Glossary

This glossary is intended to help users of this database with any unfamiliar words, terms or phrases that they may encounter in the descriptions of the sources. Although, where possible, the original Latin or Anglo-Norman sources have been rendered in modern English, there remain some words that have no exact equivalent or that had specific technical meanings in the Middle Ages. There are also some concepts, such as the various forms of legal actions or court orders to attach or distrain defendants who failed to appear in court, that may require further explanation. It should also be noted that the meaning of units of measurement such as the acre or the carucate could vary from region to region. The following list, while not completely comprehensive, should answer most queries. For any outstanding issues, the most valuable reference tools consulted during this project are:

Dictionaries

Latham, R. E. and Dowlett, D. R. (eds.), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British sources (11 vols, Oxford, 1975-). The most recent volume of this comprehensive dictionary has only reached Phi-Pos. As a result, it is necessary to use the following item, the Revised medieval Latin word-list, for the remainder of the alphabet.

Latham, R. E. (ed.), Revised Medieval Latin Word-List from British and Irish Sources: with supplement (Rev. ed., Oxford, 1999). This word-list contains less detailed abstracts of the entries in the larger (but as yet incomplete) Dictionary of medieval Latin, although it is the most convenient source for general use.

Rothwell, W., Stone, L. W. and Reid, T. B. W. (eds.), Anglo-Norman dictionary (London, 1993). The best source for Anglo-Norman texts.

C. T. Martin, The Record Interpreter: a collection of Latin abbreviations, words and names used in English historical records and manuscripts (London, 1892). Despite its age, this is still a useful reference work, particularly for common abbreviated forms of words and personal/place names. It has since been reissued on several occasions.

Dates and chronology

Cheney, C. R. and Jones, M. (eds.), A handbook of dates for students of British history (rev. ed., Cambridge, 2000). A vital tool for assigning calendar dates to medieval documents, which are often designated by reference to regnal years or feast-days.

Fryde, E. B., Greenway, D. E., Porter, S. and Roy, I. (eds.), Handbook of British Chronology (3rd ed., London, 1986). Useful for the terms of office of bishops and key royal officials, and also for the succession of earls.

Legal terminology

A. Harding, A.,The law courts of medieval England. This is a good account of the various levels of the legal system in the thirteenth century.

Brevia Placitata, Turner, G. J. and Plucknett, T. F. T. (eds.), Selden Society, 66 (1951 for 1947). Probably the best guide to the different forms of action in the first half of the thirteenth century.

Units of measurement and currency

Zupko, R. E., A dictionary of English weights and measures from Anglo-Saxon times to the nineteenth century (Milwaukee and London, 1968). A useful source that gives modern equivalents.

Zupko, R. E., French weights and measures before the revolution: a dictionary of provincial and local units (Bloomington and London, 1978). Also useful but possibly not as reliable as Delisle (below) on regional variations within Normandy.

Delisle, L., Études sur la condition de la classe agricole et l'état de l'agriculture en Normandie au Moyen Âge (Évreux, 1851). The most thorough discussion of differences in units of measurements across Normandy.

Spufford, P., Wilkinson, W., and Tolley, S. (eds.), Handbook of medieval exchange (London, 1986). Identifies the key medieval currencies and attempts to provide exchange rates between them (although there is less data for the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries than for later periods).

