[139] From this point the capitulary deals with the "lesser chapters," i.e., non-capital offenses.
[140] For the value of the solidus, see [p. 61].
[141] Three classes of society are distinguished—nobles, freemen, and serfs. The ordinary freeman pays half as much as the noble, and the serf half as much as the freeman.
[142] A prominent characteristic of the early Teutonic religion was that its ceremonies were invariably conducted out of doors. Tacitus, in the Germania (Chap. 9), tells us that the Germans had no temples or other buildings for religious purposes, but worshipped in sacred groves. The "Irmensaule," probably a giant tree-trunk, was the central shrine of the Saxon people, and Charlemagne's destruction of it in 772 was the most serious offense that could have been committed against them.
[143] The Germans reckoned by nights rather than by days, as explained by Tacitus, Germania, Chap. 11 [see [p. 27]].
[144] A sum assessed by the king, in this case against the illegal harboring of criminals.
[145] The counts, together with the bishops, were the local representatives or agents of the king. They presided over judicial assemblies, collected revenues, and preserved order. There were about three hundred of them in Charlemagne's empire when at its greatest extent.
[146] An officer sent out by the king to investigate the administration of the counts and render judgment in certain cases. As a rule two were sent together, a layman and an ecclesiastic [see [p. 134]].
[147] Under ordinary circumstances the priests were thus charged with the responsibility of seeing that local government in their various communities was just and legal.
[148] Bémont and Monod, Mediæval Europe (New York, 1902), p. 202.