In the old Lombard constitution we have seen the gastald, chiefly,
however, in the matter of judicial decisions, exercise a controlling
influence on the arbitrary action of the duke; but as the power of the
count varied from that of the duke, so that of the _scabinus_ differs
from that of the gastald, only perhaps in a greater degree. At the
time when the count assumes the place of his predecessor the duke, the
_scabinus_ displaces the gastald, although he cannot be said to have
assumed exactly the same position as the latter, nor to have filled it
in precisely the same way. The _scabinus_ did not have, of course, any
direct limiting control over the actions of the count; for any such
power in the hands of a body of lesser officers would have been alike
contrary to the spirit of feudalism which characterized the age, and
impossible to its forms; but being the principal judicial
functionaries of the district, into their hands fell most of the cases
which formerly went to the _placita_ of the count; and while the wish
of the great emperor, that even the meanest subject of the realm
should receive impartial justice at their hands, might have failed in
its effect, its fulfilment was made more sure by the method prescribed
for the election of the officers whose duty it was to execute it.
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