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5-8 Law, Business & Government [CH 5

Charlemagne was mainly responsible for the feudal system. During his rule all
property was considered to belong to the King in the first instance. As King, it became his
prerogative to parcel out the land as he saw fit among noblemen who would be expected to
Enfeoffed: In property law
a person is granted support him. These noblemen were said to be enfeoffed of the land. They, in turn,
possession of a freehold subdivided their property among the lesser lords and so on down to the lowest sub-devisees
estate of land. The king is on the list, who was said to have the fee (income) od (of property) or feud of his parcel,
giving to his “friends” lands which he rented to serfs or tenants in exchange for a large portion of their crops; their
they may prosper from in profit.
return for their support of his When Portugal, Spain, France, Holland, or England settled the Americas, the
thrown.
discoveries (land) of the new world were all accomplished “in the name of…” the
monarch. All land belonged to the King or crown. That monarch then issued charters
(contracts) and title to engage in commerce. Just as Charlemagne acted, they would grant
land, which would bring revenue (taxes and commerce) to the King; a business enterprise.
Even in our colonial experience, the King chartered (contracted) for the settlement of his

lands, the British Crown colonies, and our Independence was over the King’s breach of
contract.
Today, in the United States, all real property (land) ownership stems from the imperial
patent : First title to land. state in the first instance, whereupon a patent is issued. As that property is transferred and
if you own property, the legal name of your ownership is fee or fee simple ownership, and
as fee owner you may create various lesser estates and tenancies on the property—with the

same nomenclature and basic scheme as in the Feudal System.
English Common Law. William the Conqueror brought with him, in the Norman

conquest of 1066, a judicial system of courts and traveling judges. The Norman judges
were left much to their own devices, and were expected to make legal decisions and apply
laws on a case-by-case basis as they were presented with the issues. One could imagine that
this would be a haphazard system of lawmaking but rather it developed into a highly rigid
system of law. This occurred because of the unwritten rule imposed by the judges on

themselves; that being the rule of stare decisis—to stand by already decided cases. It is
really quite simple: Litigants come before a court with a problem of first impression (a new
problem). The court's decision becomes a precedent—an original rule of law. Subsequent
precedent litigants coming before other courts or judges with the same problem would have the same
Standards established by rule applied because the judge would “stand by the previously decided case” regardless if
judicial systems that later
are used to help decide they agreed with the original ruling. The result was that a precedent became a law. Since it
similar cases. was one which would be applied to all persons, it was a law common to all persons or
common law.
common law Much of common law was prescribed in common sense and import to statutory law.
The body of law arising out The bulk of English law was founded on common law established through the court/judge
of judicial decisions related
to the unwritten law the made law or case law. This case law was voluminously recorded and in great part
United States inherited from “republished” as statutory or code form in later years, it was and continues to be referred to
England. as unwritten law because of its origin. The common law and the Civil Law are the two
great systems of law and our laws are patterned after the common law—case law.
A great influence on American Civil Law can be traced to Sir William Blackstone and
his Commentaries of the Law, in four volumes. These commentaries were used up to about

1947 to teach law in the United States, along with British Mercantile law (commercial
law).

When Legal Remedy is Inadequate: Equity
Courts that administered the common law in the Fifteenth Century were known as
common law courts. Cases brought into these courts were known as common law actions
or actions at law. The judgments handed down were called common law remedies or
remedies at law. These courts were restricted to rendering only two general forms of

relief: restoration of real or personal property to the one who was wrongfully deprived of
their property, and money damages were awarded for breach of contract or injury to one’s
person or their property.
These limitations in the law exemplify the limitations of the law for the Fifteenth
Century Englishman. To illustrate:

 You contract to purchase a farm in a distant county of the country. You sell
your home, and goods, move your family to this new place and suddenly find

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