Page "Vehmic court" Paragraph 12

The organization of the Fehme was elaborate.

The centre of each jurisdiction was referred to as a “ free seat ” (), and its head or chairman () was often a secular or spiritual prince, sometimes a civic community, the archbishop of Cologne being supreme over all ().

The actual president of the court was the “ free count ” (, chosen for life by the Stuhlherr from among the Freischöffen, who formed the great body of the initiated.

Of these the lowest rank were the Fronboten or Freifronen, charged with the maintenance of order in the courts and the duty of carrying out the commands of the Freigraf.

The immense development of the Fehme is explained by the privileges of the Freischöffen ; for they were subject to no jurisdiction but those of the Westphalian courts: whether as accused or accuser they had access to the secret sessions, and they shared in the discussions of the general chapter as to the policy of the society.

At their initiation these swore to support the Fehme with all their powers, to guard its secrets, and to bring before its tribunal anything within its competence that they might discover.

They were then initiated into the secret signs by which members recognized each other, and were presented with a rope and with a knife on which were engraved the mystic letters S. S. G. G., supposed to mean Stein, Strick, Gras, grün ( stone, rope, grass, green ).