KFLCC Kingdom Law 2nd Ed.

493

FEUDUM

FEU

in its completeness, by William I., A. D. 1085, though it may have existed in a rudimentary form among the Saxons before the Conquest It formed the entire basis of the real-property law of England in medieval times; and surviv als of the system, in modern days, so modify and color that branch of jurisprudence, both in England and America, that many of its princi ples require for their complete understanding a knowledge of the feudal System. The feudal system originated in the relations of a military chieftain and his followers, or king and nobles, or lord and vassals, and especially their rela tions as determined by the bond established by a grant of land from the former to the latter. From this it grew into a complete and intricate complex of rules for the tenure "and transmis sion of real estate, and of correlated duties and services; while, by tying men -to the land and to those holding above and below them, it creat ed a close-knit hierarchy of persons, and de veloped an aggregate of social and political in stitutions. For an account of the feudal sys tem in its juristic relations, see 2 Bl. Comm. 44; 1 Steph. Comm. 160; 3 Kent, Comm. 487; Spel. Feuds; Litt. Ten.; Sull. Lect.; Spence, Eq. Jur.; 1 Washb. Real Prop. 15; Dalr. Feu. Prop. For its political and social relations, see Hall. Middle Ages; Maine, Anc. Law; Rob. Car. V.; Montesq. Esprit des Lois, bk. 30; Guizot, Hist. Civilization.— Feudal tenures. The tenures of real estate under the feudal sys tem, such as knight-service, socage, villenage, etc. The feudal system; the aggregate of feudal principles and usages. FEUDALIZE. To reduce to a feudal ten ure; to conform to feudalism. Webster. A tenant who holds by feu dal tenure, (also spelled "feodatory" and "feudatory.") Held by feudal service. Re lating to feuds or feudal tenures. A recompense for engaging in a feud, and the damages consequent, it having been the custom in ancient times for all the kindred to engage in their kinsman's quarrel. Jacob. FEUDE. An occasional early form of "feud" in the sense of private war or ven geance. Termes de la Ley. See FEUD. FEUDALISM. FEUDARY. FEUDBOTE. FEUDUM. L. Lat A feud, fief, or fee. A' right of using and enjoying forever the lands of another, which the lord grants on condition that the tenant shall render fealty, military duty, and other services. Spelman. —Feudum antiquum. An ancient feud or fief; a fief descended to the vassal from his an cestors. 2 Bl. Comm. 212, 221. A fief which ancestors had possessed for more than four gen erations. Spelman; Priest v. Cummings, 20 Wend. (N. Y.) 349.— Feudum apertum. An open feud or fief; a fief resulting back to the lord, where the blood of the person last seised was utterly extinct and gone. 2 Bl. Comm. 245. —Feudum 'francum. A free feud. One which was noble and fret from talliage and oth- FEUDIST. A writer on feuds, as Cuja cius, Spelman, etc. FEUDO. In Spanish law. Feud or fee. White, New Recop. b. 2, tit 2, c. 2.

Ice, makes his return in grain or money. Distinguished from "wardholding," which is the military tenure of the country. Bell. —Feu annuals. The reddendo, or annual re turn from the vassal to a superior in a feu hold ing.— Feu holding. A holding by tenure of rendering grain or money in place of military service. Bell.— Feuar. The tenant of a feu; a. feu-vassal. Bell. FEU ET LIEU. Fr. In old French and Canadian law. Hearth and home. A term Importing actual settlement upon land by a tenant. FEUD. In feudal law. An estate in land held of a superior on condition of ren dering him services. 2 Bl. Comm. 105. An inheritable right to the use and occu pation of lands, held on condition of render ing services to the lord or proprietor, who himself retains the property in the lands. See Spel. Feuds, c. 1. In this sense the word is the same as "feod," "feodum," "feudum," "fief," or "fee." In Saxon and old German law. An en mity, or species of private war, existing be tween the family of a murdered man and the family of his slayer; a combination of the former to take vengeance upon the latter. See DEADLY FEUD; FAIDA. —Military feuds. The genuine or original feuds which were in the hands of military men, who performed military duty for their tenures. actions, or such as concern real property only. 3 Bl. Comm. 117.— Feudal law. The body of jurisprudence relating to feuds; the real-prop erty law of the feudal system; the law ancient ly regulating the property relations of lord and vassal, and the creation, incidents, and trans mission of feudal estates. The body of laws and usages constituting the "feudal law" was orig inally customary and unwritten, but a compila tion was made in the twelfth century, called "Feodarum Consuetudines," which has formed the basis of later digests. The feudal law pre vailed over Europe from the twelfth to the four teenth, century, and was introduced into Eng land at the Norman Conquest, where it formed the entire basis of the law of real property un til comparatively modern times. Survivals of the feudal law, to the present day, so affect and color that branch of jurisprudence as to re quire a certain knowledge of the feudal law in order to the perfect comprehension of modern tenures and rules of real-property law.— Feudal possession. The equivalent of "seisin" under the feudal system.— Feudal system. The sys tem of feuds. A political and social system which prevailed throughout Europe during the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, and is supposed to have grown out of the peculiar usages and policy of the Teutonic nations who overran the continent after the fall of the West ern Roman Empire, as developed by the ex igencies of their military domination, and possi bly furthered by notions taken from the Roman jurisprudence. It was introduced into England, FEUDA. Feuds or fees. FEUDAL. Pertaining to feuds or fees; relating to or growing out of the feudal sys tem or feudal law; having the quality of a feud, as distinguished from "allodial." —Feudal actions. An ancient name for real