Defensor

I.

In old English law

A defender or defendant; a warrantor of title. In the canon law. A protector or advocate of a church; a provincial officer having charge of the patrimony of the church; an officer having charge of church temporalities. In the civil law. A defender; one who defends another in court; a person chosen to prosecute or defend a certain cause; a municipal magistrate having certain judicial powers; a guardian. Defensor ciritatis: a defender or protector of a city or municipality; an officer whose duty it was to protect the people against the injustice of the magistrates, the insolence of the subaltern officers and the rapacity of the money-lenders.