Precariousness
The precarium was a frequently encountered borrowing of the country in the early Middle Ages , which goes back to ancient practice already in Republican Rome.
The word is derived from the late Latin noun "precarium" (= fiefdom (land)), which goes back to the Latin adjective "precarius" (= requested, for revocation) granted and in addition to the defective noun "preces" (= please, Request).
The land was loaned by a large landowner to a farmer for life or for several (up to three) generations. Precaries were recorded by the churches, but will also have existed in relation to the village nobility.
Through military service, accidents, natural disasters or high fines ( Lex Salica ), the farmers threatened with ruin saw the loan as a way out. The entrusted was obliged to pay in kind and in cash, often also to serf , and placed himself under the protection of the feudal lord.
The protector became the lord of the protected , whom he represented in court cases.
The land given by free farmers to a great landlord or the clergy was often returned to the donor as a precarious property . This expanded the feudal rulership.