Man fief

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Male loan letter in the Grindelwald municipal archive

As a fief (also werntlich loans ) was in the old law of the Holy Roman Empire (German Nation) under the feudalism since the High Middle Ages in the 12th century, the patrilineal inheritance (the inheritance of his father following) fiefdom called to military service.

term

The term male fief originally denotes any fief given against military service, in contrast to the ministerial service loan and the ordinary peasant loan. Closely related to the term is the fact that a man's fief can only be bequeathed to a man capable of military service, i.e. in the male line. The Kunkellehen, however, was inherited in the female line. In the event of the death of the feudal lord or the feudal lord, the man fief had to be re-awarded and the treasure paid. The man fiefs were owned by Reich ministerials and by free. The subject of these fiefdoms were manors , tithe rights , mills, Alps and property. Owners of masters in male fiefs could for their part enfeoff free farmers. This was known as after-fief .

While the term "Mannlehen" (Latin feudum virile ) referred solely to the gender characteristic, the terms Helmlehen (Latin feudum galeatum ) and knight feuds (Latin feudum nobile ) underlined the warlike or aristocratic component of the male-dominated fiefdom.

Examples

Netherlands

In the Netherlands, man fiefdom was called zwaardleen (sword fiefdom). The two counties of Holland and Zeeland were such a "sword fief " in the High Middle Ages, whereas the county of Hainaut was a so-called spilleleen ( Kunkellehen ). When Margarethe von Hennegau took over the rule in the three counties in 1345, this led to unrest in the Zwaardleen counties of Holland and Zealand, which were ruled by her son Wilhelm as deputy. These finally culminated in the hook-and-cod war in 1350 . In 1354 Margarethe finally came to an agreement with her son Wilhelm: He became Count of Holland and Zealand, she Countess of Hainaut.

Bern

Before the rise of the city of Bern, Mannlehen in the area of ​​today's cantons of Bern and Aargau were granted by barons , counts or directly by the king or emperor . There was a noticeably high number of male loan rights in the Bernese Oberland area. Nevertheless, there were Mannlehen in the entire German-speaking part of the city ​​and republic of Bern . The wisdom of the Interlaken church people from 1404 is the oldest Bernese legal text on male loan law. In 1414 King Sigmund granted the mayor of the city of Bern the right to grant all male feudal rights of the king or the empire that lie in Bernese territory in his name and instead to take the oath of homage. A men’s court, composed of imperial and male feudal bearers, chaired by the mayor Niklaus von Diesbach (1430–1475) adjusted the feudal relationships between 1465 and 1469 (feudal reception and after-loan). Like the twin lords contract of 1471 for the other sovereign rights, the wisdoms of 1465 and 1469 remained authoritative in male loan matters until the 18th century. Although the general conscription had already been introduced in the Bernese areas, the “Teütschen vassallen, so twing und ban ruling” were warned in 1612 to equip themselves with suitable armor and horses. The following Bernese lordships were Mannlehen: Spiez , Oberhofen , Riggisberg , Wattenwil , Blumenstein , Schlosswil , Niederhünigen , Kastelen , Rued , Wildenstein , Villnachern , Schafisheim , Liebegg and Schöftland . Between 1742 and 1775, the Bernese authorities had the man fiefs completely revised so that new land registers could be created. In order to reduce the administrative burden, from 1758 the authorities no longer followed the inheritance, but instead held regular so-called man days in Oberhofen Castle , represented by the Lehenvenner (member of the Small Council) , during which the treasures were confiscated. The enfeoffed now had to pay either the treasury of honor or a twenty-year treasury. In 1786 the German fief commissariat was introduced to reorganize the fiefdom again. While the military capability was lost in the course of the centuries in return along with the honor treasure, the protection and protection of the feudal lord (city and republic of Bern) remained until the 18th century. In each of the man's loan letters it was written… darbey We… also want to protect and shield… . The replacement of the male feudal rights dragged on - in contrast to the rulership rights (Twing and Bann), which were replaced by 1810 at the latest - until 1857.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rennefahrt 1931 II, p. 82
  2. ^ The legal sources of the Canton of Bern, Volume 6, p. 113 online
  3. ^ The legal sources of the Canton of Bern, Volume 3, No. 133b online
  4. ^ The legal sources of the Canton of Bern, Volume 5, pp. 563-565 online

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