ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the ‘alternative’ legal spaces and how they were used to transact legal business. The vast majority of legal sources record business that was dealt with in ‘official’ spaces such as town halls, court houses and the chambers of clerks and notaries. A majority of the legal business recorded in the Sasine Register was conducted in other locations, like the tolbooth, the council house, St Nicholas Church or one of the other religious buildings in the city, such as St Katherine’s Chapel or Greyfriars’ Church. The drinking of wine, beer or other alcoholic beverages can be considered a public confirmation of the legal transaction or arrangement. The transactions as witnessed by the wijncoepsluden and others did not need to be recorded to be recognised by the court as legally valid. The protection and peace offered by the house as a legal space was also a factor.
