Legal Definitions - secta ad molendinum

Secta ad molendinum

This Latin term, meaning "suit to the mill" or "service to the mill," refers to a historical legal obligation, primarily found in medieval feudal systems. It mandated that tenants were legally bound to take their grain to a specific mill, usually owned by their lord, for grinding. This obligation often came with a fee for the service (known as multure) and prevented tenants from using other mills, thereby ensuring a steady income for the mill owner.

Here are some examples illustrating this concept:

• Imagine a medieval manor where the lord owns the only mill for miles around. All the villagers who live on his land and farm their plots are subject to secta ad molendinum. This means that after harvesting their wheat and barley, they are legally required to bring all their grain to the lord's mill to be ground into flour. They must pay a set portion of the resulting flour or a specific fee to the lord for this service, and they are forbidden from taking their grain to a neighboring lord's mill, even if it might offer a quicker or cheaper service.

  This example demonstrates secta ad molendinum because the villagers, as tenants, are under a binding legal duty to use their lord's specific mill for processing their grain, rather than having the freedom to choose another option.

• Consider a large historical estate where the original land grants to tenant farmers included a specific clause. This clause stipulated that all grain grown on their leased plots must be processed at the estate's central mill. This was a condition of their tenancy, ensuring the mill remained profitable for the estate owner and was an integral part of the feudal economic structure.

  Here, the obligation of secta ad molendinum is directly tied to the land grant and tenancy agreement, compelling the farmers to use the designated mill as a condition of their lease.

• A tenant farmer, frustrated by the slow service and perceived high fees at his lord's mill, attempts to bypass the obligation by taking his newly harvested oats to a more modern, efficient mill in a nearby town. However, the lord's bailiff discovers this breach and intervenes, citing the farmer's secta ad molendinum duty. The farmer is then compelled to return his grain to the lord's mill and may face a fine for attempting to violate his feudal obligation.

  This scenario illustrates the enforcement of secta ad molendinum, showing how the lord could legally compel his tenants to use his mill and prevent them from seeking alternative services, underscoring the binding nature of the obligation.