1.
Feudalism in England
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Feudalism as practiced in the Kingdom of England was a state of human society which was formally structured and stratified on the basis of land tenure and the varieties thereof. Society was thus ordered around relationships derive The word feudal derives from an ancient Gothic source faihu signifying simply property which in its most basic sense was cattle and this can be compared to the very ancient classical Latin word pecunia, which means both cattle and money. Many societies in existence today demonstrate the use of cattle as financial currency, for example the Masai of Kenya. Because feudalism was in its origin a Teutonic or Gothic system from northern Europe untouched by Roman civilization, it did not exist in ancient Rome, where the nearest equivalent was clientelism. No classical Latin word therefore exists to signify it, and a new Low-Latin word feodum was invented by mediaeval European scribes to use in their Latinised charters, under the English feudal system, the person of the king was the only absolute owner of land. All nobles, knights and other tenants, termed vassals, merely held land from the king, when feudal land grants were of indefinite or indeterminate duration, such grants were deemed freehold, while fixed term and non-hereditable grants were deemed non-freehold. However, even freehold fiefs were not unconditionally heritable--before inheriting, the heir had to pay a suitable feudal relief. Below the king in the pyramid was a tenant-in-chief who was a vassal of the king. Below the mesne tenant further mesne tenants could hold from each other in series, the obligations and corresponding rights between lord and vassal concerning the fief form the basis of the feudal relationship. Before a lord could grant land to a tenant, he had to make that person a vassal and this was done at a formal and symbolic ceremony called a commendation ceremony composed of the two-part act of homage and oath of fealty. The word fealty derives from the Latin fidelitas and denotes the fidelity owed by a vassal to his feudal lord, fealty also refers to an oath which more explicitly reinforces the commitments of the vassal made during homage. Once the commendation was complete, the lord and vassal were now in a relationship with agreed-upon mutual obligations to one another. The vassals principal obligation to the lord was the performance of military service, using whatever equipment the vassal could obtain by virtue of the revenues from the fief, the vassal was responsible to answer to calls to military service on behalf of the lord. This involved the vassal providing counsel, so if the lord faced a major decision he would summon all his vassals. Concerning the kings court, the prototype of parliament, such deliberation could include the question of declaring war. Depending on the period of time and location, feudal customs and practices varied, under the feudal system several different forms of land tenure existed, each effectively a contract with differing rights and duties attached thereto. The main varieties are as follows, Freehold, by barony, such tenure constituted the holder a feudal baron, and was the highest degree of tenure. It imposed duties of military service, in time barons were differentiated between greater and lesser barons, with only greater barons being guaranteed attendance at parliament
2.
Harold Godwinson
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Harold Godwinson, often called Harold II, was the last Anglo-Saxon king of England. Harold reigned from 6 January 1066 until his death at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October and his death marked the end of Anglo-Saxon rule over England. Harold was an earl and member of a prominent Anglo-Saxon family with ties to Cnut the Great. Upon the death of Edward the Confessor in January 1066, the Witenagemot convened and chose Harold to succeed, he was crowned in Westminster Abbey. In late September, he repelled an invasion by rival claimant Harald Hardrada of Norway before marching his army back south to meet William the Conqueror at Hastings some two weeks later. Harold was a son of Godwin, the powerful Earl of Wessex, gythas brother was Ulf the Earl, who married Cnuts sister Estrith. This made Ulf the son-in-law of King Sweyn Forkbeard, Ulf, Godwin was the son of Wulfnoth, probably a thegn and a native of Sussex. Godwin began his career by supporting King Edmund Ironside, but switched to supporting King Cnut by 1018. Godwin remained an earl throughout the remainder of Cnuts reign, one of two earls to survive to the end of that reign. Harthacnuts death in 1042 probably involved Godwin in a role as kingmaker, in 1045 Godwin reached the height of his power when the new king married Godwins daughter Edith. Godwin and Gytha had several children – six sons, Sweyn, Harold, Tostig, Gyrth, Leofwine and Wulfnoth, the birthdates of the children are unknown, but Sweyn was the eldest and Harold was the second son. Harold was aged about 25 in 1045, which makes his birth year around 1020, Edith married Edward on 23 January 1045 and, around that time, Harold became Earl of East Anglia. Harold is called earl when he appears as a witness in a will that may date to 1044, one reason for his appointment to East Anglia may have been a need to defend against the threat from King Magnus the Good of Norway. It is possible that Harold led some of the ships from his earldom that were sent to Sandwich in 1045 against Magnus, Sweyn, Harolds elder brother, had been named an earl in 1043. The relationship was a form of marriage that was not blessed or sanctioned by the Church, known as more Danico, or in the Danish manner, any children of such a union were considered legitimate. Harold probably entered the relationship in part to support in his new earldom. Harolds elder brother Sweyn was exiled in 1047 after abducting the abbess of Leominster, sweyns lands were divided between Harold and a cousin, Beorn. In 1049, Harold was in command of a ship or ships that were sent with a fleet to aid the German Emperor Henry III against Baldwin V, Count of Flanders, who was in revolt against Henry
3.
