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Legal Definitions - feoffatus
Definition of feoffatus
Feoffatus
In historical legal contexts, a feoffatus refers to the person who received a freehold estate in land through a process known as a "feoffment." A feoffment was a traditional method of transferring ownership of land, often involving a public ceremony where the grantor (the person giving the land) would physically deliver a symbol of the land, such as a clod of earth or a twig, to the grantee (the feoffatus) while on the property itself. This term is largely historical, predating modern systems of land registration and deeds.
Example 1: During the medieval period, a powerful baron wished to reward a loyal knight for his service in battle. The baron formally granted the knight a parcel of land, complete with a small manor house, through a public ceremony on the estate. In this scenario, the knight, as the recipient of the land, would be considered the feoffatus.
Explanation: The knight is the feoffatus because he is the individual who has received the freehold estate in land from the baron via the traditional feoffment process.
Example 2: Imagine a wealthy landowner in 15th-century England who decided to transfer ownership of a portion of his ancestral estate to his eldest son. To formalize this transfer, they gathered witnesses on the land, and the father symbolically handed a piece of turf to his son. The son then took possession of the property.
Explanation: The son is the feoffatus because he is the person who has been granted and has accepted the ownership of the land through the customary feoffment ritual.
Example 3: A pious noblewoman, wishing to support a local monastery, decided to donate a significant tract of farmland to the religious institution. The transfer was completed with a formal ceremony where a representative of the monastery accepted a symbolic token of the land from the noblewoman.
Explanation: In this case, the monastery, through its representative, is the feoffatus because it is the entity that received the freehold interest in the land as a gift via the historical feoffment method.
Simple Definition
Feoffatus is a historical Law Latin term referring to the feoffee. In medieval English land law, a feoffee was the person to whom a feoffment was made, meaning they were the recipient of a freehold estate in land.
