Meanings
- historicalIn medieval Europe, an act of ritualized submission and request for mercy, performed before a monarch or other feudal lord.
A deditio implied a clear duty for the victorious party to treat his former enemy leniently, and the conditions for surrender were often arranged in advance.
2002, Sverre Bagge, Kings, Politics, and the Right Order of the World in German Historiography c. 950–1150, page 1641 more example
The ritual of deditio was ostentatiously emotional, with tears of contrition both signalling submission and calculated to encourage a formal pardon from a king who risked losing face by failing to show clemency.
2016, Peter H. Wilson, The Holy Roman Empire, Penguin, published 2017, page 617
Origin
- Latindēditiō
- Englishdeditio
From Latin dēditiō.
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Cite this entry
deditio. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deditio
“deditio.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deditio. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “deditio,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deditio.
Source: deditio on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.