EQUITATURA

4 definitions found across Law Mind sources

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EQUITATURAAuthored
The Law Mind • 647 words
Definition
In old English law, equitatura denotes the full complement of traveling equipment and riding furnishings necessary for mounted travel — encompassing horses, harness, and associated gear. The term functioned as a collective legal noun, identifying this category of property as a cognizable unit for purposes of legal process, particularly in writs and pleadings.
Why It Matters in Research
Equitatura is a term of limited modern relevance but meaningful historical significance for researchers working in medieval and early modern English legal records. Its primary importance lies in its appearance in original writs and statutory contexts, where the law recognized traveling equipment as a distinct class of property capable of being seized, granted, or protected. Researchers encountering the term in manuscript sources or transcribed writs should note that equitatura was not simply descriptive shorthand — it had legal content as a defined category. A writ referencing equitatura was invoking an established legal concept, not merely listing items. Failure to recognize this distinction can lead to misreading the scope of a writ's subject matter. The two anchoring sources — Registrum Omnium Brevium (Reg. Orig. 100b) and the Statute of Westminster II (13 Edw. I, c. 39, 1285) — place this term squarely within the procedural and statutory law of the late thirteenth century. Researchers should approach pre-1300 and post-1500 sources with caution: the term appears concentrated in the intervening period when Latin writ pleading was at its height. By the time English-language pleading displaced Latin writs, equitatura had effectively become an archaism without a functional successor term in common law practice. Because equitatura encompasses horses as property, researchers working on disputes involving seizure of animals, distraint, or traveling retinues may find this term intersecting with broader questions about what could be taken in execution of a judgment or distrained for non-payment. The category was not unlimited — not all horses in a party's possession necessarily fell within equitatura; the traveling-purpose limitation was conceptually significant.
Historical Dictionary Support
The four source dictionaries are in close agreement on the core meaning. Black's (both editions), Bouvier's, and Burrill's all define equitatura as traveling furniture or riding equipment inclusive of horses and harness, citing the same two authorities: Reg. Orig. 100b and Stat. Westm. 2, c. 39. Burrill adds the most analytical value by tracing the term to its Latin root equitare (to ride), which clarifies why the definition is bounded by the riding-and-travel function rather than extending to all equine property. This etymological grounding is substantively useful, not merely decorative: it explains the term's legal scope. Bouvier's formulation — "needful equipments for riding or travelling" — is the most precise of the four in capturing the functional requirement embedded in the definition. The word "needful" implies a limiting principle: equipment that is necessary or customary for travel, rather than any luxury or incidental item a traveler might carry. None of the source dictionaries develop the term beyond definition and citation. No dictionary discusses how disputes over equitatura were actually resolved, what remedies attached, or how courts treated contested claims about what fell within the category. Researchers requiring that level of analysis must proceed directly to the primary sources.
Related Terms
Distress — the seizure of property to compel performance or satisfy a debt; equitatura could be subject to distraint Replevin — the writ by which wrongfully taken propertypotentially including equitaturacould be recovered Chattel — the broader personal property category within which equitatura falls Writ — the procedural instrument in which equitatura most commonly appears as a term of art Registrum Omnium Brevium — the primary writ register in which the term is cited Statute of Westminster II — the 1285 statute providing the principal statutory context for the term Harnois — the Anglo-French counterpart term for harness and military equipmentsometimes appearing in parallel sources
EQUITATURAmain
Black's Law Dictionary • 1891
In old English law. G J Traveling furniture, or riding equipments, K including horses, horse harness, etc. Reg. Orig. 100b; St. Westm. 2, c. 39.
EQUITATURAmain
Bouvier's Law Dictionary • 1928
In Old English Law. Needful equipments for riding or travelling.
EQUITATURAmain
Burrill's Law Dictionary • 1867
L. Lat. [from equitare, to ride.] In old English law. Travelling furniture, or riding equipments, including horses, horse harness, &c. Reg. Orig. 100 b. Stat. Westm. 2, c. 39. a06Xov, (the correction of the law, where it is defective, by reason of its universality). Arist. Eth. Nicom. lib. v. c. 10. This is equity, as contradistinguished from strict or mere law, (strictum et summum jus). and as it was recognized and applied in Roman jurisprudence; it being the province of the prætor, or equity judge, to assist, supply, "interpret and moderate the law. Dig. 1. 1. 7. On nearly the same basis, a modern writer of authority has defined equity to be "a judicial interpretation of laws, which presupposing the legislature to have intended what is just and right, pursues and effectuates such intention." Wooddes. Lect. 114. And Blackstone, in much fewer words, has explained equity to be the "sound interpretation of the law," and "the method of interpreting laws by the reason of them." 1 Bl. Com. 61. 3 Id. 431. And yet the same writer has clearly shown this to be an insufficient definition of equity, as actually administered (distinct from law) in the courts. Id. 429 -437. 1 Story's Eq. Jur. §§ 7-20.

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