SI AUTEM IN TERRA MAJORIS MARITAGIUM ALIQUOD ACCIDERE CONTIGERIT QUO...

5.

Si autem in terra majoris maritagium aliquod accidere contigerit quod juniori placeat illud

habebit, nec alii major conferre poterit dum minor velit habere, quod si habere noluerit et alibi

invenerit major frater ei de rebus et catallis suis dando perquirat pro posse suo cum consilio

propinquorum [et] amicorum.

This clause refers to lands added to the patrimony (the

terra majoris) by marriage,

that is as dowry (maritagium). Continuing on the theme of the heir's obligation to

provide for his cadets, this clause deals with the use of lands acquired by way of

maritagium

for this purpose. Firstly, it prescribes that a cadet has the right to any

such land if he or she wants it. Secondly, a subordinate clause provides that cadets

should have the right of ®rst refusal if the heir wishes to dispose of any such land.

This is perhaps intended to mitigate against division of baronies and knights fees on

female primogeniture as between William's daughters, it must be said that the division of the

estate between the deceased's brother and his eldest child was contrary to the Assize.

65

`Cart. St-Melaine', folios 178v-179r.

66

According to La Comtesse de la Motte-Rouge (Les Dinan et les juveigneurs, Nantes, 1892)

Dionysia married Ralph `vicecomes', a younger son of Oliver II de Dinan (p. 18), or Ralph's

son William (p. 190). This genealogy (designed to demonstrate that the lords of CoeÈtquen were

a branch of the Dinan family) is incorrect. In fact, the wife of William son of Ralph, and mother

of Oliver, the ®rst known lord of CoeÈtquen (apparently by marriage to Hawise `de CoeÈtquen')

was named Dionysia (BN ms latin 5476, p. 96; BN ms fr. 22325, p. 521;

Preuves, col. 845). She

may have been the younger daughter of John II de Dol, but there is no positive evidence.

William son of Ralph was not a Dinan, but the lord of Lanvallay and almost certainly the

nephew of Henry II's seneschal of Rennes, William de Lanvallay (1166±1171/2). One could

speculate that the prestige and in¯uence of the family was so enhanced by William's

appointment that his brother, Ralph de Lanvallay, was able to betroth his son to a daughter of

John II de Dol.

the basis that lands given to a cadet were more likely to revert to the patrimony

than lands disposed of to a stranger.

The third part of this clause moves away from the disposition of

maritagium-lands

and focuses on provision for cadets. If the cadet does not want all or any of the

maritagium-land pertaining to the patrimony, but chooses land elsewhere, the heir is

obliged to acquire this alternative estate out of his own movable assets, his goods

and chattels (de rebus et catallis suis). Implicitly, the heir may not sell or exchange any

portion of the patrimonial lands for this purpose. Under this provision, the heir's

obligation is not absolute; he has only to acquire the alternative estate to the best of

his ability, and with the counsel of family and friends.

Although grammatically this clause applies to cadets both male and female, it

seems logically to apply to provision for females, whether the sisters of a male heir,

or the younger sisters of an heiress.

⁶⁷

This is suggested by its context, immediately

following the only clause which expressly deals with daughters (In ®liabus

. . .).

Thus the effect of clause 5 is that land originally acquired by way of dowry is

charged with furnishing the dowries of sisters and daughters in preference to

alienating portions of the patrimony for this purpose. This corresponds with

evidence of the use of certain parcels of baronial land to furnish dowries over

successive generations. An example is the manor of Long Bennington, Lincs.,

which was acquired by the barony of FougeÁres when Olive, daughter of Stephen of

PenthieÁvre, lord of Richmond, married Henry de FougeÁres around 1140. Their

son, Ralph de FougeÁres, exploited to the full Long Bennington's status as a valuable

estate which could still be regarded apart from the patrimony. Having made

substantial grants from Long Bennington to Savigny in the 1170s, Ralph may have

included it in the dowry of the wife of his son William. After William's death in