The employment of Roman terms need cause little surprise when we remember that the study of elementary Roman law, as well as of rhetoric,[84] the _ars dictandi_ then formed part of the _Trivium_, and was therefore widely taught in Italy. In the first half of the eleventh century a still more advanced study of law already flourished at the school of Ravenna, and as its influence increased, extended through Romagna into Tuscany. This system of law seemed to spring to life again spontaneously from the midst of Latin populations, with whom it had never entirely died out, and now in its new vigour brought modifications and changes into the different institutions and legislations with which it came in contact.[85] In fact, in the sentences pronounced by Beatrice and Matilda, we find occasional quotations from the _Digesto_, or Code, that, according to the procedure of the time, was carried to the tribunals by those basing their rights on its clauses.[86] The works of St. Pier Damiano afford satisfactory proof that the Florentines pursued the same study, and set great value on Roman law. The saint mentions a juridical dispute of the Florentines, regarding which, towards the middle of the eleventh century, they had asked the opinion of the _sapientes_ of Ravenna, who, much to his own disgust, presumed to alter the prescriptions of canonical law on the authority of the _Digesto_. Among those wise men, he adds, the most impetuous and subtle chanced to be a Florentine.[87] Another proof might be deduced from the remark previously made by Ficker,[88] namely, that the courts held in Florence and its territory were seldom attended by the Romagnol assessors, or _causidici_, frequenting other Tuscan tribunals. This would seem to imply that in this respect Florentines had no need to recur to Romagna. Later--that is towards the end of the century--the school of Irnerius (Werner) began to flourish at Bologna, the which school aimed at an exact reproduction of Roman law and promoted its genuine revival. But at the time of which we speak the Ravenna school represented, on the contrary, a continuation of the ancient jurisprudence, partly decayed and partly changed by the diverse elements of civilisation in the midst of which it had survived, and in which it was now producing radical changes.[89] One of these changes--leading to very remarkable consequences of a political as well as a legal kind--took place in the constitution and attributes of the margravial tribunal.