1250–1300; Middle English mort(e)mayn(e) < Anglo-French mortemain, translation of Medieval Latin mortua manus dead hand
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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| a judicial process or order requiring the person or persons to whom it is directed to do a particular act or to refrain from doing a particular act |
| permitting no option, not to be disregarded or modified |
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mortmain
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mortmain
in English law, the state of land being held by the "dead hand" (French: mort main) of a corporation. In feudal days a conveyance of land to a monastery or other corporation deprived the lord of many profitable feudal incidents, for the corporation was never under age, never died, and never committed felony or married. Statutes were consequently passed between the 13th and the 16th century prohibiting alienation into mortmain without license from the crown. The modern law was contained in the Mortmain and Charitable Uses acts, 1888 and 1891, and in a number of acts that authorized limited companies and some other corporations to hold land without license in mortmain. An unauthorized conveyance into mortmain made the land liable to forfeiture to the crown
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