times we find these proportionate amounts definitely defined--as, for
instance, in the time of Charlemagne two parts went to the king and
one part to the count who acted as _judex_;[36] this we know from two
of the Lombard laws of that emperor.[37] In one of these,[38] speaking
of those who evaded military service, he says: "Heribannum comes
exactare non praesumat: nisi Missus noster prius Heribannum ad partem
nostram recipiat, et ei," the Count, "suam tertiam partem exinde per
jussionem nostram donet."[39] We even find evidence of quite a large
amount of liberty used by the _duces_ in the ultimate disposal of
property coming under their jurisdiction by forfeiture, the more
powerful making use of it precisely as if it were private property.
For example, in the Chronica Farfensis[40] appears a case judged by
Hildeprandus, _dux_ of Spoleto, in the year 787. A certain nun named
Alerona, for having married a man named Rabennonus, "secundum legem
omnis substantia ipsius ad Publicum devoluta est"; a little later
Rabennonus, for having killed a man, "medietas omnis illius
substantiae ad Publicum devoluta est." In consequence, in poetic
justice and for the good of his soul and the king's, Hildeprandus
quite arbitrarily presents "omnem praedictam illorum substantiam,
qualiter secundum legem juste et rationabiliter, ad Publicum devoluta
est," to the Monastery of Farfa "pro mercede Domnorum nostrorum Regum
et nostra." Here, as in many other cases, we see the _dux_ making
gifts of property belonging clearly to the _publicum_, to persons
favored by him and for his own benefit. Such a condition of affairs
would certainly never have existed had public property been
administered by authority other than that of the _dux_.

With regard to the revenues falling under the second of the rough
divisions we have indicated--taxes and privileges--it is easier to see
why differences of opinion should have arisen; for here, especially in