Re: Ceremonies of property transfer

[PETERSR@spiegel.becltd.com (Peters, Rise J.)]

Poster: PETERSR@spiegel.becltd.com (Peters, Rise J.)

For those who are titillated (and/or curious), frankalmoign proceeds as 
follows (again from Littleton):

Sec. 133.  [Inter alia] Tenant in frankalmoign is, where an abbot or prior, 
or another man of religion, or of holy church, holdeth of his lord in 
frankalmoign; that is to say in Latin, in liberam eleemosinam, that is, in 
free almos,.  And such tenure began first in olden times.  When a man in old 
times was seised of certain lands or tenements in his demesne as of fee, and 
of the same lands infeoffed an abbot and his covent, or prior and his 
covent, to have and to hold to them and their successors in pure and 
perpetual alms, or in frankalmoign; or by such words, to hold of the grantor 
. in free almost; in such case the tenements were holden in frankalmoign.
Sec. 135.  [Inter alia] and therefore they shall do no fealty to their lord, 
because that this divine service [that is, the prayers, etc. that constitute 
their "service"] is better for them before God, than any doing of fealty; 
and also because these words (frankalmoign) exclude the lord to have any 
earthly or temporal service, but to have only divine and spiritual service 
to be done for him, &c.

It goes on to say that frankalmoign doesn't co-exist with =defined and 
certain= service (that is, the church promises to give 100 pence in alms 
every Friday) but only with undefined and unenforceable pledges (we'll pray 
for you, etc.)  So frankalmoign only exists when the services are such that 
the person was already under an obligation to do them anyway (for example, 
the University could pledge to expand and convey knowledge, and be a tenant 
in frankalmoign, but not to admit 40 inner-city highschool graduates 
ann
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