[239] Robert was Odo's brother. "Duke of the Franks" was a title, at first purely military, but fast developing to the point where it was to culminate in its bearer becoming the first Capetian king [see [p. 177]].
[240] See [p. 138, note 4].
[241] If the offender had a lord, this lord would be expected to produce his accused vassal at court.
[242] That is, the old blood-feud of the Germans.
[243] The office of missus had by this time fallen pretty much into decay. Many of the missi were at the same time counts—a combination of authority directly opposed to the earlier theory of the administrative system. The missus had been supposed to supervise the counts and restrain them from disloyalty to the king and from indulgence in arbitrary or oppressive measures of local government.
[244] The viscount (vicecomes) was the count's deputy. By Carloman's time there were sometimes several of these in a county. They were at first appointed by the count, but toward the end of the ninth century they became hereditary.
[245] The vicarii and centenarii were local assistants of the count in administrative and judicial affairs. In Merovingian times their precise duties are not clear, but under the Carolingians the two terms tended to become synonyms. The centenarius, or hundredman, was charged mainly with the administration of justice in the smallest local division, i.e., the hundred. In theory he was elected by the people of the hundred, but in practice he was usually appointed by the count.
[246] Hugh Capet, whose title prior to 987 was "Duke of the Franks."
[247] Adalbero, archbishop of Rheims.
[248] We are not to suppose that Richer here gives a literal reproduction of Adalbero's speech, but so far as we can tell the main points are carefully stated.