feudall (fudal)

[ Scott , L. of L. M., iii. 4. feudal2 (fu'dal), a. [Also written feodal ; = F. féodal =Sp. Pg.feudal = It. feudale = G. feudal , etc., feudal is , feudal, a va al, feudum , a feud: see feud2.] 1. Pertaining to feuds, fiefs, or fees; relating to or dependent upon the method of landholding called feud, fief, or fee: as, feudal tenure; feudal rights or services; a feudal lord or va al. The feudal tenure, which was certainly at first the ten of servants who, but for the dignity of their master, might have been called slaves, became in the Middle Ages the tenure of noblemen. Maine , Early Law and Custom, p. 341. The old feudal spirit which prompted a man to treat his tenants and villeins as part of his stock had been crushed before the reign of Edward III. Stubbs, Const. Hist., § 469. 2. Pertaining to the state of society under this system of tenure; characteristic of the relations of lord and va al. It is time. that we had a feudal map of England before the manorial boundaries are wiped away. Stubbs , Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 64. Feudal system, a system of political organization with reference to the tenure of land and to military service and allegiance prevalent in Europe in the middle ages. Its main peculiarity was that the bulk of the land was divid ed into feuds or fiefs, held by their owners on condition of the performance of certain duties, especially military services, to a superior lord, who, on default of such performance, could reclaim the land. This superior might be either the sovereign, or some subject who thus held of the sovereign, and in turn had created the fief by subinfeudation. According to the pure feudal system, the lord was entitled to the fealty of his tenants, but not to that of their subtenants, every man looking only to his immediate lord. On the continent of Europe, while the system was in full operation, this principle made the great lords practically independent of their nominal sovereigns, who could command their allegiance only through their self interest or by superior force; and therefore kings were often powerle against their va als. In England, however, the sovereign was always entitled to the fealty of all his subjects. Feudal tenures were abolished in England by act of Parliament in 1660, in Scotland in 1747, and in France at the revolution of 1789. In Germany, Austria, etc., they continued till after the revolutionary movements of 1848-50. In each case, however, they had long previously been much mitigated in their social and political effects. A feudal system prevailed in China from a very early period, but was brought to an end in 220 B. C., on the con quest of the whole country by Siang Wang of Tsin, known as Tsin-shi-Hwang-ti. The feudal system of Japan was abolished in 1871, when the daimios or barons surrendered their lands to the mikado. See daimio.