Quia Emptores
The Statute of Quia Emptores (1290) was a statute passed by Edward I of England that prevented tenants from leasing their lands to others through subinfeudation. Pre-Quia Emptores tenants were able to lease their title to land such that the land-owning lords did not have any power over the sub-tenant to collect taxes or enforce feudal duties, a practice known as alienation. In its place, a system of substitution was used where the tenant's full interest would be transferred to the purchaser or donee. By effectively ending the practice of subinfeudation, Quia Emptores hastened the end of feudalism per se in England, which had already been on the decline for some time. As cash rents and outright sales of land took the place of direct feudal obligations that had been made impractical and outmoded by Quia Emptores, such gave rise to the practice of 'livery and maintenance' or 'bastard feudalism', the retention and control of land, money, soldiers and servants via direct salaries, land sales and rent payments. Such in turn was one of the underlying causes of the Wars of the Roses, the English civil wars fought by the noble Houses of York and Lancaster for control of the British Crown between 1455-1485. By the mid-fifteenth century the major nobility, particularly the Houses of York and Lancaster, were able to assemble vast estates, considerable sums of money and large private armies on retainer through post-Quia Emptores land management practices and direct sales of land. The two noble Houses thus grew more powerful than the Crown itself, with the consequent wars between the two Houses for ultimate control of the realm. Ultimately the statute of Quia Emptores, combined with the contemporary statute of Quo Warranto, became the foundation of modern real estate and landlord/tenant relations law.