstle of Baden tile vaults extend (o a consideral)le distance in labyrinthine witidini^s, anil were in former times appropriated to the secret mysteries of a Fehm-tribunal. Those who were brought before tliis awfiil tribunal were not conducted into the castle- vaults in the usual way ; they were lowered into the glcmmy abyss by a. cord in a bnsliet, and restored to thejight, if so fortunate as to be acquitted, in the same manner ; so that Ibey never could, however inclined, discover where they had been. The ordinary entrance led throup;h a long dark passage, which was dosed ' by a door of a single stone as large as a tombstone. This door revolved on invisible hinges, and fitted so exactly, tbat when it was shut the person who was inside could not distinguish it from the adjoining stones, or tell where it wits that he bad entered. It could only be opened on the outside by a secret spring. Proceeding along this passage you reached the torture-room, where 'you saw hoolts in the wall, Ihiimb-surewH, and every species of instruments of torture. A door on the left opened into a recess, the place of the Maiden's Kiss. When any person who had been condemned was led hither, a stone gave way under his feet, and he fell into the arms of the Maiden, whii, like the wife of Nabis, crushed him to death in her arms, which were thick set nith spikes. Proceeding on farther, after passing through several doors, you came to the vault of the Tribunal, 'i'his was a long spacious quadrangle hung round with black. At the upper end was a niche in which were an altar and crucifix. In this place the chief judge sat ; his ussessors had their seats on wooden benches along the walls.
We need not to observe how totally different from the proceedings of a genuine Fehm-tribunal is all this. That there are vaults under tlie custle of Baden is L-erlaiii,and the liescriplioH above given is possibly
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correct. But the Fehm-court which was held in them is the mere coinan^e of the lady's brain, arid utterly unlike any things real, unless it be the Holy Office, whose secret proceedings never could vie in justice or humanity with those of the Westphalian Fehm-courts. It is, moreover, not confirmed by any document, or even by the tradition of the place, and would be undeserving of notice were it not for the reason assigned above.
The similarity between the Fehm-courts and the Inquisition has been often observed. In the secrecy of their proceedings, and the great number of agents which they had at tlieir devotion, they resemble each other ; but the Holy Office had nothing to correspond to the public and repeated citations of the Fehm- courts, the fair trial given to the accused, the leaning towards mercy of the judges, and the right of appeal which was secured.
The most remarkable resemblance to the Fehm- tribunals is (or was) to be found among the negroes on the west coast of Africa, as they are described by a French traveller*. These are the Purrahs of the FooUahs, who dwell between Sierra Leone river and Cape Monte.
There are five tribes of this people, who form a confederation, at the head of which is a union of war- riors, which is called a Purrah. Each tribe has its own separate Purrah, and each Purrah has its chiefs and its tribunal, which is, in a more restricted sense, also called a Purrah. The general Purrah of the confederation is formed from the Purrahs of the five tribes.
To be a member of the inferior Purrahs, a man must be thirty years of age ; no one under fifty can have a seat in the general Purrah. The candidate
* Golberry> Voyage en Afrique^ t, i, p. 114>and seq.
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for admission into an inferior Purrah has to undergo a most severe course of probation, in which all the elements are employed to try him. Before he is per- mitted to enter on this course, such of his relatives as are already members are obliged to pledge them- selves for liis fitness, and to swear to take his life if ever he should betray the secrets of the society. Hav- ing passed through the ordeal, he is admitted into the society and sworn to secrecy and obedience. If he is unmindful of his oath, he becomes the child of death. When he least expects it a warrior in dis- guise makes his appearance and says, "The great Purrah sends thee death." Every one present de- parts ; no one ventures to make any opposition, and the victim falls.
The subordinate Purrahs punish all crimes com- mitted within their district, and take care that their sentences are duly executed. They also settle dis- putes and quarrels between the leading families.
It is only on extraordinary occasions that the great Purrah meets. It then decides on the punishment of traitors and those who had resisted its decrees. Frequently too it has to interfere to put an end to wars between the tribes. When it has met on this account it gives information to the belligerents, directing them to abstain from hostilities, and menac- ing death if a drop more of blood should be spilt. It then inquires into the causes of the war, and con- demns the tribe which is found to have been the aggressor to a four days' plundering. The warriors to whom the execution of this sentence is committed must, however, be selected from a neutral district. They arm and disguise themselves, put horrible- looking vizards on their faces, and with pitch- torches in their hands set out by night from the place of assembly. Making no delay, they reach the devoted district before the br^ak of day, and in parties of
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from forty to sixty men, they fall imexpectedly on the devoted tribe, and, with fearful cries, making known the sentence of the great Purrah, proceed to put it into execution. The booty is then divided : one half is given to the injured tribe, the other falls to the great Purrah, who bestow one half of their share on the warriors who executed their sentence.
Even a single family, if its power should appear to be increasing so fast as to put the society in fear for its independence, is condemned to a plundering by the Purrah. It was thus, though under more specious pretexts, that the Athenian democracy sought to re- duce the power of their great citizens by condemning them to build ships, give theatrical exhibitions, and otherwise spend their fortunes.
Nothing can exceed the dread which the Purrah inspires. The people speak of it with terror and awe, and look upon the members of it as enchanters who are in compact with the devil. The Purrah itself is solicitous to diffuse this notion as much as possible, esteeming it a good mean for increasing its power and influence. The number of its members is esti- mated at upwards of 6000, who recognise each other by certain words and signs. Its laws and secrets are, notwithstanding , the great number of the members, most religiously concealed from the knowledge of the uninitiated.
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