Medieval Agreements
Primogeniture
The reference to Feet-of-fines in historical accounts is often confusing as rather than a fine (as in a punative measure) it was more of record of a transaction that quite often involved the transfer of land.
The realisation that this was the case was brought home when I was analysing a thesis on the activities of Edward I in Gascony
Feet of Fines
When "fines" are mentioned in historical accounts it can be a little confusing. "Fines" in a medievil/feudal context cover a wide range of documentation. This coupled with the notion of land "ownership" was not the same as it is today the recording of land transfer or a marriage settlement was made in "fines" manuscript. In a similar manner the apportionment of land is also recorded in Inquistions Post Mortem.
Feet of fines are court copies of agreements following disputes over property. In reality, the disputes were mostly fictitious and were simply a way of having the transfer of ownership of land recorded officially by the king’s court.
The agreements were normally written out three times on a single sheet of parchment – two copies side by side and one copy across the
bottom (the foot) of the sheet, separated by an indented or wavy line. The purchaser kept one copy, the seller the other and the final
copy – ‘the foot of the fine’ – was kept by the king’s court as a central record of the conveyance. Using one piece of parchment
separated in this way gave protection
against fraud or forgery as only the genuine copies would fit together – like a jigsaw.
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