viscount. The jurisdiction of this
inferior court extended over the burgesses of the kingdom; and it was
composed of a select number of the most discreet and worthy citizens,
who were sworn to judge, according to the laws of the actions and
fortunes of their equals. [141] In the conquest and settlement of new
cities, the example of Jerusalem was imitated by the kings and their
great vassals; and above thirty similar corporations were founded before
the loss of the Holy Land. Another class of subjects, the Syrians, [142]
or Oriental Christians, were oppressed by the zeal of the clergy, and
protected by the toleration of the state. Godfrey listened to their
reasonable prayer, that they might be judged by their own national laws.
A third court was instituted for their use, of limited and domestic
jurisdiction: the sworn members were Syrians, in blood, language, and
religion; but the office of the president (in Arabic, of the rais) was
sometimes exercised by the viscount of the city. At an immeasurable
distance below the nobles, the burgesses, and the strangers, the
Assise of Jerusalem condescends to mention the villains and slaves, the
peasants of the land and the captives of war, who were almost equally
considered as the objects of property. The relief or protection of these
unhappy men was not esteemed worthy of the care of the legislator;
but he diligently provides for the recovery, though not indeed for the
punishment, of the fugitives. Like hounds, or hawks, who had strayed
from the lawful owner, they might be lost and claimed: the slave and
falcon were of the same value; but three slaves, or twelve oxen, were
accumulated to equal the price of the war-horse; and a sum of three
hundred pieces of gold was fixed, in the age of chivalry, as the
equivalent of the more noble animal. [143]

[Footnote 141: Louis le Gros, who is considered as the father of this
institution in France, did not begin his reign till nine years (A.D.
1108) after Godfrey of Bouillon, (Assises, c. 2, 324.) For its origin
and effects, see the judicious remarks of Dr. Robertson, (History of
Charles V. vol. i. p. 30-36, 251-265, quarto edition.)]

[Footnote 142: Every reader conversant with the historians of the
crusades will understand by the peuple des Suriens, the Oriental
Christians, Melchites, Jacobites, or Nestorians, who had all adopted the
use of the Arabic language, (vol. iv. p. 593.)]

[Footnote 143: See the Assises de Jerusalem, (310, 311,