ABSTRACT
Discussion of land law has been central to the writing of legal history. ‘Tenure’ sits proudly at the start of Maitland's thematic analysis in his History of English Law. Such prominence reflects in part the concerns of post-medieval lawyers, and also political thinkers’ interest in the nature of ‘property’. But it also stems from medieval evidence and interests. Because land was fundamental to the power of the aristocracy, and more locally to lesser men as well, the customs and procedures that can be referred to as land law were of great importance. 1
