[DROIT D'AUBAINE] Ensemble de 19 Lettres patentes du Roi

Remarkable collection of 19 letters patent transcribing into French law what had originally been the outcome of diplomatic conventions; the sovereignties concerned are as follows, arranged in chronological order of the letters patent: I. Imperial City of Reutlingen (January 1775, 6 pp.). – II. Principality of Nassau-Weilburg (26 April 1776, 23 pp.). – III. Electorate of Saxony (1 September 1776, 10 pp.). – IV. Republic of Ragusa (October 1776, 7 pp.). – V. Principality of Nassau-Usingen (10 June 1777, 8 pp.). – VI. Duchy of Saxe-Saalfeld-Coburg (15 August 1778, 11 pp.). – VII. Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (15 August 1778, 12 pp.). – VIII. Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (15 August 1778, 12 pp.). – IX. Prince-Abbacy of Fulda (29 August 1778, 7 pp.). – X. Duchy of Saxe-Hildburghausen (22 November 1778, 16 pp.). – XI. Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg (27 January 1779, 12 pp.). – XII. Kingdom of Portugal (7 February 1779, 10 pp.). – XIII. Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen (12 March 1779, 7 pp.). – XIV. Teutonic Order (1 April 1779, 11 pp.). – XV. Landgraviate of Hesse-Homburg (6 July 1779, 6 pp.). – XVI. Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt (31 January 1780, 10 pp.). – XVII. Prince-Bishopric of Münster (23 December 1780, 8 pp.). – XVIII. Electoral Palatinate (6 November 1781, 5 pp.). – XIX. County of Leyen (November 1782, 6 pp.).

Disbound collection.

The droit d'aubaine, of feudal origin, stipulated that the lord inherited the estate of a foreigner, or "aubain," when the latter died within his jurisdiction.

This right was reclaimed under the Ancien Régime by European sovereigns, notably in France.

By the late eighteenth century, however, the prevailing tendency among the states of Western Europe was toward mutual renunciation of this right.