Trespassvi et armis was a kind of lawsuit at common law called a tort. The form of action alleged a trespass upon person or property vi et armis, Latin for "by force and arms." The plaintiff would allege in a pleading that the act committing the offense was "immediately injurious to another's property, and therefore necessarily accompanied by some degree of force; and by special action on the case, where the act is in itself indifferent and the injury only consequential, and therefore arising without any breach of the peace."[1] Thus it was "immaterial whether the injury was committed willfully or not."[2]
In Taylor v. Rainbow, the defendant negligently discharged a firearm in a public place and caused the loss of the plaintiff's leg. The defendant was held to be liable for medical bills as well as lost earnings as a result of the disability.[2] Thus, proof that the act or omission was unintended was no defense to an action of trespass vi et armis and the liable party would pay for all consequent damages.
Recovery for damages for a trespass vi et armis were limited only to the direct consequences of the act or omission causing the injury. For instance, the state of West Virginia reported that monetary loss for detention from business as an indirect result of the injury were not recoverable under an action for trespass vi et armis, but were available under the related action of trespass on the case, also known as an action ex delicto "against the wrong."[3]
Trespass vi et armis was a precursor to many other forms of lawsuits at common law. The cause came to be formulaic and in many cases fictitious. For instance, a lawsuit against a defendant had spoiled wine with salt water required an allegation that he had done so with bows and arrows.[4] The ancient courts at common law developed trespass upon the case as an alternative pleading to causes of action which arose neither from force nor weapons. In modern times, the specific formalities of the distinction between the two have dropped in favor of notice pleading or code pleading and actions for negligence, battery, trespass to chattels, and conversion.
The related phrase of contra pacem regis, "against the King's peace", was necessarily not a required element of trespass vi et armis although it was possible for both allegations to appear in a lawsuit when the intentional use of force or weapons breached the peace.
^William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, Vol. 3 p. 153.[1]
Trespass vietarmis was a kind of lawsuit at common law called a tort. The form of action alleged a trespass upon person or property vietarmis, Latin...
inspection of their actual quomodo... if by search warrant, stratagem, or vietarmis, the rapping instrument of these Fox girls had been exposed to the public...
accident with the facts fabricated to allow the court to circumvent the vietarmis requirements which required that loss be suffered 'with force and arms'...
Historically, this category of torts was often covered by the writ of trespass vietarmis. Historically, the primary dignitary torts were battery, assault, and...
courts allowed claims where there had been no such trouble, no tort vietarmis, even though it was still necessary to inventively plead this. For instance...
trespass would lie even without an allegation that the defendant had acted vietarmis contra pacem regis (with force and arms against the King's Peace). This...
rescous or de parco fracto, with a remedy in damages. A writ of trespass vietarmis was available in the taking of goods, with a remedy in damages. An action...
Cameron had even been arrested in connection with a suit for trespass vietarmis, assault and battery, and false imprisonment. In February 1863, former...
is an injury accompanied with force, for which an action of trespass vietarmis lies against the person from whom it is received. The question here is...
where there had been no real trouble, no tort with "force of arms" (vietarmis), but it was still necessary to put this in the pleading. For instance...
complete his great legal treatise. The forms of action in trespass "vietarmis", among other forms of action in trespass and seisin were developed at...
offenders? Could such a scene be enacted, and the Chief Justice be assailed vietarmis in the face of day, and in open court, and no person be able to detect...
is a writ directed to the sheriff to do justice in a plea of trespass vietarmis in the county court. It is in the nature of a commission. Latitat, a...
Bessy v Olliot & Lambert (1681) as follows. "Trespass quare vietarmis clausum fregit, et herbam suam pedibus conculcando consumpsit in six Acres. The...
Henrici VIII". The Statutes at Large. Vol. 5 – 32 Henry VIII to 7 Edward VI – 1540 to 1552–3. pp. 217–241 – via Internet Archive. Journal of the House...
Ecclesia, armis divinis praecincta, et hyacinto ornata, tu es caldemia stigmatum loifolum et urbs scienciarum. O, o tu es etiam crizanta in alto sono, et es...
Satire VI is the most famous[according to whom?] of the sixteen Satires by the Roman author Juvenal written in the late 1st or early 2nd century. In English...
109. Turks, A. Samoylovitch, First Encyclopaedia of Islam: 1913–1936, Vol. VI, (Brill, 1993), 911. George L. Campbell and Christopher Moseley, The Routledge...
Inter hastas et hostes (Latin for "between spears and enemies") Royal Australian Regiment: Duty first Royal Queensland Regiment: Pro aris et focis (Latin...
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