Definition
The Assize of Darrein Presentment was a real action in English common law by which a patron of an ecclesiastical benefice could assert his right of advowson — the right to present a clergyman for appointment to a church living — when that right had been disturbed by a stranger. Specifically, the action lay where a person, or his ancestors through whom he claimed title, had previously presented a clerk to a benefice who was duly instituted, and upon the next vacancy a stranger presented a different clerk, thereby usurping the patron's right. The action looked to the "last presentment" (darrein presentment meaning the last, or most recent, presentation) as the operative fact: whoever made the last accepted presentation, or whose ancestor did, was presumed the rightful patron.
The action was one of the possessory assizes created in the reign of Henry II, designed to provide a swift remedy based on recent possession rather than requiring the claimant to prove ultimate title to the advowson. It was abolished by the Real Property Limitation Act, 3 & 4 Will. IV, c. 27 (1833), having already fallen into disuse in practice long before that date.
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Common Language
The word "assize" in ordinary modern usage refers to a court session or, historically, to the periodic sittings of royal judges in English counties. "Darrein" has no modern common usage. "Presentment" in ordinary speech suggests a formal introduction or disclosure, and in legal contexts is more familiar as the grand jury mechanism for initiating criminal proceedings.
The legal meaning here is technical and wholly distinct from any of these common senses. An assize of darrein presentment is not a court, not a criminal proceeding, and not a general act of presenting something. It is a specific possessory real action governing a narrow dispute over ecclesiastical patronage rights — a context entirely foreign to modern legal practice.
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Common Confusion
Three related actions are frequently conflated in historical sources:
The Assize of Darrein Presentment, the writ of Quare Impedit, and the writ of Right of Advowson all addressed disputes over the right to present clergy to a benefice, but they operated at different levels and on different timelines. The Assize of Darrein Presentment was a possessory action — fast, based on recent fact, but yielding only temporary protection. Quare Impedit was similarly possessory but somewhat broader and became the preferred action in later practice, which is precisely why the Assize of Darrein Presentment fell into disuse before its formal abolition. The writ of Right of Advowson was the proprietary action, determining ultimate title rather than mere recent possession. Researchers encountering disputes over advowsons in historical records must identify which action was brought, as the procedural posture and evidentiary focus differ substantially across the three.
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Why It Matters in Research
This term appears almost exclusively in pre-1833 English legal records, ecclesiastical history, and treatises on the real actions. Researchers will encounter it in Bracton, Glanvill, Fitzherbert's Natura Brevium, and Blackstone's Commentaries, as well as in Year Books and plea rolls from the twelfth through seventeenth centuries. After the seventeenth century it surfaces primarily as historical reference rather than active litigation.
Several navigational points matter for corpus research:
The spelling varies considerably across historical sources. "Darrein" appears as "darrein," "darrein," "darnein," and occasionally in Latinized form as "de ultima praesentatione." Searches limited to a single spelling will miss significant material.
The action is often discussed in tandem with Quare Impedit and the broader law of advowson, so research on darrein presentment frequently requires following threads into both ecclesiastical law sources and common law real property treatises. The two bodies of literature do not always agree on procedural detail.
The abolition statute (3 & 4 Will. IV, c. 27) is significant context: the statute wiped out not just this action but most of the old real and mixed actions. Sources written after 1833 discussing darrein presentment are invariably retrospective and historical rather than practical.
American materials are essentially silent on this action. It was never transplanted into colonial or early American practice in any meaningful form. Researchers working in American legal history who encounter the term are almost certainly tracing an English common law reference or a learned citation to Blackstone.
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Historical Dictionary Support
Rapalje and Lawrence's entry — truncated in the available source but substantively complete — accurately identifies the core elements: the possessory nature of the action, the ancestral chain of presentment, the disturbance by a stranger, and the abolition by 3 & 4 Will. IV, c. 27. Their note that the action had been "previously superseded in practice" before formal abolition is historically accurate and important; by the time Parliament acted, the action was a relic.
What the Rapalje and Lawrence entry does not address, and what researchers should seek in fuller treatise sources, is the procedural mechanics: the role of the jury of recognition, the speed advantage the assize held over the older writ of right, and the relationship between the possessory verdict and any subsequent proprietary claim. Blackstone's Commentaries (Book III) and Fitzherbert's Natura Brevium provide the fullest accessible accounts of the action's operation.
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Jurisdictional Note
This action was exclusively English in origin and application. It never became part of American common law. Researchers working in English ecclesiastical and common law sources prior to 1833 will encounter it; researchers in American law will not, except as historical or comparative reference.
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