Editing Fief

{{short description|Right granted by overlord to vassal, central element of feudalism}}
{{for|the French commune|Fiefs, Pas-de-Calais}}
{{English Feudalism}}
{{Economic systems sidebar|expanded=By ideology}}
{{Politics sidebar|expanded=Political systems}}
{{basic forms of government}}A '''fief''' ({{IPAc-en|f|iː|f}}; {{langx|la|feudum}}) was a central element in medieval contracts based on [[feudal]] law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an [[overlord]] to a [[vassal]], who held it in [[fealty]] or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal allegiance, services or payments. The fees were often lands, land revenue or [[revenue|revenue-producing]] real property like a [[watermill]], held in feudal [[land tenure]]: these are typically known as '''fiefs''' or '''fiefdoms'''.<ref name=brittanica>{{Cite web|title=fief {{!}} Definition, Size, & Examples|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/fief|access-date=2021-04-03|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> However, not only land but anything of value could be held in fee, including governmental office, rights of exploitation such as hunting, fishing or felling trees, monopolies in trade, money rents and [[tax farm]]s.<ref name=brittanica /> There never existed  a standard feudal system, nor did there exist only one type of fief. Over the ages, depending on the region, there was a broad variety of customs using the same basic legal principles in many variations.<ref>{{Cite web|author=[[Elizabeth A. R. Brown|Elizabeth A.R. Brown]]|title=Feudalism|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/feudalism|access-date=2022-11-10|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Reynolds |first1=Susan [[Susan Reynolds|(Wikipedia article Susan Reynolds)]] |title=Fiefs and Vassals: The Medieval Evidence Reinterpreted |date=1994|publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK}}</ref>

==Terminology==
{{main|Feudalism}}
{{wiktionary}}
In ancient Rome, a "[[benefice]]" (from the Latin noun {{lang|la|beneficium}}, meaning "benefit") was a gift of land ({{lang|la|[[precaria]]}}) for life as a reward for services rendered, originally, to the state. In medieval Latin European documents, a land grant in exchange for service continued to be called a {{lang|la|beneficium}} (Latin).<ref name=lubetski>Meir Lubetski (ed.). ''Boundaries of the ancient Near Eastern world: a tribute to Cyrus H. Gordon''. "Notices on Pe'ah, Fay' and Feudum" by Alauddin Samarrai. [https://books.google.com/books?id=dO4rbfA_WVIC&pg=PA248 Pg. 248-250] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151029132531/https://books.google.com/books?id=dO4rbfA_WVIC&pg=PA248 |date=2015-10-29 }}, Continuum International Publishing Group, 1998.</ref> Later, the term {{lang|la|feudum}}, or {{lang|la|feodum}}, began to replace {{lang|la|beneficium}} in the documents.<ref name=lubetski/> The first attested instance of this is from 984, although more primitive forms were seen up to one hundred years earlier.<ref name=lubetski/> The origin of the {{lang|la|feudum}} and why it replaced {{lang|la|beneficium}} has not been well established, but there are multiple theories, described below.<ref name=lubetski/>

The most widely held theory is put forth by [[Marc Bloch]]<ref name=lubetski/><ref name=bloch-ety1>Marc Bloch. ''Feudal Society'', Vol. 1, 1964. pp. 165–166.</ref><ref name=bloch-ety2>Marc Bloch. ''Feudalism'', 1961, p. 106.</ref> that it is related to the Frankish term ''*fehu-ôd'', in which ''*fehu'' means "cattle" and ''-ôd'' means "goods", implying "a moveable object of value".<ref name=bloch-ety1/><ref name=bloch-ety2/> When land replaced currency as the primary [[store of value]], the Germanic word ''*fehu-ôd'' replaced the Latin word {{lang|la|beneficium}}.<ref name=bloch-ety1/><ref name=bloch-ety2/> This Germanic origin theory was also shared by [[William Stubbs]] in the 19th century.<ref name=lubetski/><ref>[[William Stubbs]]. ''The Constitutional History of England'' (3 volumes), 2nd edition 1875–1878, Vol. 1, p. 251, n. 1</ref>

A theory put forward by [[Archibald R. Lewis]]<ref name=lubetski/> is that the origin of 'fief' is not {{lang|la|feudum}} (or {{lang|la|feodum}}), but rather {{lang|la|foderum}}, the earliest attested use being in [[Astronomus]]'s {{lang|la|[[Vita Hludovici]]}} (840).<ref name=arlewis>[[Archibald R. Lewis]]. ''The Development of Southern French and Catalan Society 718–1050'', 1965, pp. 76–77.</ref> In that text is a passage about [[Louis the Pious]] which says {{lang|la|"annona militaris quas vulgo foderum vocant"}}, which can be translated as "(Louis forbade that) military provender which they popularly call 'fodder' (be furnished)."<ref name=lubetski/>

