Catalogue description Chancery: Inquisitions Ad Quod Damnum, Henry III to Richard III

Inquisitions taken as a result of applications to the Crown for licences to alienate land, notably to religious houses, or for grants of other privileges such as the right to hold fairs or markets or to build a road.

The sheriff, escheator or other local official was ordered to inquire whether such a grant or licence would be prejudicial to the interests of the Crown or others. In the case of the alienation of land, the inquiry had to discover the tenure, service and yearly value of the land alienated, what lands would be left to the alienator and the effect on his financial status and position. In many cases, such inquisitions were endorsed with the Crown's final order and were used as warrants for the issue of letters patent.

Copies of some inquisitions can be found in E 151