Term	Alternative Term	Class	Description
Acre (English)		Units of measurement	The acre probably originated as the area of land that one plough-team could cover in one day. In England, the acre consisted of four ROODS. It is equivalent to 4840 square yards or 0.405 hectares. It was usually in the form of a long strip of land. There were some regional variations in the size of an acre
Acre (Norman)		Units of measurement	The use of the term in Normandy may have been imported from England after 1066. The Norman acre consisted of 4 VERGEES, each of which contained 160 square Perches.
advowson		Property	The advowson is the right to present to a church and the holder of the advowson (the PATRON of the church) could thus present their choice of clerk as RECTOR of the church.
Agreement		Grant	An agreement differs from a simple grant in that it usually involves a two-way transactions, such as an exchange of properties.
agreement	covenant	LegalEvent	The legal action of covenant (agreement) was intended to enforce a contract, usually a written agreement, between two parties.
aid		Tenure	Aid was one of the feudal incidents. A lord was entitled to ask his feudal tenants for financial assistance in certain situations. Magna Carta regulated the rate and occasions on which an aid could be taken. For example, an aid could be levied to meet a ransom imposed on the lord, or the costs of knighting his eldest son or for the marriage of his eldest daughter.
alms		Property	Alms were charitable payments. For instance, alms, in the form of moeny or food and drink, were distributed to the poor. Property or rents held or granted in alms or free alms (eleemynosa libera) was intended for religious purposes and so quit of secular service.
amercement		Debt	A financial penalty imposed by a court for various reasons.
amita		Personal Relationships	Paternal aunt.
Angevin		Units of measurement	The currency of Anjou.
antecessore		Personal Relationships	Ancestor
attachment		LegalEvent	Attachment was a form of mesne process intended to induce the defendant to appear in court. In theory, the sheriff could attach chattels belonging to the defendant but more usually the defendant would have to find two sureties or pledges for his appearance in court. If he failed to appear in court, his sureties would be liable for amercement.
Attaint		LegalEvent	A means of challenging the verdict of a jury in a legal action. The verdict of the original twelve jurors could be overturned by a new inquest, this time by a panel of twenty-four jurors.
attorney		LegalEvent	The attorney was the legal representative of one of the parties in a legal suit.
avunculus		Personal Relationships	Uncle or, more generally, senior male relative.
avus		Personal Relationships	Grandparent.
bench		LegalEvent	The bench developed from the omnicompetent royal court in the late twelfth century. It is sometimes difficult to draw firm distinctions between the composition and business of the bench and the court coram rege. The bench generally sat at Westminster, although it could be held elsewhere, rather than travelling with the king. The business of the court also tended to the more routine pleas, reserving more debatable or politically sensitive cases to be heard before the king. Between 1209 and 1214 John closed the bench and heard all pleas in the court coram rege. In reaction to this, clause 17 of the 1215 Magna Carta specified that the bench should sit at some certain place and thereafter the bench was more or less settled at Westminster.
Bovate		Units of measurement	A bovate was equivalent to one-eight part of one carucate, or roughly 15 acres.
breach of the peace		LegalEvent	The claim of a breach of the peace was part of many appeals and, later, of pleas of trespass. Its essential feature was the claim that the defendant had assaulted the plaintiff/seized goods 'against the king's peace'. Since the king had jurisdiction over all offences against his peace such a claim was used to bring litigation before the royal courts. As a result, in many later trespass pleas the element of force was purely fictional.
bushel		Units of measurement	The bushel was a standard unit for measuring grain. The standardised Winchester bushel contained four PECKS or eight GALLONS. Eight bushels made up one QUARTER.
Carucate	Hide or Ploughland	Units of measurement	A carucate was notionally the area that one plough-team could plough in one year. The carucate is generally equivalent to one HIDE or four VIRGATES or eight BOVATES and usually contained 120 ACRES.
cognato		Personal Relationships	Kinsman.
common of pasture		LegalEvent	The right to put livestock to pasture on common land was an important economic right and one chellenged by the attempts of lords to enclose areas for the exclusive use of their own stock. The action of common of pasture was intended to litigate such disputes.
Confirmation		Grant	A confirmation did not transfer any new property or rights, but confirmed a previous grant. In particular, it was often considered prudent to secure confirmations of previous royal grants on the succession of a new king. Two types of confirmation were the inspeximus, used by the English kings, and the vidimus, used by the French kings.