In the 10th and 11th centuries the Latin terms for 'fee' could be used either to describe dependent tenure held by a man from his lord, as the term is used now by historians, or it could mean simply "property" (the [[Manorialism|manor]] was, in effect, a small fief). It lacked a precise meaning until the middle of the 12th century, when it received formal definition from land lawyers.{{No source|date=January 2025}}

In English usage, the word "fee" is first attested around 1250–1300 (Middle English); the word "fief" from around 1605–1615. In French, the term {{lang|fro|fief}} is found from the middle of the 13th century (Old French), derived from the 11th-century terms {{lang|fro|feu}}, {{lang|fro|fie}}. The odd appearance of the second ''f'' in the form {{lang|fro|fief}} may be due to influence from the verb {{lang|fro|fiever}} 'to grant in fee'.<ref>"fee, n.2." OED Online. Oxford University Press, June 2017. Web. 18 August 2017.</ref> In French, one also finds {{lang|fro|seigneurie}} (land and rights possessed by a {{lang|fro|seigneur}} or "lord", 12th century), which gives rise to the expression "seigneurial system" to describe feudalism.{{No source|date=January 2025}}

==Early feudal grants==
Originally, [[vassal]]age did not imply the giving or receiving of landholdings (which were granted only as a reward for loyalty), but by the 8th century the giving of a landholding was becoming standard.<ref name="Cantor 1993, pp. 198-199">Cantor (1993), pp. 198-199.</ref> The granting of a landholding to a vassal did not relinquish the lord's property rights, but only the use of the lands and their income; the granting lord retained ultimate ownership of the fee and could, technically, recover the lands in case of disloyalty or death.<ref name="Cantor 1993, pp. 198-199"/> In [[Francia]], [[Charles Martel]] was the first to make large-scale and systematic use (the practice had remained sporadic until then) of the remuneration of vassals by the concession of the usufruct of lands (a ''beneficatium'' or "[[benefice]]" in the documents) for the life of the vassal, or, sometimes extending to the second or third generation.<ref>Lebecq, pp.196-197.</ref>

By the middle of the 10th century, fee had largely become hereditary.<ref name="Cantor, 200">Cantor (1993), p. 200.</ref> The eldest son of a deceased vassal would inherit, but first he had to do homage and fealty to the lord and pay a "[[feudal relief|relief]]" for the land (a monetary recognition of the lord's continuing proprietary rights over the property).{{No source|date=January 2025}}

Historically, the fees of the 11th and the 12th century derived from two separate sources. The first was land carved out of the estates of the upper nobility. The second source was [[allod]]ial land transformed into dependent tenures.{{Citation needed|date=May 2013}} During the 10th century in northern France and the 11th century in France south of the [[Loire]], local magnates either recruited or forced the owners of allodial holdings into dependent relationships and they were turned into fiefs. The process occurred later in Germany, and was still going on in the 13th century.{{Citation needed|date=May 2013}}

In England, [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] transformed them into important sources of royal income and patronage. The discontent of [[baron]]s with royal claims to arbitrarily assessed "reliefs" and other feudal payments under Henry's son [[John of England|King John]] resulted in [[Magna Carta]] of 1215.{{Citation needed|date=May 2013}}

Eventually, great feudal lords sought also to seize governmental and legal authority (the collection of taxes, the right of high justice, etc.) in their lands, and some passed these rights to their own vassals.<ref name="Cantor, 200"/>

The privilege of minting official coins developed into the concept of [[seigniorage]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2013}}

==Later feudal grants and knightly service==
In 13th-century Germany, Italy, England, France, and Spain the term "feodum" was used to describe a dependent tenure held from a lord by a vassal in return for a specified amount of [[knight]] service and occasional financial payments ([[feudal incidents]]).{{No source|date=January 2025}}

However, knight service in war was far less common than:{{No source|date=January 2025}}
* castle-guard (called ''[[Burghut]]'' in the Holy Roman Empire), the obligation of a vassal to serve in a [[castle]] [[garrison]] of the lord;{{No source|date=January 2025}}
* suit in court, the vassal's obligation to attend the lord's [[Court (royal)|court]], to give him counsel, and to help him judge disputes;{{No source|date=January 2025}}
* attendance in the lord's entourage, accompanying the lord when he travelled or attended the court of his lord so as to increase the social status of the lord;
* hospitality to the lord or to his servants (accommodation).{{No source|date=January 2025}}

