Legal Definitions - cum astrictis multuris

The Latin phrase cum astrictis multuris describes a historical legal condition where a landowner or tenant was obligated to use a specific service provider for a particular service and, in return, pay a defined fee. This payment was often made in kind, meaning a portion of the product or output resulting from the service. The obligation was typically tied to the land itself, meaning it would pass to subsequent owners or occupants.

• Imagine a medieval village where the local lord owned the only operational communal oven. All villagers, by virtue of living on the lord's land, were historically bound to bring their dough to this specific oven for baking. Their payment, or "multure," was a fixed portion of the baked bread, which they had to surrender to the lord's baker. This illustrates cum astrictis multuris because the villagers had a compulsory obligation to use a designated service (the lord's oven) and pay a defined portion of their product (bread) for that service.

• Consider a historical fishing community where a powerful family owned the only large-scale fish-smoking facility. Local fishermen, whose families had fished those waters for generations, were legally required to bring their entire catch to this specific facility for processing. In exchange for the smoking service, they were compelled to give a percentage of their smoked fish to the facility owner. This scenario demonstrates cum astrictis multuris as the fishermen were bound to a particular service provider (the smoking facility) and paid a portion of their output (smoked fish) for the service.

• In a historical agricultural region, a large estate might have possessed the only substantial cider press. Farmers cultivating apple orchards on lands historically associated with this estate were legally obliged to bring their harvested apples exclusively to this specific press for processing into cider. Their payment for this service was a predetermined share of the resulting cider. This exemplifies cum astrictis multuris because the farmers were under a binding duty to use a specific press and provide a portion of the cider produced as payment.