Legal Definitions - literae patentes

Literae patentes were public grants given by a king or queen to a person, giving them the right to land, a title, or some other special privilege. The term comes from the Latin words "open letters."

One example of literae patentes is when a king would give a nobleman the right to own a piece of land. Another example is when a queen would give a person a special title, like "Duke" or "Earl." These grants were written down and made public, so everyone would know about them.

Today, we still use the term "patent" to refer to a special right given by the government. For example, a person might get a patent for a new invention, which gives them the exclusive right to make and sell that invention for a certain number of years.

Literae patentes were important in medieval times because they gave people special privileges that others didn't have. For example, if a person had a grant of land, they could use it to make money and become wealthy. If they had a special title, they would be treated with more respect and have more power in society.

Today, patents are still important because they give people the exclusive right to make and sell something. This can be very valuable, especially if the invention is something that a lot of people want to buy. For example, if someone invents a new type of phone, they can get a patent for it and make a lot of money by selling it to people who want to buy it.