Waifs and strays: property rights in late medieval England

This article seeks to provide new insights into long-standing debates on lord-tenant relations and how they were negotiated through the manorial court in medieval England. This is accomplished through a study of the "stray system": an institution within which lords and tenants cooperated to manage stray livestock. Specifically, the article argues that the stray system is a clear example of the "public good." In a world where most of the population was reliant on an unproductive agriculture, subject to the vagaries of the enivronment, to provide a basic livelihood, any potential damage to a crop would have been a very real concern. However, in managing the threat of wandering livestock, the property rights of owners had to be clearly protected to avoid violent disputes stemming from accusations of theft and conflict over ownership. The manorial court's management of strays provided an institution to resolve these countervailing pressures. Ultimately, it protected a community's arable land - the most vital source of income for lords and tenants alike - whilst simultaneously assuring the property rights of those who had lost important capital assets in the form of livestock.