coram rege	Later known as the King's Bench	LegalEvent	Medieval justice was highly personal. The king could intervene in sensitive or doubtful cases, or exercise his discretion to ensure that justice was done. Under John in particular, the plea rolls record the active involvement of the king and many cases are noted for discussion with the king. Certain cases, such as trespass, were generally reserved for the court coram rege, which could also hear pleas involving the king or the courtiers or magnates. The court coram rege could also hear appeals brought from other courts. From 1234 it is possible to distinguish between a series of bench plea rolls and those of the court coram rege.
custody	wardship	LegalEvent	A form of legal action intended to claim the custody or wardship of a minor.
customs and service		LegalEvent	The writ of customs and services was one remedy for a lord who claimed that his tenant was not rendering the service owed for his tenement.
darrein presentment	last presentation	LegalEvent	One of the possessory assizes introduced by Henry II. Darrein presentment was intended to resolve those cases in which the presentation to a church was in dispute. Like the assize of novel disseisin or mort d'ancestor, darrein presentment did not investigate questions of ultimate right but rather the simple factual issue of who last presented to that church.
debt		LegalEvent	A form of legal action intended to recover monies owed.
deforciant		LegalEvent	Equivalent to defendant.
demandant		LegalEvent	Equivalent to plaintiff.
Destrier	Dextrarius	Debt	The great war-horse (although in battle the lighter courser horse may have been preferred). In addition to money, valuable gifts such as horses (palfreys and destriers) or hunting hawks (goshawks and sparrowhawks) were often offered to the king as part of fines.
dies datus		LegalEvent	The appointment of a return day for the next stage in judicial proceedings. Where a case was dismissed, for example by the failure of the plaintiff to appear in court, the defendant was informed that he was 'sine die', that is without a day set for his next appearance in court.
distraint	distress	LegalEvent	Distraint was the next stage in mesne process after ATTACHMENT. The sheriff would seize livestock or chattels from the defendant's property.
division of land		LegalEvent	This action was intended to demarcate a disputed boundary between two pieces of property. It could sometimes take the form of a local jury walking round the bounds of the properties.
dower		LegalEvent	A widow was entitled to a share of her late husband's property - usually one-third or, in certain types of tenure, one-half. The plea of dower could be brought by a widow claiming that she had not received her rightful provision. It was one of the most common pleas before the royal courts in the thirteenth century.
entry		LegalEvent	There were various forms of the writ of entry. The essential feature of this action was that the plaintiff claimed that the defendant had entered into the disputed property in a certain way, and this meant that the defendant's title to the property was defective. The effect was to extend the jurisdiction of the royal courts and to cover a wide varierty of situations excluded by earlier forms of action. Examples are: entry dum infra etatem, where the plaintiff claims that the defendant entered into the property while the plaintiff was a minor and thus unable to dispose of his property; entry sur disseisin, where the defendant had been granted the property by someone who had previously disseised the plaintiff of that property; and entry 'cui in vita', where a widow claims that the defendant only had entry into property that rightfully belonged to her by a grant from her husband during her lifetime.
escheat		Tenure	If a tenant died without leaving any heirs, or if he forfeited his lands for a crime or by leaving the faith of his lord, then his lands would escheat (revert) to their feudal lords. Often, such as in the case of the 'lands of the Normans', the king would reserve escheats to himself.
esnecy	aîne	Tenure	When an estate was divided between co-heirs, esnecy was the right of the eldest heir (aîne=first-born) to choose their portion of the inheritance, including the indivisible parts of an inheritance, such as the chief messuage or a heritable title.
essoin		LegalEvent	An excuse for non-appearance at court. An essoin could be claimed for reasons of accident on the way to the court ('de malo veniendi') or illness ('de malo lecti'), in which case four knights would be sent to view the essoinee in their sickbed and a new court date would be set. It was also possible to claim essoins by reason of being overseas or busy in the king's service. In the project database, the person claiming an essoin is referred to as the essoinee and the person who presented the excuse on their behalf as the essoiner.
essoinee/essoiner		Personal Relationships	An essoin was an excuse for non-appearance. The essoinee was the person whose non-appearance was being excused, and the essoiner was the person presenting this excuse. In most cases there was some relationship between the two.
farm		Tenure	A farm was a pre-agreed money rent for a property or office (hence the phrase to put at farm and the origin of the modern use of the word to describe an agricultural estate previously held at farm).
filius/filia		Personal Relationships	Son/daughter.
