Definition
An obsolete form of English currency, abolished during the reign of Henry II (r. 1154–1189). The term appears in medieval legal and chronicle sources as a designation for a specific coin or monetary unit that fell out of use as Henry II standardized and reformed the English monetary system. The Latin form is *baselli*.
A secondary, unrelated usage recorded in Burrill derives from the Greek *Βασιλεύς* (Basileus), meaning king or emperor — a title applied to the Emperor Justinian in certain of his Novels. This usage is a term of Byzantine imperial designation, not a monetary or English law term, and appears in Burrill's entry only as a companion note to the primary definition.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Plural of basil, referring to multiple plants of the genus Ocimum, particularly the culinary herb.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Not separately defined as a plural; basil referred to the aromatic herb, or alternatively to a type of tanned sheepskin leather used in bookbinding and shoemaking.
The gap between common and legal meaning is total. The legal term *basils* has no connection to the herb, the leather, or any ordinary English usage. It is a false cognate: the shared spelling is purely coincidental, and researchers encountering *basils* in a medieval legal or chronicle context should not import any common-language meaning.
Why It Matters in Research
This term is almost entirely a historical curiosity. Researchers are unlikely to encounter *basils* as an operative term in legal proceedings, but may find it in:
— **Chronicle and glossary sources**: Holinshed's *Chronicles* (cited by Burrill) uses the term in a historical monetary context. Researchers working with medieval financial records, pipe rolls, or narrative histories of the Norman and Angevin periods may encounter it as a gloss or descriptive label.
— **Spelman and Cowell**: Burrill cites both Spelman's *Glossarium Archaeologicum* and Cowell's *Interpreter* as authorities. Researchers using those works — both standard reference points in Law Mind's historical dictionary corpus — should note that *basils* appears there as an antiquarian monetary term, not a term of active legal practice.
— **The Basileus note**: The Greek *Βασιλεύς* cross-reference in Burrill is relevant to researchers working with Justinian's Novels (*Novellae Constitutiones*). The Novels frequently address the emperor in Greek honorifics; Nov. 2, 3, 4, 6, and subsequent constitutions use the title in their preambles. This is a civil law and Byzantine legal context entirely separate from the English monetary term, and the conflation in a single dictionary entry is an artifact of Burrill's alphabetical organization, not a substantive legal connection.
— **Henry II's monetary reforms**: The abolition of *basils* is consistent with Henry II's broader administrative reforms, which rationalized royal finance, coinage, and common law procedure. Researchers studying Angevin legal history may encounter the term as evidence of pre-reform monetary diversity.
Historical Dictionary Support
All three source dictionaries agree on the core definition: *basils* is an old English coin abolished by Henry II. Black's (both editions) provide only this single-sentence definition without elaboration or citation.
Burrill is the most substantive source, adding the Latin form (*baselli*), the Holinshed citation, and the Spelman and Cowell references — making it the only entry with a path to primary and secondary authority. Burrill also appends the *Βασιλεύς* note, which no other source dictionary includes.
None of the three dictionaries explain what the coin was worth, what it looked like, or what transactions it governed — a reflection of how thoroughly the term had receded from legal relevance by the time these dictionaries were compiled. Researchers needing substantive monetary history will need to go beyond dictionary sources to numismatic and chronicle literature.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
No Law Mind Encyclopedia entry directly addresses *basils*. Researchers may find relevant context under entries for Henry II's legal reforms, Angevin monetary policy, or Justinian's Novels (for the *Basileus* note).