Traditio: rite, symbol and title in the land transmission

Abstract

There are many symbols related to property transfer (traditio), and specially to land property transfer. The symbolic game found in most of these traditions also transmit the meaning of these pre- judicial images, as much in the mind-set as in the cultural idiosyncrasy of societies. Experts and canonist lawyers tend to approach the matter focusing on terminology and transferring titles. According to the civil law tradition, the sale or donation of a piece of land takes form in a ritual that involves an expression, a gesture and a symbolic object solemnly delivered. This symbolism has been transmitted to the Middle Age through rituals and iconography.