is a

legal Latin A number of Latin terms are used in law, legal terminology and legal maxims. This is a partial list of these terms, which are wholly or substantially drawn from Latin, or anglicized Law Latin. __TOC__ Common law Civil law Ecclesia ...

term used to refer to the two separate

estates in land An estate in land is, in the law of England and Wales, an interest in real property that is or may become possessory. It is a type of personal property and encompasses land ownership, rental and other arrangements that give people the right to use ...

that a

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

was split into under feudal land tenure. This system is more commonly known as ''duplex dominium'' or double domain. This can be contrasted with the modern allodial system, in which ownership is full and not divided into separate estates—a situation known as ''dominium plenum'' "full ownership".

Definitions

is composed of: *''Dominium directum'' (or eminent domain, superiority): the landlord's estate consisting of the right to dispose of property and to collect rents (feu-duty) and feudal incidents (fees, services, etc.) accruing from it. *''Dominium utile'' (or utile domain): the tenant's estate encompassing the rights to enjoy (use), make improvements to, or profit from property, and to keep the income or profit; includes e.g. the right to occupy and dwell on land and the right to keep the '' fructus naturales'' and

emblements In the common law, emblements are annual crops produced by cultivation legally belonging to the tenant with the implied right for its harvest, and are treated as the tenant's property. The doctrine chiefly comes into play in the law of landlord a ...

from agriculture. These terms are built from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''dominium'' ‘ownership’, ''directum'' ‘direct’, and ''utile'' ‘useful’. Property is defined to mean a thing and those things that are naturally attached to it. For land, that would include buildings, trees, underground resources, etc. It would not include "movable" property, such as wagons or livestock. * The holder of the ''dominium directum'' is considered the superior (i.e., the

lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage o ...

); the holder of the ''dominium utile'' is considered the inferior (i.e., the

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

). * ''Dominium utile'' includes the tenant's right to keep any income or profit derived from the property. * The transfer of the ''dominium directum'' does not affect the rights of any holders of ''dominium utile''. The holder of the dominium utile had the right of inheritance. He could buy and then sell the land rights to another person and transfer the feudal responsibilities to the new holder. The transaction had to be approved by the senior (feudal lord) or his deputy and then entered into the land register.

Additional explanations

The "lord" holding dominium directum may be anyone with sovereign power over the asset, such as a

monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...

or other

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

, or an established

Christian Church In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus Christ. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a syn ...

Definitions

Additional explanations

Sources and references

See also