ESTOUTEVILLE

estouteville, guillaume d' (1403-1483), french ecclesiastic, was bishop of angers, of digne, of porto and santa rufina, of ostia and velletri, archbishop of rouen, prior of saint martin des champs, abbot of mont st michel, of st ouen at rouen, and of montebourg. he was sent to france as legate by pope nicholas v. to make peace between charles vii. and england (1451), and undertook, _ex officio_, the revision of the trial of joan of arc; he afterwards reformed the statutes of the university of paris. he then went to preside over the assembly of clergy which met at bourges to discuss the observation of the pragmatic sanction (see basel, council of), finally returning to rome, where he passed almost all the rest of his life. he was a great builder, rouen, mont st michel, pontoise and gaillon owing many noble buildings to his initiative. estovers (from the o. fr. _estover_, _estovoir_, a verb used as a substantive in the sense of that which is necessary; the word is of disputed origin; it has been referred to the lat. _stare_, to stand, or _studere_, to desire), a term, in english law, for the wood which a tenant for life or years may take from the land he holds for repair of his house, the implements of husbandry, and the hedges and fences, and for firewood. the o. eng. word for estover was _bote_ or _boot_ (literally meaning "good," "profit," the same word as seen in "better"). the various kinds of estovers were thus known as house-bote, cart or plough-bote, hedge or hay-bote, and fire-bote respectively. these rights may, of course, be restricted by express covenants. copyholders have similar rights over the land they occupy and over the waste of the manor, in which case the rights are known as "commons of estovers." (see commons.)