Definition
An obsolete Anglo-Norman legal term meaning "downwards" or "against," derived from the Law French. In medieval English administrative practice, *contreval* was associated with the keeping of a counter-roll — a duplicate or checking roll maintained alongside an official record for purposes of verification and accountability. The officer responsible for keeping such a roll was sometimes identified by reference to this term.
The counter-roll function was a foundational mechanism of medieval English governmental record-keeping: one clerk maintained the primary roll while another kept the contreval or counter-roll, each serving as a check against fraud or error in the other.
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Why It Matters in Research
This term appears almost exclusively in medieval English legal and administrative sources. Researchers encountering *contreval* in primary sources from the reign of Edward III or surrounding periods should understand it in the context of Exchequer and chancery record-keeping practice, not as a substantive legal doctrine. The term's significance is procedural and administrative rather than doctrinal.
The reference to *Edw. III. c. 3* in Burrill points to statute law of the mid-fourteenth century, and the citation to Finch's *Law* (book 4, chapter 1) suggests the term retained enough currency to appear in early modern legal exposition, even as it had become largely antiquarian by the time of the systematic English law dictionaries. Researchers working in Year Books, plea rolls, or Exchequer records from the thirteenth through fifteenth centuries are the most likely audience to encounter this term in context.
Be cautious when searching digitized medieval records: the spelling is highly variable in manuscript sources, and *contreval*, *countrerol*, *counterrolle*, and related forms may all refer to the same administrative instrument. Kelham's glossary (cited by Burrill) is a useful companion source for Law French administrative vocabulary of this period.
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Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary is the sole historical dictionary source for this entry, and it treats the term briefly. Burrill identifies the Law French root, gives the translation as "downwards," ties it to the Edwardian statute, and cross-references Kelham's glossary and Finch's *Law* for fuller treatment of the counter-roll officer and function.
The definition Burrill provides is spare but consistent with what the broader record of medieval English administrative practice confirms: *contreval* was a term of art in the machinery of royal record-keeping, not a term with substantive common law doctrinal content. No meaningful divergence or evolution of meaning is apparent across the available sources, which is itself instructive — the term did not migrate into common law pleading or equity practice and therefore left almost no trace in the later doctrinal literature.
Researchers should note that Burrill's reliance on Finch and Kelham as secondary authorities means his entry is itself a summary of early modern legal antiquarianism rather than direct access to the original medieval sources. For precise usage, the primary statutory and record sources should be consulted directly.
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Jurisdictional Note
This term is specific to English legal and administrative history. It has no recognized counterpart in American law and does not appear in the legal vocabulary of any common law jurisdiction after the medieval period.
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