Hither he called the representatives of Scotland for the 10th of May; on the 2nd of June the eight claimants of the crown acknowledged him as Lord Paramount, despite a written protest of the communitas of Scotland; obscurely mentioned, and not easily to be understood.
In each diocese there had arisen a judicature (judices pacis) to decide when the form had been broken; and an executive, or communitas pacis, had been formed to enforce the decisions of the judicature.
In the charter of 1254, while there is mention of a communitas capable of making a compact with the bishop, there is nothing said of any trade or craft gilds.
The commune (communia, communa, communio, communitas, conjuratio, confoederatio) was formed by an oath of mutual help (sacramentum, juramentum communise).
The term Iota communitas, " the whole community," appears to denote all freeholders of gentle birth, who might be present at any important assembly for the discussion of national affairs.
There is, perhaps, nothing in the history of medieval Europe which so closely resembles a voice from ancient Greece as the reply of the nobles and the whole communitas of Scotland to the pope (parliament of Aberbrothock, 6th of April 1320).