An Inquiry Into the Origin of Copyhold Tenure (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1835 Excerpt: ... a tax, Spelmau; "Steuer," ditto in German, ) was established over every community now known as " Manor." Boulainvilliers points out the same order of things in the conquests of the Franks upon their expelling the Visigoths: they did not occupy the soil, but imposed a tax which was collected in local magazines: those magazines became the origin of the "beneficia," (or "allodia fisci," as before explained.) The " Court Leet"1 is "of record," a circumstance which marks its superior antiquity to the Court Baron, which is not of record. The Leet is a Court of Frank pledge, and deriveable out of the Sheriff's Torn, a more general sessions of similar jurisdiction, and, like the Leet, of; record; while the County and Hundred Courts, being later creations, are not of record. The institution of such courts or offices, through all the counties (except the gavelkind5) cannot be accounted for on any expediency suggested by the history of the times other than that here contended for; since there is no distinction in the privileges (" consuetudines," or "libertates") granted in the case of a manor from those comprised in such grant of another district. Of this an instance appears in the grant of the hundred of Hornemere;3 and the only effect of the creation of such separate jurisdiction was the separating a peculiar community from the judgment of strangers, or of a caste who could not be their peers. 1 The word "Leet" is probably a corruption of "Leute," which means the same as folk or people, Leet occurs as frequently as any name for Court held for the Manor. The following, are from Watkins' Appendix, giving the most usual forms of expression applied to the Court held for the Copyholders and the Manor generally. There will be seen in some of the instances a distinction be...