The difficulty of managing both the spiritual and temporal affairs of a monastery or cathedral church had led to the appointment of a sort of steward or lay administrator, termed an _avowee_, who was paid out of the dues which he received from the vassals of the community. He generally levied on each household a loaf of bread, a denier, a measure of oats, wheat, or barley, if the land grew cereals; a measure of wine, beer, or cider if the produce of the domains was grapes, hops, or apples. The avowee was arbiter in all disputed cases, and himself fixed the remuneration, before and after giving his decision, which the two parties to the suit had to pay him. He presided over judicial duels, and ordeal by boiling water or fire. He had a right to one head of stock at all cattle fairs, and he also received a draught or a saddle-horse, according as the district bred the one kind or the other. The avowee of a cathedral or a monastery always held a distinguished position in society; barons, dukes, and counts did not disdain to accept these functions--which they often abused, it must be added, by keeping for their own use the sums which they had received for the monastery. The usurpations of every kind which the avowees committed had been flagrant enough during the investiture dispute, but they increased enormously during the Crusades, owing to the absence of so many bishops, archdeacons, abbots, and priors, who had started for Palestine after loading their domains with mortgages, and even raising money upon the sacred vessels of their church.