A manorial roll or court roll is the roll or record kept of the activities of a

manorial court The manorial courts were the lowest courts of law in England during the feudal period. They had a civil jurisdiction limited both in subject matter and geography. They dealt with matters over which the lord of the manor had jurisdiction, primaril ...

, in particular containing entries relating to the rents and holdings, deaths, alienations, and successions of the customary tenants or

copyhold Copyhold was a form of customary land ownership common from the Late Middle Ages into modern times in England. The name for this type of land tenure is derived from the act of giving a copy of the relevant title deed that is recorded in the ...

ers."court roll, n.". ''OED Online''. November 2010. Oxford University Press The records were invariably kept in roll form in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, but in the post-medieval period were more usually entered into volumes. Despite this change of format, the records often continued to be known as ''court rolls'', although the term ''court books'' is also found. The rolls record the meetings of the manorial court, either

court leet The court leet was a historical court baron (a type of manorial court) of England and Wales and Ireland that exercised the "view of frankpledge" and its attendant police jurisdiction, which was normally restricted to the hundred courts. Ety ...

court baron The manorial courts were the lowest courts of law in England during the feudal period. They had a civil jurisdiction limited both in subject matter and geography. They dealt with matters over which the lord of the manor had jurisdiction, primaril ...

, or views of frankpledge. Entries usually began with the date; a list of jurors (selected from the manor); and apologies and/or fines for those manorial tenants unable to attend the court. General matters such as a failure to maintain highways or gates are followed by specific items such as the death and inheritance of a tenant since the last court, and any surrenders of land, forfeits, or licences to let. Where land changed hands between customary tenants, a copy of the relevant entry in the court roll constituted the tenant's

evidence of title Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field. In epistemology, evidenc ...

to his holding, and this form of land tenure therefore became known as

See also

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