There were, no doubt, a number of persons living in Bruges who were not amenable to the city magistrates. The feudal lords, for example, though it was open to them, if they would, to enrol themselves as citizens, and not a few availed themselves of the privilege; persons submitted to the jurisdiction of the Franc; perhaps also the members of the Count's household, and the members of religious communities; and we know that from time immemorial there had been a large colony of foreign merchants in Bruges. The municipal machinery by which the city was governed seems to have been, at this time, at all events, of a somewhat complicated nature. There were two distinct corporations, each presided over by its burgomaster. The first consisted of the _écoutète_, or representative of the Count, the burgomaster and thirteen _Echevins_, who, according to Gheldorf, were the sole judges in Bruges. The manner of their appointment is uncertain; but we know that, save in the case of their having been convicted of felony or of having falsely administered justice, they were irremovable during the single year which they held office, and that convicted criminals, artisans who had not abstained from manual labour for a year and a day, and the _Echevins_ of the preceding year, were ineligible. The second corporation consisted of its burgomaster and thirteen town councillors. It is doubtful what were the functions performed respectively by these corporations. Perhaps the first, in addition to its judicial functions, was a legislative assembly, and the second administered the affairs of the town. Curiously enough the original Flemish version of the charter of 1304 is mute as to the method of election alike of the college of _Echevins_ and the town council, but Gheldorf has discovered among the archives of Bruges another version containing an article which gives minute directions on this head.