— Also termed almoign; almoin; free alms; libera eleemosyna. See spiritual tenure under TENURE.
“Frankalmoin, or free alms, was a survival of Anglo-Saxon law, and implied simply an indefinite promise to pray for the soul of the donor; but since it was deemed a tenure by which the land was held, the general doctrine of ‘services’ was applied. On the other hand, in the case of Divine Service, which was much less frequently met with, the tenant promised a definite number of prayers, a duty which might be enforced in the King’s courts.” A.K.R. Kiralfy, Potter’s Outlines of English Legal History 210 (5th ed. 1958).