[480] This protects the landed property of the burghers against the crown and crown officials. With two exceptions, fine or imprisonment, not confiscation of land, is to be the penalty for crime. _Hotes_ denotes persons receiving land from the king and under his direct protection. [481] This provision is intended to attract merchants to Lorris by placing them under the king's protection and assuring them that they would not be molested on account of old offenses. [482] This chapter safeguards the personal property of the burghers, as chapter 5 safeguards their land. Arbitrary imposts are forbidden and any of the inhabitants who as serfs had been paying arbitrary tallage are relieved of the burden. The nominal _cens_ (Chap. 1) was to be the only regular payment due the king. [483] An agreement outside of court was allowable in all cases except when there was a serious breach of the public peace. The provost was the chief officer of the town. He was appointed the crown and was charged chiefly with the administration of justice and the collection of revenues. All suits of the burghers were tried in his court. They had no active part in their own government, as was generally true of the franchise towns. [484] Another part of the charter specifies that only those burghers who owned horses and carts were expected to render the king even this service. [485] This clause, which is very common in the town charters of the twelfth century (especially in the case of towns on the royal domain) is intended to attract serfs from other regions and so to build up population. As a rule the towns were places of refuge from seigniorial oppression and the present charter undertakes to limit the time within which the lord might recover his serf who had fled to Lorris to a year and a day--except in cases where the serf should refuse to recognize the jurisdiction of the provost's court in the matter of the lord's claim. [486] The sergeants were deputies of the provost, somewhat on the order of town constables. [487] These "Hollanders" inhabited substantially the portion of Europe now designated by their name. [488] This was the diocese from which the colonists proposed to remove. [489] That is, judges representing any outside authority. [490] In other words, if the bishop should go from his seat at Hamburg to the colony. [491] In each parish of the colony, therefore, the priest would be supported by the income of the hide of land set apart for his use and by the tenth of the regular church tithes which the bishop conceded for the purpose. [492] All that this means is that the members of the Rhine League recognized William of Holland as emperor. Most of the Empire did not so recognize him. He died in 1256, two years after the league was formed.