Final concord	Feet of fine or chirograph	Grant	A final concord was an instrument settling a legal dispute. Final concords were also known as feet of fines, because they took the form of a tripartite indenture (each party would take one part and the third, the foot, would be retained by the court). It usually took the form of one party relinquishing property or rights in return for compensation, usually monetary but sometimes honorific. The final concord was flexible, and could be used to transfer property and register leases or loans. Final concords were frequently the result of fictitious litigation, where the original plea was brought for the sole purpose of using a final concord to record a grant or agreement.
fine		Debt	A fine was an offering (usually monetary but sometimes in kind) to the king in return for a royal favour, such as the grant of land or a wardship, or for a judicial writ, or just to avoid the king's displeasure.
fine made	finis facti	LegalEvent	The action of finis facti ('fine made') was used to litigate disputes about the non-performance of an agreement recorded in a final concord/feet of fine made before the royal courts. This availability of this action was one reason why final concords were a popular means of recording agreements. Furlong,,Units of measurement,"The furlong was generally taken as the length of a ROOD, equivalent to forty perches.
garbs		Property	The right to collect the TITHE from each sheaf of corn.
gena		Personal Relationships	Sister-in-law.
gener		Personal Relationships	Son-in-law.
glebe		Property	The glebe was the land held and managed directly by the parish priest, as opposed to his rights to the tithe from the rest of the land in the parish.
goshawks		Debt	Falconry was a popular sport with the medieval aristocracy, and gifts of birds (usually goshawks or sparrowhawks) were common.
Grand assize		LegalEvent	The grand assize was instituted by Henry II as an alternative to trial by battle in pleas of right. The defendant could chose to put himself on the verdict of the grand assize as to who had the greater right to the property in dispute. Four knights would be appointed as electors to chose a further twelve knights as jurors. The panels of electors and jurors of the grand assize are particularly valuable as evidence for the identities and numbers of leading local figures.
Grant		Grant	The grant was the standard form of transferring property from one person to another. Grants need not only concern real property or land, but could also confer rights, such as that to hold a market and fair or to hunt freely.
grantee		Grant	The grantee is the person (or persons) that received or benefitted from the grant.
grantor		Grant	The grantor is the person (or persons) making the grant.
HeirPrecursor		Personal Relationships	This relationship is used in cases where we know that one person inherited an estate from another, but the precise nature of the relationship between the two is not explained.
Hide		Units of measurement	The hide was notionally the area required to support one family for one year, although it was also a tax assessment. The area covered by one hide could vary, but in usually contained four VIRGATES or 120 ACRES.
homage		Tenure	Homage was paid by a tenant to his feudal lord when he entered into his fee. At least in theory, homage was the chief bond in feudal society. Where a tenant held fees of more than one lord, he would have to swear liege homage to one lord, usually to the lord of their chief estate. In 1204 John and Philip Augustus both insisted that their subjects had to pay homage to either one or the other of them (with a few exceptions, such as William Marshal, earl of Pembroke).
Inquest	Inquisition	LegalEvent	The inquest or inqusition carried out by a jury of local men was a multi-purpose tool of medieval government. It could equally be used as a means of adjudicating legal disputes by submitting a point of fact to the verdict of a jury or as an administrative tool, for example to value a property as assessed by a jury.
Inspeximus		Grant	The English kings used the Inspeximus form (we have inspected) to inspect and confirm an earlier grant. These are especially valuable because they frequently recite the original grant in detail.
justices itinerant		LegalEvent	From the earliest period kings had been sending justices into the counties to hear pleas. This was later formalised into the visitations of the EYRE. The eyre was the most imposing form of royal justice. Panels of justices visited each county in turn every several years, hearing all civil pleas and criminal actions pending in each county. Justices could also be assigned or commissioned to hear individual pleas (usually possessory assizes) or to deliver particular gaols and the numbers of such appointments increased dramatically during the thirteenth century.
'land'		LegalEvent	Many pleas are simply referred to as a plea of land (terre) without specifying the precise form of action.
liberaciones		Debt	Liberaciones were wages, usually paid by the day.
liberty		LegalEvent	A form of legal action used to claim a liberty or freedom such as the right to hold a market or certain pleas.
licence to concord		LegalEvent	In order to reach an agreed settlement in a plea and to take a final concord, one party would need to secure a licence to concord from the king. This usually required a small payment of one-half mark. It was also common for the other party in the plea to stand surety for the payment of this sum.
