“ They were, indeed, also known as free courts (Freigerichte) , a name due to the fact that all free-born men were eligible for membership and also to the fact that they claimed certain exceptional liberties. ”

“ Princes and nobles were initiated; and in 1429 even the emperor Sigismund himself became “a true and proper Freischöffe of the Holy Roman Empire.” By the middle of the 14th century these Freischöffen (Latin scabini) , sworn associates of the Fehme, were scattered in thousands throughout the length and breadth of Germany, known to each other by secret signs and pass-words, and all of them pledged to serve the summons of the secret courts and to execute their judgment. ”

“ The organization of the Fehme was elaborate. The head of each centre of jurisdiction (Freistuhl) , often a secular or spiritual prince, sometimes a civic community, was known as the Stuhlherr, the archbishop of Cologne being, as stated above, supreme over all (Oberststuhlherr) . The actual president of the court was the Freigraf (free count) chosen for life by the Stuhlherr from among the Freischöffen, who formed the great body of the initiated. ”