Definition
De cantilupo is an archaic Latin locative phrase meaning "of" or "from Cantilupo" — a place name of Norman-French origin rendered in various forms including Cantlou, Cantelou, and Cantiloupe. In legal and historical manuscripts, the phrase functions as a surname element or descriptive identifier rather than a substantive legal term. It appears in medieval English legal records, particularly in pleadings, writs, and property rolls, as part of a party's name or as a reference identifying an individual by their place of territorial origin or feudal holding.
The term has no independent legal meaning apart from its identifying function. Its significance in historical legal texts is almost entirely contextual: it tells the reader who a party is, not what legal principle applies.
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Common Confusion
De cantilupo should not be confused with de-prefixed Latin terms that carry genuine substantive legal meaning. The prefix de in Latin legal terminology performs entirely different work depending on context: it can introduce a writ type (de homine replegiando), a procedural standard (de novo), a conveyancing limitation (de donis), or — as here — a locative designation meaning "of" a place or family. The identical grammatical construction masks fundamentally different functions. When reading entries in Burrill or similar dictionaries that list multiple de-phrases in sequence, the researcher must determine for each entry whether it is a term of art or a proper name fragment.
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Why It Matters in Research
Researchers encountering de cantilupo in manuscript sources, plea rolls, or early printed reports must understand it as a name fragment, not a term of art. Confusion arises because Latin de-phrases in medieval legal texts serve multiple functions: some are procedural (de novo, de bene esse), some are substantive (de donis conditionalibus), and some — like de cantilupo — are purely nominal or locative. Misreading a party identifier as a legal concept is a genuine hazard in close reading of Bracton-era materials and the Year Books.
Burrill's entry places de cantilupo in a string of similarly structured entries (de erolitto, de capricuria) drawn from Bracton's De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae. This suggests these entries are glosses on proper names or place references appearing in Bracton's text at the cited folio numbers (fol. 142b, 417), not independent legal doctrines. Researchers working with Bracton should treat such entries as navigational aids to manuscript names, not as substantive legal vocabulary.
The Cantilupo family was a notable Anglo-Norman baronial family. Walter de Cantilupo served as Bishop of Worcester in the thirteenth century, and Thomas de Cantilupo served as Bishop of Hereford and was later canonized. References to de cantilupo in Bracton-era records may therefore point to ecclesiastical property matters, feudal tenure disputes, or canonical proceedings involving members of this family. Knowing the historical family context can help a researcher identify which folio references are relevant and which Cantilupo is meant.
Because this is a proper name rendered in Latin form, it will appear inconsistently across sources. Variant spellings include Cantilupe, Cantelupe, Cantlou, Cantiloupe, and Chantiloup. Searches in digitized plea rolls or calendars of patent rolls should account for all variants.
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Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's entry is sparse to the point of being a bare cross-reference. The entry reads: "Cantlou. Bract. fol. DE EROLITTO. Erliche. 142 b, 417. DE CAPRICURIA, Capreolocuria. Chevercourt." This structure — Latin form, vernacular gloss, Bracton folio citation — is characteristic of Burrill's treatment of Norman-French and Latin proper names encountered in the common law sources. The entry is effectively a finding aid keyed to Bracton's text rather than a definition of a legal concept.
No other major historical legal dictionaries (Bouvier, Black, Jacob, Tomlin's) appear to carry a substantive entry for de cantilupo, which is consistent with its status as a proper name rather than a legal term. Researchers should not expect doctrine or principle here; the historical dictionary record reflects that awareness.
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