Statute of Mortmain
E51854
The Statute of Mortmain was a medieval English law aimed at restricting the transfer of land into the perpetual ownership of the Church and other religious corporations, thereby protecting feudal lords’ rights and revenues.
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
English statute
→
feudal law measure → medieval law → |
| aimedAtPreventing |
loss of feudal incidents to lords
→
permanent withdrawal of land from feudal circulation → |
| appliesTo |
freehold land
→
land grants to corporations → land grants to ecclesiastical institutions → land grants to religious houses → |
| areaOfLaw |
ecclesiastical law
→
feudal law → property law → |
| consequenceOfViolation |
forfeiture of land to the lord or the Crown
→
|
| effectOnChurch |
limited expansion of ecclesiastical landholdings
→
restricted perpetual corporate ownership of land → |
| effectOnFeudalLords |
preserved rights to feudal incidents
→
protected feudal revenues → |
| historicalContext |
feudal land tenure system
→
medieval England → |
| influenced |
later English statutory controls on corporate land ownership
→
|
| jurisdiction |
Kingdom of England
→
|
| languageOfDocument |
Latin
→
|
| legalConcept |
alienation of land
→
feudal incidents → mortmain → |
| legalStatus |
historical statute
→
|
| legalSystem |
English law
→
|
| longTermImpact |
contributed to development of restrictions on corporate landholding
→
influenced later English property law → |
| motivatedBy |
royal interest in maintaining feudal revenues
→
secular concern over growing Church wealth → |
| primaryPurpose |
to prevent land from passing into perpetual ownership of ecclesiastical corporations
→
to protect feudal lords’ rights and revenues → to restrict alienation of land into mortmain → |
| protects |
interests of feudal lords
→
royal fiscal interests → |
| regulates |
acquisition of land by the Church
→
alienation of land in mortmain → conveyance of land to religious corporations → |
| relatedTo |
Church–state relations in medieval England
→
feudal incidents such as reliefs and wardships → mortmain legislation → |
| restricts |
perpetual tenure of land by ecclesiastical corporations
→
transfer of land into corporate dead hand ownership → |
| targets |
Church landholding
→
ecclesiastical bodies → religious corporations → |
Referenced by (1)
| Subject (surface form when different) | Predicate |
|---|---|
|
Edward I of England
→
|
notableWork |