Definition
A Latin term from medieval legal Latin meaning to prosecute, pursue, or bring forward a legal action. Used in classical and medieval jurisprudence to describe the act of initiating or pressing a claim or action before a tribunal. The term carries the specific sense of directing a legal proceeding against another party — not merely filing a complaint, but actively pursuing it to judgment.
Why It Matters in Research
INTENTARE appears almost exclusively in Latin legal texts of the medieval period, particularly in Bracton and Fleta, the foundational treatises of English common law. Researchers encountering this term in primary sources should understand it as a procedural term of art signaling that an action is being formally brought or maintained. Its significance in the cited passage — that two actions may be prosecuted simultaneously — reflects medieval doctrine on the joinder or concurrence of remedies, a topic with long doctrinal history.
The term will not appear in modern English legal materials under this Latin form. A researcher finding INTENTARE in a manuscript, digest, or early treatise should treat it as equivalent to the modern concepts of "bringing an action," "prosecuting a claim," or "maintaining a suit." Its presence in Bracton and Fleta signals that surrounding text is engaged with foundational procedural questions about remedies, actions, and the structure of pleading in early common law.
Researchers using the Law Mind corpus should note that the passage referenced in Burrill — addressing whether both actions may be pursued simultaneously — connects to the broader doctrinal history of election of remedies and cumulative versus alternative pleading. Tracing this doctrine forward requires moving from the Latin treatise tradition into later Year Book materials and eventually into equity practice, where the question of pursuing concurrent remedies was refined substantially.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary provides the sole entry in the Law Mind shelf for this term. The entry is brief but precise: INTENTARE means "to prosecute," and Burrill supports it with two authoritative medieval citations — Bracton, folio 112b, and Fleta, book 2, chapter 1, section 5. Both sources are genuine foundational texts of English common law, with Fleta understood as a late-thirteenth-century treatise closely dependent on Bracton.
The quoted Latin maxim — "Utraque [actio] simul poterit intentari" — translates as "both actions may be prosecuted at the same time," which is a statement about concurrent remedies in early common law procedure. Burrill does not elaborate on the doctrinal context, which is typical for entries of this type in his dictionary: he records the term and its authority without extended commentary.
No other Law Mind shelf source covers this term, which is expected given its highly specialized, archaic, and Latin character. Researchers should not expect to find INTENTARE in English-language dictionaries of any era, as the term never passed into vernacular legal usage.
Jurisdictional Note
INTENTARE is a term of the medieval English common law tradition as reflected in Bracton and Fleta. It has no recognized usage in modern American, English, or other common law jurisdictions under this Latin form.