567:, was generally effected on the land itself in a symbolic ceremony termed "feoffment with livery of seisin." In the ceremony, the parties would go to the land with witnesses "and the transferor would then hand to the transferee a lump of soil or a twig from a tree – all the while intoning the appropriate words of grant, together with the magical words 'and his heirs' if the interest transferred was to be a potentially infinite one." A written deed (traditionally a document impressed with the signature and seal of the transferor and the signatures of the witnesses), confirming the symbolic delivery, was customary—and became mandatory after 1677. Gradually the delivery of this deed to the new owner replaced the symbolic act of delivering an object representing the land, such as a piece of the soil. The feoffee (transferee) was henceforth said to hold his property "of" or "from" the feoffor, in return for a specified service (money payments were not used until much later). What service was given depended on the exact form of
42:
621:, although for practical purposes it is not necessary at the time of conveyance to recite the descent of the fee from its creation. By the early 20th century it had become traditional to show the chain of former owners for a minimum period of 15 years only, as occupation for 12 years now barred all prior claims. And the establishment, in 1925, of a national
503:
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
660:(1046–256 BC) relatives and descendants of the ruling family were granted enfeoffments in return for pledging military service to the King or Emperor in times of war. The practice continued into the
559:
The medieval
English law of property was based on the concept of transferring ownership by delivery: easy to do with a horse, but impossible with land, i.e. with immoveable property. Thus the
617:(i.e. intermediate lord) within the longer historical chain of title. In modern English land law, the theory of such long historical chains of title still exists for every holding in
820:
767:
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516:, that is to say an ownership of rights over land, rather than ownership of the land itself, the only true owner of which was the monarch under his
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This pattern of land-holding was the natural product of
William the Conqueror claiming an allodial title to all the land of England following the
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of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of title in land by a system in which a
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625:(a voluntary public record of land ownership) obviated the need for recitals of descent for registered parcels.
640:, in which the seller gave up all interest in the land and the buyer owed any feudal duties to the overlord.
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to his followers, who then in turn subinfeudated (i.e. sub-divided) the lands comprising their baronies into
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to be held from them by their own followers and knights (in return, originally, for military service).
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Subinfeudation of estates in fee simple was abolished in
England in 1290 with the statute
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from one individual to another. In feudal
England a feoffment could only be made of a
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771:. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 260–261.
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there existed a historical unbroken chain of feoffees, in the form of
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was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a
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613:, he would become overlord to the person so enfeoffed, and a
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Papermaking: The
History and Technique of an Ancient Craft
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would give land to one person for the use of another. The
563:(i.e. delivery) of land to the new tenant, known as the
548:), i.e. it expresses the concept of alienation of the
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involved. Thus, for every parcel of land, during the
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668:who was enfeoffed as the lord of a small village,
583:himself in 1066 as the highest overlord of all.
783:Preface to Estates in Land and Future Interests
609:his holding, for example when he created a new
579:, ultimately springing from feoffments made by
520:. Enfeoffment could be made of fees of various
636:. Thereafter, land could be alienated only by
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785:, p. 11, Foundation Press (2d ed. 1984).
781:Thomas F. Bergin & Paul G. Haskell,
590:of 1066, and parcelling it out as large
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49:Harold Sacramentum Fecit Willelmo Duci
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656:countries, from the time of the
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400:, especially under the European
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27:Transfer of land under feudalism
305:Peerages in the United Kingdom
1:
552:, in the sense of a complete
536:derives from a conflation of
230:Feudal land tenure in England
849:; Hunter, Cornell (1978) .
934:
855:(2nd ed.). New York:
796:"Feoffment - English law"
512:(or "fief"), which is an
459:grew from this concept.
768:Encyclopædia Britannica
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679:, for his services in
664:, with people such as
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491:
581:William the Conqueror
245:English feudal barony
918:Feudalism in England
737:www.websters1913.com
140:Feudal fragmentation
486:; compare with the
75:Ecclesiastical fief
857:Dover Publications
827:on October 5, 2011
821:"The Zhou Dynasty"
569:feudal land tenure
565:delivery of seisin
556:of the ownership.
295:Customary freehold
135:Feudal maintenance
870:978-0-486-23619-3
762:"Feoffment"
605:When the feoffee
471:derives from the
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831:November 11,
829:. Retrieved
825:the original
815:
803:. Retrieved
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740:. Retrieved
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708:Frank almoin
658:Zhou Dynasty
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638:substitution
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492:feoffamentum
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345:Scot and lot
255:Knight's fee
250:Feudal baron
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733:"Feoffment"
713:Sac and soc
681:papermaking
673: [
662:Han Dynasty
554:giving away
532:. The term
441:enfeoffment
398:Middle Ages
240:Land tenure
220:Free tenant
180:Manor house
160:Manorialism
903:Common law
897:Categories
859:. p.
742:2022-04-30
719:References
654:East Asian
619:fee simple
615:mesne lord
573:feudal era
561:conveyance
530:fee-simple
524:, such as
488:Late Latin
483:fieffement
477:feoffement
473:Old French
453:common law
340:Feudal aid
80:Crown land
577:overlords
544:(meaning
534:feoffment
469:feoffment
467:The word
463:Etymology
449:landowner
406:feoffment
360:Feudalism
290:Gavelkind
275:Serjeanty
100:Feoffment
18:Enfeoffed
805:10 April
687:See also
670:Longting
526:fee-tail
285:Freehold
280:Copyhold
265:Baronage
200:Overlord
130:Affinity
105:Seignory
90:Appanage
693:Feoffee
666:Cai Lun
499:England
396:In the
350:Tallage
335:Scutage
270:Peerage
215:Serfdom
210:Peasant
190:Demesne
115:Feoffee
867:
600:manors
445:pledge
330:Socage
150:Livery
125:Homage
120:Fealty
95:Vassal
677:]
650:China
611:manor
540:with
195:Glebe
865:ISBN
833:2010
807:2018
698:Fief
644:Asia
592:fees
546:away
205:Lord
184:List
70:Fief
648:In
550:fee
542:off
538:fee
528:or
510:fee
480:or
455:of
439:or
899::
863:.
861:52
798:.
765:.
735:.
675:zh
495:.
429:ən
404:,
873:.
835:.
809:.
745:.
435:/
432:t
426:m
423:f
420:ɛ
417:f
414:ˈ
411:/
385:e
378:t
371:v
186:)
182:(
58:)
54:(
20:)
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