THEMMAGIUM

4 definitions found across Law Mind sources

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THEMMAGIUMAuthored
The Law Mind • 618 words
Definition
A feudal duty or acknowledgment paid by inferior tenants to their lord in connection with the privilege of team or theme — that is, the right to hold a manorial court or to benefit from the jurisdiction associated with thegnage and the warranty of serfs or villeins. In practice, themmagium functioned as a tributary obligation tied to tenure rather than a freestanding property right, reflecting the lord's superior position within the manorial hierarchy.
Why It Matters in Research
Themmagium is an archaic term of English feudal tenure that will appear almost exclusively in pre-modern English legal records, manor rolls, and early treatises. Researchers encountering the word in primary sources should treat it as a signal that the document concerns manorial obligations in the Anglo-Norman or early common law period, not a concept with any survival in modern Anglo-American law. The chief navigational challenge is that all four historical dictionary sources derive the definition from a single authority — Cowell's Interpreter (1607), with Bouvier adding Wharton as a secondary source. This means the definition has been transmitted as a chain of reliance rather than independently verified across primary sources. Researchers seeking deeper analysis of the underlying practice should go directly to Cowell or to Bracton's De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae, not to the dictionary chain itself. The connection to "theme" or "team" is critical. Team (also spelled theam) was a franchise right — the power of a lord to hold court over his bondmen and warrant their transactions. Themmagium is the payment or acknowledgment that attached to that franchise. Understanding themmagium therefore requires first understanding team, and the two terms should be researched together. Any corpus source that addresses manorial franchises, villeinage, or Anglo-Saxon and Norman tenure will be the productive search territory. Because all four dictionaries reproduce substantially the same text, there is no meaningful variation in the historical record to arbitrate between. The absence of divergence signals scholarly consensus — but also signals that no dictionary author had independent access to primary evidence beyond Cowell.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's (1st and 2nd editions), Rapalje & Lawrence, and Bouvier are in complete agreement, each defining themmagium as a duty or acknowledgment paid by inferior tenants in respect of theme or team. The word-for-word similarity confirms that all four entries trace to Cowell, with Bouvier adding Wharton as a corroborating authority. No dictionary source offers any elaboration on how the payment was calculated, what form it took (money, labor, kind), or how it was enforced. This is a genuine gap. The historical dictionaries document the existence of the obligation but provide no procedural or transactional content. Researchers needing that level of detail must consult manorial records or specialized treatises on feudal tenure beyond Cowell. Rapalje & Lawrence is notable for appending unrelated definitional notes on "then," "themselves or any of them," and related terms in the same entry block — an artifact of alphabetical layout rather than substantive connection. Those appended materials should be disregarded when researching themmagium itself.
Jurisdictional Note
Themmagium is exclusively a term of English manorial law. It has no recognized application in American, Scottish, or other common law jurisdictions, and no modern statutory or case law relevance in any jurisdiction.
Related Terms
Team (theam) — the manorial franchise right to which themmagium attaches Theme — the jurisdictional or manorial court concept underlying the term Villeinage — the tenure status of the inferior tenants who owed such duties Manorial tenure — the broader system within which themmagium operated Frankalmoin; Serjeanty; Socage — parallel feudal tenure categories useful for contextual research Cowell's Interpreter — the primary historical authority for this term
THEMMAGIUMmain
Black's Law Dictionary • 1891
A duty or acknowl- edgment paid by inferior tenants in respect of theme or team. Cowell.
THEMMAGIUMmain
Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) • 1910
A duty or acknowledgment paid by inferior tenants in respect of theme or team. Cowell.
THEMMAGIUMmain
Rapalje & Lawrence • 1883
- A duty or acknowledgment paid by inferior tenants in respect of theme or team. Cowell. THEMSELVES OR ANY OF THEM, THEIR HEIRS, EXECUTORS, OR EITHER OF THEIR HEIRS, (in a joint and several bond). Cro. Jac. 322. THEN, (defined). 2 Atk. 310. (when means "soon after"). 8 Hun (Ν. Υ.) 43. Com. Dig. 339. (in an award). 1 Ld. Raym. 123; 5 (in a declaration). Willes 528. (in a deed). 1 Baldw. (U. S.) 201. (in a will). 6 Mass. 172, 176; 128 Id. 38, 40; Penn. (N. J.) 40, 46; 24 Barb. (N. Y.) 645, 647; 5 Watts (Pa.) 436; 9 Id. 346;3 Whart. (Pa.) 305; 2 Desaus. (S. C.) 100; 2 Munf. (Va.) 479; 1 Moll. 481; 1 P. Wms. 170; 7 T. R. 557; 4 Ves. 698; Willes 293, 301. THEN AFTER, (in a will equivalent to "immediately after"). 1 P. Wms. 565. 8 Taunt. 173. (in an indictment). 12 Minn. 490. THEREAFTER, (in a statute). 13 La. 556, 562; 9 Phil. (Pa.) 479. THEREAFTER, AT ALL TIMES, (in a bond). 2 Bing. 32, 39. THEREAFTER BUILT, (in a statute). 2 Leigh (Va.) 721. THEREIN, (equivalent to "thereof" or "thereunto"). 7 Mod. 130. & C. 857. (in a statute). 6 Mass. 270; 3 Barn. THEREINAFTER MENTIONED, (in a lease). 6 Barn. & C. 430, 433. THEREOF, (in a will). 1 Atk. 428. THEREOF AS FOLLOWETH, (in a will). 3 Wils. 418. THEREON, (in an insurance policy). 106 Mass. 400. THEREOUT, (is a word of reference). 2 Bos. & P. 252. (in a will). 1 Barn. & Ad. 593. THEREOUT PAID, (in a will). 3 T. R. 356. THEREOUT, PAID, (in a will). Love. Wills 154. THEREOUT, PAYING, (not necessary in a will to make a legacy a condition). 11 Ir. Eq. 386. THEREUNTO APPERTAINING, (in a lease). 2 Barn. & C. 96, 100. THEREUNTO BELONGING, (in a will). 2 Barn. & Ad. 681; 1 Barn. & C. 350, 356; 1 Bing. 483; 2 Dowl. & Ry. 508; 8 Moo. 665. THEREUPON, (equivalent to " in consideration thereof"). 67 Me. 483. (in a statute). 2 Gr. (N. J.) 44. THEREUPON, AND, (in a declaration). 4 Barn. THEN AND THERE, (not equivalent to "immediately" or "instantly"). 1 Mo. App. 3, 6. & C. 380. (in a declaration in slander). 5 Serg. & R. (Pa.) 193; 4 Wheel. Am. C. L. 173; 2 J. B. Moo. 66; 1 Ld. Raym. 576. (in an indictment). 2 Bibb (Ky.) 490; 71 Me. 354; 12 Allen (Mass.) 152; 100 Mass. 12; 4 Car. & P. 548; 1 Leach C. C. 529; 1 Chit. Cr. L. 198, 220; Stark. Cr. Pl. 63;4 Com. Dig. 671, n. (b). (omission of in a caption to an indictment). 6 Halst. (N. J.) 203; 3 Johns. (N. Y.) Cas. 265. THEN BE DEAD, (in a will). L. R. 1 H. L. 175. THEN ELAPSED, (in a declaration). 4 Barn. & C. 157, 159. THEN LIVING, (in a bond). 1 Dyer 14b. (in a will). 5 Binn. (Pa.) 611; L. R. 11 Eq. 522; 16 Id. 258. THEN NEXT, (in pleading time). 9 Cow. (N. Y.) 255. THEODEN.-An under-thane; a husband. man or inferior tenant.-Spel. Gloss.

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