Lehenswesen#

Vassalage: the system of real and personal rights and duties based on land tenure and personal relationships, which developed in the Frankish kingdom was introduced to Austria in the Middle Ages and governed the relationships between the peasantry and their landlords and between the landlords and their king; it was gradually given more concrete form and extended to crown offices, customs duties and domains. Fief was no longer held by vassals from their lords as a result of their duties to the latter, but the vassals served their lords because of the transformation of benefice into a hereditary fief, which gave their descendants the right to inherit the fief. Originally knighthood was a prerequisite for a fief but eligibility was later extended to citizens of towns. Collective fief to several vassals was possible (a common practice during the Habsburg reign in the 14th century). The importance of fief declined in the Modern Age and gave way to property held by individual persons or a family and the appointment of individuals to a post or office by the Emperor, the local sovereign or the state. Formally, the Holy Roman Empire remained a feudal state until 1806. The last remains of feudalism in Austria were abolished in the course of the revolution of 1848 and the Peasants, Emancipation of.

Literature#