Editing Examples of feudalism (section)

== Western European feudalism ==
=== 10th century Normandy ===
When Rollo took Normandy from the French King Charles the Simple in 911 the ownership of Normandy was given ''quasi fundum et allodium'' — in absolute ownership, allowing Duke Rollo as seigneur to give everyday use of portions of land to his followers, in exchange for recognition of the lords' rights and agreeing to ''foi et homage'' - providing services and paying homage.<ref name="j&g"/> This continued until 1204 when Normandy once again became part of France, except for the Channel Islands where fiefs would in future be held for the English Crown in right of the ducal title.<ref name="j&g"/>

=== England ===
{{Main|Feudalism in England}}
Feudalism in the 12th century [[Norman England]] was among the better structured and established in Europe at the time. However, it could be structurally complex, which is illustrated by the example of the [[English feudal barony|feudal barony]] of [[Stafford]] as described in a survey of knight's fees made in 1166 and recorded in ''The Black Book of the Exchequer''. This was a roll of parchment or several such, recording the quantity and tenant of each knight's fee held ''in capital''. It was a record commissioned by the [[Treasury]] as the knight's fee was the primary basis for assessing certain types of taxation, for example, feudalism is the exchange of land for military service, thus everything was based on what was called the [[knight's fee]], which is a fiefdom or [[Estate (law)|estate of land]]. A [[English feudal barony|feudal barony]] contained several knight's fees, for example, the baron [[Robert de Stafford]] held a barony containing 60 knight's fees. Often lords were not so much lords presiding over great estates, but managers of a network of tenants and sub-leases.

Stafford tenants were themselves [[lord of the manor|lords of the manors]] they held from him, which is altogether different from their being [[English feudal barony|barons]]. Henry D'Oilly, who held 3 fees from Robert de Stafford, also held, as a [[tenant-in-chief]], over 30 fees elsewhere that had been granted to him directly by the king. Thus while Henry was the vassal of his overlord Robert, Henry was himself a lord of his manors held [[Tenant-in-chief|'' in capital'']] and [[subinfeudation|sub-enfeoffed]] many of his manors which he did not keep [[Demesne|in demesne]], that is to say under his management using simple employees. It would also have been possible and not uncommon for a situation where Robert of Stafford was a vassal of Henry elsewhere, creating the condition of mutual lordship/vassalage between the two. These complex relationships invariably create loyalty problems through conflicts of interest. To resolve this the concept of a [[liege lord]] existed, which meant that the vassal was loyal to his liege lord above all others, except the king himself, no matter what. However, even this sometimes broke down when a vassal would pledge himself to more than one liege lord.

From the perspective of the smallest landholder, multiple networks of tenancy were layered on the same small plot of land. A chronicle of the time says "Different lordships lay on the land in different respects". Each tenant laid claim to a certain aspect of the service from the land.

[[Magna Carta]] was used in 1215 by the barons to force King John to respect feudal rights, limiting the power of the King by defying his rights under feudal law.<ref>{{cite web |title=Magna Carta in context |url=https://www.bl.uk/magna-carta/articles/magna-carta-in-context |access-date=22 June 2023 |archive-date=21 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621233619/https://www.bl.uk/magna-carta/articles/magna-carta-in-context |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== France ===
From the 11th century, among the complexities of feudal arrangements, there existed no guarantee that contracts between [[lord]] and [[vassal]] would be honored, and feudal contracts saw little enforcement from those with greater authority. This often resulted in the wealthier and more powerful party taking advantage of the weaker.

Such was (allegedly) the case of [[Hugh IV of Lusignan|Hugh de Lusignan]] and his relations with his lord [[William V of Aquitaine]]. Between 1020 and 1025 Hugh wrote or possibly dictated a complaint against William and his vassals describing the unjust treatment he had received at the hands of both. Hugh describes a convoluted intermingling of loyalties that was characteristic of the period and instrumental in developing strain between nobles that resulted in competition for each other's land. According to Hugh's account, William wronged him on numerous occasions, often to the benefit of William's vassals. Many of his properties suffered similar fates: seized by opponents and divided between them and William. William neglected to send military aid to Hugh when necessary and dealt most unfairly in the exchange of [[hostage]]s. Each time Hugh reclaimed one of his properties, William ordered him to return it to whoever had recently taken it from him. William broke multiple [[oath]]s in succession yet Hugh continued to put faith in his lord's word, to his ruin. In his last contract with William, over possession of his uncle's castle at Chiza, Hugh dealt in no uncertain terms and with frank language:

