Seisin
Encyclopedia
Seisin is the term denoting the legal possession of a feudal fiefdom (i.e. an estate in land
). It was used in the form of "the son and heir of X has obtained seisin of his inheritance", and thus is effectively a term concerned with conveyancing
in the feudal era. In the feudal age the king alone "owned" all the land of England by his allodial right, all his subjects merely held tenures in fiefs, that is to say estates-in-land
.
saysen, seysen, in the legal sense of to put in possession of, or to take possession of, hence, to grasp, to seize. The Old French
variations seisir, saisir, are from Low Latin sacire, generally referred to the same source as Gothic satjan, Old English settan, to put in place, set.
. Freehold tenure was anciently thought the only form of feudal land tenure
worthy to be held by a free man
. Tenure
, and the variety thereof, was the very essence of feudal society and the stratification thereof, and the possession of a tenure (i.e. holding, from Latin teneo "to hold") was legally established by the act of seisin.
It came to be said that later that in the conveyance of a fee by deed of feofment there must be livery of seisin.
). A tenant seised in deed as well as in law thus had obtained the best legal title to his tenure available.
, for example a feudal baron
, his holding was heritable by his son or other right heir. The conveyancing procedure, or procedure of "re-enfeoffment", i.e. re-establishment of tenure in a fief, was as follows. The heir would pay homage
to the king, which once received established him irreversibly as the true heir, for the ceremony of homage was in the form of a sacred vow. Only then could the heir pay his feudal relief
to the treasury
, which final step would enable him to obtain seisin, i.e. actual possession. Between the death of the previous tenant and the new seisin, there was an empty tenure of the fief, which was legally inconvenient, but tolerated as generally of short duration. It is important to understand that such a tenure did not escheat
, even temporarily, to the crown pending the re-enfeoffment of the heir. Yet in the case of a barony
, which was an extensive tenure of frequently several dozen manors, the king needed to make certain that the heir who presented himself to pay homage was the true heir, for should his homage be accepted, his status was irreversibly confirmed, and the new baron would be entitled to attend parliament
. Time was needed for the sheriff of the shire
concerned to make enquiries, sometimes by use of local juries. In order to provide the king with time to make such investigations, the king took temporary seisin of the barony and all its lands, which needed management during the interval, which was termed "primer seisin". It was not a form of escheat
, which was an extinguishment of a tenure.
Primer seisin can thus be seen as a variety of feudal burden, or feudal incident, that is to say a right exercisable by an overlord over his vassal
's holding.
The Wardships, etc. Act 1267 passed by King Henry III (1267 (52 Hen. 3) C A P. XVI) stated as follows:
, which term has developed a further signification in Scots law.
, feudalism was introduced in those areas under Norman Control.
The most important legal concept in the feudal period in relation to land was seisin.
, though at one time it appears to have been used for simple possession without regard to the estate of the possessor. Its importance is considerably less than it was at one time, owing to the old form of conveyance by feoffment
with livery of seisin
having been superseded by a deed of grant, and the old rule of descent from the person last seised having been abolished in favour of descent from the purchaser. Lord Denning controversially supported the abolition of the concept of seisin, however the common law has since decided to maintain the concept of seisin. At one time the right of the wife to dower
and of the husband to an estate by curtesy
depended upon the doctrine of seisin. The Dower Act (1833–1834), however, rendered the fact of the seisin of the husband of no importance, and the Married Women's Property Act 1882
practically abolished the old law of curtesy.
Estate in land
An estate in land is an interest in real property that is or may become possessory.This should be distinguished from an "estate" as used in reference to an area of land, and "estate" as used to refer to property in general....
). It was used in the form of "the son and heir of X has obtained seisin of his inheritance", and thus is effectively a term concerned with conveyancing
Conveyancing
In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien....
in the feudal era. In the feudal age the king alone "owned" all the land of England by his allodial right, all his subjects merely held tenures in fiefs, that is to say estates-in-land
Estate (law)
An estate is the net worth of a person at any point in time. It is the sum of a person's assets - legal rights, interests and entitlements to property of any kind - less all liabilities at that time. The issue is of special legal significance on a question of bankruptcy and death of the person...
