Childwite

In medieval England, a childwite, or child-wit, was a fine paid by a man to a lord for unlawfully impregnating his bond-woman (female slave). The term was also selectively used of free women.

See also

• Manorialism
• Droit du seigneur
• Children of the plantation

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728). Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)