Bayeux Tapestry
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According to Sylvette Lemagnen, conservator of the tapestry, The Bayeux tapestry is one of the supreme achievements of the Norman Romanesque. Its survival almost intact over nine centuries is little short of miraculous and its exceptional length, the harmony and freshness of its colours, its exquisite workmanship, and the genius of its guiding spirit combine to make it endlessly fascinating. The tapestry consists of some fifty scenes with Latin tituli, embroidered on linen with coloured woollen yarns and it is likely that it was commissioned by Bishop Odo, Williams half-brother, and made in England—not Bayeux—in the 1070s. In 1729 the hanging was rediscovered by scholars at a time when it was being displayed annually in Bayeux Cathedral, the tapestry is now exhibited at the Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux in Bayeux, Normandy, France. The designs on the Bayeux Tapestry are embroidered rather than woven, nevertheless, it has always been called a tapestry until recent years, when the more correct name Bayeux Embroidery has gained ground among art historians. Such tapestries adorned both churches and wealthy houses in England, though at 0.5 by 68.38 metres the Bayeux Tapestry is exceptionally large. Only the figures and decoration are embroidered, on a background left plain, the earliest known written reference to the tapestry is a 1476 inventory of Bayeux Cathedral, but its origins have been the subject of much speculation and controversy. French legend maintained the tapestry was commissioned and created by Queen Matilda, William the Conquerors wife, indeed, in France it is occasionally known as La Tapisserie de la Reine Mathilde. The actual physical work of stitching was most likely undertaken by female needle workers, Anglo-Saxon needlework of the more detailed type known as Opus Anglicanum was famous across Europe. It was perhaps commissioned for display in the hall of his palace and then bequeathed to the cathedral he built, following the pattern of the documented, carola Hicks has suggested it could possibly have been commissioned by Edith of Wessex. George Beech suggests the tapestry was executed at the Abbey of St. Florent in the Loire Valley, andrew Bridgeford has suggested that the tapestry was actually of English design and encoded with secret messages meant to undermine Norman rule. Nine linen panels, between fourteen and three metres in length, were together after each was embroidered and the joins were disguised with subsequent embroidery. At the first join the borders do not line up properly, the design involved a broad central zone with narrow decorative borders top and bottom. By inspecting the woollen threads behind the linen it is apparent all these aspects were embroidered together at a session, later generations have patched the hanging in numerous places and some of the embroidery has been reworked. The tapestry may well have maintained much of its original appearance—it now compares closely with a drawing made in 1730. The main yarn colours are terracotta or russet, blue-green, dull gold, olive green, later repairs are worked in light yellow, orange, and light greens. Laid yarns are couched in place with yarn of the same or contrasting colour, the tapestrys central zone contains most of the action, which sometimes overflows into the borders either for dramatic effect or because depictions would otherwise be very cramped. Events take place in a series of scenes which are generally separated by highly stylised trees
4.
