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December 02, 2008
Of scutage...
Scutage, the tax paid by a vassal to his liege in lieu of military service, should not be confused with socage – land given to a vassal by his liege in return for payment or military service [see scutage].
Now, land tenured by gavelkind is held to be socage, but only if the serf has alienated his land by feoffment and providing there is no escheat or attainder. Then, by salic patrimony, the land can be passed on to the agnatic heirs, though of course one-half of it is dowable and the wife, if widowed, can hold tenure by courtesy providing the land was seised and as long as she remains unmarried, even if the said land was burgage.
Good, glad we’ve cleared that up.
Posted by john at December 2, 2008 01:16 AM