E Aldebm An

Ealdorman. Sax. (X. Lat. alderm^nnus; Lat. senior. "] Elaqr man, or elder. A very ancient title, applied among the Saxons to a great variety of officers, (see Aldermannus;) the tenn being indicative not so much of age, as of experience and fitness for public station. LL. Edw. Conf c. 35. Spelman, voc. Aldermannus. Used, in particular, as the title of a high officer having the government of a county, or shire, otherwise ^led shireman, and by some writers thought to be the same with the eorle, or earl of later times. Co. Litt. 168 a. \ Beeves' Hist. E. Law, 6. Gilb. C. Pleas, Introd. p. 3, note. Id. b1. 1 Bl. Com. 116, 398. 3 Id. 36. 3 Steph. Com. 3. Crabb'sHUt. 24. He had judicial powers and presided with the bishop in the shiremote, (Sax. scyre gemote), or county court; and Spelman is of opinion that he was properly the chief judicial officer or judge of the county, {prcetorem seu justitiarium comitati!Ls,) answering to the sagtbaro of the Salian law; and that he was a different officer from the earl or comes, (who properly was the governor of the county,) occupying a middle rank between him and the vice-comes, or earl's deputy. Spelman, voce. Aldermannus, Aldermannus Comitatus, A law of Athelstan, cited by Spelman, (voc. Eorla,) in which eorles, and ealdor^ mannes are both mentioned, strongly confirms this idea; but the ancient authorities are not uniformly clear on this point. The word ealderman is sometimes erroneously written (with an r,) ea Wderman, the first sv Uable of which may have led to the idea that it denoted the same officer as earl. See Earl.