Legal Definitions - faldfee

faldfee

The term faldfee refers to a historical payment made within the feudal system of land tenure. It was a sum of money paid by a tenant to their lord for the privilege of folding (penning) their sheep on their own land, rather than being compelled to fold them on the lord's land. Lords often had a right, known as faldage, to require tenants to fold their sheep on the lord's fields, primarily to fertilize the soil with manure. The faldfee allowed tenants to avoid this obligation and manage their flocks as they saw fit on their own property.

• Example 1: Avoiding a Feudal Obligation
  Imagine a medieval farmer named Elara, who held land from a local baron. The baron had the right to demand that Elara's flock of sheep be penned on his demesne (the lord's own land) for several nights each spring to enrich his fields. Elara, however, wanted to keep her sheep on her own pastures to fertilize her crops. To gain this exemption, she would pay a faldfee to the baron, thereby purchasing the right to fold her sheep exclusively on her own property.

  This example illustrates how a faldfee was a payment made by a tenant to avoid a specific service or obligation related to sheep folding that was owed to their lord.

• Example 2: Commuting a Service for Convenience
  Sir Reginald, a wealthy landowner, had several tenants who, as part of their tenancy agreement, were required to fold their sheep on his common lands for a certain period each year. One tenant, Thomas, found this arrangement inconvenient as it interfered with his own crop rotation and pasture management. Thomas negotiated with Sir Reginald to pay an annual faldfee, a monetary payment that released him from the obligation of folding his sheep on the lord's land, allowing him to manage his flock entirely on his own farm.

  Here, the faldfee serves as a commutation, where a service (folding sheep on the lord's land) is replaced by a monetary payment for the tenant's convenience and autonomy.

• Example 3: Securing Exclusive Use of One's Own Land
  In a village where the lord held extensive faldage rights over all tenant lands, a new tenant, Margaret, acquired a smallholding. She wished to implement modern farming techniques and ensure that all the valuable manure from her sheep benefited only her specific fields, rather than being shared across the lord's common lands or other designated areas. To secure this exclusive right to fold her sheep on her own enclosed pasture without interference from the lord's faldage demands, Margaret paid a regular faldfee.

  This example highlights the faldfee as a payment to secure the exclusive right to use one's own land for sheep folding, overriding the lord's traditional rights to dictate where the tenant's sheep should be penned.