The Seventeenth-Century Revolution in the English Land Law

It is the purpose of this Article to explore systematically the creation of the new system of land law in the seventeenth century. The Article opens with a brief introduction to some of the major events of the seventeenth century to assist readers unfamiliar with this period. Successive sections will then treat the abolition of the feudal tenures and the adoption of socage tenure, the defeat of copy hold and the triumph of the enclosure movement, the creation of the rule against perpetuities and the strict settlement, and the creation of the modem trust and mortgage instruments.