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Land tenure is the name given, particularly in common law systems, to the legal regime in which land is owned by an individual, who is said to "hold" the land. Common law refers to law and the corresponding legal system developed through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive The sovereign monarch, known as The Crown, held land in its own right. Throughout the Commonwealth realms The Crown is an abstract metonymic concept which represents the legal authority for the existence of any government All private owners are either its tenants or sub-tenants. The term "tenure" is used to signify the relationship between tenant and lord, not the relationship between tenant and land.

Historically in the system of feudalism, the lords who received land directly from the Crown were called tenants in chief. Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed They doled out portions of their land to lesser tenants in exchange for services, who in turn divided it among even lesser tenants. This process--that of granting subordinate tenancies--is known as subinfeudation. In this way, all individuals except the monarch were said to hold the land "of" someone else.

Historically, it was usual for there to be reciprocal duties between lord and tenant. There were different kinds of tenure to fit various kinds of duties that a tenant might owe to a lord. For instance, a military tenure might require the tenant to supply the lord with a number of armed knights. Knight is the English term for a social position originating in the Middle Ages. The concept of tenure has since evolved into other forms, such as leases and estates. See also Leasing, Renting A lease is a Legal document, but can be an oral arrangement which confers a right on one person (called For other uses see Estate. An estate comprises the houses and outbuildings and supporting farmland and woods that surround the gardens and grounds

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Land tenure in England

Even before the Norman Conquest, there was a strong tradition of landholding in Anglo-Saxon law. While there is virtually no evidence of Anglo-Saxon Law per se (i When William the Conqueror asserted sovereignty over England in 1066, he confiscated the property of the recalcitrant English landowners. William I of England ( 1027 His reign which brought Norman culture to England had an enormous impact on the subsequent course of England in the Middle Ages England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Over the next dozen years, he granted land to his lords and to the dispossessed Englishmen, or affirmed their existing land holdings, in exchange for fealty and promises of military and other services. An Oath of fealty, from the Latin fidelitas ( Faithfulness) is a pledge of Allegiance of one person to another At the time of the Domesday Book, all land in England was held by someone, and from that time there has been no allodial land in England. The Domesday Book (ˈduːmzdeɪ bʊk also known as Domesday, or Book of Winchester) was the record of the great survey England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Allodial title is a concept in some systems of property law It describes a situation where Real property ( Land, Buildings and Fixtures) is owned England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland In order to legitimise the notion of the Crown's paramount lordship, a legal fiction - that all land titles were held by the King's subjects as a result of a royal grant - was adopted.

Most of these tenants-in-chief had considerable land holdings and proceeded to grant parts of their land to their subordinates. This constant process of granting new tenures was known as subinfeudation. Subinfeudation, in English law, is the practice by which Tenants holding land under the king or other superior lord carved out in their turn by sub-letting or alienating It created a complicated pyramid of feudal relationships. (see also Lord of the manor). The title of Lord of the Manor arose in the English mediaeval system of Manorialism following the Norman Conquest. At the bottom of the feudal pyramid were the tenants who lived on and worked the land (called the tenants in demesne and also the tenant paravail). In the middle were the lords who had no direct relationship with the King, or with the land in question - referred to as mesne lords. A mesne lord was a Lord in the Feudal system who had vassals who held land from him but who was himself the vassal of a higher lord

Land was granted in return for various "services" and "incidents". A service was an obligation on the part of the tenant owed to the landlord. The most important were payment of rent (socage tenure), military service (Knight-service), the performance of some form of religious service (frankalmoin) and personal/official service, including in times of war (serjeanty tenure). Socage was one of the feudal duties and hence Land tenure forms in the feudal system. Knight-service was the dominant and distinctive tenure of land as a Fief associated with a Knight under the English Feudal system. Frankalmoin (from Norman French fraunch aumoyne “free alms” was one of the feudal duties and hence Land tenure forms in Feudal England by Tenure by serjeanty was a form of land-holding in Medieval England (and is also used of similar forms in Continental Europe under the Feudal system intermediate

