DROIT D'AUBAINE, jus albinatus. This was a rule by which all the property of
a deceased foreigner, whether movable or immovable, was confiscated to the
use of the state, to the exclusion of his heirs, whether claiming ab
intestato, or under a will of the deceased. The word aubain signifies hospes
loci, peregrinus advena, a stranger. It is derived, according to some, from
alibi, elsewhere, natus, born, from which the word albinus is said to be
formed. Others, as Cujas, derive the word directly from advena, by which
word, aubains, or strangers, are designated in the capitularies of
Charlemagne. See Du Cange and Dictionaire de Trevoux.
2. As the darkness of the middle ages wore away, and the light of
civilization appeared, thing barbarous and inhospitable usage was by degrees
discontinued, and is now nearly abolished in the civilized world. It
subsisted in France, however, in full force until 1791, and afterwards, in a
modified form, until 1819, when it was formally abolished by law. For the
gross abuses of this feudal exaction, see Dictionaire de l'Ancien Regime et
des abus feodaux. Aubain. See Albinatus jus.