Definition
A Latin term carrying distinct meanings across two bodies of historical law.
1. Civil law sense: To name, cite, or quote; to show or declare one's title or authority. In Roman and civil law practice, laudare designated the act of invoking or identifying a source — whether a person, document, or legal basis — in support of a legal position or claim.
2. Feudal law sense: To determine or pass upon judicially; to adjudicate. In feudal practice, laudare described the act of rendering a formal determination, closely tied to the process by which peers or fellow vassals assessed disputes within the feudal court. The related noun laudamentum denotes the finding or award produced by such a body — roughly analogous to a jury verdict.
3. A third sense, noted by Bouvier and Rapalje & Lawrence, connects laudare to advising, persuading, or arbitrating — suggesting a broader function in early dispute resolution contexts that shades from judicial determination into something closer to mediation or arbitration.
Common Confusion
The three senses of laudare are distinct enough to produce interpretive error if a researcher conflates them. The civil law usage (to cite authority) and the feudal law usage (to adjudicate) describe entirely different procedural acts. The arbitration/advisory sense further complicates matters. Context — specifically whether a source is drawing on Roman civil law, feudal Germanic law, or early arbitral practice — is the controlling guide to which meaning applies. The related term laudamentum is specific to the feudal/jury sense and does not carry over into the civil law citation usage.
Why It Matters in Research
Laudare is a narrow Latin term of art encountered primarily in historical legal texts, treatises on feudal tenure, and Roman or civil law commentaries. Researchers face two practical risks.
First, the term's multiple senses mean that an undifferentiated translation — "to praise" (the classical Latin meaning) or even "to name" — may obscure the legal act being described. When Blackstone's Commentaries reference laudamentum at 2 Bl. Comm. 285, the context is feudal jury procedure, not citation practice. A researcher working with Blackstone needs to distinguish that usage from the civil law appearance of the term in, say, a glossary or civilian treatise.
Second, the arbitral/advisory sense surfaced by Bouvier and Rapalje & Lawrence points toward early forms of non-judicial dispute resolution. This connection is underexplored in the major dictionaries and may be significant for researchers tracing the intellectual history of arbitration or the role of laudatores (witnesses to character or title) in medieval proceedings.
Within the Law Mind corpus, laudare appears most naturally at the intersection of feudal law materials, Roman law foundations, and early common law procedure. Researchers working on the historical development of jury trial, feudal court process, or the reception of civil law concepts in English practice will encounter the term in those contexts.
Historical Dictionary Support
The major historical dictionaries agree on the core civil law and feudal law senses. Black's (both editions) and Burrill are closely aligned, each citing Calvin's Lexicon for the civil law usage and Blackstone for laudamentum. Burrill adds a reference to Aulus Gellius (Noctes Atticae, lib. 2, c. 6), which roots the civil law sense in classical Latin usage, and to the Libri Feudorum for the feudal adjudicatory sense.
Bouvier and Rapalje & Lawrence both surface the advise/persuade/arbitrate sense that the other dictionaries omit or subordinate. Bouvier attributes this to Wharton, suggesting the usage had some currency in later legal writing. Rapalje & Lawrence is notably compressed, folding laudare into a brief note that associates it with arbitration without elaborating.
No dictionary provides a worked example of laudare in a case or instrument, which reflects the term's primarily doctrinal and historical character rather than its appearance in operative legal documents. Researchers should treat the arbitration sense as a secondary thread worth pursuing in specialized sources on medieval dispute resolution rather than a well-established primary meaning.
Jurisdictional Note
Laudare is a historical term with no active jurisdictional application in modern common law systems. Its significance is limited to Roman law, civil law tradition, and the feudal law of England and continental Europe. Researchers in mixed jurisdictions (Louisiana, Quebec, Scotland) with strong civil law foundations may encounter it in older treatises or legislative history commentary.