Montesquieu boasted of closing his discussion of feudalism where others commenced, yet he mistook or overlooked its true antecedents and characteristics. From this notice nearly everj^thing has been excluded which is repeated in familiar or accessible authors; nor has the associated topic of serfs and serfdom been noticed, as it presents an occasion for extended and independent consideration.
From Blackstone, Robertson, Kallam, etc., niaj- be learned the habitual organization of nations during the maturity of the feudal system. From authors of a like character may be pleasantly ascertained the ro- mantic and other aspects of those memorable develop- ments of feudalism, the Crusades and Chivalry — " a gilded halo hovering round decay." From similar sources may be drawn all needful information in re- gard to the various species of feuds or fees, and to what are called feudal incidents. These incidents attached to ever}' fief, and consisted of, 1. Reliefs ; 2. Pines on alienation; 3. Escheats ; 4. Aids; 5. "Wardship; G. Mar- riage (Hallam, Hist. Jliddle Ayes, ch. ii, pt. i ; Black- stone, Ccvim. bk. ii, ch. v ; Robert (du Tar), Hist, de la Class Ouvriere, liv. iv, ch. vi ; liv. v, ch. i-iv). These servitia, or burdens, varied somewhat at difterent times and in different countries ; thej' were incidental rather than essential to feudalism, and most of them accom- panied the early Roman clientela. Their exposition, therefore, is not indispensable in a summary apprecia- tion of the general characteristics and operation of the feudal system.
Aulhorilies. — To give a list of authorities for such topics as Fief, Feudalism, Feudal Sj'stem, would require the enumeration of volumes sufficient for an extensive libravj'. It may suffice to note here some of the ],rin- cipal works connected with the subject, a few of which have been already referred to, and most of ■which have never been seen by the writer : — Codex Theodosianus (ed. Gothofredus) ; Corjjus Juris C'irilis (ed. Gotliofre- dus) ; Basilica (ed. Heimbach) ; Baluzii Capiiuluria — a more complete and satisfactory edition is found in I'ertz, Monumenta Hist. Germ. ; Lihri Fiudorum, cum commentatione J. Cujacii; Foucher, Assizes de Jerusa- lem; Beugnot, ^s«'scs de Jerusalem (very instructive extracts from this text are given in Cantu, Hi^t. Uni- verselle, vol. is, append. A); Lesj)eyres, Entstihung it. dlteste Eearbeitui'y der Libb. Feudoi-vm ; Jlarculfi For- nudctre ; McawmixwoxT, Covstumes de Beauvolsis ; Ilouard, Coutumes Anylo-Normandcs ; Loysel, Instiltilivns Cou- tumieres; Alteseira, Oriyines Ftudorum; Caravita, Prre- lectiones Feodales ; Cragius, De Fiudis ; Dalrymjile, History of Feudal Property ; Bochmer, Prindpia Juris Feudorum; Salvaing, V Usage des Fiefs; Brussel, Usage General des Fi(fs; Jenidien, Thesaurus Jiiiis Ftmlalis; Turgole, Truite de la Seigneurie Feodale Unircrsclle; Guyot, Des Fiefs; Institutivns Fixidales ; 'Winspeare, Abusi Feud di; Gehnner, Oriyines Feodi ; Le Fevre, i)e rOriyine des Firfs; De Gaillardon, iSwwm de la Vie Fio- dale au xii! Siecle; Galland, Traite du Franc- Alleu ; La Boulaye, Hist, du Droit Fonder en Occident ; Lehucrou, Ii/sti/utions Mi'roringiennes ei CaroUnglennes ; Bocking, Xotltia Dignitatum Utriusque Imperii; Jleyer, Esprit, Oriyine, tt Progfes des Institutions Judiciaires; Allen, On the Rny(d Prerogative ; Spence, Inquiry into the Ori gin of the Laws and Institutions of Modern Europe ; Equitable Jurisprudence of the Court of Chancery, vol. i;
FIELD
551
FIELD
Savigny, Tllst. du Droit Romain ; IMortreiiil, ffisf. dit Droit Byzantin ; Du Cange, Glossarium Med. et Inf. Latinitatls ; Dii Bos, Hist. Crit. de la Monarchie Fran- faise ; lioiilainvillicrs, Mem. Ilist. sur VEtat de France ; Mably, Observations sur V Histolre de France; ]\Iade- moiselle De Lezardiere, Theorie des lois politiques de la Monarchie Frangaise ; Montlosier, De la Monarchie Frangaise ; jMontesquieu, Esprit des Lois, ILv. xxx, xxxi; Giiizot, Ilist. de la Civilisation en Europe; Hist, de la Cii\ en France ; Ozanani, La Civilisation au Cin- qid'eme Sii'cle ; Etudes Germaniques ; Blackstone, Com- menfdiies on the Laws of England ; Robertson, ij/e of the Emperor Charles V; Lyttelton, History of Henry II, King of England ; Hallam, History of the Middle Ages ; and Supplement ; Kemble, The Sarons in England ; Pal- grave, 7'Ae English Commonwealth ; Hist, of Normandy and England ; St. Palaye, Histolre de la Chevalerie ; St. INIarie, Diss. Hist, stir la Chevalerie. (G. F. H.)
