History
Wardship of minor heirs of a tenant in chief was one of the king's ancient "feudal incidents" (amongst escheat, marriage, relief, custody of an "idiot", etc.), that is to say a right of royal prerogative dating back to the feudal principle of seigneurial guardianship. Such right entitled the king to all the revenues of the deceased's estate, excluding those lands, generally 1/3 of the estate, allocated to his widow as dower, until the heir reached his majority of 21, or 14 if a female. The king generally sold such wardships to the highest bidder or granted them gratis, generally by letters patent to a favoured courtier as a reward for services, which saved cash having to be found from the privy purse. On attainment of his majority the heir was required to obtain a "Proof of Age" certification witnessed by prominent men from his local area who certified that he had reached the age of 21. Such certificate then formed the basis for the king to issue a writ to the custodian of the land in question to release it to the heir.
An example of such grant made on 20 November 1495 is as follows:
"Grant to William Martyn, esquire, and William Twynyho, esquire, of the keeping of the lands late of John Trenchard, tenant in chief, and after the death of Margaret, widow of the said John, of the lands which she holds in dower; with the wardship and marriage of Thomas Trenchard, his son and heir".
Read more about this topic: Court Of Wards And Liveries
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“A great proportion of the inhabitants of the Cape are always thus abroad about their teaming on some ocean highway or other, and the history of one of their ordinary trips would cast the Argonautic expedition into the shade.”
—Henry David Thoreau (18171862)
“Like their personal lives, womens history is fragmented, interrupted; a shadow history of human beings whose existence has been shaped by the efforts and the demands of others.”
—Elizabeth Janeway (b. 1913)
“Throughout the history of commercial life nobody has ever quite liked the commission man. His function is too vague, his presence always seems one too many, his profit looks too easy, and even when you admit that he has a necessary function, you feel that this function is, as it were, a personification of something that in an ethical society would not need to exist. If people could deal with one another honestly, they would not need agents.”
—Raymond Chandler (18881959)