Legal Definitions - impeditor

Definition: An impeditor is a person who interferes with a patron's right to appoint a clerk to a benefice. This right is called the right of advowson.

Example: If a church has a vacant position for a clerk, the patron has the right to appoint someone to fill the position. However, if someone else interferes with this right and appoints their own candidate, they are considered an impeditor.

This term is often used in historical legal contexts, particularly in relation to writs of execution and court cases involving the right of presentation.

Example: A benefice's patron could enforce their right to fill a vacancy by using a writ of quare impedit in the Court of Common Pleas. This writ would command a bishop to accept the patron's nominee for the vacant benefice.

Overall, an impeditor is someone who disrupts the process of appointing a clerk to a benefice, and this term is often used in legal contexts related to this issue.