1E Feudal Rights Flashcards
‘feudalism’
The term feudalism’ is how modern historians refer to a system of landholding used from the
Norman Conquest in 1066 to the 13th century. In essence, all land belonged to the king, who then
divided it out among his tenants-in-chief (usually the greater nobles), who in turn divided their
estates among their tenants, this process continuing down the social ladder.
Feudalism- The tenant at the bottom
of the hierarchy
The tenant at the bottom
of the hierarchy did agricultural work on the land directly
any lords who came between this
lowly tenant and the king were described as
mesne lords and were of increasingly high standing.
Each tenant held
Each tenant held the property ‘in service’ to their mesne lord (and, ultimately, the king), which meant
they had responsibilities to him in return for being able to live on the land. Acts of service’ varied
depending upon an individual’s status and the size of property held.
At the lower end, tenants were
classified as ‘unfree’ serfs who had to perform agricultural labour on the lord’s personal lands.
By the
mid- to late 14th century, however, this type of tenure was greatly in decline and most land was held
by free tenants, who could be responsible for one or more of the following forms of duty to his lord:
Personal service, payment of rent, military service
Personal service
this could include serving one’s lord with his wine at dinner or holding his
banner in battle.
Military service: how this initially changed
under the feudal system, each tenant-in-chief was obliged to provide one
or more knights or other military personnel to serve the king or mesne lord as required. From
the early 14th century onwards, this method declined. It was replaced by a system where lords
were authorised by the king to raise forces in the name of the crown and then contracts, often
called ‘indentures’ or commissions of array or muster, were sent out, giving the details of
how many soldiers each lord needed to provide. These troops were usually found from within
the lord’s affinity, although sometimes mercenaries would be employed, especially for battles
overseas.
Military service: To a large extent, this change was caused by
the greater manpower resources required
to support English kings as they fought the Hundred Years War (1337-1453). This conflict needed
more fighting men who were required to spend longer periods abroad, and the older system of
raising an army was not adequate to meet these new demands In addition, it reflected a more
general shift towards cash payment for retainers, rather than hereditary feudal ties based on land
between lords and their followers
Contemporary moralists were often
critical of this new, cash-focused and non-hereditary system, regarding it as
a key cause of the
changing loyalties and disorder associated with the Wars of the Roses. There was probably some
truth in this, and certainly during the civil war it wes oflen very dilficult for soldiers and retainers
to know where their loyallies should ie. Nonetheless, the key actor was probably not a lack of
hereditary ties between lord and man. but instead simply the fact that cash payment for military
service allowed lords to keep larger affates, wrich was dangerous as they effectively could be
used as private armies and allowed leading nobles to become ‘over-mighty sub ects’ too easily.
The problem of unrest and a decline in royal control was also increased as
the war with France
meant a large proportion of the populaton had direct fighting experience, which made them more
cangerous in times of popular rebellion This was partcularly evident, for example, in 1450 during
Cade’s Rebellion, when the insurgents were joined by angry and humiliated soldiers returning to England from defeat in France.
One source of royal income came from the king’s traditional feudal rights over his tenants living
on crown lands. For example,
like other feudal lords, the king gained a lee when his tenant’s eldest
daughter got married. In addition, as monarch, the king had greater feudal rights than any other
lord over his tenants, such as the right to the wardship of idiots, which meant that the king took
the profits of all lands held by those sulfering from a permanent mental c sability, less the lenant’s
living costs. Monarchs could also request feudal aids for the knighting of the king’s eldest son and
the marriage of the king’s eldest daughter, with the consent of parliament.
One source of royal income came from the king’s traditional feudal rights over his tenants living
on crown lands. Who was particularly ruthless in this?
Henry VI was famously
ruthless in extracting the financial benefits of this tradition when, in 1504, he proposed to parliament
that he should be granted customary feudal fees on the occasion of the marriage of his daughter,
Princess Margaret, and the knighting of his eldest son. Prince Arthur Not entirely surprisingly.
parliament opposed this suggestion, as Arthur had been knighted five years earlier and was already dead, and Margaret had been married in the previous year. S.B Chrimes has suggested that this was motivated less by a
desire for this particular fee than a general attempt by the king
to investigate how far-reaching in practical terms his prerogative
rights were.
While all kings took advantage of these aspects of the royal
prerogative, they were less significant than custom duties or
various forms of direct taxation;
in 1433, for example, a year for
which there are unusually good financial records, revenue from
feudal dues was just over seven percent of total royal income
The management of royal income
improved under
Edward IV thanks to the introduction of more
olicient management systems administered through the Chamber
Lather than the Exchequer method: which wore
then it proved on further by Henry VII
