Capitalis

I.

In old English law

Affecting or involving life, capital; at the head, chief, principal. Capitalis baro: chief baron; — scaccarii domini regis: chief baron of the exchequer. Capitalis cnstos: chief warden or magistrate; mayor. Capitalis debitor: a principal debtor, as distinguished from plegius, a surety. Capitalis doininns: chief lord. Capitalis justitiarius: chief justiciar or justiciary; chief justice; — ad placita coram reg'e tenenda: chief justice for holding pleas before the king; the title of the chief justice of the King's Bench, first assumed in the latter part of the reign of Henry III.; — banci, or de banco: chief justice of the bench; the title of the chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas, first mentioned in the first year of Edward I.; — totias Anglise: chief justice of all England; the title of the presiding justice in the court of Aula Regis,— a title which ceased in the fifty-second year of Henry III. Capitalis plegias: a chief pledge; a head borough. Capitalis terra: a head-land; a piece of land lying at the head of other land. Capitalis redditus: a chief rent. In the civil law. Offenses punishable by the loss of civil rights, interdiction of fire and water, banishment or labor in the mines, as well as offenses affecting or involving life, were termed capital.