Incidents, on the other hand, were rights conferred on the lord over the tenant's land or the tenant's person that arose in certain circumstances, most commonly on the death of the tenant. An important incident was that of escheat, whereby the land of the tenant by knight service would escheat to the Crown in the event either of there being no heirs, or the knight's being convicted of a felony. Escheat is a Common law doctrine that operates to ensure that property is not left in limbo and ownerless

Spatial fragmentation of proprietary interests

The concept of land tenure has been described as a "spatial fragmentation of proprietary interests in land". No one person could claim absolute ownership of a parcel of land, except the Crown. Thus the modern concept of "ownership" is not helpful in explaining the complexity of the distribution of rights. Ownership is the state or fact of exclusive rights and control over Property, which may be an object, land/real estate, Intellectual property In relation to a particular piece of land, a number of people had rights: first, the tenant in demesne with possessory rights; second the mesne lord to whom the tenant owed services; third, a tenant in chief to whom the mesne lord owed services; and finally the Crown who received services directly from the tenant in chief.

Decline of land tenure

The feudal system in England gradually became more and more complex until eventually the process became cumbrous and services difficult to enforce. As a result, the statute of Quia Emptores was passed in 1290 to replace subinfeudation with substitution, so the subordinate tenant transferred their tenure rather than creating a new subordinate tenure. Quia Emptores ( Medieval Latin for "because the buyers" the Incipit of the document was a Statute passed by Edward I of England As tenancies came to an end, the number of layers in the feudal pyramid was reduced. In 1660 the Tenures Abolition Act abolished knight service, converting all free tenures to socage tenure.

Quia Emptores and its equivalents do not apply to leases and life estates. See also Leasing, Renting A lease is a Legal document, but can be an oral arrangement which confers a right on one person (called A life estate is a concept used in Common law and Statutory law to designate the ownership of land for the duration of a person's life In essence, lease of land to a tenant is a form of subinfeudation (unless the lease is granted by the Crown).

Importance of tenure today

Although the doctrine of tenure has little importance today, its influence still lingers in some areas.

The concepts of landlord and tenant have been recycled to refer to the modern relationship of the parties to land which is held under a lease. It has been pointed out by Professor F. H. Lawson in Introduction to the Laws of Property (1958), however, that the landlord-tenant relationship never really fitted in the feudal system and was rather an "alien commercial element". Year 1958 ( MCMLVIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

The doctrine of tenure did not apply to personalty (personal property). Personal property is a type of Property. In the Common law systems personal property may also be called chattels or personalty. However, the relationship of bailment in the case of chattels closely resembles the landlord-tenant relationship that can be created in land. Bailment describes a legal relationship in Common law where physical possession of personal Property ( Chattels) is transferred from one person (the Personal property is a type of Property. In the Common law systems personal property may also be called chattels or personalty.

References

See also

Bill and Explanatory Memorandum see: [1]

External links

Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed Under the system of Feudalism, a fiefdom, fief, feud, feoff, or fee, often consisted of inheritable lands or revenue-producing This article is about the medieval system "Manors" redirects here A precaria is a form of Land tenure in which a contract grants the right to use Ecclesiastical property for a specific amount of time for the duration of the Allodial title is a concept in some systems of property law It describes a situation where Real property ( Land, Buildings and Fixtures) is owned Alienated Land is that which has been acquired from customary landowners by Government either for its own use or private development requiring a mortgage or other forms of guarantees A croft is a fenced or enclosed area of land usually small and arable with a crofter's Dwelling thereon Half-foot ( Scottish Gaelic: leth-chois) was a kind of Land tenure peculiar to northern and western Scotland. Quia Emptores ( Medieval Latin for "because the buyers" the Incipit of the document was a Statute passed by Edward I of England
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