Legal Definitions - ex gravi querela

The Latin term ex gravi querela translates to "from or on the grievous complaint." It refers to a specific type of legal action, known as a writ, that existed historically in English law.

This writ allowed a person who was bequeathed land or property in a will (the devisee) to make a formal complaint against an heir of the deceased (the devisor) if that heir had taken possession of the property and was unlawfully keeping it from the rightful recipient. It was specifically applicable in areas (cities, towns, or boroughs) where local custom permitted land to be passed down through a will. The writ of ex gravi querela was abolished in 1833.

Here are some examples illustrating how ex gravi querela would have been applied:

• Imagine a wealthy merchant in 15th-century London, a city where land could be devised by will according to custom. He meticulously drafts a will leaving his valuable warehouse to his trusted business partner, Mr. Davies. Upon the merchant's death, his estranged nephew, believing he is the sole heir, takes control of the warehouse. Mr. Davies would have initiated an ex gravi querela to legally challenge the nephew's possession and claim the warehouse as per the will.

  This example demonstrates the term by showing a devisee (Mr. Davies) seeking to recover land (the warehouse) from an heir (the nephew) who is wrongfully detaining it, in a location where such bequests were customary.

• Consider a scenario in a specific English borough in the 17th century, where local traditions allowed a landowner to bequeath a particular farmstead to anyone they chose. A farmer, nearing the end of his life, wills his most productive farm to his goddaughter, Eleanor, who had cared for him for many years. After his passing, the farmer's distant cousin, his closest male relative and legal heir, moves onto the farm, asserting his right to inherit all family property. Eleanor would have had recourse to an ex gravi querela to enforce her claim to the farmstead as stipulated in the will.

  This illustrates the writ's application where a will's beneficiary (Eleanor) uses it to dispute an heir's (the cousin's) wrongful occupation of property in a custom-bound locality.

• In a medieval town, a master craftsman's will specifies that his workshop and adjoining living quarters should go to his most skilled apprentice, Thomas, who was like a son to him. However, the craftsman's biological son, who had left town years ago but returned upon hearing of his father's death, immediately occupies the workshop, claiming it as his birthright. Thomas, the apprentice, would have filed an ex gravi querela to assert his right to the property based on the will, provided the town's customs allowed for such testamentary dispositions of property.

  Here, the example shows the writ being used by a devisee (Thomas) to reclaim property (the workshop) from an heir (the son) who has taken possession, highlighting the historical context and the requirement of local custom.