Steven Till

Tenure
[ten-yer]
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French teneure, tenure, from Medieval Latin tenitura, from Vulgar Latin *tenitus, past participle of Latin ten?re to hold

1) A general term for all interests in land; an act or right of holding; a right in land dependent upon a grant from a superior. (Hogue, Arthur R. Origins of the Common Law, 258)

2) In the medieval sense the holding of a piece of land by giving military service to the possessor of the land. (Wise, Terence. Medieval Warfare, 251)

From Englebert, Lord of Engien: A Grant of Free Roads, 1210

I, Englebert, Lord of Engien, make known to all men, both present and future, that Wichard, knight of Causines, my vassal, has declared in my presence, and in the presence of my vassals, and has acknowledged that he has given in free tenure to the church of Our Lady of Camberon a certain road through his land, which he holds as a fief from me, from the Marche river as far as Five Oaks, to be possessed in perpetual right.

*definitions retreived from NetSERF’s Medieval Glossary (http://www.netserf.org/Glossary/)

Filed under: Middle Ages History, Medieval Glossary, Medieval History on January 22nd, 2010