mortmain

mort·main   (môrt'mān')    n.   Law Perpetual ownership of real estate by institutions such as churches that cannot transfer or sell it. The often oppressive influence of the past on the present. [Middle English mortemayne, from Old French mortemain : morte, feminine of mort, dead; see mortgage + main, hand (from Latin manus; see man-2 in Indo-European roots).]

mortmain 

Main Entry: mort·main
Pronunciation: 'mort-"mAn
Function: noun
Etymology: Anglo-French, from Old French mortemain, from morte (feminine of mort dead, from Latin mortuus) + main hand, from Latin manus
1 : the possession of real property in perpetuity by a corporate body (as a church); also : the condition of property in such possession
2 : the controlling influence of the past —not used technically

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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