Legal Definitions - de redisseisina

de redisseisina

De redisseisina refers to a historical legal action or "writ" (a formal court order) used in English law. It was a remedy available to an individual who had successfully regained possession of their land or the right to collect rent, after being unlawfully dispossessed, but was then dispossessed again by the very same person who had dispossessed them the first time. Essentially, it provided a way to address repeated unlawful eviction or denial of property rights by the same party, especially after a prior legal victory had restored those rights.

Examples:

• Imagine a medieval farmer, Elara, who owned a small plot of land. Her neighbor, Sir Kael, a powerful local lord, unlawfully expanded his estate by fencing off a portion of Elara's field and claiming it as his own. Elara successfully brought a legal action (an "assize of novel disseisin") and the court ordered Sir Kael to return her land. However, a few months later, Sir Kael's men once again tore down Elara's fences and reoccupied the same part of her field. In this situation, Elara would have been able to seek a writ of de redisseisina to recover her land for the second time from the same aggressor.

• Consider a landowner, Lord Beaumont, who had the right to collect annual rent from tenants living on a specific manor. A rival baron, Baron Thorne, interfered with Lord Beaumont's rights by intimidating the tenants and unlawfully collecting the rent himself for a season. Lord Beaumont successfully sued Baron Thorne, and the court affirmed Lord Beaumont's right to collect the rent. The following year, however, Baron Thorne again intervened, preventing Lord Beaumont from collecting his due rent from the same tenants. Lord Beaumont would then have grounds to issue a writ of de redisseisina to enforce his established right to the rent against Baron Thorne's repeated interference.

• Picture a village community that held traditional rights to graze their livestock on a particular common pasture. A wealthy merchant, Master Alaric, decided to enclose a large section of this common land for his own private use, thereby denying the villagers their grazing rights. The villagers collectively brought a legal action and successfully compelled Master Alaric to remove his enclosure, restoring their access to the pasture. Despite this, a year later, Master Alaric once again erected fences, unlawfully blocking the villagers' access to the same common land. In this scenario, the villagers could have pursued a writ of de redisseisina to address Master Alaric's repeated unlawful dispossession of their common rights.