<blockquote>'''Hugh''': You are my lord, I will not accept a pledge from you, but I will simply rely on the mercy of God and yourself.<br />
'''William''': Give up all those claims over which you have quarreled with me in the past and swear fidelity to me and my son and I will give you your uncle's honor [Chizes] or something else of equal value in exchange for it.<br />
'''Hugh''': My lord, I beg you through God and this blessed crucifix which is made in the figure of Christ that you do not make me do this if you and your son were intending to threaten me with trickery.<br />
'''William''': On my honor and my son I will do this without trickery.<br />
'''Hugh''': And when I shall have sworn fidelity to you, you will demand Chizes castle of me, and if I should not turn it over to you, you will say that it is not right that I deny you the castle which I hold from you, and if I should turn it over to you, you and your son will seize it because you have given nothing in pledge except the mercy of God and yourself.<br />
'''William''': We will not do that, but if we should demand it of you, don't turn it over to us.<ref name="Agreements Between Lord and Vassal">{{cite book |last=Geary |first=P. |date=2010 |title=Readings in Medieval History |edition=Fourth |publisher=[[University of Toronto]] |location=Toronto}}</ref></blockquote>

While perhaps an embellishment of the truth for the sake of Hugh's cause, and not necessarily a microcosm of the feudal system everywhere, the ''Agreement Between Lord and Vassal'' is evidence at least of corruption in feudal rule.

The feudal system was almost completely wiped out in France by the revolution in 1789 by eliminating the rights of the seigneur.<ref name="j&g">{{cite web |title=Jersey & Guernsey Law Review – June 2008 THE CUSTOMARY LAW about THE FORESHORE (1) |url=https://www.jerseylaw.je/publications/jglr/PDF%20Documents/JLR0806_Falle.pdf |access-date=21 June 2023}}</ref>

=== Holy Roman Empire ===
{{Main|Feudalism in the Holy Roman Empire}}

=== Portugal ===
Portugal, originally a part of the [[Kingdom of León]], was an example of a [[feudal society]], according to [[Marc Bloch]].<ref name=PortugalBloch/>

Portugal has its roots in a feudal state in northern [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberia]], the [[County of Portugal]], established in 868 within the [[Kingdom of Asturias]]. The [[Vímara Peres]], the local counts' dynasty, was suppressed in 1071, but twenty-two years later, in 1093, King [[Alfonso VI of Castile|Alphonse VI of Léon and Castille]] gave the county as a [[fiefdom]] to [[Henry, Count of Portugal|Henry of Burgundy]] (a younger [[Capetian dynasty|Capet]] who was participating in the [[reconquista]]), when he married [[Theresa, Countess of Portugal|Theresa]], the king's natural daughter.

Despite their [[vassal]] link, Henry had remarkable autonomy, especially after his father-in-law died in 1109. The [[The establishment of the monarchy in Portugal|Portuguese independence]] was obtained by his son, [[Afonso I of Portugal]] when, after defeating the Muslims at the [[Battle of Ourique]], proclaimed himself [[Kings of portugal|King of Portugal]] in 1139, cutting definitively all feudal bonds with the Kingdom of León. Upon seeing the weakness of feudal society due to the Muslim invasion, Portugal became independent from the Kingdom of León as Castile had done a century earlier.<ref name=PortugalBloch>{{cite book |last=Bloch |first=Marc |author-link=Marc Bloch |title=Feudal Society |volume=2 |publisher=[[Routledge]] & Kegan Paul Ltd}}</ref>

=== North American colonies ===
Semi-feudal systems accompanied [[colonialism]] in some European settlements in North America:
* [[Patroon]] system in [[New Netherland]], which lasted until the [[Anti-Rent War]] and the [[New York Constitution#Constitutional Convention of 1846|New York Constitution of 1846]]
* [[Seigneurial system of New France]] (now Canada), which was abolished in 1854 under British rule, though transitional rent payments persisted until 1970