Legal Definitions - extra curtem domini

extra curtem domini

This Latin legal phrase, historically used in feudal law, translates to "beyond the domain of the superior." It refers to the principle that a subordinate's duties, services, or obligations were generally limited to the geographical or jurisdictional boundaries of their superior's direct control or territory.

In essence, it meant that a vassal or other subordinate could not typically be compelled to perform services or fulfill duties that extended outside the specific lands or authority held by their immediate lord.

Here are some examples illustrating this concept:

• Military Service: Imagine a knight who owes military service to his feudal lord for the defense of the lord's castle and surrounding lands. If the lord were to demand that this knight accompany him on a distant military campaign to assist a king in a foreign land, far beyond the lord's own territorial control, the knight might invoke extra curtem domini. He could argue that his feudal oath and obligations were specifically tied to the defense of his lord's immediate domain, and did not extend to warfare in territories where his lord held no direct authority or jurisdiction.

• Labor Obligations: Consider a group of serfs bound to a manor, obligated to provide a certain amount of labor on their lord's fields within that manor. If the lord acquired a small, distant parcel of land in another county, perhaps through inheritance, and then demanded these serfs travel for weeks to clear and cultivate this new, remote property, they could refuse based on extra curtem domini. Their traditional labor duties were understood to be confined to the lord's primary, local jurisdiction where their homes and lives were situated, not to lands far removed from that domain.