mainpernor		Debt	A mainpernor (literally 'hand-holder') was someone who pledged to produce a defendant in court.
Mançais		Units of measurement	The currency of Maine.
marks		Units of measurement	The mark was equivlent to two-thirds of a pound, or 13s 4d. The mark was a unit of account and there were no coins of this value.
mater		Personal Relationships	Mother.
matertera		Personal Relationships	Maternal aunt.
mesne		LegalEvent	The writ of mesne was brought by a tenant against an intermediate (or mesne) lord who claimed that the chief lord of the fee was exacting services from the tenant above and beyond those that the tenant owed to the mesne lord.
mesne process		LegalEvent	Any process issued between original and final process; that is, between the original writ and the execution of judgement. In particular, mesne process was the application of an ascending series of measures to secure the appearance of the defendant in court. Different forms of action had differing processes, and some actions were particuarly popular because they had more effective procedures. In a plea of land, if the defendant defaulted on the summons, he would first be attached by pledges to come to court. If he defaulted again, he would be attached by better pledges. If the defendant still failed to appear, he could be distrained on his lands until he appeared before the court. Other forms of action, such as the possessory assizes or dower used a more expeditious procedure. For example, in an assize of novel disseisin, the action would proceed even if the defendant did not appear in court.
money fee		Debt	A money fee was an annual payment. It could be used to reward service instead of an enfeoffment with land, although many money fees granted by the king had the provision for the money fee to be replaced by grants of land when possible.
mort d'ancestor		LegalEvent	One of the possessory assizes introduced by Henry II in 1166. Mort d'ancestor was intended to resolve those cases in which a putative heir claimed to have been excluded from his inheritance. The assize simply asked whether 1) the individual named by the plaintiff had died in seisin of the lands in dispute; and 2) the plaintiff was the next heir of the name individual. If so, the plaintiff would recover seisin of the land, although the assize would not settle questions of right." muid,,Units of measurement,"Contained twelve SETIERS and usually 144 BUSHELS, although this could vary from region to region.
nepos		Personal Relationships	Can be used in the sense of nephew or can have a more nebulous meaning denoting kinship (usually with the sense of a junior kinsman).
novel disseisin		LegalEvent	One of the possessory assizes introduced by Henry II in 1166. Novel dissiesin was an action to recover lands of which the plaintiff claimed to have been dispossessed (disseised). Unlike litigation by writ of right, novel disseisin procedure was designed to be swift. The assize simply asked whether the defendants had disseised the plaintiff without a court judgement and avoided the whole issue of how had the greater right to the property.
nuisance		LegalEvent	A form of legal action (based on the assize of novel disseisin) used to seek redress for damage caused, for example by the raising or throwing down of a ditch or hedge, of for flooding caused by the creation of a millpond.
objectofgrant		Grant	The 'objectofgrant' refers to the property or right being granted.
obulus		Units of measurement	An obulus is a half-penny. For a time during the thirteenth century there was a halfpenny coin but a half-penny coin could be created by cutting a penny coin in half.
palfreys		Debt	A riding horse. In addition to money, valuable gifts such as horses (palfreys and destriers) or hunting hawks (goshawks and sparrowhawks) were often offered to the king as part of fines.
Parisis		Units of measurement	The currency of Paris (although, after 1204 the livre tournois became the chief currency in the lands of the French king).
pater		Personal Relationships	Father.
patronage		Property	The patron had the right of advowson, namely to present the rector to the church.
patruelis		Personal Relationships	Maternal uncle.
patruus		Personal Relationships	Paternal uncle.
pence		Units of measurement	The silver penny was the only English coin for most of this period. There were twelve pence in one SHILLING.
Perch (English)		Units of measurement	In England, the perche is a unit of distance equivalent to 5.5 yards or 16.5 feet. Forty square perches (usually as a long strip 40 perches long by one perche wide) made up one ROOD and four roods (160 square perches) made up one ACRE.
Perch (Norman)		Units of measurement	The standard French perche was 24 PIEDS in length, but some used a shorter perch of 22 PIEDS (feet). In Normandy, the perche could vary between sixteen and twenty-five feet in length.
petentem		LegalEvent	Equivalent to plaintiff.
pledge		Debt	A piece of property could be put as pledge or security for a debt.
