Vehmic courts

The Vehmic courts, also known as the Secret courts? of the Feme, or Fehmgericht were secret tribunals that existed in Germany from the end of the twelfth century to the middle of the sixteenth. Their modus operandi represents a continuation of the Carolingian tradition. They are referenced in Sir [Walter Scott]?'s gothic novel Anne of Geierstein.

Their clandestine nature included initiation rituals and are thought in conspiracy theory to be an early precursor of the [Society of the Illuminati]? and, by extension, Freemasonry.