Lord
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Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others acting like a master, a chief, or a ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, the collective Lords can refer to a group or body of peers. The appellation lord is primarily applied to men, while for women the appellation lady is used. However, this is no universal, the Lord of Mann, a title currently held by the Queen of the United Kingdom. Under the feudal system, lord had a wide, loose, an overlord was a person from whom a landholding or a manor was held by a mesne lord or vassal under various forms of feudal land tenure. The modern term landlord is a survival of this function. A liege lord was a person to whom a vassal owed sworn allegiance, neither of these terms were titular dignities, but rather factual appellations, which described the relationship between two or more persons within the highly stratified feudal social system. For example, a man might be Lord of the Manor to his own tenants but also a vassal of his own overlord, where a knight was a lord of the manor, he was referred to in contemporary documents as John, knight, lord of. A feudal baron was a true titular dignity, with the right to attend Parliament, the substantive title of Lord of the Manor came into use in the English medieval system of feudalism after the Norman Conquest of 1066. The title Lord of the Manor was a titular feudal dignity which derived its force from the existence, to the tenants of a manor their lord was a man who commanded on occasion the power of exercising capital punishment over them. The term invariably used in mediaeval documents is simply lord of X, X being the name of the manor. The title of Lord of the Manor is recognised by the British Government, in the form of the Her Majestys Land Registry, modern legal cases have been won by persons claiming rights as lords of the manor over village greens. The heads of many ancient English land-owning families have continued to be lords of the manor of lands they have inherited. The UK Identity and Passport Service will include titles on a British passport as an observation, provided the holder can provide documentary evidence of ownership. The United States however, forbids the use of all titles on passports, australia forbids the use of titles on passports if those titles have not been awarded by the Crown or the Commonwealth. The word is used to refer to any owner of a landed estate and has no meaning in heraldic terms. Lord is used as a term to denote members of the peerage. Five ranks of peer exist in the United Kingdom, in descending order these are duke, marquess, earl, viscount, the appellation Lord is used most often by barons, who are rarely addressed by their formal and legal title of Baron
5.
Vassal
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A vassal or feudatory is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, the term is applied to similar arrangements in other feudal societies. It is like a land lord some one who own and lets you live on it, in contrast, a fidelity, or fidelitas, was a sworn, unconditional loyalty to a monarch. Such refinements were not included from the outset when it was time of crisis, war, hunger, under feudalism, those who were weakest needed the protection of the knights who owned the weapons and knew how to fight. Feudal society was based on the concept of lordship, which was one of the distinguishing features of the Early Middle Ages and had evolved from times of Late Antiquity. In the time of Charlemagne, the connection slowly developed between vassalage and the grant of land, the form of wealth at that time. Contemporaneous social developments included agricultural manorialism and the social and legal structures labelled — and these developments proceeded at different rates in various regions. In Merovingian times, monarchs would reward only the greatest and most trusted vassals with lands, even at the most extreme devolution of any remnants of central power, in 10th-century France, the majority of vassals still had no fixed estates. The stratification of a band of vassals into distinct groups might roughly correlate with the new term fief that had started to supersede benefice in the 9th century. An upper group comprised great territorial magnates, who were strong enough to ensure the inheritance of their benefice to the heirs of their family, a lower group consisted of landless knights attached to a count or duke. This social settling process also received impetus in fundamental changes in the conduct of warfare, as co-ordinated cavalry superseded disorganized infantry, armies became more expensive to maintain. A vassal needed economic resources to equip the cavalry he was bound to contribute to his lord to fight his frequent wars. Such resources, in the absence of an economy, came only from land and its associated assets. Many empires have set up states, based on tribes, kingdoms, or city-states. In these cases a state has retained internal autonomy, but has lost independence in foreign policy, while and, in many instances. In this framework, a colony or junior ally might also be regarded as a vassal state in terms of international relations. The concept of a state uses the concept of personal vassalry to theorize formally hegemonic relationships between states – even those using non-personal forms of rule. Imperial states to which this terminology has been applied include, for instance, Ancient Rome, the Mongol Empire, and the British Empire
6.
Enfeoffment
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In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was used to avoid restrictions on the passage of title in land by a system in which a landowner would give land to one person for the use of another. The common law of estates in land grew from this concept, in English law, feoffment was a transfer of land or property that gave the new holder the right to sell it as well as the right to pass it on to his heirs as an inheritance. It was total relinquishment and transfer of all rights of ownership of an estate in land from one individual to another, enfeoffment could be made of fees of various feudal tenures, such as fee-tail or fee-simple. Written conveyances were customary and mandatory after 1677, the feoffee was thenceforward said to hold his property of or from the feoffor, in return for a specified service depending on the exact form of feudal land tenure involved in the feoffment. The establishment of a national Land Registry has obviated the need for recitals of descent, feoffee Fief Fiefdom Subinfeudation Chestofbooks Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Feoffment
7.
