Hello Reader, this time Tabir Hukum will discuss about feudal structures.
Most of the concepts essential to understanding real property law developed in feudal England. Initially, land rights were determined locally, according to existing custom and the exigencies of each manor. In the Middle Ages, the shift of power from local courts to the King and the centralization of power in the King's court established the authority of common law and legislation. On this foundation, rights in land became more standardzed, and, in the developing market economy, easier to exchange. But the function of real property law was not to simplify land transfer. In Canada today, real property law, in its anachronisms and inconsistencies, retains the marks of feudal origins and subsequent struggles to accommodate new social, political and economic realities.
What most lawyers understand by the feudal system is the pattern of landholding imposed on England by William the Conqueror in 1066. Its basic feature is land tenure in exchange for military service. In the aftermath of conquest, the Conqueror became the owner of all the land. As he could no control it all personally, he parcelled it out to fifteen hundred or so Barons who supported him. Each Baron was allotted a large tract of land to hold (teneo) of the King. There was no sale or gift of ownership, as we think of ownership; rather the King granted land to a Baron which the Baron held as a tenant of the King. The Baron was given, not ownership of the land itself, but certain rights and obligations in relation to the land. In exchange for possession of the land, the Baron promised ongoing layalty and services to the King. The word "feudal" comes from the same Latin root as "fealty", which means layalty. The grant of land thus confirmed rather than severed the connection between grantor and grantee, by creating obligations that required a continuing personal relationship.
Land is of no value without labour to make it productive, and so, in order to cultivate and defend their land, and to provide the King with the required services, the Barons followed the King's example and percelled out their large tracts to sub-tenants, in exchange for money and services. One can visualize the developing structure as a pyramid or triangle, with the King at the apex, next a band of Barons who are the head tenants of the King, called "tenants in capite" and, further down, lesser landholders, called "mesne lords", who owed services to those above them and required services from those below. If the King demanded a supply of men, horses or food from his tenants in capite, they obtained them from their tenants, the mesne lords, who in turn looked to their tenants to supply what was needed. At the very bottom were those who had no rights in the land. Property law, therefore, had characteristics of both public and private law - it placed public duties on holders of rights in land, and defined the terms of land-holding.
Umpteen posts of tabir hukum about feudal structures, hopefully the writing of tabir hukum about feudal structures can be beneficial.
Books : In Writing Tabir Hukum :
Alan M. Sinclair and Margaret E. McCallum, 2005. An Introduction to Real Property Law (Fifth Edition). LexisNexis : Canada.
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| Figure Property Law : Tenures and Estates - Feudal Structures |
