Subinfeudation

English Law: Subinfeudation in the Past

The act of an inferior lord by which he carved out a part of an estate which he held of a superior and granted it to an inferior tenant (see more about this popular legal topic in the U.K. encyclopedia) to be held of himself.

Developments

It was an indirect mode of transferring the fief and resorted to as an artifice to elude the feudal restraint upon alienation: this was forbidden by the statute of Quia Emptores, 18 Ed. I; 2 Bl. Com. 91; 3 Kent, Com. 406. [1][rtbs name=”history-of-english-law”]

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Notes and References

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

See Also