A Source Book of Mediaeval History Part 25

Translated by Edward P. Cheyney in _Univ. of Pa. Translations and Reprints_, Vol. IV., No. 3, pp. 3-4.

To that magnificent lord ----, I, ----. Since it is well known to all how little I have wherewith to feed and clothe myself, I have therefore pet.i.tioned your piety, and your good-will has decreed to me, that I should hand myself over, or commend myself, to your guardians.h.i.+p, which I have thereupon done; that is to say, in this way, that you should aid and succor me, as well with food as with clothing, according as I shall be able to serve you and deserve it.

And so long as I shall live I ought to provide service and honor to you, compatible with my free condition;[298] and I shall not, during the time of my life, have the right to withdraw from your control or guardians.h.i.+p; but must remain during the days of my life under your power or defense. Wherefore it is proper that if either of us shall wish to withdraw himself from these agreements, he shall pay ---- s.h.i.+llings to the other party, and this agreement shall remain unbroken.[299]

(Wherefore it is fitting that they should make or confirm between themselves two letters drawn up in the same form on this matter; which they have thus done.)

(2) THE BENEFICE

The benefice, or grant of land to a va.s.sal by a lord, by the Church, or by the king, had its origin among the Franks in what were known as the _precaria_ of the Church. At the time of the Frankish settlement in Gaul, it was quite customary for the Church to grant land to men in answer to _preces_ ("prayers," or requests), on condition that it might be recalled at any time and that the temporary holder should be unable to enforce any claims as against the owner. For the use of such land a small rent in money, in produce, or in service was usually paid. This form of tenure among the Franks was at first restricted to church lands, but by the eighth century lay owners, even the king himself, had come to employ it. The term _precarium_ dropped out of use and all such grants, by whomsoever made, came to be known as benefices ("benefits," or "favors"). The ordinary va.s.sal might or might not once have had land in his own name, but if he had such he was expected to give over the owners.h.i.+p of it to his lord and receive it back as a benefice to be used on certain prescribed conditions. In time it became common, too, for lords to grant benefices out of their own lands to landless va.s.sals. A man could be a va.s.sal without having a benefice, but rarely, at least after the eighth century, could he have a benefice without entering into the obligations of va.s.salage.

Benefices were at first granted by the Church with the understanding that they might be recalled at any time; later they were granted by Church, kings, and seigniors for life, or for a certain term of years; and finally, in the ninth and tenth centuries, they came generally to be regarded as hereditary. By the time the hereditary principle had been established, the name "fief" (_feodum_, _feudum_--whence our word feudal) had supplanted the older term "benefice." The tendency of the personal element of va.s.salage and the territorial element of the benefice, or fief, to merge was very strong, and by the tenth century nearly every va.s.sal was also a fief-holder. The following formulae belong to the seventh century. The first (a) is for the grant of lands to a church or monastery; the second (b) for their return to the grantor as a _precarium_--or what was known a century later as a benefice.

Source--Eugene de Roziere, _Recueil General des Formules_, Vol. I., p. 473. Translated by E. P. Cheyney in _Univ. of Pa.

Translations and Reprints_, Vol. IV., No. 3, pp. 6-8.

[Sidenote: Description of property yielded to a church or monastery]

[Sidenote: Terms of the contract]

[Sidenote: Penalty for faithlessness]

(a)

I, ----, in the name of G.o.d. I have settled in my mind that I ought, for the good of my soul, to make a gift of something from my possessions, which I have therefore done. And this is what I hand over, in the district named ----, in the place of which the name is ----, all those possessions of mine which there my father left me at his death, and which, as against my brothers, or as against my co-heirs, the lot legitimately brought me in the division,[300] or those which I was able afterward to add to them in any way, in their whole completeness, that is to say, the courtyard with its buildings, with slaves, houses, lands (cultivated and uncultivated), meadows, woods, waters, mills, etc. These, as I have said before, with all the things adjacent or belonging to them, I hand over to the church, which was built in honor of Saint ----, to the monastery which is called ----, where the Abbot ---- is acknowledged to rule regularly over G.o.d's flock. On these conditions: that so long as life remains in my body, I shall receive from you as a benefice for usufruct the possessions above described, and the due payment I will make to you and your successors each year, that is ---- [amount named]. And my son shall have the same possessions for the days of his life, and shall make the above-named payment; and if my children should survive me, they shall have the same possessions during the days of their lives and shall make the same payment; and if G.o.d shall give me a son from a legitimate wife, he shall have the same possessions for the days of his life only, after the death of whom the same possessions, with all their improvements, shall return to your hands to be held forever; and if it should be my chance to beget sons from a legitimate marriage, these shall hold the same possessions after my death, making the above-named payment, during the time of their lives. If not, however, after my death, without subterfuge of any kind, by right of your authority, the same possessions shall revert to you, to be retained forever. If any one, however (which I do not believe will ever occur)--if I myself, or any other person--shall wish to violate the firmness and validity of this grant, the order of truth opposing him, may his falsity in no degree succeed; and for his bold attempt may he pay to the aforesaid monastery double the amount which his ill-ordered cupidity has been prevented from abstracting; and moreover let him be indebted to the royal authority for ---- solidi of gold; and, nevertheless, let the present charter remain inviolate with all that it contains, with the witnesses placed below.

