中世纪英格兰家产继承中的限嗣继承

On the Entail in Medieval England

流行于中世纪英格兰的限嗣继承是一种特殊形式的家庭内部分封,它源于地产主家长为女儿提供嫁资的习俗。后来,被广泛用于为家庭中的余子提供资助,从而成为地产主规避以长子继承制为主要特征的普通法继承规则的常用手段。14世纪,限嗣继承演变成限男嗣继承,这种新型的限嗣继承背离了地产主设计限嗣继承的初衷,又重新开始强调长子继承权益,以确保家系流传。尽管如此,限男嗣继承与之前的限嗣继承一样,同是适应时代需求而生的产物。

'Entail',being popular in medieval England,was one of the special forms of family settlement.It stemmed from the custom named 'maritagium'by which landowners provided a parcel of land for their daughters,and later was widely used by fathers to aid younger children with family estate. It helped fathers achieve some kind of right to bequest their land and evaded the common law inheritance rules,which was characterized as primogeniture. In the 14 th century,the entail evolved into tail male,a new type of entail,which was often used to limit the inheritance right of heiresses and ran contrary to the original intention of the landowners. The rights of the eldest son were once again given prominence in order that the continuity of family property was ensured. Although entail and tail male had different legal implications,they were both the products of their respective ages and should be understood in their social and cultural contexts.