Legal Definitions - paravail

Paravail

The term "paravail" is a historical legal concept referring to a tenant who holds land from another tenant, rather than directly from the ultimate landowner or a lord at the highest level of the feudal system. In a layered system of landholding, the tenant paravail was considered to be at the "bottom" of the chain of tenancy, directly occupying and using the land.

Here are some examples illustrating the concept of a tenant paravail:

• Imagine a medieval kingdom where the King grants a large estate to a powerful Duke. The Duke, in turn, grants a portion of that estate to a Baron in exchange for military service. The Baron then assigns a smaller parcel of land, a manor, to a knight, Sir Reginald. Finally, Sir Reginald allows a peasant family to farm a specific plot within his manor in exchange for a share of their crops and labor. In this scenario, the peasant family is the tenant paravail. They hold their right to farm the land from Sir Reginald, who is himself a tenant of the Baron, who is a tenant of the Duke, who is a tenant of the King. The peasant family is at the lowest level of this chain of landholding, directly working the land.

• Consider a large tract of land historically owned by a wealthy monastery, which received its rights from a royal charter. The Abbot of the monastery decides to lease a section of this land to a local gentry family, the Smythes, for a period of several decades. The Smythes, needing labor to cultivate the fields, then allow several tenant farmers to work individual plots within their leased section, in exchange for rent and a portion of the harvest. These tenant farmers are the tenants paravail. They hold their right to cultivate the land from the Smythes, who are themselves tenants of the monastery. They are the direct occupiers and users of the land at the very end of the tenancy chain.