Pledge	gage or vadium	Debt	In modern legal terminology, a pledge is property (lands or goods) placed a security for a debt or the fulfilment of a duty. This can be confusing, because in the medieval sources, a pledge was a person who stood as security (see surety) whereas property put up as security was referred to as a gage (Latin:vadium)." pledge for prosecution,,LegalEvent,"In order to initiate a legal action, the plaintiff had to find (usually two) people to serve as sureties, both that the plaintiff would prosecute their plea to a conclusion and for the justice of the plaintiff's case. If the plaintiff withdrew or his suit was found to be fraudulent, then both he and his sureties could potentially be amerced.
pounds		Units of measurement	One pound contained twenty SHILLINGS and a total of 240 PENCE. It originated as the weight of one pound of silver. The pound was a unit of account and there were no coins of this value.
praecipe		LegalEvent	The writ of praecipe could have various forms, the most famous of which is the praecipe in capite whose use was regulated in Magna Carta. The essential feature of the writ was an order to the defendant to 'do right' to the claimant lest the king be forced to intervene to ensure justice.
prest		Debt	A prest (or imprest) was an advance payment or loan, often made by the king to those serving in his army during campaigns.
proavus		Personal Relationships	great-grandparent.
quare impedit	advowson	LegalEvent	The plea of 'quare impedit' was used to dispute the right to an advowson (i.e. to present a rector to a church). It was so-called from the operative phrase of the original writ, which was of the praecipe form. The defendant was ordered either to allow the plaintiff to present to the church, or to show why they prevented (quare impedit) the plaintiff from so presenting.
quarter (English)	Seam	Units of measurement	A quarter was a unit of measurement for grain, containing eight BUSHELS.
quartier (French)		Units of measurement	The French quarter usually contained four BUSHELS but this could vary between 2 and 15 bushels.
Quitclaim		Grant	A quitclaim differs from a grant in that the grantor is releasing an actual or potential right to a piece of property rather than transferring possession of that property. In addition to a transfer of real property, a standard grant may also contain a clause quitclaiming certain rights or claims over that property. The quitclaim is also frequently associated with a legal action. Most final concords settling legal disputes include a cluase whereby one party quitclaims all their right in the property, usually in return for a monetary consideration.
relief		Tenure	On succession to an estate held by feudal tenure, the heir would owe a relief to the lord of the fee. The rate of relief was regulated by Magna Carta at 100s per knight's fee or £100 for a barony held of the king in chief.
return day		LegalEvent	The return days were the divisions of the legal year. In fact, each return day in fact covered a period of six days. For example, the octaves of Michaelmas covered the period from 6-12 October. Each day within the return day had specific legal functions. For example, the plaintiff would have to appear before the court on the first three return days before, on the fourth day, he could secure judgement on the default of the defendant. This explains the common form in the plea rolls that 'on the fourth day x comes in his plea against y'.
right		LegalEvent	The writ of right (de recto) was the oldest form of action and, unlike the possessory assizes, investigated the ultimate right to property rather than mere seisin or possession. Originally plea of right would be determined by appeal to God, in the form of trial by battle. Later Henry II provided for cases to be settled by the verdict of the Grand Assize, a panel of twelve local knights. The procedure was slow and cumbersome, and the search for more expeditious methods of litigation was a driving force behind legal developments in the thirteenth century.
Rood		Units of measurement	In England, a rood was equivalent to 40 square PERCHES (usually a long strip 40 perches in length and one perch in width) and four roods made up one ACRE." Rouennais,,Units of measurement,The currency of Rouen.
ServiceSuperiorInferior		Personal Relationships	This relationship indicates a tie of service and the direction of that service, for example between a lord and a man serving in his retinue. There were a multiplicity of such relationships but all share these quality of directionality. It should be noted that service could be honourable and does not carry the modern connation of 'servile'.
setier	Sestier or Sextier	Units of measurement	Contained two or four QUARTERS and between twelve and twenty-four BUSHELS.
Sheaf		Units of measurement	A sheaf was occasionally used to describe corn. It refers to an armful of corn-stalks tied after reaping. It is difficult to assign a precise value, but either twelve or twenty-four sheafs made up one THRAVE.
shillings		Units of measurement	Each shilling contained twelve PENCE and there were twenty shillings in one POUND. The shilling was a unit of account and there were no coins of this value. sine die,without day,LegalEvent,"At the end of each stage of litigation, a day would be given for the next stage. When a case was abandoned or dismissed, or the defendant was cleared by the verdict, the defendant(s) were said to be 'without day'.
socer		Personal Relationships	Father-in-law.
socrus		Personal Relationships	Mother-in-law.
sororia		Personal Relationships	Sister-in-law.
sororius		Personal Relationships	Brother-in-law.
