Legal Definitions - intrinsec service

Intrinsec service refers to specific duties or obligations that a tenant owed directly to their immediate lord within a feudal system. These services were not general societal obligations but arose from the particular agreement or relationship established between that tenant and their lord for the use of land.

Here are some examples to illustrate this concept:

• Imagine a medieval knight who held a manor (a large estate) from a powerful baron. As part of their feudal agreement, the knight was obligated to provide 40 days of armed military service to the baron each year, whenever the baron called upon him. This specific military duty, owed directly by the knight to his baron for the land he held, would be considered an intrinsec service. It was a direct obligation stemming from their unique lord-tenant relationship, not a general duty to the kingdom.

• Consider a peasant family in the Middle Ages who were granted a small plot of land by a local lord to cultivate for their own sustenance. In exchange for this land, their agreement stipulated that the head of the household must spend three days each week working on the lord's personal farm (known as the demesne), plowing fields, sowing seeds, or harvesting crops. This regular agricultural labor was an intrinsec service because it was a direct, agreed-upon obligation from the peasant (tenant) to their lord, specifically tied to their tenancy of the land.

• Suppose a skilled blacksmith was granted a small piece of land and a workshop by a manor lord. The terms of their agreement included that the blacksmith would, without additional payment, keep the lord's horses shod and repair any broken farm tools belonging to the manor whenever needed. This specific craft service and maintenance work constituted an intrinsec service. It was a duty directly owed by the blacksmith (tenant) to the lord, stemming from the unique terms of their agreement for the land, rather than a general obligation to the community or a separate paid contract.