Done in ----, publicly, those who are noted below being present, or the remaining innumerable mult.i.tude of people.

[Sidenote: The property again described]

[Sidenote: Returned to the original owner to be used by him]

(b)

In the name of G.o.d, I, Abbot ----, with our commissioned brethren.

Since it is not unknown how you, ----, by the suggestion of divine exhortation, did grant to ---- [monastery named], to the church which is known to be constructed in honor of Saint ----, where we by G.o.d's authority exercise our pastoral care, all your possessions which you seemed to have in the district named, in the vill [village] named, which your father on his death bequeathed to you there, or which by your own labor you were able to gain there, or which, as against your brother or against ----, a co-heir, a just division gave you, with courtyard and buildings, gardens and orchards, with various slaves, ---- by name, houses, lands, meadows, woods (cultivated and uncultivated), or with all the dependencies and appurtenances belonging to it, which it would be extremely long to enumerate, in all their completeness; but afterwards, at your request, it has seemed proper to us to cede to you the same possessions to be held for usufruct; and you will not neglect to pay at annual periods the due _census_ [i.e., the rental] hence, that is ---- [amount named]. And if G.o.d should give you a son by your legal wife, he shall have the same possessions for the days of his life only, and shall not presume to neglect the above payment, and similarly your sons which you are seen to have at present, shall do for the days of their lives; after the death of whom, all the possessions above-named shall revert to us and our successors perpetually. Moreover, if no sons shall have been begotten by you, immediately after your death, without any harmful contention, the possessions shall revert to the rulers or guardians of the above-named church, forever. Nor may any one, either ourselves or our successors, be successful in a rash attempt inordinately to destroy these agreements, but just as the time has demanded in the present _precaria_, may that be sure to endure unchanged which we, with the consent of our brothers, have decided to confirm.

Done in ----, in the presence of ---- and of others whom it is not worth while to enumerate. [Seal of the same abbot who has ordered this _precaria_ to be made.]

(3) THE IMMUNITY

The most important element in the governmental phase of feudalism was what was known as the immunity. In Roman law immunity meant exemption from taxes and public services and belonged especially to the lands owned personally by the emperors. Such exemptions were, however, sometimes allowed to the lands of imperial officers and of men in certain professions, and in later times to the lands held by the Church. How closely this Roman immunity was connected with the feudal immunity of the Middle Ages is not clear. Doubtless the inst.i.tution survived in Gaul, especially on church lands, long after the Frankish conquest. It is best, however, to look upon the typical Frankish immunity as of essentially independent origin. From the time of Clovis, the kings were accustomed to make grants of the sort to land-holding abbots and bishops, and by the time of Charlemagne nearly all such prelates had been thus favored. But such grants were not confined to ecclesiastics. Even in the seventh and eighth centuries lay holders of royal benefices often received the privileges of the immunity also. Speaking generally, the immunity exempted the lands to which it applied from the jurisdiction of the local royal officials, especially of the counts. The lands were supposed to be none the less ultimately subject to the royal authority, but by the grant of immunity the sovereign took their financial and judicial administration from the counts, who would ordinarily have charge, and gave it to the holders of the lands. The counts were forbidden to enter the specified territories to collect taxes or fines, hold courts, and sometimes even to arrange for military service. The layman, or the bishop, or the abbot, who held the lands performed these services and was responsible only to the crown for them. The king's chief object in granting the immunity was to reward or win the support of the grantees and to curtail the authority of his local representatives, who in many cases threatened to become too powerful for the good of the state; but by every such grant the sovereign really lost some of his own power, and this practice came to be in no small measure responsible for the weakness of monarchy in feudal times.

The first of the extracts below (a) is a seventh-century formula for the grant of an immunity by the king to a bishop. The second (b) is a grant made by Charlemagne, in 779, confirming an old immunity enjoyed by the monastery at Chalons-sur-Saone.

Sources--(a) Text in _Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Legum Sectio V., Formulae_, Part I., pp. 43-44.

(b) Text in _Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Leges_ (Pertz ed.), Vol. II., p. 287. Adapted from translation in Ephraim Emerton, _Introduction to the Study of the Middle Ages_ (new ed., Boston, 1903), p. 246.

