And that this decree may firmly endure we have ordered it to be confirmed with our own hand under our seal.
35. The Granting of Fiefs
The most obvious feature of feudalism was a peculiar divided tenure of land under which the title was vested in one person and the use in another. The territorial unit was the fief, which in extent might be but a few acres, a whole county, or even a vast region like Normandy or Burgundy. Fiefs were granted to vassals by contracts which bound both grantor and grantee to certain specific obligations. The two extracts below are examples of the records of such feudal grants, bearing the dates 1167 and 1200 respectively. It should be remembered, however, that fiefs need not necessarily be land. Offices, payments of money, rights to collect tolls, and many other valuable things might be given by one man to another as fiefs in just the same way that land was given. Du Cange, in his Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis, mentions eighty-eight different kinds of fiefs, and it has been said that this does not represent more than one-fourth of the total number. Nevertheless, the typical fief consisted of land. The term might therefore be defined in general as the land for which the vassal, or hereditary possessor, rendered to the lord, or hereditary proprietor, services of a special character which were considered honorable, such as military aid and attendance at courts.
Sources—(a) Nicolas Brussel, Nouvel Examen de l'Usage général des Fiefs en France pendant le XI, le XII, le XIII, et le XIVe Siècle ["New Examination of the Customs of Fiefs in the 11th, the 12th, the 13th, and the 14th Century">[, Paris, 1727, Vol. I., p. 3, note. Translated by Edward P. Cheyney in Univ. of Pa. Translations and Reprints, Vol. IV., No. 3, pp. 15-16.
(b) Maximilien Quantin, Recueil de Pièces du XIIIe Siècle ["Collection of Documents of the Thirteenth Century">[, Auxerre, 1873, No. 2, pp. 1-2. Translated by Cheyney, ibid.
(a)
In the name of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Amen. I, Louis,[308] by the grace of God king of the French, make known to all present as well as to come, that at Mante in our presence, Count Henry of Champagne[309] conceded the fief of Savigny to The count of Champagne grants a fief to the bishop of Beauvais Bartholomew, bishop of Beauvais,[310] and his successors. And for that fief the said bishop has made promise and engagement for one knight and justice and service to Count Henry;[311] and he also agreed that the bishops who shall come after him will do likewise. In order that this may be understood and known to posterity we have caused the present charter to be attested by our seal. Done at Mante, in the year of the Incarnate Word, 1167; present in our palace those whose names and seals are appended: seal of Thiebault, our steward; seal of Guy, the butler; seal of Matthew, the chamberlain; seal of Ralph, the constable. Given by the hand of Hugh, the chancellor.
(b)
I, Thiebault, count palatine of Troyes,[312] make known to those present and to come that I have given in fee[313] to Jocelyn d'Avalon and his heirs the manor which is called Gillencourt,[314] which is of the castellanerie[315] of La Ferté-sur-Aube; and whatever the same Jocelyn shall be able to acquire in the same manor I have granted to him and his heirs in enlargement of that fief. I have granted, moreover, to him that in no free manor of mine will I retain men who are of this gift.[316] The same Jocelyn, moreover, on account of this has become my liege man, saving, however, his allegiance A grant by Count Thiebault to Gerad d'Arcy, and to the lord duke of Burgundy, and to Peter, count of Auxerre.[317] Done at Chouaude, by my own witness, in the year of the Incarnation of our Lord 1200, in the month of January. Given by the hand of Walter, my chancellor.