62 ON THE PROBABLE ORIGIN 
hereditary office by noble families, and the land- 
ed gentry of the neighbourhood obtaining the 
rights of citizenship, and commanding the 
troops of the cities. When the artizans in the 
Italian towns had triumphed, after a long strug- — 
gle, over the civil aristocracy, the military force 
was divided according to the companies, each 
division consisting entirely of those who follow- 
ed the same handicraft, or if the number of these 
was too small, several being united, whose occu- 
pations had a certain affinity with each other. 
The same struggles which in the Italian cities, 
not being controuled by any sovereign authority, 
and inflamed by the disputes of the Guelf and 
Ghibelline parties, were carried on with a vio- 
lence which influenced the history of Europe, 
agitated other communities also, though with 
less conspicuous results. In these the contest 
regarded chiefly jurisdiction and administration. 
The Scabini, who according to the constitution 
of Charlemagne were judges under the presi- 
dency of the counts, had been chosen by the 
people, subject to the approbation of the count. 
This right of participation in the appointment 
of their judges, however, appears to have been 
encroached upon, during the time of the depres- 
sion of the cities, and one of the first wishes of 
