CHARTEL

4 definitions found across Law Mind sources

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CHARTELAuthored
The Law Mind • 678 words
Definition
An archaic legal term with two distinct historical meanings: 1. A formal written challenge to single combat (trial by battle), issued by one party to another during the medieval period when judicial combat was a recognized mode of proof in English law. 2. A formal written agreement or instrument between two states or sovereign powers for the regulation and exchange of prisoners of war. Both meanings are obsolete in modern law. The term belongs entirely to the historical record and appears in legal sources solely as a relic of medieval procedure and early international practice. The prisoner exchange sense is more commonly encountered in its variant spelling, CARTEL, which persisted in diplomatic and military usage well beyond the demise of trial by battle.
Common Confusion
CHARTEL and CARTEL are variant spellings of the same underlying term, and several historical dictionaries treat them as interchangeable. Rapalje & Lawrence explicitly redirects researchers to CARTEL. The confusion matters in corpus research: the prisoner exchange instrument migrated into CARTEL as the dominant spelling by the early modern period, while CHARTEL as a standalone term became fixed almost exclusively to the trial by battle context. A researcher finding CHARTEL in a source should not assume the combat sense without checking the surrounding context, particularly in diplomatic or military documents where the prisoner exchange meaning may govern.
Why It Matters in Research
This term is a research dead end in modern law but a navigational marker in historical sources. Its presence in a document signals one of two things: either the document concerns medieval English procedure (specifically trial by battle or wager of battle), or it is an early modern instrument touching the law of nations and the treatment of prisoners of war. Researchers working in Law Mind's historical corpus should note that CHARTEL and CARTEL appear interchangeably in some sources, particularly those from the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries. The spelling CHARTEL tends to appear in legal dictionaries and procedural treatises, while CARTEL dominates in diplomatic correspondence, military manuals, and international law texts. Searching only one spelling will miss relevant documents. The term is not a gateway to living doctrine. Researchers following a thread that leads to CHARTEL should pivot immediately to WAGER OF BATTLE (for the combat sense) or CARTEL / LAW OF NATIONS / PRISONER EXCHANGE (for the interstate instrument sense), as those entries will carry the substantive historical and doctrinal weight.
Historical Dictionary Support
The historical dictionaries are in close agreement on the core definition and treat CHARTEL as a term of purely antiquarian interest. Burrill provides the most precise contextual framing, identifying the term as Law French and tying it specifically to the period when trial by battle was practiced, citing Cowell and Blount. Bouvier similarly anchors it to the combat period and cites Cowell. Both Black's editions and Rapalje & Lawrence add the prisoner exchange instrument as a second meaning, which Bouvier and Burrill omit — suggesting either that the two meanings were not uniformly recognized across the dictionary tradition or that the prisoner exchange meaning was treated as belonging to CARTEL rather than CHARTEL. None of the historical sources provide significant doctrinal elaboration, which is appropriate: by the time these dictionaries were compiled, trial by battle had long been abolished in England (formally by statute in 1819), and the term had no living legal application. The entries function as glosses for readers encountering CHARTEL in older texts, not as operative legal definitions.
Related Terms
Cartel — primary variant spelling; carries the prisoner exchange meaning forward Wager of Battle — the broader procedural institution of which the chartel was a component instrument Trial by Battle — alternate name for the same institution Challenge — functional modern heir to the combat sense in different procedural contexts Law of Nations — the broader framework governing the prisoner exchange instrument Prisoner of War — substantive category to which the interstate instrument applied Charter — etymologically adjacent but legally distinct; do not conflate
CHARTELmain
Black's Law Dictionary • 1891
A challenge to a single combat; also an instrument or writing be- tween two states for settling the exchange of prisoners of war. CHARTER, v. In mercantile law. To hire or lease a vessel for a voyage. A "char- tered" is distinguished from a "seeking" ship. 7 East, 24. CHARTER, n. An instrument emanating from the sovereign power, in the nature of a grant, either to the whole nation, or to a class or portion of the people, or to a colony or dependency, and assuring to them certain rights, liberties, or powers. Such was the "Great Charter" or "Magna Charta,” and such also were the charters granted to certain of the English colonies in America. See Story, Const. § 161. An act of the legislative department of government, creating a corporation, is called the "charter" of the corporation. In old English law. The term denoted a deed or other written instrument under seal; & conveyance, covenant, or contract. In old Scotch law. A disposition made by a superior to his vassal, for something to
CHARTELmain
Bouvier's Law Dictionary • 1928
A challenge to single com- bat. Used at the period when trial by single combat existed. Cowel.
CHARTELmain
Rapalje & Lawrence • 1888
-A letter of defiance or challenge to a single combat; also an instrument or writing between two States for settling the exchange of prisoners of war. See CARTEL.

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