29:
477:, namely to receive back seizin of the estate on the death of the tenant without a legal heir (transfers of estates to third parties by testaments or wills were not part of the early feudal system). The right to the loyalty of his tenant was central to the feudal contract and was enshrined in the infeudation process in which the tenant swore loyalty to the overlord. In the event of disloyalty the feudal contract would be broken and the estate would become
72:
493:
The overlord was bound to protect his tenant, a valuable right for the latter in the days before the existence of police forces and universal access to royal justice, and when armed bands of robbers roamed the countryside. This protection extended also to sheltering his tenant from the arbitrary and
367:– tenant relationship. The knights in turn subinfeudated to their own tenants, creating a further subsidiary mesne lord – tenant relationship. Over the centuries for any single estate the process was in practice repeated numerous times.
523:, it reverts to the overlords the Duke of Lancaster (the monarch) and the Duke of Cornwall (the monarch's eldest son), possibly the only two surviving quasi-paramount feudal lords surviving in England other than the monarch.
506:
and tenant the concept of the feudal overlord persists. Furthermore, in
England today in the case of a land-owner dying intestate and without legal heirs, just as in the feudal age, his estate effectively
386:
back up the chain of subinfeudations to a holder whose title was beyond doubt, for example one who had received the estate as a grant by royal charter witnessed and sealed by substantial persons. Although
407:. There is a requirement to compulsorily register all land transactions on this governmental record, which registration provides a virtually unchallengeable and perfectly secure title of ownership.
515:, and is disposed of by the Crown Estate. In Cornwall today land is still in theory held from the Duke of Cornwall as lord paramount. In the case of English land escheating situated within the
403:" (grounded in reality) that all land titles were held by the monarch's subjects as a result of a royal grant. Proving devolution of title is no longer necessary since the creation of the
540:
Constitutional implications of the
Cabinet Manual – Political and Constitutional Reform Committee, Written evidence submitted to Parliament by Philip Hosking, 5 January 2011
565:
355:(or "barons by tenure") who owed their royal overlord an enhanced and onerous form of military service, and subinfeudated most to tenants, generally their own
378:(i.e. sale), which latter in the case of tenants-in-chief required royal licence, and the holder of an estate at any particular time, in order to gain secure
552:
History of the political institutions, of the nations of Europe ..., Volume 1 By Pierre-Armand Dufau, Jean
Baptiste Duvergier, J. Guadet, T. E. Evans, p.41
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640:
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339:
immediately set about granting tenancies on his newly won lands, in accordance with feudal principles. The monarch's immediate tenants were the
35:("Harold made an oath to Duke William"). (Bayeux Tapestry) This scene is stated in the previous scene on the Tapestry to have taken place at
28:
343:, usually military magnates, who held the highest status in feudal society below the monarch. The tenants-in-chief usually held multiple
553:
650:
388:
285:
655:
221:
542:
392:
371:
204:
56:
375:
20:
621:
382:, and if challenged by another claimant, needed to prove "devolution of title" evidenced by legal deeds or
214:
47:
touching two altars with the enthroned Duke looking on. It is believed to represent Harold acknowledging
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336:
313:
297:
48:
374:
of 1066 and the establishment of feudalism, land was usually transferred by subinfeudation, rarely by
331:, or the root of the feudal tree, and such allodial title is also termed "radical title" (from Latin
249:
312:
and had no superior overlord, "holding from God and his sword", although certain monarchs, notably
516:
301:
246:
52:
575:
520:
317:
253:
104:
478:
273:
138:
83:
44:
40:
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288:(i.e. feudal tenancy contract) the estate was held under. The highest overlord of all, or
197:
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55:, which relationship he broke by having himself crowned King. It is thus central to the
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An overlordship came into existence by the process of the lord of the manor granting
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An overlord had various rights under the feudal system, including receipt of either
276:. The tenant thenceforth owed to the overlord one of a variety of services, usually
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399:
law the need to prove devolution of title persisted until recent times, due to a "
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364:
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116:
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and return to the overlord. This is most commonly encountered in the case of
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127:
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On the
Doctrine of Tenures, the Legacy of Feudal Overlordship in Australia
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and reverts to the overlord, but in the form of the paramount lord,
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For the monarch as the only true "owner" of land in
England, see:
27:
442:
269:
570:
485:
where lands became forfeit to the monarch as paramount lord.
445:
concerned to his prospective tenant and receiving from him
320:, who would thus have become overlord to English monarchs.
473:
on the succession of the tenant's heir. Also the right of
316:(1199–1216) purported to grant the Kingdom of England to
308:
by inheritance from him all the land in
England under
494:predatory acts of other powerful local magnates.
323:A paramount lord may then be seen to occupy the
359:or military followers, keeping only a few in
335:, root), "ultimate title" and "final title".
222:
8:
62:
453:, the main elements of the infeudation and
574:, vol. II (1st ed.), Edinburgh:
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61:
51:as his overlord for the territory of the
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417:Overlords are also sometimes known as
33:HAROLD SACRAMENTUM FECIT WILLELMO DUCI
7:
502:In the language of English law of
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646:1660 disestablishments in England
70:
641:1066 establishments in England
370:In early times, following the
1:
389:feudal land tenure in England
284:, depending on which form of
300:'s personal conquest of the
351:from the monarch, often as
672:
393:Tenures Abolition Act 1660
372:Norman Conquest of England
296:, who due to his ancestor
57:Norman conquest of England
18:
21:Overlord (disambiguation)
571:Encyclopaedia Britannica
64:Feudal titles and status
59:
391:was abolished by the
337:William the Conqueror
298:William the Conqueror
39:(Bayeux, probably in
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651:Feudalism in England
395:, in modern English
19:For other uses, see
433:Process of creation
66:
656:Lords of the Manor
517:Duchy of Lancaster
302:Kingdom of England
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53:Kingdom of England
576:Colin Macfarquhar
521:Duchy of Cornwall
363:. This created a
318:Pope Innocent III
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105:Lord of the manor
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290:lord paramount
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397:conveyancing
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108:
43:). It shows
36:
32:
25:
489:Obligations
427:chief lords
165:Free tenant
45:Earl Harold
635:Categories
566:Chief Lord
527:References
376:alienation
365:mesne lord
292:, was the
158:Husbandman
117:Liege lord
98:Mesne lord
620:Brennan,
513:The Crown
457:process.
384:muniments
347:or other
314:King John
282:serjeanty
128:Gentleman
509:escheats
504:landlord
256:who had
243:overlord
179:Vagabond
151:Vavasour
139:Franklin
109:Overlord
519:or the
483:treason
479:forfeit
475:escheat
441:of the
361:demesne
357:knights
349:estates
329:pyramid
294:monarch
272:, to a
247:English
245:in the
190:Villein
147:Retinue
124:Esquire
49:William
578:, 1771
471:heriot
461:Rights
451:fealty
447:homage
439:seizin
380:tenure
345:manors
286:tenure
274:tenant
266:estate
252:was a
198:Cottar
194:Bordar
143:Yeoman
425:, or
419:lords
413:Names
333:radix
306:owned
262:manor
205:Slave
37:Bagia
449:and
325:apex
186:Serf
113:Vogt
568:",
469:or
443:fee
280:or
270:fee
268:or
241:An
637::
429:.
421:,
304:,
264:,
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107:/
82:/
627:.
580:.
564:"
230:e
223:t
216:v
23:.
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