.
Etymology
Seisin comes from Middle EnglishMiddle English
Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....
saysen, seysen, in the legal sense of to put in possession of, or to take possession of, hence, to grasp, to seize. The Old French
Old French
Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century...
variations seisir, saisir, are from Low Latin sacire, generally referred to the same source as Gothic satjan, Old English settan, to put in place, set.
Tenures subject to seisin
Seisin is believed to have been applicable only to freehold tenures, that is to say a tenure exceeding a mere term for life and which was heritable, on condition of payment of the appropriate feudal reliefFeudal relief
Feudal Relief was a one-off "fine" or form of taxation payable to an overlord by the heir of a feudal tenant to licence him to take possession of his fief, i.e. an estate-in-land, by inheritance...
. Freehold tenure was anciently thought the only form of feudal land tenure
Feudal land tenure
Under the English feudal system several different forms of land tenure existed, each effectively a contract with differing rights and duties attached thereto. Such tenures could be either free-hold, signifying that they were hereditable or perpetual, or non-free where the tenancy terminated on the...
worthy to be held by a free man
Freedom (political)
Political freedom is a central philosophy in Western history and political thought, and one of the most important features of democratic societies...
. Tenure
Feudal land tenure
Under the English feudal system several different forms of land tenure existed, each effectively a contract with differing rights and duties attached thereto. Such tenures could be either free-hold, signifying that they were hereditable or perpetual, or non-free where the tenancy terminated on the...
, and the variety thereof, was the very essence of feudal society and the stratification thereof, and the possession of a tenure (i.e. holding, from Latin teneo "to hold") was legally established by the act of seisin.
Varieties of seisin
Seisin used in the normal course of events is of two kinds, "in law" and "in deed". Each carries with it a differing strength of tenure.It came to be said that later that in the conveyance of a fee by deed of feofment there must be livery of seisin.
Seisin in law
"Livery" (or delivery) by "seisin in law" occurred when the parties to the transaction went within sight of the land to be conveyed and the transferor declared to the recipient that possession had been granted. This constituted however only an incomplete conveyance.Seisin in deed
By physically entering onto the land the transferee converts or "delivers" his seisin in law into seisin in deed. Instead of a physical entry on to the land, sometimes a token of the land (e.g. a turf, or similar) would be handed over ceremoniously, (see: turf & twigLivery of seisin
Livery of seisin is an archaic legal conveyancing ceremony, formerly practiced in feudal England and in other countries following English common law, used to convey holdings in property. The term "livery" is related, if not synonymous with, the word "delivery" as used in modern contract law...
). A tenant seised in deed as well as in law thus had obtained the best legal title to his tenure available.
Primer seisin
Primer seisin is defined as "the right which the king had, when any of his tenants died seised of a knight's fee, to receive of the heir, provided he were of full age, one whole year's profits of the lands, if they were in immediate possession; and half a year's profits, if the lands were in reversion, expectant on an estate for life" On the death of a tenant-in-chiefTenant-in-chief
In medieval and early modern European society the term tenant-in-chief, sometimes vassal-in-chief, denoted the nobles who held their lands as tenants directly from king or territorial prince to whom they did homage, as opposed to holding them from another nobleman or senior member of the clergy....
, for example a feudal baron
English feudal barony
In England, a feudal barony or barony by tenure was a form of Feudal land tenure, namely per baroniam under which the land-holder owed the service of being one of the king's barons. It must be distinguished from a barony, also feudal, but which existed within a county palatine, such as the Barony...
