Medieval Glossary
Relief
A payment that a vassal's heir was required to pay the feudal lord in order to inherit a fief. Before feudal tenures became hereditary, they were held conditionally based upon the receipt of feudal obligations. This meant that if a vassal died, the land reverted back to the lord, and the relief was the payment required to get it back.
Related term(s): Vassal; Lord; Fief; Feudal Obligation; Feudal Tenure; Feudal Tenant
Category: Feudalism
Added: 12.04.04
Last modified: 01.01.05
Source information:
Roberts, Clayton and Roberts, David. A History of England, Third Edition. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1998. 76.
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