Knight's fee

Knight's fee

Knight's fee was a feudal term used in mediæval England and Anglo-Norman Ireland to describe the value of land. It is also sometimes called scutage.

Feudalism was a system under which the land was exchanged for military service, thus everything was based on what was called the knight's fee, which was the amount of money and/or military service a fief was necessary to pay to support one knight. Thus, either a fief could provide the service of a knight, or an equivalent amount of money to allow a lord to hire a knight. A single fief could have a value of anywhere from 1/5th of a knight's fee to 50 or more knight's fees, depending on its size and resources. Fiefs might also contain sub-fiefs, such that the knight's fee value of the fief is made up for by the value of the smaller fiefs contained within. In this way, a hierarchy of lords and vassals lay over the land with the knight's fee as the base unit of denomination.

A knight was expected to be self-sufficient from the proceeds of the fief, to support his family, arm himself, stable a war horse, pay his own taxes and duties, and keep up his appearance of gentility as a member of the noble (fighting) class.

The typical knight's fee was around £20 per year circa 1200. The derivation of the amount likely comes from a minor mediæval obsession with the number three, based on the Holy Trinity: the three estates, the Church, the nobility, and the peasantry; taxation and fees assessed by thirds - the 'third penny' going to the Crown or local lord - and so on. £20 is 30 Marks, a monetary unit commonly used for assessing taxes, paying ransoms, and other such official usage. The mark was 2/3 of a pound.

A free peasant paid for field work around the same period could expect around 3d per day, or a much as £3-4 in a year, meaning that a knight's fee was about three to five times more than a peasant's average income.

See also

*Feudalism (examples) for a historic example of knight's fees.

References

*Sally Harvey, " [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0031-2746%28197011%290%3A49%3C3%3ATKATKF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-9 The Knight and Knight's Fee in England] ", "Past and Present", No. 49. (Nov., 1970), pp. 3-43. Available online through JSTOR.


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  • Knight's fee — (Feudal Law) The fee of a knight; specif., the amount of land the holding of which imposed the obligation of knight service, being sometimes a {hide[1](b)} or less, sometimes six or more hides. [Webster 1913 Suppl.] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Knight’s fee — Die Knight s fee ist eine mittelalterliche Einheit, die in England und der Normandie beschrieb, wie viel ein zum Lehen genommenes Stück Land wert war bzw. welche Steuer dafür gezahlt werden musste. Als Knight s fee wird auch dieser besondere Typ… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Knight's fee — Die Knight s fee ist eine mittelalterliche Einheit, die in England und der Normandie beschrieb, wie viel ein zum Lehen genommenes Stück Land wert war bzw. welche Steuer dafür gezahlt werden musste. Als Knight s fee wird auch dieser besondere Typ… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Knight's Fee — In theory, a Fief which provided sufficient revenue to equip and support one knight. This was approximately twelve hides or 1500 acres, although the terms applied more to revenue a fief could generate than its size; it required about thirty marks …   Medieval glossary

  • Knight’s Fee — In theory, a fief which provides sufficient revenue to equip and support one knight. This is approximately five to twelve hides or about 1500 acres, although the terms applies more to revenue a fief can generate than its size; it requires about… …   Medieval glossary

  • knight's fee — noun Etymology: Middle English knightes fee : the amount of land the holding of which imposed the obligation of knight service, being sometimes a hide or less and sometimes six or more hides …   Useful english dictionary

  • Knight's fee — That area of land required for the service of one *knight. This was the essence of the obligation of military service in the 12c and 13c. Land was granted by a *tenant in chief to a knight, who would answer the king s summons to provide a certain …   Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases

  • Knight's fee — In theory, a fief which provides sufficient revenue to equip and support one knight. This is approximately twelve hides or 1500 Acres, although the terms applies more to revenue a fief can generate than its size; it requires about thirty marks… …   Medieval glossary

  • knight's fee — An estate sufficiently large to maintain a knight …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • Knight-service — was the dominant and distinctive tenure of land as a fief associated with a knight under the English feudal system.Early historyIt is associated in its origin with that development in warfare which made the mailed horseman, armed with lance and… …   Wikipedia

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