TRANSFER OF PEASANT PROPERTY IN MANORIAL COURTS OF MEDIEVAL ENGLAND

The paper offers a number of problems connected with special forms of peasant property’s transfers in everyday life of medieval English manor. Research is made mainly on the basis of manorial court rolls (in particular, of XIII–XIV centuries). As far as English medieval peasantry (villeins and copyholders) had no legal rights to probate, they had to use special forms of «property succession». Thus, they had to transfer their land in the manorial courts (that is to surrender it «into lord’s hands» either to be admitted again or to pass the land to children or other persons after the term of holding’s expiration). Conditions of land transfer were written in indenture and were followed by fealty to the lord and by paying the entrance fine. Transfer of peasant property in the manorial courts took place not only in case of peasant holding term’s expiration or tenant’s death, but also in order to register dower of widows, to register cases of urgent necessity (deadly disease, debt obligations, starvation etc.) or mark the status of land’ changing. Sometimes there also occurred land transfers for reasons of mercy, but the most unique were so called deathbed transfers (out-of-court surrenders), just a little studied by historians. Deathbed surrenders took place at the housing of the peasant, who was deadly ill and wasn’t able personally to walk to manorial court. Thus he had orally to express his will in the presence of witnesses and representatives of manorial administration, who later made notes at the court. This form of manorial transfer, rather unique, needs further thorough research on the basis of special documents.

medieval English peasantry, manorial court, transfer of land, fealty, entrance fine, deathbed surrender, dower, custom