Re: Feudalism

Hi,

"Paul J Gans" <gans@xxxxxxxxx> skrev i melding
news:f4qank$sm5$2@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
......

But here we don't care much about those terms. In a
newsgroup devoted to the Middle Ages, we do care about
"feudalism".

What is the history of the term "feudal"? Does the term trace back to the
middle ages? Was it used in the middle ages? According to my trusty Duden,
it is actually m. latin (feudalis) from feudum = estate, and has slipped
into legalese as a way of assigning certain issues to problems around
holding og granting a fief (which is from the same root as "feud", which is
from the same root as "Vieh" (cattle), which the germanix seem to have used
as synonymous with "wealth"). In german it would be "Lehenswesen", I guess.
Probably there should be a translation for this in English.

Norway abandoned "nobility" in the 19. century, and this happened in
strictly economic terms; these laws were in use just a few years ago, when
it was discovered that a certain rich man had established a huge fund for
his heirs, with the proviso that they may never deduct from the main
capital, only from profits and interest. This, according to our tax
authorities most just and fair (in case they're watching), meant that this
fund was not totally under the control of the heirs implied by full
ownership - they could not dispose of it as they wished. And this
"independence", by the "inviolability" (?) of a volume of property (be it
funds, shares, land ....) was said to be a characteristic of the financial
circumstances around our old Adel (nobility), who could not e.g. sell their
land - the current owner was just a "temporary manager", a steward for the
whole clan, holding its lands in trust for future generations.

So .... could "feudal" actually have a use in (the history of)
jurisprudence, and thereby have a use in (the history of) economics, and
thusly gain entrance into history ...?

T


.

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