Definition
Corrodium is the Latin form of the term corody (also spelled corrody): a right to receive periodic sustenance, lodging, or other provisions from a religious house or other institution, typically in exchange for a prior grant of land or money to that institution. The term appears in medieval English legal records as the Latinized form used in formal instruments and treatises. It describes both the right itself and, in some usages, the allowance or pension so granted.
Why It Matters in Research
Corrodium is a scribal and drafting form, not a substantive legal concept distinct from corody. Researchers encountering this term in medieval English records, plea rolls, or ecclesiastical documents should treat it as a direct equivalent of corody and follow that entry for substantive analysis. The Latinized form was standard in formal legal instruments of the medieval period; vernacular and later legal texts shift to corody or corrody. A researcher working in Year Books, monastic cartularies, or Chancery records will encounter corrodium frequently, while treatises from the seventeenth century onward tend to use the anglicized form. Recognizing corrodium as the same institution under a different orthographic register prevents false gaps in a research trail.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary gives corrodium a minimal entry: "L. Lat. In old English law. A corody. 2 Inst. 630. Spelman." The citation to Coke's Second Institute and to Spelman's Glossarium anchors the term firmly in the medieval ecclesiastical and common law tradition. Burrill offers no independent definition, treating corrodium purely as a Latin synonym directing the reader to corody. No substantive divergence between the two forms appears in any of the historical dictionaries; the variation is linguistic, not legal. What the historical sources collectively omit is any detailed treatment of the procedural mechanism by which corrodia were enforced or extinguished, a gap that must be filled through primary sources such as the Year Books and monastic records rather than the dictionary shelf.