Legal Definitions - praefine

Praefine is an archaic legal term referring to a preliminary fee or fine paid to the Crown (the monarch or government) in historical English law. This payment was required to obtain a license or permission to initiate the formal legal process for transferring land, often as a prerequisite to agreeing to a "final concord" – a type of fictitious lawsuit used to record and finalize property transactions.

Essentially, it was a royal charge for the privilege of formally transferring real estate.

• Imagine a wealthy landowner in 15th-century England, Sir Reginald, who wished to sell a significant portion of his estate to a neighboring baron, Lord Arthur. Before Sir Reginald and Lord Arthur could proceed with the complex legal steps to finalize the transfer, including drawing up the necessary deeds and potentially engaging in a "final concord" to officially record the change of ownership, Sir Reginald would first have to pay a praefine to the King's treasury. This fee granted them the royal license to even begin the formal process of transferring the land.

• Consider a scenario where a family in medieval England wanted to formally transfer an inherited farm from an elder sibling to a younger one, ensuring the transfer was legally recognized and recorded by the Crown. To obtain the necessary royal permission to initiate this property transfer and have it officially documented, the family would have been required to pay a praefine. This payment was a preliminary step to secure the Crown's approval for the transaction to proceed through the formal legal channels.

• In another historical context, if a monastery sought to acquire a new parcel of land from a local lord to expand its agricultural holdings, the acquisition would be subject to royal oversight. Before the monastery and the lord could legally complete the transfer and have it recognized by the Crown, a praefine would have been levied. This fee served as an initial payment to the King for the license to formally engage in the legal process of transferring the land into the monastery's possession.