Definition
A tribute or toll exacted from persons who gathered indiscriminately at a market or fair. The term describes a form of medieval market duty — a levy imposed on the general body of traders and visitors who assembled at a commercial gathering, as distinguished from tolls tied to specific transactions or particular classes of merchant.
Why It Matters in Research
COHUAGIUM is a term of narrow historical and archival utility. Researchers are most likely to encounter it in medieval English or Continental sources dealing with market rights, fair charters, and manorial revenue. It belongs to a cluster of archaic toll and tribute terms — alongside TELONIUM, STALLAGE, PEDAGE, and PASSAGE — that appear in grants of market privileges and in disputes over the scope of such privileges.
The key navigational point: because the term describes a toll on undifferentiated assemblage rather than on a specific act (sale, transit, use of a stall), it could be invoked broadly in charter disputes to capture revenue from any attendee. Researchers examining medieval fair charters or borough customs should watch for COHUAGIUM as a catchall alongside more specific exactions. Its presence in a grant may signal an intent to maximize toll revenue from the entire market occasion.
The term does not appear to have survived into modern statutory or common law use. It will not be found in post-medieval case reporters or modern regulatory sources. Research is effectively bounded to medieval and early modern primary sources, manorial records, and antiquarian legal commentary.
Historical Dictionary Support
Both Black's Law Dictionary (1st and 2nd editions) carry identical one-sentence definitions, each citing Du Cange — that is, the Glossarium Mediae et Infimae Latinitatis of Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange (1678), the standard reference for medieval Latin terminology. This is a significant flag: both editions are drawing on a single Continental lexicographic source rather than English case law or statutory authority. Neither edition elaborates on the term's practical application, its jurisdictional reach, or its relationship to other market tolls.
The reliance on Du Cange places COHUAGIUM firmly in the tradition of learned reconstruction rather than living legal practice. By the time Black's first edition appeared (1891), the term had long since passed out of active legal use. Its inclusion serves the antiquarian and historical researcher rather than the practitioner.
Researchers should note that Du Cange's glossary covers medieval Latin usage across Western Europe broadly, not English common law specifically. The precise form and application of a COHUAGIUM could vary between English and Continental market practice, and caution is warranted before assuming uniformity.
Jurisdictional Note
COHUAGIUM is not a term of modern law in any common law jurisdiction. Its relevance is confined to medieval English and European legal history. Researchers working in Scottish, Welsh, or Irish historical sources may encounter parallel toll terminology under different names; the specific term COHUAGIUM may not transfer across all regional traditions without verification against local sources.