Legal Definitions - de mercatoribus

Term: de mercatoribus
Definition: De mercatoribus is a Latin term that refers to two statutes enacted during the reign of Edward I in England. These statutes allowed a creditor to hold the land of a business debtor as security until the debt was paid. This means that if a merchant owed money to someone, the creditor could take possession of the merchant's land until the debt was paid off. For example, if a merchant borrowed money to buy goods and couldn't pay it back, the creditor could take the merchant's land as payment instead. This law was important because it helped ensure that merchants paid their debts and protected creditors from losing money.