The development of the penal bond with conditional defeasance

The development of the penal bond with endorsed conditional defeasance presents a problem because the earliest monetary penalties in English contracts took the form of straight-forward penalty clauses. It is hard to see how the convoluted penal bond developed from such penalty clauses. This article traces the development of the penal bond from debt recognizances defeasible by the performance of conditions stated in a separate document. The logic of the defeasible recognizance was carried over to other arrangements including the penal bond with endorsed conditional defeasance.