Abjuration of the Realm Law and Legal Definition
Abjuration of the realm was a type of abjuration in the English law. It means an oath taken by a person to leave or banish the realm forever and never to return to the kingdom without sovereign’s permission. This was usually taken by fugitives who had accepted sanctuary. For example, renunciation by the husband, coupled with his departure to a foreign state and his continued residence there, amounts to an abjuration of the realm. In Branch v. Bowman, 29 Va. 170 (Va. 1830), the court observed that “But this abjuration of the realm, was an incident to the right of sanctuary, which was abolished in England, by the statute 21 Jac. I. ch. 28, and certainly never at any time existed in Virginia, 1 Vin. Abr.”
