Hist. Also Vehme-, Fehm-. [a. older G. Vehm-, now Fehm-, Femgericht (pl. -gerichte), f. prec. + gericht court, tribunal.] A form of secret tribunal that exercised great power in Westphalia from the end of the 12th to the middle of the 16th century.
1829. Scott, Anne of G., xx. Men initiated and intrusted with high authority by the Vehme-gericht, or tribunal of the bounds.
1839. Longf., Hyperion, I. vi. Two Black Knights, who pretended to be ambassadors from the Vehm-Gericht.
1879. Encycl. Brit., IX. 63/2. It was only with the restoration of public order … that the influence of the Fehmgerichte gradually waned.
transf. 1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, xliv. ‘Was Rebecca guilty or not?’ The Vehmgericht of the servants’ hall had pronounced against her.
1880. Edin. Rev., Jan., 143. The horrors of the Karmathian, the detestable Vehmgericht of the ‘Assassins,’… all owe their origin to the schism of the House of ’Ali.
