Court Roll of Eusace Grenville - Huntington Library

A manorial roll or court roll is the

roll Roll may refer to: Physics and engineering * Rolling, a motion of two objects with respect to each-other such that the two stay in contact without sliding * Roll angle (or roll rotation), one of the 3 angular degrees of freedom of any stiff bo ...

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, primar ...

, 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. The records were invariably kept in roll form in the Middle Ages, but in the post-medieval period were more usually entered into Codex, 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 or court baron, or frankpledge, 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 deed, evidence of title to his holding, and this form of land tenure therefore became known as

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