The Land Tenure of England.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 3787, 16 February 1881, Page 2

The Land Tenure of England.

The way land has come into the possession of the public at different times in England is a subject fraught with great importance, and a short account of the proceedure by which the present owners of the soil came into the possession of it may be of interest to our numerous readers. We purpose in this chapter to speak of the Feudal system. The tenure of real property is a doctrine that we shall find is altogether founded upon Feudal principles. Feuds were introduced under the new dynasties founded by the barbarous tribes, who during the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries of the Christian era, poured themselves from Germany and the adjacent countries into the Eoman Empire. In every province which they brought under their subjection, large tracts of land were divided among the conquerors. The larger portion of the territory so confiscated fell to the General or "Ruler of the victorious tribes, and he divided other land among his soldiers, which they held as independent property, subject only to the condition of their bearing arms in case of invasion or as occasion might require. Of the lands confiscated to the King, certain portions were divided by him among his courtiers or comites (companions), but the interest they derived under these grants was not strictly in the nature of property ; it was of a beneficial kind only, a mere quid pro quo for the services they were expected to render. The proprietors or actual ownership of the land was considered as still residing in the sovereign himself.

This kind of interest was called a " feud " which is a word signifying in the German language a stipendary estate, and stood in contradistinction to allodium, which was the phrase applied to that species of property which had originally become vested by allotment in the conquerors of the soil. From this it will be'seen that two kinds of holding land came into vogue. The one, held at the will of a superior, and the other enjoying his land independently of anyone.

The interest of the former at first terminated with his life, but as years rolled on these stipendiary holders of the land carred out portions of their estates, which they gave to their more intimate and cordial supporters, who were called " vassals," and who were bound to fight for their lord.

This feudal or beneficiary system was advantageous alike to both lord and vassal in those days of violence and insecurity. The lord was benefited because the division of land among his friends ensured him a band of retainers who would fight for him, and also to' the latter, as in their lord they had a person who would shield them from the oppression which the feeble laws of their time failed to repress. The effect of this as regarded the aliodialist was remarkable. The comparative safety of the vassal induced him to give up his land .to a higher or more powerful lord, who returned it to his possession in the shape of a feud to be h^ld on condition of service ; or, instead of resorting to this formal transaction, he would in other cases merely acknowledge himself as a vassal to some chosen lord. In one or other of these cases the land, however, of the allodialistj or that was held independently, changed to the feudal in every part of the continent where the feudal system was introduced, and this conversion became universal in almost all countries, though in others there were many estates which were always continued to be held aliodially.

Such is the true history of the origin of the feudal system according to the best informed writers on the subject, by which we may perceive that it was not, as some allege, an invention of Government applied systematically by the barbarous tribes to the management of conquered countries with a view to security from foreign invasion or domestic insurrection, but rather a conventional arrangement of property brought into general acceptance through its tendency to aggrandise certain lords and protect the weaker vassals. The vassal, besides being bound by an oath of fealty to his lord was bound also to do homage. This ceremony consisted of the vassal kneeling before his lord, and saying, " I become thy man from this day forth of life and limb and earthly honour," which, when vouchsafed, was denominated homagium or manhood by the feudists. ' In our next we will speak of other conditions on which land . was held by vassals.