The word "Maréchaussée" derives from the French word "Maréchal" (plural "Maréchaux"), which was the second highest military charge in feudal France after "Connétable" (Constable), the military Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Armed Forces until 1627, when the charge of Constable was abolished. The Constable and the Marshals had also jurisdictional powers, at first only over members of the armed forces. The additional conferring of police powers led to the creation of the "Corps of the "Maréchaussée"" ("Marshalcy"; the forerunner of the modern "Gendarmerie") and to an Ancien Régime Court of Justice called the "Tribunal of the Constable and the Marshals of France" which was competent for judging military personnel and civilians alike in cases of petty violations of the law.