ABBOT is also a title given to others beside the superiors of monasteries: thus bishops, whose fees were formerly abbeys, are called abbots; as are the superiors of some congregations of regular canons, particularly that of St Genevieve at Paris; and among the Genoese, the chief magistrate of their republic formerly bore the title of Abbot of the people. It was likewise usual, about the time of Charlemagne, for several lords to assume the title of count-abbots, abba comites; and that for no other reason, but because the superintendency of certain abbeys was committed to them.