Definition
Frankmarriage (also frank-marriage; Latin: liberum maritagium) is a medieval form of conditional land tenure in which land was given as a marriage gift — typically by the bride's father or a blood relation — to a couple at the time of their marriage. The land passed to the couple and their heirs of the body free from the ordinary feudal services that would otherwise be owed to the donor, at least for the first three generations of descent. After that period, the tenure converted and the grantees' issue became liable to perform homage and services.
The defining characteristic was the "freedom" embedded in the gift: the land was discharged from service to the grantor so long as the lineage continued. If the couple died without issue, the land reverted to the donor. The term maritagium referred to the gift itself — effectively a dowry or marriage portion — and it was called "free" (frank) precisely because it was free from service during the protected generations.
Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Listed only as an alternative form of frank-marriage; no independent common definition provided.
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Not independently defined as a common English term.
The word "frank" in everyday English carries the meaning of candid or open, which bears no relationship to its legal use here. In this compound, "frank" derives from the older sense of free from obligation or encumbrance — a meaning still visible in "franking" mail (postage-free). The legal term is pure feudal vocabulary; a researcher encountering it for the first time should not import any modern sense of the word.
Core Elements
For a valid frankmarriage, the historical sources identify the following features:
1. Gift in frank-marriage: The land had to be expressly given "in frankmarriage." The formula of words was operative; a gift without the specific designation carried different legal consequences.
2. Qualifying donor: The grant had to come from the bride's father or a blood relation (cognate). Littleton used the term "cousin" in its broad medieval sense to denote any blood relative, not merely a first cousin.
3. Recipients: The gift ran to the husband and wife jointly and to the heirs of their bodies — making frankmarriage a species of what would later be formalized as fee tail.
4. Freedom from service: For three generations (the couple and the first two descents), no homage or services were owed to the grantor. This exemption was the legal content of the word "free."
5. Reversion for failure of issue: If the couple died without heirs of the body, the land reverted to the donor. The gift was conditional on the continuation of the bloodline.
6. Conversion at the third generation: Once the heirs of the third degree took possession, they became obligated to perform homage and services. At that point the tenure shed its "free" character.
Why It Matters in Research
Frankmarriage is a historical tenure of purely medieval origin. Researchers will encounter it almost exclusively in sources predating the Statute of Westminster II (1285) or in treatises and commentaries discussing that statute's significance. The Statute of Westminster II (De Donis Conditionalibus) standardized and codified conditional fee gifts of this type, effectively folding frankmarriage into the emerging law of fee tail. After De Donis, the specific form of frankmarriage became less doctrinally distinct, and later common law writers often treat it as an early species of fee tail rather than a separate tenure.
Two research traps deserve attention. First, the Latin form liberum maritagium appears in medieval land records, plea rolls, and conveyancing instruments. A researcher working in Latin sources who does not recognize the term may misread maritagium as a general dowry reference rather than a specific conditional tenure. Second, the word "cousin" in Littleton and in contemporary sources does not mean first cousin in the modern sense. It is a broad term for any consanguineous relative, and misreading it as a narrow kinship term will distort the conditions of the grant.
The term also surfaces in discussions of the distinction between maritagium (the gift) and dos (dower). These are related but not interchangeable concepts, and early dictionaries sometimes conflate or contrast them without adequate precision.
Bracton is the primary doctrinal source. Coke on Littleton (citing Littleton's Tenures, section 17) carries the doctrine into the early modern period and is the version most legal dictionary sources, including Rapalje and Lawrence, draw upon.
Historical Dictionary Support
Rapalje and Lawrence provide a compact but accurate account. Their entry correctly identifies the dual Latin roots (liberum maritagium), the requirement that the donor be the bride's father or blood relation, Littleton's use of "cousin" as a term of broad consanguinity, and the reversion for failure of issue. The entry references Bracton (77a, 92b) and Coke on Littleton (21b), both authoritative primary sources.
What the Rapalje and Lawrence entry does not fully develop is the significance of the three-generation rule — the period during which services were suspended — and the doctrinal connection to fee tail and De Donis. For a researcher who needs to situate frankmarriage within the broader history of conditional tenure, the dictionary entry alone is insufficient; Bracton and Coke on Littleton must be consulted directly.
No meaningful divergence between historical dictionary sources is apparent here, largely because the term is archaic enough that it receives consistent treatment across authorities drawing on the same Bractonian and Littletonian tradition.
Jurisdictional Note
Frankmarriage is an exclusively English feudal doctrine. It has no operative legal significance in any modern jurisdiction. American courts and statutes do not recognize frankmarriage as a live tenure, though the term may appear in historical title chains or in academic discussions of the origins of fee tail in American property law.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
Law Mind Encyclopedia — Feudal Land Tenure
Law Mind Encyclopedia — Fee Tail
Law Mind Encyclopedia — De Donis Conditionalibus