Definition
A Latin term from the civil law and old English legal practice with two related but distinct procedural meanings:
1. To litigate; to be engaged in a suit; to conduct or manage a cause on behalf of oneself or another.
2. To cause or produce a legal effect; to object to, show cause against, or challenge — as in raising a formal objection to a juror, witness, or legal proceeding.
The term derives from causa (a cause, case, or suit) and appears in medieval Latin legal texts primarily as a verb of procedure, describing active participation in litigation or formal challenge within it.
Common Confusion
The two meanings of causare are functionally related but should not be collapsed. The first sense — to litigate or manage a cause — describes general participation in legal proceedings. The second sense — to object or show cause against — describes a specific procedural act of challenge or exception. Burrill preserves both; Black's and Rapalje & Lawrence emphasize only the first. Researchers working in early English or civil law sources should determine from context which function is intended.
Why It Matters in Research
Causare is a term of medieval Latin procedure, not a term of modern law. It will appear almost exclusively in pre-modern sources: Year Books, Bracton, glossaries of civil law, and early ecclesiastical and chancery records. Researchers encountering the term should treat it as a marker of procedural activity rather than substantive doctrine.
The connected form causator — one who manages another's suit, a kind of early representative or procurator — appears in Rapalje & Lawrence and is important for understanding pre-modern concepts of legal agency and representation. These are not the same as a modern attorney or agent, and projecting modern professional relationships onto causator will distort historical analysis.
Burrill's treatment is the most complete and should be the first stop for any researcher needing to interpret causare in context. He supplies the specific reference to Bracton (fol. 75b, 238, 334), which grounds the term in a traceable primary source — a rarity for terms at this level of Latin legal vocabulary. The Bracton passage on causari poterunt et calumpniari multis modis ("they may be objected to, and challenged in many ways") shows causare functioning specifically in the context of challenge or exception, likely to jurors or compurgators, a procedurally specific use that Black's definition alone would not alert a researcher to.
The term also bridges civil law and English common law traditions. Its appearance in old English practice alongside its civilian roots reflects the early interpenetration of Roman-derived procedure with English practice, particularly in ecclesiastical courts and chancery. Researchers working on the history of equity or canon law procedure will encounter causare and its cognates more frequently than those working strictly in common law records.
Historical Dictionary Support
The four source dictionaries are broadly consistent but vary in depth. Black's (both editions) offers a compressed, functional gloss — to litigate, to conduct a cause — sufficient for identification but not for interpretation. Rapalje & Lawrence adds causator, which is a useful companion form. Burrill is the outlier in the best sense: he supplies both meanings, the Latin morphological variants (causans, causata), the Bracton citations, and the cross-reference to Spelman's Glossarium, making his entry the only one with genuine research utility beyond recognition of the term.
None of the historical dictionaries situate causare within the broader vocabulary of civil law procedure or explain its relationship to cognate terms like causam agere or litigare. Researchers who need that context must consult Spelman's Glossarium Archaiologicum or the relevant passages of Bracton directly.