Legal Definitions - feria

Feria is a historical legal term with several distinct meanings, primarily originating from ecclesiastical and early common law contexts. It could refer to:

• A weekday, meaning a regular working day, often distinct from Sunday or a major religious feast day.
• A religious holiday or feast day.
• A public market or fair, a gathering for trade and entertainment.
• A ferry, referring to a service or place for crossing water.

Examples:

• In historical ecclesiastical law or early common law, feria often referred to a specific weekday. For instance, a 13th-century monastic chronicle might record a legal proceeding being scheduled for "the second feria," meaning Tuesday (if Sunday was considered the first day of the week). This designation helped courts and officials manage their schedules around Sundays and major religious holidays, which were often non-working days, ensuring legal matters were handled on appropriate calendar days.

• Another historical use of feria was to denote a public market or fair. Consider a medieval town charter from the 15th century that grants the local lord the right to hold an annual "grand feria" in the town square. This would empower the lord to organize a large gathering where merchants could sell goods, entertainers could perform, and people from surrounding areas could trade, often with specific taxes or tolls levied on participants, thereby regulating commerce and public assembly.

• Historically, feria could also refer to a ferry or a place where a ferry operated. For example, a 16th-century land deed might describe a property boundary extending "to the old feria crossing," indicating a specific point on a river or body of water where people and goods were regularly transported across by boat. This term would encompass both the service of crossing and the physical location associated with it, often implying a right of passage or a regulated service.