Legal Definitions - ordinatio forestae

The term ordinatio forestae is a historical legal phrase from medieval Latin, meaning "ordinance of the forest" or "regulation of the forest." It refers to the comprehensive body of laws and rules established in medieval England to govern the royal forests. These regulations were designed to protect the king's hunting grounds, preserve timber resources, and control all activities within designated forest lands. They covered everything from hunting rights and the felling of trees to the pasturing of livestock and the jurisdiction of special forest courts, often imposing severe penalties for violations.

Here are some examples illustrating the application of the ordinatio forestae:

• Imagine a peasant in 13th-century England who, driven by hunger, sets snares to catch rabbits within the boundaries of a royal forest. Under the ordinatio forestae, this act would be a serious offense. The laws strictly reserved hunting rights for the king and his appointed nobility, and any unauthorized hunting, even of small game, was a direct violation of these forest ordinances, potentially leading to harsh fines, imprisonment, or even mutilation, as it encroached upon the crown's exclusive privileges.

• Consider a village carpenter who needs oak timber to repair a local church roof. If the most suitable trees were located within a nearby royal forest, the ordinatio forestae would dictate that he could not simply enter and fell them. He would first need to seek special permission or a license from the forest officials, as the cutting of timber was tightly controlled to preserve the forest's resources for royal use, such as shipbuilding or construction, and to maintain the forest's ecological integrity for hunting.

• Suppose a growing farming community wished to expand its arable land by clearing a small section of woodland that bordered a royal forest. The ordinatio forestae would prohibit such an expansion without explicit royal consent. These laws were designed to prevent encroachment on forest land, ensuring that the designated boundaries of the royal forests remained intact and that no part of these valuable territories was converted for agricultural or other private uses without the king's express approval, thereby safeguarding the crown's domain and its associated revenues.