Socage () was one of the feudal duties and land tenure forms in the

English feudal system Feudalism as practiced in the Kingdoms of England during the medieval period was a state of human society that organized political and military leadership and force around a stratified formal structure based on land tenure. As a military defense a ...

. It eventually evolved into the freehold tenure called "free and common socage", which did not involve feudal duties. Farmers held land in exchange for clearly defined, fixed payments made at specified intervals to feudal lords. The lord was therefore obligated to provide certain services, such as protection, to the

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mig ...

and other duties to the Crown. Payments usually took the form of cash, but occasionally could be made with goods. Socage contrasted with other forms of tenure, including

serjeanty Under feudalism in France and England during the Middle Ages, tenure by serjeanty () was a form of tenure in return for a specified duty other than standard knight-service. Etymology The word comes from the French noun , itself from the Latin , ...

frankalmoin Frank almoin, frankalmoign or frankalmoigne () was one of the feudal land tenures in feudal England. Its literal meaning is 'free pity/mercy', from Norman French , 'free alms', from Late Latin , from Greek (), 'pity, alms', from () 'merciful', ...

and knight-service. The

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

statute '' Quia Emptores'' of

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal o ...

(1290) established that socage tenure passed from one generation or nominee to the next would be subject to

inquisitions post mortem An Inquisition post mortem (abbreviated to Inq.p.m. or i.p.m., and formerly known as an escheat) (Latin, meaning "(inquisition) after death") is an English medieval or early modern record of the death, estate and heir of one of the king's tenants-in ...

, which would usually involve a feudal relief tax. This contrasts with the treatment of leases, which could be lifelong or readily subject to forfeiture and rent increase. As feudalism declined, the prevalence of socage tenure increased until it became the normal form of tenure in the

Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England (, ) was a sovereign state on the island of Great Britain from 12 July 927, when it emerged from various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, until 1 May 1707, when it united with Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain. On 1 ...

. In 1660, the Statute of Tenures ended the practice of estates requiring owners to provide military or religious service, and most freehold tenures and other were converted into "free and common socage". The holder of a ''soc'' or socage tenure was referred to as a ''socager'' (Anglo-Norman) or S''ocman'' (Anglo-Saxon, also spelt ''sochman'', from the legal concept of a soke, from the verb 'to seek'). In German-speaking Europe, the broad equivalent was a ''

Dienstmann A ''Dienstmann'' (plural: ''Dienstleute'' or, in Austria, ''Dienstmänner'') was a medieval retainer or vassal and, later, a hired man, in German-speaking countries, particularly in Austria until the first half of the 20th century. Usage The t ...

''. The etymology of ''socage'' according to

William Blackstone Sir William Blackstone (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, judge and Tory politician of the eighteenth century. He is most noted for writing the ''Commentaries on the Laws of England''. Born into a middle-class family i ...

is the old Latin word for a plough.

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*{{Cite EB1911 , last=Vinogradoff , first=Paul , authorlink=Paul Vinogradoff , wstitle=Socage , short=x Soccage in Lower Canada
An act to explain and amend the laws relating to lands holden in free and common soccage in the province of Lower Canada
Feudal duties Legal history of England Medieval English law Land tenure Feudalism

See also

References

External links