English law English law is the common law list of national legal systems, legal system of England and Wales, comprising mainly English criminal law, criminal law and Civil law (common law), civil law, each branch having its own Courts of England and Wales, ...

, subinfeudation is the practice by which tenants, holding land under the

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

or other superior lord, carved out new and distinct tenures in their turn by sub-letting or alienating a part of their lands. The tenants were termed

mesne lord A mesne lord () was a lord in the feudal system who had vassals who held land from him, but who was himself the vassal of a higher lord. Owing to ''Quia Emptores'', the concept of a mesne lordship technically still exists today: the partitionin ...

s, with regard to those holding from them, the immediate tenant being ''tenant in capite''. The lowest tenant of all was the freeholder, or, as he was sometimes termed, ''tenant paravail''. The Crown, who in theory owned all lands, was ''

lord paramount A lord paramount is a term of art in feudal law describing an overlord who holds his own fief from no superior lord. It thus describes a person who holds allodial title, owing no socage or feudal obligations such as military service. This was d ...

''. The great lords looked with dissatisfaction on the increase of such subtenures. Accordingly, in 1290 a statute was passed, , which allowed the tenant to alienate whenever he pleased, but the person to whom he granted the land was to hold it for the same immediate lord, and by the same services as the alienor held it before.

Scotland

Scots law Scots law () is the List of country legal systems, legal system of Scotland. It is a hybrid or mixed legal system containing Civil law (legal system), civil law and common law elements, that traces its roots to a number of different histori ...

, the feudal system was abolished by the

Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 The Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 (asp 5) was a land reform enforced by an act of the Scottish Parliament that was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 3 May 2000, and received royal assent on 9 June 2000. Provisions Th ...

. The length of a

lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...

was limited to 175 years to prevent the existence of perpetual landlord–tenant relationships similar to those that existed under feudal tenure.

Holy Roman Empire

Within the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

, mesne fiefs were known as '' Afterlehen'', which became inheritable over time and could have up to five "stations" between the actual holder of the fief and the overarching liege lord.''Despotism and capitalism: a historical comparison of Europe and Indonesia''
by Tilman Schiel (1985). Retrieved 8 Feb 2014.

References

Real property law Feudalism English law Land tenure {{England-law-stub

Scotland

Holy Roman Empire

See also

References