CONSTABLE, kiin'sta-131 (OF. concstable, Fr, connc'tablc, from ME. conestabulus, come stabulus, coin istnhuli, constable, from Lat. comes .,stnbuli, count of the stable). (1) An officer of great dignity and authority in the Eastern Roman Empire, whence the office passed, with varying functions but no loss of authority, to the west ern nations of Europe. The Constable of France, as commander-in-chief of the army and navy and chief arbitrator in chivalry, became the most powerful officer and dignitary in the State after the King, and, because of the danger to the Crown that lurked in its greatness, the office was abolished by Richelieu in 1627. The dignity was revived by Napoleon Bonaparte, but again abolished after the restoration of the monarchy. Across the Channel the office existed with similar functions, under the title of Lord high Constable of England, but it never attained to the author ity which attended it in France, and it was sus pended for reasons of economy by Henry VIII. It is now filled by temporary appointment on great occasions of state, as the coronation of the monarch, etc. Formerly the Lord High Con stable. in conjunction with the Earl :Marshal of England, held the courts of chivalry, or honor, and the courts martial of the kingdom. But the former jurisdiction has now completely lapsed, and courts martial are held by the ordinary military authorities. The court of the constable and marshal, therefore, while still nominally in existence, is practically obsolete. The office of constable still survives in Scotland, where it has become an hereditary dignity of the earls of Errol, but shorn of its former authority.
(2) The office of constable also existed in Eng land with the signification of warden or keeper of certain royal castles and fortified towns. In a few cases it long survived as an hereditary office, and in sonic others it is filled by royal appointment. Of the latter class are the con stables of the Tower of London and of Windsor and Dover castles.
(3) The peace officer whom we know as con stable is the petty constable of English law, an officer of great antiquity—so called to distinguish him from the 11 igh Constables of Hundreds, created by the Statute of Winchester, 13 Edward I. (1285). The office has in recent years lost much of its importance in England, the institu tion of county and borough police having de prived it of most of its functions. In most of the United States, however, outside the cities, the constable continues to be the principal officer of the peace. As such he is invested with large powers of arresting, imprisoning, breaking open houses, executing civil and criminal process. and often with limited judicial functions. His duties are generally defined by statute. In cities. as in English boroughs and counties, his func tions have generally been transferred to the police (q.v.). See PEACE: SHERIFF: and con sult: Bacon, New Abridgment of the Law, title Constable (any edition) ; Dalton, The Country Justice: Containing the Practice, Duty, and Power of the Justices of the Peace.