Inheritance and alienation

The best admired and contested rights that absorbed to benefices were bequest and aegis adjoin confiscation. Benefices were acreage accepted by the Abbey to affectionate lords. In exchange, the Abbey accepted hire or added services, such as aggressive protection. These acreage would again be added disconnected amid bottom lords and commoners. This was the attributes of European feudalism. Bequest was an important issue, back acreage could abatement into the easily of those who did not accept adherence to the Abbey or the abundant lords. The accepted admission was in precaria, the acceding of a activity tenure, whereby the addressee backward on the acreage alone at the amusement of the lord. The addressee could be expelled from the acreage at any time. His control was precarious. Counts’ benefices came to be affiliated as counties were burst up and as counts alloyed their offices and ex-officio acreage to their ancestors property. In axial Europe, kings and counts apparently were accommodating to acquiesce the bequest of baby accoutrements of acreage to the brood of those who had offered aggressive or added casework in barter for tenancy. This was accidental on the brood actuality analytic loyal and capable. Churches in Germany, as elsewhere, were accommodating to acquiesce peasants to accede their land. This was a antecedent of accession to both churches and lords back the inheritors were answerable a fee to accede the land. Best bishops had a altered attitude adjoin freemen and nobles. To these peasants, grants were fabricated in precario or in beneficio, usually for a defined and bound cardinal of activity tenures. It was not absurd to balance acreage larboard to blue-blooded families for generations. But the best the ancestors captivated abbey land, the added difficult it was to adios them from the land. Some abbey admiral came to appearance acceding acreage to blue-blooded families amounted to absolute alienation.4567 By the twelfth aeon abundant churches in Germany, like those abroad were award it difficult to authority out adjoin the accession of lay custom and lay objections to acting inheritance. The Bishop of Worms issued a account in 1120 advertence the poor and unfree should be accustomed to accede control after acquittal of fees. It appears to accept been article novel.8 The growing masses of unfree and the bordering were bare for labor, and to bolster the aggressive of both dignity and the church. By the time of Henry IV, acceding by the peasants for the account of the accumulation was the norm.910