, his holding was heritable by his son or other right heir. The conveyancing procedure, or procedure of "re-enfeoffment", i.e. re-establishment of tenure in a fief, was as follows. The heir would pay homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
to the king, which once received established him irreversibly as the true heir, for the ceremony of homage was in the form of a sacred vow. Only then could the heir pay his feudal relief
Feudal relief
Feudal Relief was a one-off "fine" or form of taxation payable to an overlord by the heir of a feudal tenant to licence him to take possession of his fief, i.e. an estate-in-land, by inheritance...
to the treasury
Treasury
A treasury is either*A government department related to finance and taxation.*A place where currency or precious items is/are kept....
, which final step would enable him to obtain seisin, i.e. actual possession. Between the death of the previous tenant and the new seisin, there was an empty tenure of the fief, which was legally inconvenient, but tolerated as generally of short duration. It is important to understand that such a tenure did not escheat
Escheat
Escheat is a common law doctrine which transfers the property of a person who dies without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in limbo without recognised ownership...
, even temporarily, to the crown pending the re-enfeoffment of the heir. Yet in the case of a barony
English feudal barony
In England, a feudal barony or barony by tenure was a form of Feudal land tenure, namely per baroniam under which the land-holder owed the service of being one of the king's barons. It must be distinguished from a barony, also feudal, but which existed within a county palatine, such as the Barony...
, which was an extensive tenure of frequently several dozen manors, the king needed to make certain that the heir who presented himself to pay homage was the true heir, for should his homage be accepted, his status was irreversibly confirmed, and the new baron would be entitled to attend parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
. Time was needed for the sheriff of the shire
Shire
A shire is a traditional term for a division of land, found in the United Kingdom and in Australia. In parts of Australia, a shire is an administrative unit, but it is not synonymous with "county" there, which is a land registration unit. Individually, or as a suffix in Scotland and in the far...
concerned to make enquiries, sometimes by use of local juries. In order to provide the king with time to make such investigations, the king took temporary seisin of the barony and all its lands, which needed management during the interval, which was termed "primer seisin". It was not a form of escheat
Escheat
Escheat is a common law doctrine which transfers the property of a person who dies without heirs to the crown or state. It serves to ensure that property is not left in limbo without recognised ownership...
, which was an extinguishment of a tenure.
Primer seisin can thus be seen as a variety of feudal burden, or feudal incident, that is to say a right exercisable by an overlord over his vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
's holding.
The Wardships, etc. Act 1267 passed by King Henry III (1267 (52 Hen. 3) C A P. XVI) stated as follows:
- (2) And if an Heir at the time of his Ancestor's Death be of full Age, and he is Heir apparent, and known for Heir, and be found in the Inheritance, the chief Lord shall not put him out, nor take, nor remove any thing there, but shall take only simple Seisin therefore for the Recognition of his Seigniory, that he may be known for Lord.
- (3) And if the chief Lord do put such an Heir out of the Possession maliciously, whereby he is driven to purchase a Writ of Mort d'Auncestor
Assize of mort d'ancestorIn English law, the Assize of mort d'ancestor was an action brought where a plaintiff claimed the defendant had entered upon a freehold belonging to the plaintiff following the death of one of his relatives....
, or of Cousenage, then he shall recover his Damages as in Assise of Novel DisseisinAssize of novel disseisinIn English law, the Assize of novel disseisin was an action to recover lands of which the plaintiff had been disseised, or dispossessed. The action became extremely popular due to its expediency...
.- II. Touching Heirs, which hold of our Lord the King in chief, this Order shall be observed, That our Lord the King shall have the first Seisin of their Lands, like as he was wont to have before time: Neither shall the Heir, nor any other, intrude into the same Inheritance, before he hath received it out of the King's Hands, as the same Inheritance was wont to be taken out of his Hands and his Ancestors in times past. And this must be understood of Lands and Fees, the which were accustomed to be in the King's Hands, by reason of Knight service, or Serjeanty
SerjeantyUnder the feudal system in late and high medieval England, tenure by serjeanty was a form of land-holding in return for some specified service, ranking between tenure by knight-service and tenure in socage...
, or Right of Patronage.
