Assize of darrein presentment

In English law, the assize of darrein presentment ("last presentation") was an action brought to enquire who was in fact the last patron to present a benefice to a church then vacant, of which the plaintiff complained that he was deforced or unlawfully deprived by the defendant. The action was related to the aristocratic privilege, often associated with a fee, of the right to appoint a parson to a particular parish. This privilege was known as an advowson.

Together with the assize of mort d'ancestor and the assize of novel disseisin, it was one of the so-called "petty assizes" established by the Assize of Clarendon by Henry II in 1166. Like the other two assizes, it was abolished in 1833.