Definition
An archaic Law Latin term meaning peers or equals. Used in medieval English legal proceedings to denote persons of equivalent standing, rank, or condition — most commonly in the context of trial by peers, where a party was entitled to judgment by those of equal social or legal status. The term is closely associated with the feudal principle that nobles could not be judged by those beneath them in the social hierarchy, a concept foundational to the development of jury trial and due process guarantees in the common law tradition.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers encountering *apares* in historical legal manuscripts or Year Book materials should treat it as a functional synonym of *pares* and follow cross-references to that term. Burrill himself directs readers to *appares*, the more commonly indexed spelling variant. The term appears rarely in post-medieval sources; its primary research value lies in decoding pleadings, writs, or procedural records from the thirteenth through fifteenth centuries, where Latin abbreviation and variant spelling are common traps.
The companion term *aparluy* (or *aperluy*), glossed by Burrill as the Law French equivalent meaning "by itself" or "separately," appears in the same corpus and reflects the dual-language character of medieval English legal records. Researchers working in Year Book materials will routinely encounter both Latin and Law French forms within the same document; distinguishing between them is essential for accurate interpretation. The Year Book citation Burrill provides — *H. 9 Hen. VI. 21* — places this usage in the reign of Henry VI, approximately 1430–1431.
Spelling instability is the principal hazard. Historical legal dictionaries index this term variously as *apares*, *appares*, and *pares*, and any search of manuscript sources or printed Year Books should account for all three forms as well as common scribal contractions.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary is the sole shelf source treating *apares* directly, and its entry is brief: the term is defined as "peers; equals" with an immediate cross-reference to *appares*. This brevity is itself informative — by Burrill's time (mid-nineteenth century), the term had no living legal application and was catalogued purely for the benefit of readers interpreting older materials.
No entry for *apares* appears in Tomlin's, Jacob's, or Bouvier's dictionaries under that spelling, reinforcing its status as a secondary variant. The substantive legal concept — trial and judgment by one's peers — receives full treatment under *pares* in the major historical dictionaries and under related doctrines of jury composition in later sources. Researchers should not expect *apares* itself to carry independent doctrinal weight; it is a linguistic artifact rather than a term of art with its own analytical history.
Jurisdictional Note
As a term of medieval English legal practice, *apares* has no direct counterpart in civilian jurisdictions. Its relevance is confined to English common law materials and the Anglo-American legal tradition that inherited Year Book doctrine.