[Sidenote: A formula for a grant of immunity]

(a)

We believe that we give our royal authority its full splendor if, with benevolent intentions, we bestow upon churches--or upon any persons--the favors which they merit, and if, with the aid of G.o.d, we give a written a.s.surance of the continuance of these favors. We wish, then, to make known that at the request of a prelate, lord of ---- [the estate named] and bishop of ---- [the church named], we have accorded to him, for the sake of our eternal salvation, the following benefits: that in the domains of the bishop's church, both those which it possesses to-day and those which by G.o.d's grace it may later acquire, no public official shall be permitted to enter, either to hold courts or to exact fines, on any account; but let these prerogatives be vested in full in the bishop and his successors. We ordain therefore that neither you nor your subordinates,[301] nor those who come after you, nor any person endowed with a public office, shall ever enter the domains of that church, in whatever part of our kingdom they may be situated, either to hold trials or to collect fines. All the taxes and other revenues which the royal treasury has a right to demand from the people on the lands of the said church, whether they be freemen or slaves, Romans or barbarians, we now bestow on the said church for our future salvation, to be used by the officials of the church forever for the best interests of the church.

(b)

Charles, by the grace of G.o.d King of the Franks and Lombards and Patrician of the Romans, to all having charge of our affairs, both present and to come:

By the help of the Lord, who has raised us to the throne of this kingdom, it is the chief duty of our clemency to lend a gracious ear to the need of all, and especially ought we devoutly to regard that which we are persuaded has been granted by preceding kings to church foundations for the saving of souls, and not to deny fitting benefits, in order that we may deserve to be partakers of the reward, but to confirm them in still greater security.

[Sidenote: The old immunity enjoyed by the monastery at Chalons]

Now the ill.u.s.trious Hubert, bishop and ruler of the church of St.

Marcellus, which lies below the citadel of Chalons,[302] where the precious martyr of the Lord himself rests in the body, has brought it to the attention of our Highness that the kings who preceded us, or our lord and father of blessed memory, Pepin, the preceding king, had by their charters granted complete immunities to that monastery, so that in the towns or on the lands belonging to it no public judge, nor any one with power of hearing cases or exacting fines, or raising sureties, or obtaining lodging or entertainment, or making requisitions of any kind, should enter.

Moreover, the aforesaid bishop, Hubert, has presented the original charters of former kings, together with the confirmations of them, to be read by us, and declares the same favors to be preserved to the present day; but desiring the confirmation of our clemency, he prays that our authority may confirm this grant anew to the monastery.

[Sidenote: =The immunity confirmed=]

Wherefore, having inspected the said charters of former kings, we command that neither you, nor your subordinates, nor your successors, nor any person having judicial powers, shall presume to enter into the villages which may at the present time be in possession of that monastery, or which hereafter may have been bestowed by G.o.d-fearing men [or may be about to be so bestowed].[303] Let no public officer enter for the hearing of cases, or for exacting fines, or procuring sureties, or obtaining lodging or entertainment, or making any requisitions; but in full immunity, even as the favor of former kings has been continued down to the present day, so in the future also shall it, through our authority, remain undiminished. And if in times past, through any negligence of abbots, or luke-warmness of rulers, or the presumption of public officers, anything has been changed or taken away, removed or withdrawn, from these immunities, let it, by our authority and favor, be restored. And, further, let neither you nor your subordinates presume to infringe upon or violate what we have granted.

[Sidenote: Penalties for its violation]

But if there be any one, _dominus_,[304] _comes_ [count], _domesticus_,[305] _vicarius_,[306] or one vested with any judicial power whatsoever, by the indulgence of the good or by the favor of pious Christians or kings, who shall have presumed to infringe upon or violate these immunities, let him be punished with a fine of six hundred _solidi_,[307] two parts to go to the library of this monastery, and the third part to be paid into our treasury, so that impious men may not rejoice in violating that which our ancestors, or good Christians, may have conceded or granted. And whatever our treasury may have had a right to expect from this source shall go to the profit of the men of this church of St. Marcellus the martyr, to the better establishment of our kingdom and the good of those who shall succeed us.

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 t.i.tle 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 va.s.sals 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 Mediae et Infimae 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 va.s.sal, 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 general des Fiefs en France pendant le XI, le XII, le XIII, et le XIVe Siecle_ ["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 Pieces du XIIIe Siecle_ ["Collection of Doc.u.ments of the Thirteenth Century"], Auxerre, 1873, No. 2, pp. 1-2. Translated by Cheyney, _ibid._

[Sidenote: The count of Champagne grants a fief to the bishop of Beauvais]

(a)

In the name of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, Amen. I, Louis,[308]

by the grace of G.o.d 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 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.

[Sidenote: A grant by Count Thiebault]

(b)