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DAMNA USUUM : COMMON LAW, CONSCIENCE AND THE “SUFFERANCE OF USES”

Alastair Hannay

Cambridge Law Journal2025https://doi.org/10.1017/s0008197325000224article
ABDC A*
Weight
0.50

Abstract

The Damna Usuum was a series of complaints about the operation of uses written during the negotiations with the Commons which culminated in the Statute of Uses (1536). Through detailed analysis of the manuscript, this paper demonstrates that the Damna Usuum has been misunderstood by legal historians. Rather than being a public document intended to persuade the Commons to support reform; the Damna Usuum can be shown to be a series of rough notes prepared by the Crown’s lawyers ahead of their negotiations with the Commons. Furthermore, this has a significant impact on our understanding of how contemporary lawyers conceptualised pre-1536 uses in a period in which they had taken on more proprietary “thing-like” characteristics.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/s0008197325000224

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@article{alastair2025,
  title        = {{DAMNA USUUM : COMMON LAW, CONSCIENCE AND THE “SUFFERANCE OF USES”}},
  author       = {Alastair Hannay},
  journal      = {Cambridge Law Journal},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/s0008197325000224},
}

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

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