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Indiana University Studies 
the estate tail. Prior to this statute, where the feoffor tried 
to keep land in the family of the feoffee by a limitation to the 
feoffee and ‘‘the heirs of his body”, and if there was no family 
to have the land revert to the feoffor, the lawyers had in- 
terpreted this to create a fee simple on condition that he have 
heirs of his body. The Statute De Donis reversed this inter- 
pretation of the lawyers, so that the foeffee’s estate was in- 
alienable. It was passed in the interest of the great land- 
owners, who wanted to tie up the title to land so that no 
one could sell it. For a period of nearly two hundred years 
this statute was obeyed and estates in England became quite 
generally entailed. Then the lawyers again found a way to 
circumvent the big land-owners. They did this by devices 
known as warranty, common recovery, and fines, which were 
really collusive suits allowed by the judges, it is said, at the 
instance of the king himself. For example, in case of a com- 
mon recovery, if an estate had been granted to A and the 
heirs of his body and A wanted to break the entail, he would 
sell the land to X ; X would then sue A, claiming the land ; 
A would admit his claim; and the court would enter judg- 
ment that the land belonged to X and this judgment could 
not be disturbed after a year and a day. 
A second most important statute of the time of Edward I 
relating to real property was the Statute Quia Emptores, en- 
acted in 1290, which abolished subinfeudation by providing 
that if a lord granted a new manor his tenant should hold 
not of him but of the lord paramount above him. In this 
reign were also passed two statutes of mortmain forbidding 
the holding of land by religious persons and corporations, be- 
cause they were not liable for the services and privileges due 
the lord; and the Statute of Gloucester (1278), which made 
tenants for life, curtesy, dower, and tenants for years liable 
for waste. 
Before Littleton’s time (Henry IV) pure villeins had become 
tenants by copy of court roll according to the custom of the 
manor so that from being tenants at will they had an alien- 
able interest in the land, and if they were ejected by their 
lord they could maintain trespass against him. 
Uses. By the time of Richard III equity had developed the 
equitable estates called uses. These equitable estates were 
popular because thereby the tenants could avoid their feudal 
