WEALREAF

4 definitions found across Law Mind sources

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WEALREAFAuthored
The Law Mind • 597 words
Definition
An offense in old English law consisting of the robbing or plundering of a dead person in their grave. The term encompasses the act of despoiling a corpse of its burial goods, clothing, or valuables after interment. Wealreaf is sometimes described as a species of theft distinguished by the nature of its victim — one already deceased and entombed — rather than by force against a living person. ---
Why It Matters in Research
Wealreaf is principally of antiquarian interest and will appear in research touching on Anglo-Saxon and early Norman criminal law. Researchers working through pre-Conquest English legal texts, glossaries of Old English legal terminology, or comparative studies of early medieval offenses will encounter it there. It does not survive as a distinct operative category in modern common law; the conduct it described is now addressed under grave-robbing statutes, laws against desecration of human remains, and theft offenses, which vary considerably by jurisdiction. The term is a useful marker when dating sources. Its presence in a text signals engagement with pre-Norman or early post-Conquest material. Researchers tracing the development of property rights in burial goods, the legal status of a corpse, or the historical treatment of the dead in English law will find wealreaf a productive entry point, though the sources that define it offer little doctrinal elaboration beyond the bare definition. A related research trap: the concept of what can be stolen from a grave intersects with a persistent common law puzzle — whether a corpse is property at all, and in whom any rights to burial goods vest. Wealreaf as defined in the historical dictionaries sidesteps this question entirely, treating the offense as self-evident. Researchers should not assume these sources answer it. ---
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary (both the first and second editions) and Rapalje & Lawrence are in complete agreement: wealreaf is the robbing of a dead man in his grave. The definitions are functionally identical, and none of the three sources add historical context, statutory references, or doctrinal analysis beyond this single sentence. This uniformity reflects the term's status as a received antiquarian entry rather than a living legal concept requiring elaboration. None of the historical dictionaries trace the term's Old English linguistic roots, connect it to specific texts of Anglo-Saxon law (such as the Dooms of Æthelred or Cnut), or distinguish it from related early offenses such as hamsocn or other grave violations. Researchers needing that depth must look beyond standard law dictionaries to specialized scholarship in Anglo-Saxon legal history. The historical dictionaries here function as terminological placeholders, confirming existence and basic meaning without illuminating doctrine or context. The Rapalje & Lawrence entry is notable for an apparent typesetting artifact: the definition of wealreaf runs directly into unrelated discussion of the weight of evidence and a separate entry for WEALTH, suggesting the original source was set in double-column format and the text was extracted imperfectly. This does not affect the definition itself, which is complete before the interruption. ---
Jurisdictional Note
Wealreaf as a distinct offense has no modern jurisdictional home. Contemporary equivalents — desecration of a grave, theft of burial goods, interference with human remains — are creatures of statute and vary by jurisdiction. Researchers should not assume any continuous legal lineage from this Anglo-Saxon term to modern offenses without independent verification. ---
Related Terms
Grave robbing; desecration of remains; hamsocn; sepulture; theft (historical); property in a corpse; burial rights; Anglo-Saxon criminal law.
WEALREAFmain
Black's Law Dictionary • 1891
In old English law. The robbing of a dead man in his grave. of the issue rather than the other. The "weight" or "preponderance of proof" is a phrase constantly used, the meaning of which is well understood and easily defined. It indicates clearly to the jury that the party having the bur-
WEALREAFmain
Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) • 1910
In old English law. The robbing of a dead man in his grave.
WEALREAFmain
Rapalje & Lawrence • 1883
The robbing of a dead for on the ground that the verdict is man in his grave. WEALTH.-All useful or agreeable against the weight of the evidence, the judge who tried the cause is consulted, and it does not very often happen that a new things which possess exchange value, or, trial is ordered if he reports that he is in other words, all useful or agreeable things except those which can be obtained in the quantity desired without labor or sacrifice. 1 Mill Pol. Ec. 10. WEAPON, (what is). 3 Lev. 255. WEAR, or WEIR.-A great dam or fence made across a river, or against water, formed of stakes interlaced by twigs of osier, and accommodated for the taking of fish, or to convey a stream to a mill.- Cowell. WEARING APPAREL, (in exemption law). 18 Minn. 361. (a watch does not pass by bequest of). 33 Me. 535. satisfied with the verdict. In England, when the sum in dispute is under £20 in an action ex contractu, a new trial is not granted on this ground, and courts are generally indisposed to take this step unless the amount at issue is considerable or the moral interest great. WEIGHTS, (in an action of trover). 12 Mod. 3. WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.-The English Weights and Measures Act, 1878, enacts that the same weights and measures shall be used throughout the United Kingdom. It establishes standards of weights and measures, and provides that all contracts, sales, &c., made in the United Kingdom for any work, goods, &c., by weight or measure, shall be deemed to be made and had

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