Definition
De asportatis religiosorum (Latin: "concerning the property of religious persons carried away") is the title of an English statute enacted under Edward I, dated to the 35th year of his reign (1307). The statute was directed at curbing abuses in the management of ecclesiastical and monastic property, with particular concern for the practice of transferring wealth from English religious houses to foreign parent institutions — most notably to continental monasteries and priories. The legislation sought to prevent the effective export of English ecclesiastical revenues and assets out of the realm under the guise of religious obligation or institutional hierarchy.
Why It Matters in Research
This term appears almost exclusively as a historical statutory title, not as a living legal doctrine. Researchers encountering it in legal sources will find it cited in the context of medieval English ecclesiastical law, the regulation of alien priories, and the broader history of Crown control over church property.
The statute sits within a cluster of Edwardian legislation addressing ecclesiastical wealth — including Mortmain legislation (Statute of Mortmain, 1279) — and researchers should treat these as an interlocking body of reform rather than isolated enactments. Confusion between De asportatis religiosorum and Mortmain statutes is possible; they share policy concerns but address distinct mechanisms of wealth transfer.
For researchers working in secondary legal history (Reeves' History of English Law, Coke's Institutes), this term will surface as a reference point when tracing the origin of Crown prerogatives over alien religious houses, eventually leading to the broader suppressions of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The statute's legacy is more relevant to ecclesiastical history and the history of Chancery jurisdiction than to common law doctrine as it developed in the post-Reformation period.
Primary corpus searches for this term should focus on treatises and digests rather than case reporters; it is unlikely to appear in reported case law except by passing historical reference.
Historical Dictionary Support
The three source dictionaries — Black's Law Dictionary (both editions) and Burrill's Law Dictionary — are in near-complete agreement, reproducing substantially identical language. All three identify the statute as 35 Edward I and describe its purpose as checking the drainage of clerical property into foreign countries. All three cite the same two secondary authorities: Reeves' History of English Law (vol. 2, p. 157) and Coke's Institutes (2 Inst. 580).
The uniformity of these entries suggests the later dictionaries drew directly from a common source, likely Burrill or an earlier digest, without independent analysis. None of the three entries elaborates on the statutory mechanism, the enforcement history, or the relationship to contemporaneous legislation. The entries are essentially cross-references to Reeves and Coke rather than independent definitions.
What the historical dictionaries do not address: the political context of Edward I's ecclesiastical policy, the specific role of alien priories as the primary target, or the statute's eventual obsolescence following the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII. Researchers needing substantive legal history must go beyond the dictionary entries to Reeves and Coke directly.
Jurisdictional Note
This statute was English in origin and has no analogue in American law. It is of no operative legal relevance in any current jurisdiction. Its significance is entirely historical, pertaining to the development of English ecclesiastical and property law.