[[File:Sigismund fees the land Brandenburg to Frederik, April 30, 1415.jpg|thumb|[[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund]] fees the [[Margraviate of Brandenburg]] to [[Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg|Frederick]], April 30, 1415]]

A lord in late 12th-century England and France could also claim the right of:{{No source|date=January 2025}}
* wardship and marriage – right to control descent of fee by choosing a husband for a female heir and a guardian for minors (preferably in consultation with the heir's closest male adult kinsmen);{{No source|date=January 2025}}
* "aids" – payments to aid the lord in times of need (customarily given to the lord to cover the cost of knighting the eldest son, marriage of the eldest daughter, and for [[ransom]]ing the lord if required);
* [[escheat]] – the reversion of the fief to the lord in default of an heir.<ref name=abels>{{cite web |url=http://www.usna.edu/Users/history/abels/hh315/Feudal.htm |title=Feudalism |first=Richard |last=Abels |publisher=United States Naval Academy |access-date=2010-08-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100327220107/http://www.usna.edu/Users/history/abels/hh315/Feudal.htm |archive-date=2010-03-27 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In northern France in the 12th and 13th centuries, military service for fiefs was limited for offensive campaigns to 40 days for a knight. By the 12th century, English and French kings and barons began to commute military service for cash payments ([[scutage]]s), with which they could purchase the service of [[mercenaries]].<ref name=abels/>

==Feudal registers==
A list of several hundred such fees held [[tenant-in-chief|in chief]] between 1198 and 1292, along with their holders' names and form of tenure, was published in three volumes between 1920 and 1931 and is known as ''[[Book of Fees|The Book of Fees]]''; it was developed from the 1302 ''[[Testa de Nevill]]''.

==The fiefs of Guernsey==
{{Unreferenced section|date=August 2023}}
The [[Bailiwick of Guernsey]] is a group of several of the Channel Islands that is a [[Crown Dependency]]. Guernsey still has [[feudal law]] and legal fiefs in existence today. Each fief has a [[Seigneur]] or Dame that owns the fief. The Guernsey fiefs and seigneurs existed long before baronies, and are historically part of [[Normandy]]. While nobility has been outlawed in France and Germany, noble fiefs still exist by law in Guernsey. The owners of the fiefs actually convene each year at the [[Courts of Guernsey|Court of Chief Pleas]] under the supervision of His Majesty's Government. There are approximately 24 private fiefs in Guernsey that are registered directly with the Crown.

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Appanage]], part of the liege's domain granted to a junior relative
* ''[[Book of Fees]]'', a scholarly collection of fiefs
* [[Brahmadeya]], a royal fief given to a [[Brahmin]] for service to an Indian king.
* [[Enfeoffment]]
* [[Fee simple]]
* [[Fee tail]]
* [[Fengjian]], the Chinese system often compared to European feudalism
* [[Feoffee]]
* [[Feudal land tenure in England]]
* [[Lehen (disambiguation)]], the German equivalent
* [[Knight-service]]
* [[Knight's fee]]
* [[Lord of the manor]]
* [[Sasan (land grant)]], a royal fief given to the [[Charan]]as by an Indian ruler.
* [[Seigneurial system of New France]], a semifeudal system in France's American colonies
* [[Subinfeudation]]
* [[Urbarium]], a medieval record of fees
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{EB1911 poster|Fief}}
* [[Norman F. Cantor]]. ''The Civilization of the Middle Ages''. New York: HarperPerennial, 1993. {{ISBN|0-06-092553-1}}
* Stéphane Lebecq. ''Les origines franques: Ve-IXe siècles.'' Series: Nouvelle histoire de la France médiévale. Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1999. {{ISBN|2-02-011552-2}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=Elizabeth A. R. |title=The Tyranny of a Construct: Feudalism and Historians of Medieval Europe |journal=American Journal of Ophthalmology |date=October 1974 |volume=79 |issue=4 |pages=1063–1088}}
*{{cite book|author=[[Susan Reynolds]]|title=Fiefs and Vassals: The Medieval Evidence Reinterpreted|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vkQ8z7S2cIIC|access-date=12 September 2016|year=1996|publisher=Clarendon Press|isbn=9780198206484}}

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[[Category:Feudalism]]
[[Category:Real property law]]
[[Category:Land tenure]]