最近在读Alison Weir的The Wars of the Roses，书中不止一次出现constable这个词。记忆中，这个词好象指代的是警察，但文中显然并非此意，且警察这个职位在中世纪应该尚未出现。

例句：Richard, Duke of York, came of age in 1432, when he was twenty-one. Two years earlier he had been given the important office of Constable of England, which carried responsibility for England's military defence, and in 1431 had attended Henry VI in France.

查一下在线字典： https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constable
Definition of constable (Entry 1 of 2)
1: a high officer of a royal court or noble household especially in the Middle Ages
2: the warden or governor of a royal castle or a fortified town
3 a: a public officer usually of a town or township responsible for keeping the peace and for minor judicial duties
  b (chiefly British): POLICE OFFICER
    (especially): one ranking below sergeant
...
History and Etymology for constable
Noun
Middle English conestable, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin comes stabuli, literally, officer of the stable

词源的本义有点中文“弼马温”的味道，但结合上下文看，应该更接近于汉代的“大司马”（由负责军务的“太尉”演变而来）。
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FROM 136.56.63.*