The owner was the so-called liege lord or feudal lord (German: Lehnsherr Lehnsgeber Latin: dominus feudi, senior), who was usually the territorial lord or reigning monarch. The Latin word beneficum implied, not only the actual estate or property, the fief - in Latin usually called the feodum - but also the associated legal relationship. Götz von Berlichingen was enfeoffed with Hornberg Castle in this deedĪ fief (also fee, feu, feud, tenure or fiefdom, German: Lehen, Latin: feudum, feodum or beneficium) was understood to be a thing (land, property), which its owner, the liege lord ( Lehnsherr), had transferred to the hereditary ownership of the beneficiary on the basis of mutual loyalty, with the proviso that it would return to the lord under certain circumstances.Įnfeoffment gave the vassal extensive, hereditary usufruct of the fief, founded and maintained on a relationship of mutual loyalty between the lord and the beneficiary. For other uses, see Lehnsherr (disambiguation). In turn, they could award fiefs to other nobles, who wanted to be enfeoffed by them and who were often subordinate to the liege lord in the aristocratic hierarchy. The highest liege lord was the sovereign, the king or duke, who granted fiefs to his princes. the lord could not, by law, beat his vassal, humiliate or lay hands on his wife or daughter. Furthermore, feudal lord and vassal were bound to mutually respect one another, e.g. Both pledged mutual loyalty: the lord to "shelter and protect", the vassal to "help and advise". holding his stirrup, joining him on festive occasions and service as a cupbearer at the banquet table. It obliged the feudatory to render personal services to the lord. įeudalism in Europe emerged in the Early Middle Ages, based on Roman clientship and the Germanic social hierarchy of lords and retainers. In Germany the system is variously referred to Lehnswesen, Feudalwesen or Benefizialwesen.
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