sparrowhawks (mewed)		Debt	Falconry was a popular sport with the medieval aristocracy, and gifts of birds (usually goshawks or sparrowhawks) were common. Some tenements were also held by the service of rendering one sparrowhawk per year instead of a money rent.
Sterling		Units of measurement	The currency of England.
surety		Debt	A surety was a person who put themselves forward as security for a debt or for the fulfilment of a duty (for example, in the prosecution of a legal suit or for appearance in court).
tallage		Tenure	Tallage, unlike an aid, was paid by the non-feudal tenants of the lord, such as unfree peasants or burgesses from the towns. In theory, tallage was arbitrary and subject to the lord's will. The English kings collected regular tallages from ancient demesne manors as well as boroughs.
tenentem		LegalEvent	Equivalent to defendant.
tithes		Property	The rector of a church was entitled to one-tenth of the agricultural produce of the parish for his support.
Tournois		Units of measurement	The currency issued at Tours. After the conquest of the English possessions on the continent, the 'livres tournois' became the standard currency in France.
unjust detinue	Replevin	LegalEvent	Distraint, or the seizure of chattels or livestock, was an important tool to enforce the performance of services owed, payment of debts or appearance in court. The writ of unjust detinue or replevin was intended as a remedy in cases where it was claimed that distraint had been taken unjustly.
utrum		LegalEvent	The assize of utrum (literally 'whether') was intended to be used by priests or religious houses claiming that someone had entered into land that they held in free alms. Like the other possessory assizes, the assize of utrum put a simple question to the jury whether the land in dispute was part of the defendant's lay fee or held in free alms.
Vidimus		Grant	The vidimus form (we have seen) was used by the French kings to confirm previous grants.
view		LegalEvent	In a legal action, the defendant had the right to claim a view of the land in dispute. In most pleas, the defendant will come before the court and claim a view of the land, and the proceedings would then be adjourned until this had been done.
Virgate	Yardland	Units of measurement	A virgate was equivalent to one-quarter of a hide or carucate, roughly 30 acres (although this could vary). It was generally considered to be a unit capable of supporting one household, although in the Middle Ages perhaps the majority of housholds held less than a virgate.
WardKeeper		Personal Relationships	The relationship between a minor and their legal guardian (either their feudal lord, who could be the king, or someone to whom the lord had granted their keeping). In addition to looking after the person of the minor, including the right to marry the ward to a person of their choice, the keeper also managed the ward's estates.
wardship		Tenure	Wardship was one of the most important feudal incidents. When a tenant died leaving a minor heir (under the age of 21) then the custody of the heir, together with their marriage if they were unmarried, and the lands of the deceased would pertain to the lord. Where a tenant held lands of multiple lords, each lord would have the keeping of the land held of their fee, but the wardship of the body and marriage of the heir would pertain to the chief lord of the tenant. However, the king claimed the right of prerogative wardship, that is, if a deceased tenant held any part of their lands of the king in chief, then the wardship of his all his lands and his heirs would pertain to the king.
warranty		LegalEvent	Originally the obligation of the lord of the fee to defend the possession of the tenant or to compensate the tenant if the property was lost. Many charters granting property include a warranty clause promising to guarantee the recipient's possession of the object of the grant. In court the tenant whose possession was being challenged could vouch the lord or grantor to 'warrant' his right. In the database the tenant is referred to as the 'warrantee' and the person being vouched to warrant as the 'warrantor'.
waste		LegalEvent	The action of waste could be brought by the rightful owner of land against the temporary possessor of that land. This involves the key medieval distinction between right and seisin. For example, an heir could claim that his guardians, while he was in their wardship and his land in their keeping, had managed his inheritance in such a way as to damage his future interests, by cutting down woodland for timber or imoverising the tenants through tallages. Likewise the holder of land at lease or a widow holding for life as dower could 'waste' the land in their hands to the ultimate damage of the future owner.
witness		Grant	Most charters contain a list of witnesses present at the giving of the charter. Should the legitimacy of a grant be disputed, the testimony of the witnesses would be used to test the validity of the charter. Witness lists are a valuable historical source. They can be used to assign a date to undated charters and study of the lists can help to reconstruct the affinity of a magnate or attendance at the royal court.
writ		LegalEvent	A writ was the basic royal administrative document. An original writ was required to initiate most litigation before the royal courts and each subsequent stage of proceedings.