Purlieu

English Law: Purlieu in the Past

A space of land near a forest, known by certain boundaries, which was formerly part of a forest, but which has been separated from it.

Developments

The history of purlieus is this. Henry III., on taking possession of the throne, manifested so great a taste for forests that he enlarged the old ones wherever he could and by this means enclosed many estates, which had no outlet to the public roads and things increased in this way until the reign of King John, when the public reclamations were so great that much of this land was disforested; that is, no longer had the privileges of the forests and the land therefore, separated bore the name of purlieu. [1][rtbs name=”history-of-english-law”]

Resources

Notes and References

1. Partialy, this information about purlieu is based on the Bouvier´s Law Dictionary, 1848 edition. There is a list of terms of the Bouvier´s Law Dictionary, including purlieu.

See Also