Legal Definitions - cartulary

A cartulary is a historical compilation or register of legal documents, typically charters, deeds, and other instruments that establish rights, ownership, or privileges. These collections were often created by institutions like monasteries, churches, or noble families to preserve copies of their important legal records, especially those pertaining to land and property, for future reference and proof.

• Example 1: Imagine a medieval monastery, such as Fountains Abbey in 13th-century England, which owned extensive lands and properties. To safeguard its assets and prove its legal entitlements, the abbey's scribes meticulously copied every royal charter granting them land, every deed of purchase for new estates, and every agreement with local lords concerning rights to mills or fisheries into a large, bound volume. This comprehensive book served as the abbey's cartulary, providing irrefutable legal evidence of their possessions and privileges.

• Example 2: Consider a powerful aristocratic family, like the House of Plantagenet, managing their vast ancestral estates across several regions in the 14th century. To keep track of their complex landholdings, feudal obligations, and inherited rights, they might have commissioned a detailed register. This register would contain copies of marriage settlements, wills, grants of manorial rights, and records of homage from their vassals. This collection of documents would function as their family's cartulary, essential for administering their properties and defending their legal claims.

• Example 3: Picture a newly established town in the 12th century, granted a charter by a monarch to hold markets and govern itself. To ensure these valuable rights were never forgotten or challenged, the town's council would create a formal record. This record would include copies of the original royal charter outlining their market privileges, their right to levy tolls, and their judicial autonomy. This official book, acting as the town's cartulary, would be the definitive legal proof of its foundational freedoms and economic rights.