Childwite
In medieval England, a childwite, or child-wit, was a fine paid by a man to a lord for unlawfully impregnating his bond-woman (female serf). The term was also selectively used of free women.
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al.
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Categories:
- Fines
- Slavery in England
- English society
- Feudalism in England
- English legal terminology
- English family law
- Child support
- English law stubs
- Legal terminology stubs