Contextualizebeta

free bench

noun

Etymology

From free + bench, after Anglo-Norman franc banc (“frank bank”).

  1. derived from franc banc

Definitions

  1. A married woman's entitlement to the use of her husband's lands or property after he dies

    A married woman's entitlement to the use of her husband's lands or property after he dies; or the land and property itself considered as such an entitlement.

    • In most manors, free-bench consists of one half of the husband's copyhold; although, in others, it consists of a third or fourth part, and in some few, of the whole copyhold.
    • The widow enjoyed the right of freebench, that is, of succession to a portion of her late husband's holding, ranging from a quarter to the whole, according to local manorial custom.
    • Some widows in Brigstock also probably sold free bench lands, despite the customary restriction on such sales.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for free bench. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA