Simple English definitions for legal terms
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Socage: A type of land tenure where a person holds land in exchange for providing farming-related services to their lord. It was a free tenure that did not require military service and was different from knight-service, serjeanty, or frankalmoin. If the duties were fixed, it was called socage. Free socage was when the services were certain and honorable, while villein socage was when the services were of a baser nature.
Socage is a type of land tenure where a tenant holds lands in exchange for providing the lord with husbandry-related services instead of military service. It is a free tenure that does not fall under the definition of knight-service, serjeanty, or frankalmoin.
These examples illustrate how socage was a type of land tenure that allowed tenants to provide services to their lords in exchange for land. The type of socage depended on the nature of the services provided, with free socage being more honorable and villein socage being of a baser nature. The conversion of tenures by knight-service into free socage shows how socage became the most common type of land tenure in England.