Subinfeudation
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The tenants were termed mesne lords, with regard to those holding from them, the immediate tenant being tenant in capite. The lowest tenant of all was the freeholder, or, as he was sometimes termed tenant paravail, the Crown, who in theory owned all lands, was lord paramount. The great lords looked with dissatisfaction on the increase of such subtenures, in Scots law, the feudal system was abolished by the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. The length of a lease was limited to 175 years to prevent perpetual landlord-tenant relationships existing
8.
Feoffee
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A feoffee is a trustee who holds a fief, that is to say an estate in land, for the use of a beneficial owner. The term is more fully stated as a feoffee to uses of the beneficial owner, the use of such trustees developed towards the end of the era of feudalism in the middle ages and became obsolete with the formal ending of that social and economic system in 1660. Indeed the development of feoffees to uses may have hastened the end of the feudal system, nor could the land-holding escheat, that is to say revert permanenly to the overlord, as was customary where the land-holder died without a legal heir. When the fiefdom was held by a group of feoffees, the death of the holder was legally irrelevant to its continued holding by them. They simply allowed the lands to continue to be used by the deceaseds heir, the feoffees were an undying corporation which never suffered a minority and could not be given in marriage. The effect was that on a death he appeared to hold little or no land, whilst in reality he had full use of it. Frequently the verdict of such inquisitions even in the case of the decease of the most influential men of the county, was he holds no lands of the king in this county. Such reports can be a source of confusion to the modern historian or biographer who is unaware of the operation of feoffees to uses. As McFarlane summarised it can make a great landowner appear to die a landless man, such charter appears as a conveyance or alienation, and may be mistaken as such by the unwary modern researcher. Feoffee is thus a historical term relating to the law of trusts and equity, Feoffees essentially had their titles stripped by the Statute of Uses 1535, whereby the legal title to the property being held by the feoffee was transferred to their cestui que use. The modern equivalent of a feoffee to uses is the trustee, one who holds a legal and managerial ownership in trust for the enjoyment benefit and use of the beneficiary. The term is still in use today to mean a trustee invested with a freehold estate held in possession for a purpose. The Feoffees of St Michaels Spurriergate are the trustees of a charity that helps with the restoration of churches in York, in Ipswich, Massachusetts, the Feoffees of the Grammar School have been trustees of a piece of land donated for the use of the town since the 1600s. Fee Fee simple Feu Legal history Feudal land tenure Land tenure McFarlane, K. B. Lancastrian Kings and Lollard Knights, Oxford,1972, Part 2, Introduction, pp. 144–147
9.
Feudal land tenure in England
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Under the English feudal system several different forms of land tenure existed, each effectively a contract with differing rights and duties attached thereto. Such tenures could be either free-hold, signifying that they were hereditable or perpetual, the main varieties are as follows, by barony. Such tenure constituted the holder a feudal baron, and was the highest degree of tenure and it imposed duties of military service and required attendance at parliament. All such holders were necessarily tenants-in-chief. by knight-service and this was a tenure ranking below barony, and was likewise for military service, of a lesser extent. It could be held in capite from the king or as a tenancy from a tenant-in-chief. This was a form of service which involved guarding a nearby castle for a specified number of days per year. By scutage where the military obligations had been commuted, or replaced. Such tenure was in return for acting as a servant to the king, service in a ceremonial form is termed grand serjeanty whilst that of a more functional or menial nature is termed petty serjeanty. By frankalmoinage, generally a tenure restricted to clerics, by fee-farm, a grant of the right to collect and retain revenues in return for a fixed rent. By copyhold, where the duties and obligations were tailored to the requirements of the lord of the manor, a form of tenure, involving payment in produce or in money. The payment of a fee in exchange for freedom from all other feudal obligations. In paragio, a form of tenure frequently appearing in Domesday Book, free burgage, tenure within a town or city. A tenant by the curtesy of England, being a widower of a wife by whom he has issue by her born alive, in respect of her right in land. Roger Bigod claimed it unsuccessfully on the death of his wife Aliva, such tenant had no security of tenure whatsoever. It developed into the more secure copyhold tenure, where the terms were set out in an entry on the manorial roll, frequently found in mediaeval Kent, held according to the custom of gavelkind. It withdrew a dower from a widow if she remarried, fee simple, a tenure with no service obligations attached which could be a free-holding or non-free. On the abolition of tenure in 1660, all existing tenures were converted to this tenure
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