In European feudalism
In European feudal states, "ownership" of land, that is to say allodial possession, was generally restricted to monarchs and was thus rarely an operative principle. Instead seisin was used a term signifying feudal possession. The modern writer Marc Bloch considers seisin to signify "possession made venerable by the lapse of time" and that "paper documentary evidence was not required to establish seisin, rather human memory of the use of land or administration of justice there was invoked, especially these by the ancestors".Scotland
The equivalent Scottish term is sasineSasine
Sasine is the delivery of feudal property, typically land.Feudal property means immovable property, and includes everything that naturally goes with the property. For land, that would include such things as buildings, trees, and underground minerals...
, which term has developed a further signification in Scots law.
Ireland
Following the Norman Invasion of IrelandNorman Invasion of Ireland
The Norman invasion of Ireland was a two-stage process, which began on 1 May 1169 when a force of loosely associated Norman knights landed near Bannow, County Wexford...
, feudalism was introduced in those areas under Norman Control.
The most important legal concept in the feudal period in relation to land was seisin.
Current legal status
Seisin is now confined to possession of the freeholdFee simple
In English law, a fee simple is an estate in land, a form of freehold ownership. It is the most common way that real estate is owned in common law countries, and is ordinarily the most complete ownership interest that can be had in real property short of allodial title, which is often reserved...
, though at one time it appears to have been used for simple possession without regard to the estate of the possessor. Its importance is considerably less than it was at one time, owing to the old form of conveyance by feoffment
Feoffment
Feoffment, in English law was a transfer of property that gave the new owner the right to sell the land as well as the right to pass it on to his heirs. It was total relinquishment and transfer of all rights of ownership in land from one individual to another. It was the granting of a fee simple...
with livery of seisin
Livery of seisin
Livery of seisin is an archaic legal conveyancing ceremony, formerly practiced in feudal England and in other countries following English common law, used to convey holdings in property. The term "livery" is related, if not synonymous with, the word "delivery" as used in modern contract law...
having been superseded by a deed of grant, and the old rule of descent from the person last seised having been abolished in favour of descent from the purchaser. Lord Denning controversially supported the abolition of the concept of seisin, however the common law has since decided to maintain the concept of seisin. At one time the right of the wife to dower
Dower
Dower or morning gift was a provision accorded by law to a wife for her support in the event that she should survive her husband...
and of the husband to an estate by curtesy
Curtesy
Curtesy tenure is the legal term denoting the life interest which a widower may claim in the lands of his deceased wife, under certain conditions...
depended upon the doctrine of seisin. The Dower Act (1833–1834), however, rendered the fact of the seisin of the husband of no importance, and the Married Women's Property Act 1882
Married Women's Property Act 1882
The Married Women's Property Act 1882 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that significantly altered English law regarding the property rights granted to married women, allowing them to own and control their own property....
practically abolished the old law of curtesy.
Modern legal interpretation
Modern courts have interpreted seisin as approximating to modern "freehold" ownership of land (Deshong v. Deshong, 186 Pa. 227, 40 A.402.) or the right to immediate possession (Williams v. Swango, 365 Ill. 549, 7 N.E.2d 306, 309.).See also
- Livery of seisinLivery of seisinLivery of seisin is an archaic legal conveyancing ceremony, formerly practiced in feudal England and in other countries following English common law, used to convey holdings in property. The term "livery" is related, if not synonymous with, the word "delivery" as used in modern contract law...
- Moot hillMoot hillA moot hill or mons placiti is a hill or mound historically used as an assembly or meeting place. In early medieval Britain, such hills were used for "moots", meetings of local people to settle local business. Among other things, proclamations might be read; decisions might be taken; court cases...
Sasine ceremony of barony rights. - Quia EmptoresQuia EmptoresQuia Emptores of 1290 was a statute passed by Edward I of England that prevented tenants from alienating their lands to others by subinfeudation, instead requiring all tenants wishing to alienate their land to do so by substitution...
- SasineSasineSasine is the delivery of feudal property, typically land.Feudal property means immovable property, and includes everything that naturally goes with the property. For land, that would include such things as buildings, trees, and underground minerals...
(Scots law)