Caput baroniae
Chief seat of a barony
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the customs and laws of the kingdom of England, the caput baroniae (from Latin 'head of the barony') was the ancient, or chief, seat or castle of a nobleman — the primary place of his baronial court. The caput baroniae was not to be divided between multiple daughters (if there was no son to inherit); instead, the whole of it was to descend entirely to the eldest daughter caeteris filiabus aliunde satisfactis, 'other daughters having been satisfied elsewhere'.
The Leges Henrici Primi stated that a lord's tenants would (when escalating disputes or like matters) have to go to the caput of their [land-] lord, even if it was in another county.[1]
The central settlement of an Anglo-Saxon multiple estate (an estate which had main and subsidiary settlements) was called a caput[2] (also short for caput baroniae).
The word is also used for the centre of administration of a hundred, as well as of the early feudal honour.
