Definition
An archaic Law French adverb meaning "then" or "therefore." Found in early English legal records and Year Books, the term functions as a logical connector in legal argumentation and pleading — marking the conclusion or consequence that follows from a prior premise. It is the equivalent of the Latin *ergo* or *igitur* in scholastic and legal reasoning, or the plain English "then" or "so" used to introduce a consequential proposition.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers working in early English Year Books, particularly from the reign of Edward II (early fourteenth century), will encounter DOUNQUES as part of the standard vocabulary of Law French pleading and judicial dialogue. Its significance is navigational rather than substantive: the term signals the movement from factual recitation or legal premise to conclusion in courtroom exchanges and judicial opinions as recorded by Year Book reporters.
The principal research trap is misreading DOUNQUES as a substantive legal term with independent doctrinal content, when it is in fact a connective particle. Mistranslation or omission of such logical markers can distort the meaning of a Year Book passage by obscuring the structure of an argument — particularly in compressed, elliptical Law French where logical connectives carry significant weight.
Researchers consulting early printed editions or manuscript transcriptions of Year Books should also be alert to spelling variation. Law French orthography was not standardized, and cognate forms may appear in different sources. Burrill's single citation — Yearb. M. 2 Edw. II. 21 — points to the Michaelmas term of the second year of Edward II's reign, placing this term firmly in the early fourteenth century corpus of English legal French.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary provides the sole historical legal dictionary treatment of this term, identifying it as Law French for "then" and citing a single Year Book passage. The entry is minimal by design: Burrill treats DOUNQUES as a vocabulary item requiring translation rather than legal analysis. No additional doctrinal content is attributed to the term.
The brevity of Burrill's entry is itself informative. It reflects the nature of the term — a functional word, not a term of art — and confirms that the word carried no specialized legal meaning beyond its grammatical role as a logical or temporal connector. Researchers should not expect elaboration in other historical dictionaries; this is a term that reached the legal dictionary largely as a service to readers translating Year Book French rather than as a concept requiring jurisprudential definition.