Seignory facts for kids

Seignory (pronounced "SAY-nyuh-ree") is an old English legal term. It describes the special authority or "lordship" that a powerful person, called a lord, kept over land even after they had given it to someone else. Think of it as the lord's remaining rights and power over that land.

In the past, people believed "Nulle terre sans seigneur," which means "No land without a lord." This was a key idea in the feudal system. If there wasn't a clear lord for a piece of land, then the King or Queen (the Crown) was considered the ultimate lord.

What is a Seignory?

A seignory was like a special connection between a lord and the land they had given away. Even though someone else owned the land, the lord still had certain rights and the person living on the land had duties to the lord. This system was very important in English law for many centuries.

Lords, Land, and Loyalty

In the feudal system, land was often given out in exchange for loyalty and service. A lord would grant land to a tenant, but the lord would keep a seignory. This meant the lord still had some control and benefits from that land.

What Lords Received

Lords received several things from their seignories:

• Homage and Fealty: Tenants had to promise loyalty and service to their lord. This was a formal promise.
• Quit-rent: This was a regular payment, often small, that the tenant paid to the lord. It was like a fixed rent.
• Relief: When a new tenant took over the land (for example, after the old tenant died), they had to pay a special fee to the lord. This fee was usually equal to one year's quit-rent.
• Escheat: If a tenant died without any heirs, or if they committed a serious crime, the land would go back to the lord.

What Lords Had to Do

It wasn't all about what the lord received! Lords also had responsibilities. If a lord failed to protect their tenants, or did something harmful to them, they could lose their seignory rights. It was a two-way street of duties and protections.

Seignories Today: A Look Back

Most seignories that still exist today were created a very long time ago. They had to be made before a law called Quia Emptores was passed in 1290. This law stopped new seignories from being created in the same way.

How Seignories Were Created

Before 1290, a landowner could give a piece of their land to someone else, but keep a seignory over it. This was called "subinfeudation." The Quia Emptores law stopped this practice. After 1290, if you sold land, you sold all your rights to it. You couldn't keep a seignory over it anymore.

Lordships of Manors

Today, the most important type of seignory that still exists is the "lordship of a manor." A manor was a large estate with a lord who had special rights and duties over the people and land within it. These lordships are now mostly historical titles and rights, rather than active land control. They are seen as a type of property that can be bought and sold, but they don't give the lord much power over the land itself anymore.

How Seignories Changed Over Time

Over the centuries, laws changed, and the power of seignories slowly faded. For example, a process called "enfranchisement" allowed tenants to buy out the lord's seignory rights. This meant the land became truly "freehold," without any old feudal ties to a lord. Modern laws also made it possible for landowners to manage and sell these old seignory rights, often turning them into money for the estate.