Definition
De libertatibus perquirendis (Latin: "for seeking liberties") is the name of an old English writ directed to a sheriff, commanding him to inquire into or ascertain what liberties — that is, franchises, privileges, or jurisdictional exemptions — a particular person or body claimed or held within a given territory. The writ was a procedural instrument of the medieval common law system, used to investigate and establish the scope of private franchises before those liberties could be formally recognized or enforced.
The term is rendered in full as a writ de libertatibus perquirendis, and it belongs to the broader family of writs concerned with franchises and jurisdictional rights held by private persons or institutions, such as lords of manors or ecclesiastical bodies, by grant from the Crown.
---
Why It Matters in Research
This is a rare, archaic writ with no modern procedural counterpart. Researchers will encounter it almost exclusively in:
1. Medieval English plea rolls and Year Books, where franchise disputes between lords and the Crown were common;
2. Historical treatises on English legal procedure, particularly those addressing the Quo Warranto proceedings of Edward I's reign, with which this writ is closely associated chronologically;
3. Secondary literature on the development of franchises and private jurisdictions in medieval England.
The writ is procedurally linked to the reign of Edward I, a period of aggressive royal inquiry into claimed franchises — most famously through the Quo Warranto inquiries codified in the Statute of Gloucester (1278) and subsequent legislation. Researchers working on franchise law, manorial jurisdiction, or the history of liberties in medieval England should treat de libertatibus perquirendis as part of that broader Edwardian legal project, not as an isolated instrument.
A key research trap: the source material Burrill provides conflates or runs together several distinct Latin writs and statutory references (de licentia transfretandi, de libertatibus perquirendis, and the ordinatio of 27 Edw. I), reflecting the compressed and sometimes poorly organized entries typical of 19th-century legal dictionaries dealing with obsolete Latin writs. Researchers should not rely on Burrill alone to establish the precise scope or procedural operation of this writ; consultation of primary sources or specialized medieval legal scholarship is essential.
Corpus connections: Because this writ is functionally extinct, its relevance to any Law Mind corpus is almost entirely historical. It surfaces as context for understanding how medieval English law structured franchise inquiry, and how the modern concept of governmental or regulatory inquiry into claimed private rights has ancient procedural roots.
---
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary is the sole source in the Law Mind shelf that addresses this term, and the entry is fragmentary — it appears as part of a compressed passage covering multiple Latin writs and statutory references, none of which are fully elaborated. Burrill associates the writ cluster with Crabb's History of English Law and Hale's History of the Common Law, both standard 19th-century secondary authorities on medieval English legal procedure.
Neither source provides a full procedural analysis of the writ itself. What can be synthesized from the surrounding material is consistent with what is known from broader legal history: the writ operated in a context of royal inquiry into franchises, characteristic of the late 13th century. The specific mechanism — commanding a sheriff to inquire as to what liberties were claimed — fits the standard form of inquisitory writs of that era.
What the historical dictionaries miss: No surviving historical dictionary in the Law Mind corpus provides a complete, standalone treatment of this writ. Its operation, exact procedural form, and historical frequency of use are not addressed. For deeper research, Pollock and Maitland's History of English Law and the publications of the Selden Society on Quo Warranto proceedings offer more reliable scholarly treatment.
---
Jurisdictional Note
This writ is exclusively historical English law. It has no reception in American law, no statutory survival in modern English law, and no equivalent in civil law jurisdictions. Research interest is confined to English legal history prior to the systematic abolition of the old writ system.
---