Editing De donis conditionalibus (section)

== Criticism ==
It is claimed that the operation of the statute produced innumerable evils: "children, it is said, grew disobedient when they knew they could not be set aside; farmers were deprived of their leases; creditors were defrauded of their debts; innumerable latent entails were produced to deprive purchasers of the land they had fairly bought; treasons also were encouraged, as estates tail were not liable to forfeiture longer than for the tenant's life".<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=De Donis Conditionalibus|volume=7|page=920}}</ref><ref>Williams, ''Real Property''</ref>

On the other hand, by limiting inheritance to the eldest son, the other issue were forced to seek employment elsewhere, thus, it has been argued, preventing the growth of a landed caste. The professions of the church, the army and the law were constantly recruited from the younger sons of landed families, preventing the gap between nobility and the rest.<ref>Warner and Marten, ''Groundwork of British History''</ref>