Legal Definitions - subtraction

In common usage, "subtraction" refers to the mathematical process of deducting one number from another. However, in a historical legal context, particularly concerning property and land, subtraction had a specific meaning.

Legally, subtraction referred to the act of neglecting or failing to perform a duty or service that one party owed to another. This duty often arose from land tenure, meaning it was an obligation connected to the ownership or holding of land. Crucially, subtraction involved the non-performance of an acknowledged duty, rather than an outright denial of the other party's right to that duty or an attempt to dispossess them of their property.

• Example 1: Feudal Labor Service
  Imagine a medieval tenant farmer who held land from a lord. As part of their agreement, the tenant was obligated to spend a certain number of days each year working on the lord's personal fields, perhaps plowing or harvesting. If the tenant simply failed to show up for these required days of labor, without denying that they owed the service or that the lord had the right to it, this would be considered subtraction. The tenant neglected a specific duty tied to their landholding.
• Example 2: Maintenance of Shared Infrastructure
  Consider a historical village where a particular landowner, whose property bordered a crucial local bridge, was traditionally responsible for its upkeep and repair as a condition of their land grant. If this landowner neglected to perform the necessary maintenance, allowing the bridge to fall into disrepair, this failure to fulfill their established duty would be an act of subtraction. They weren't denying the village's right to a functional bridge or their own obligation, but simply failing to perform the required service.
• Example 3: Payment in Kind for Land Use
  In some historical arrangements, a tenant might owe their landlord a specific quantity of goods, such as a certain number of chickens or bushels of grain, as rent for the use of the land. If the tenant harvested their crops but then failed to deliver the agreed-upon portion to the landlord, this non-delivery of the owed service (the payment in kind) would constitute subtraction. The tenant did not dispute the landlord's right to the rent but simply neglected to provide it.