Definition
In feudal law, to touch or lay hands upon; a term used in the formal ceremonies of investiture and seisin. The act of *pauming* referred to the physical gesture by which a feudal transaction — the transfer of possession or the acknowledgment of a lord-vassal relationship — was ritually completed through touch.
Why It Matters in Research
PAUMER is a narrow technical term confined almost entirely to feudal ceremony and the legal literature that describes it. Researchers are unlikely to encounter it outside of medieval or early modern sources dealing with livery of seisin, homage, or fealty. Its significance is procedural rather than substantive: the physical act of touching was the operative legal moment in certain feudal transfers, analogous in function to the handing over of a clod of earth or a twig in livery of seisin ceremonies. Researchers working in early English or continental feudal records should treat PAUMER as a signal that the surrounding text concerns the formal mechanics of investiture — the ritual by which possession or tenure was legally recognized — rather than merely its conceptual framework. Because the term derives from Law French and appears in feudal treatises rather than common-law pleading, it will not appear in standard common-law reports or later equity sources. Corpus searches should extend to the Libri Feudorum and commentary traditions if following this term beyond English materials.
Historical Dictionary Support
Burrill's Law Dictionary defines PAUMER tersely as "to touch; to lay also in feudal law," citing the Libri Feudorum (Feud. Lib. 2, titt. 27, 53) — the foundational medieval compilation of Lombard feudal custom that became a standard reference in European legal education from the twelfth century onward. The citation is important: the Libri Feudorum was treated as authoritative not only on the continent but was referenced by English commentators including Bracton and later Coke when explaining the theoretical basis of English tenure. Burrill's entry is essentially a gloss rather than a full definition, reflecting the term's status as a technical procedural word that carried its meaning entirely from its ceremonial context. No other significant expansion of the term appears in the historical dictionary sources available for this entry. Researchers should treat Burrill's reference to the Libri Feudorum as the primary thread for deeper investigation; the relevant titles (2.27 and 2.53) address the formalities of investiture and the obligations arising from it.
Jurisdictional Note
PAUMER has no operative modern legal meaning in any common-law jurisdiction. Its relevance is exclusively historical, confined to the feudal period and to scholarship or litigation (such as early title disputes or antiquarian property claims) that requires interpretation of medieval conveyancing formalities.