the latter an appeal was allowed from the judgment of the scabini, as we see from the law of Charlemagne,[70] which says that:  “Si quis caussam judicatam repetere in mallo praesumserit ... a Scabinis, qui caussam ipsam prius judicaverint, accipiat.”  Generally speaking, however, it seems probable that their jurisdiction included all cases arising within the city limits, which could be dealt with in the regular placita of the counts, and which were not of sufficient importance to be referred to the king in person, his representative the Count of the Palace, or his delegates the missi regii.

When the count went up to the general yearly placitum of the king, as the representative of the civitas, according to the laws of Charlemagne he was to be accompanied by a certain number of the scabini; and these seem to have accompanied him not solely in the character of legal advisers, but also in a certain measure as representatives of the cities in which lay their jurisdiction:  they are by no means what the exaggeration of Sismondi[71] calls “des magistrats populaires ... qui representaient la bourgeoisie”; but they certainly stood for the interests of the people, in a greater degree than any of the ruling powers we have as yet considered.  Their number is variously stated in the laws of different kings, and their actual number seems seldom to have come up to the standard of legal requirement.  Lewis the Pious requires twelve to accompany each count when summoned by the emperor:  “veniat unusquisque Comes et adducat secum duodecim Scabinos";[72] but concedes that if so many could not be found in the city, their number should be filled out from the best citizens of the town:  “de melioribus hominibus illius civitatis suppleat numerum duodenarium."[73] According to Charlemagne,[74] no one should come with the count to a king’s placitum unless he had a case to present, “qui causam suam quaerit, exceptis scabinis septem, qui ad omnia Placita esse debent.”  And again:  “Ut nullus ad placitum banniatur ... exceptis scabineis septem, qui ad omnia Placita praeesse debent";[75] and seven seems to have been the usual number expected, and their attendance was compulsory; though sometimes only two appear, and in a few cases none at all.

Of all matters relating to this office, the one which is of most interest to us, and the one which most clearly shows the difference which was designed to exist between it and that of the other judges, was the manner in which the office was obtained.  In this procedure we can trace almost distinctly that the object of the central power which established it was to secure greater justice and greater freedom to the subjects who came under its jurisdiction.  The fact was recognized by the new government that the power of the local heads was too great to suit the principle of universal central control, which was the keynote of Charlemagne’s system of administration, and was exercised in too arbitrary a manner; and that some check was necessary to curb the spirit and limit the independence of these local lords of the soil and the city who had little consideration for their inferiors, and who might at any time become a source of danger to their superiors.  Such a check was found, in regard to the central authority, in the missi regii, and in reference to the general public, in the scabini or city judges.