Definition
A Latin term meaning "we make known." In historical English law, innotescimus referred to a species of exemplification — an official authenticated copy — of charters of feoffment or other instruments that were not of record. The term derived from the emphatic closing word used in the Latin forms of letters patent, where the authenticating authority would formally declare that it "makes known" the contents of the underlying document. The resulting instrument functioned as official confirmation of a private document's existence and contents, lending it a degree of legal weight comparable to a certified copy of a recorded instrument.
Common Confusion
Innotescimus and inspeximus are distinct instruments that are frequently treated as interchangeable. Inspeximus is a royal confirmation reciting a prior charter and re-granting its privileges, issued under the great seal; it operates as a new grant incorporating by reference the old one. Innotescimus is an exemplification — a certified authentication — of a private instrument not otherwise of record. The confusion is understandable given overlapping Latin vocabulary and similar functions, and is reinforced by Rapalje & Lawrence's practice of cross-referencing one to the other without elaboration.
Why It Matters in Research
This is an archaic term of medieval English conveyancing practice with no modern operational equivalent. Researchers are most likely to encounter it in early English case law, Year Books, or treatises on real property and conveyancing — particularly those dealing with feoffment and letters patent before the systematic registration of title instruments. The 5 Coke 54a reference in the primary sources is the most direct doctrinal anchor; researchers working in that period should consult Coke's Reports directly rather than relying on dictionary summaries.
The key research trap is treating innotescimus as a synonym for inspeximus. Rapalje & Lawrence's cross-reference to inspeximus invites conflation, but the two instruments served related yet distinct purposes. Inspeximus ("we have inspected") was a form of royal confirmation reciting and confirming a prior grant or charter, typically issued under the great seal. Innotescimus was more narrowly an exemplification — authentication of a private instrument not of record — rather than a royal confirmation of a prior royal grant. The distinction matters when interpreting medieval conveyancing documents and patent rolls.
Researchers should also note that Burrill's entry contains a typographical intrusion: text from the unrelated entry for "Innamu" (old English law term for animals taken in to pasture) has been spliced into the innotescimus entry due to a printing artifact in the original volume. This is a known hazard of digitized historical law dictionaries and does not reflect the substantive content of innotescimus.
Historical Dictionary Support
The four source dictionaries largely agree on the core meaning. Black's (both editions) and Burrill concur on the Latin translation ("we make known"), the derivation from closing language in Latin patent forms, and the characterization as a species of exemplification for instruments not of record. All three cite or allude to 5 Coke 54a as authority.
Rapalje & Lawrence diverges by directing the reader entirely to inspeximus rather than providing an independent definition. This editorial choice implies the compilers viewed the two terms as functionally equivalent or interchangeable in practice — a position that is somewhat reductive given the doctrinal distinctions noted above. No source provides a date range for when innotescimus fell out of use, and none addresses whether the form survived beyond the medieval period into early modern conveyancing practice. The historical dictionaries are collectively silent on jurisdictional variation outside England.