A legal or formal precaution; in medieval and modern law, a clause or condition inserted to protect against fraud or misunderstanding.
From Latin 'cautela' (caution, wariness), derived from 'cavere' (to beware, be cautious). This term was especially common in medieval legal documents and contract language.
Medieval legal documents are filled with 'cautelae'—specific protective clauses inserted by nervous scribes to prevent someone from twisting the document's meaning and defrauding the other party, showing how paranoid medieval business could be.
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