Latin term for an exchange of a particular legal kind related to *warranty. When a man paid *homage to a lord, the lord took on the obligation of defending the man whom he had seised and what he, the lord, had granted, i.e. with land or a *tenement. This act carried a warranty. Were the lord for some reason unable to defend the tenant's right to the land, the tenant having been disseised, he was obliged to provide the tenant with an escambium, i.e. an exchange, to replace what had been lost. *Bracton had this to say: '[the lord] makes a gift for homage and service, . . . to homage belong warranty and defence and escambium if he cannot warrant'. -
Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases. Christopher Coredon with Ann Williams.