Cartularium (Cartulary)
Med. Lat. cartularium / chartularium < charta ('paper, charter')
A bound codex or register volume into which a cathedral chapter or monastery transcribed its original single-sheet diplomas and charters for safe preservation and institutional administration.
Because numerous original single sheets were destroyed during the Viking wars, Dissolution of the Monasteries, or Cotton Library fire (1731), great cartularies like the *Textus Roffensis* and *Hemming's Cartulary* are our primary surviving witnesses.
Cassatus / Mansa / Manens
Lat. cassatus ('dweller with house') / mansa ('dwelling') / manens ('tenant')
The technical Latin diplomatic terms used interchangeably by Insular scribes to translate the Old English land unit *hide* (*hida*).
Charters typically describe estates as consisting of *decem cassatos* (ten hides) or *quinque mansas* (five hides) of land.
Chirographum (Cyrograph / Indenture)
Gr. cheirographon < cheir ('hand') + graphein ('to write')
A legal document written in multiple identical copies on a single skin of vellum, separated by a cut made through a large capital word (such as CYROGRAPHUM) or decorative zigzag flourish.
Each party received one portion; authenticity was proven beyond dispute if the wavy or cut edges of the parchment halves fitted together seamlessly like a puzzle.
Corroboratio (Corroboration Clause)
Lat. corroboratio < corroborare ('to strengthen, establish firmly')
The formula declaring that the written diploma has been fortified and confirmed by authoritative witnesses, sacred relics, or royal oaths to withstand future challenges.
It connects the legal will of the king with the physical document, frequently invoking the perpetual validity of parchment over oral memory.
Cwide (Anglo-Saxon Will)
OE cwide ('speech, saying, testament') < cweþan ('to say, speak')
A testamentary settlement recorded in the vernacular detailing the post-mortem devolution of landed estates, precious manuscripts, ecclesiastical vestments, weapons, gold, and the manumission of slaves.
Wills were formally declared before family and confirmed by the king in return for the payment of a military death-duty (*heriot* / *heregeatwe*).