Legal Definitions - feoffator

A feoffator is a historical legal term referring to the person who transferred ownership of land to another individual through a process known as 'feoffment'. This method of land transfer was common in medieval English law, predating modern systems of deeds and land registration. The feoffator would grant a freehold estate in land to a 'feoffee' (the recipient) through a public ceremony called 'livery of seisin', which involved symbolic acts on the land itself to signify the transfer of possession and ownership.

Here are some examples to illustrate the role of a feoffator:

• Imagine a powerful medieval lord in 13th-century England who wished to grant a parcel of his vast estate to a loyal knight in exchange for military service. Through a formal feoffment ceremony, the lord would publicly hand over a clod of earth or a twig from the land to the knight.

  In this scenario, the lord is the feoffator because he is the one transferring the land to the knight.

• Consider a wealthy merchant in the 15th century who decided to donate a specific plot of land to a local monastery for the construction of a new infirmary. To legally transfer the property, the merchant would engage in a feoffment, perhaps by inviting witnesses to the land and formally declaring the transfer to the monastic representative.

  Here, the merchant acts as the feoffator, as he is the individual granting the land to the monastery.

• Picture a father in 14th-century rural England who wanted to ensure his eldest son immediately received ownership of a particular farm, rather than waiting for his own death and the complexities of inheritance. He could perform a feoffment, publicly transferring the farm to his son with the necessary symbolic gestures.

  In this instance, the father is the feoffator because he is the one conveying the land to his son.