Fine of lands

The conveyance took the form of the record of a fictitious lawsuit, compromised or terminated by the acknowledgment of the existing owner (known as the deforciant, impedient or tenant, depending on the original writ used to levy the fine) that the land in question was the rightful property of the claimant (the plaintiff, querent or demandant).

Typically the plaintiff(s) would bring a writ of covenant alleging: In all actions like this, before the court could render judgment, and typically on the same day the writ was returned, the parties would seek leave of the court to compromise, and then do so on terms where the deforciant admitted the new ownership.

[1] The court provided each party with a copy chirograph of the agreement, which became the purchaser's deed of title to the land.

[3] The standard opening formula of the document ran "Hec est finalis concordia ..." in Latin (before 1733); then "This is the final agreement ..." (from 1733 onwards).

[4] In the Middle Ages, the advantage of obtaining title to property through a fine (as opposed to, for example, a simple feoffment or deed of gift) was that it provided the transaction with the additional legal authority of a royal or court judgment and ensured that a record of the conveyance would be preserved among the court archives.