I.   Introductory provisions

Heredium is the ancient Roman and middle ages European term used for an inherited estate. The word is derived from the Latin root heres meaning “heir”.

A Heredium would be formalized through the ceremony of “testamentum” whereby a minimum of five (5) witnesses, along with at least one (1) official would be present to hear and see a property owner as “testor” speak publicly their intention of whom would inherit their estate.

The word Heredium was used up until the 16th Century CE when it was replaced with the word Estate under the changes to inheritance introduced by King Henry VIII of England and his Venetian “advisors”.