The Earl of Arundel's heir went insane in Padua, his younger brothers fought over the family settlement, and the case created the rule against perpetuities

Henry Frederick Howard, Earl of Arundel (1608 to 1652), had the lawyer Sir Orlando Bridgeman draft a settlement to keep the family land in the family. His eldest son, Thomas, fell ill with a fever in Padua in 1645 and was declared insane^†. He lived in Padua under an English physician's care and never left. The family made sure he never married. The settlement gave the main estate to Thomas. If Thomas died without heirs and it passed to the second son, Henry, then other property held by Henry would shift to a younger son, Charles. Acts of Parliament in 1660 and 1661 restored the dukedom, and Thomas became 5th Duke of Norfolk while Henry ran the estates. Thomas died in Padua on 13 December 1677. Henry became 6th Duke and kept both properties. Charles sued for the barony of Greystoke. Lord Chancellor Nottingham decreed for Charles on 17 June 1682, holding the shift valid because it had to happen within Charles's lifetime. His successor, Lord Keeper Francis North, reversed him on 15 May 1683. On 19 June 1685 the House of Lords reversed North and affirmed the decree for Charles. The case set the rule that a future interest is void if it can vest too far beyond lives in being. In England the Perpetuities and Accumulations Act 2009 replaced the old measure with a single period of 125 years from 6 April 2010.