Field (usuallj^ <^1'^t sadeh' [poetic '^'I'J, saday''\, ayooQ ; but occasionally T'^N;, e'rets, land [Chald. ^3, har, open country'\, X'"Jp« j V'^'^i chuts, out-doors; flpbn, chelkah' , a portion or plot, xoipt'oj/ ; ^T2'^'c3, sheleniah' , a cultivated field, according to Gesenius and Fiirst from the context, in the plur. Dent, xxxii, 32 ; 2 Kings xxiii, 4 ; Isa. xvi, 8 ; Jer. xxxi, 40 ; Hab. iii, 17 ; also 2vi"i, yageb' , an arable field, in the plur. Jer. xxxix, 10). The Hebrew sulrh is not adequately represented by our "field:" the two words agree in describing cultivated land, but they differ in point of extent, the sadeh Ijeing specifically a])plied to what is unenclosed, while the opposite notion of enclosure is in- volved in the word field (compare Deskrt). The es- sence of the Hebrew word lias been variouslj'- taken to lie in eacii of these notions, Gesenius {Thesaurus, p. 1321) giving it the sense of freedom, Stanlej' {Palest. p. 484) that o{ sm'iot/mess, comparing arvum from arare. On the one hand sadeh is applied to any cultivated ground, whether pasture (Gen. xxix, 2 ; xxxi, 4 ; xxxiv^, 7 ; Exod. ix, 3), tillage (Gen. xxxvii, 7 ; xlvii, 24 ; PiUth ii, 2, 3 ; Job xxiv, G ; Jer. xxvi, 18 ; Mic. iii, 12), woodland (1 Sam. xiv, 25, A.V. "ground;" Psa. cxxxii, ()), or mountain-top (Judg. ix, 32, 36 ; 2 Sam. i, 21) : and in some instances in marked opposition to the neighboring wilderness, as in the instance of Jacob settling in the field of Shechem (Gen. xxxiii, 19), the field of Moal) (Gen. xxxvi, 35 ; Numb, xxi, 20, A. V. "country;" Ruth i, 1), and the vale of Siddim, i. e. of the cultivated fields, which formed the oasis of the Pentapolis (Gen. xiv, 3, 8), though a different sense has been given to the name (by Gesenius, Thesaur. p. 1321). On the other hand, the sadeh is frequent!}' contrasted with what is enclosed, whether a vineyard (Exod. xxii, 5; Lev. xxv, 3, 4; Numb, xvi, 14; xx, 17; compare Numb, xxii, 23, "the ass went into the field," with ver. 24, "a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side and a wall on that side"), a garden (the XQxy name of which, "j^, implies enclosure), or a walled town (Deut. xxviii, 3, If!): unwalled villages or scattered houses ranked in the eye of the law as fields (Lev. xxv, 31), and hence the expression itr rovQ ayoovQ^ houses inthe fields (Vulg. in villas; Mark vi, 36, 56). In many passages the term implies what is remote from a house (Gen. iv, 8 ; xxiv. Go ; Deut. xxii, 25) or settled habitation, as in the case of Esau (Gen. xxv, 27 ; the Sept., however, refers it to his character, «yooi(coc): this is more fully expressed by f^l'^^'^ ^??! "''*^ open field" (Lev. xiv, 7, 53; xvii, 5; Nimib. xix, IG ; 2 Sam. xi, 11), with which is natural- ]}'■ coupled the notion of exposure and desertion (Jer. ix, 22; Ezek. xvi, 5; xxxii, 4; xxxiii, 27; xxxix, 5). See Meadow.