| English feudalism |
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| Manorialism |
| Feudal land tenure in England |
| Feudal duties |
| Feudalism |
Ademesne (/dɪˈmeɪn,-ˈmiːn/di-MAYN, -MEEN) ordomain[1] was all the land retained and managed by alord of the manor under thefeudal system for his own use, occupation,[2] or support. This distinguished it from landsub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. In contrast, the entire territory controlled by a monarch both directly and indirectly via their tenant lords would typically be referred to as theirrealm. The concept originated in theKingdom of France and found its way to foreign lands influenced by it or itsfiefdoms.
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland,royal demesne is the land held by theCrown, andancient demesne is the legal term for the land held by the king at the time of theDomesday Book in 1086.[2]
The word derives from Old Frenchdemeine, ultimately from Latindominus, "lord, master of a household" –demesne is a variant ofdomaine.[3][4]
The wordbarton, which is historically synonymous todemesne and is an element found in many place-names, can refer to a demesne farm: it derives fromOld Englishbere (barley) andton (enclosure).[5]
The system ofmanorial land tenure, broadly termedfeudalism, was conceived in France, but was exported to areas impacted by French expansion during theMiddle Ages, including the British Isles after theNorman Conquest.
In this feudal system, the demesne was all the land retained and managed by alord of the manor for his own use and support. It was not necessarily allcontiguous to themanor house. A portion of the demesne lands, called thelord's waste, served as public roads and common pasture land for the lord and his tenants.[6] Most of the remainder of the land in the manor wassub-enfeoffed by the lord to others as sub-tenants.[7]
Initially, the demesne lands were worked on the lord's behalf byvilleins or byserfs, who had no right of tenure on it, in fulfilment of their feudal obligations, but as amoney economy developed in the later Middle Ages, the serfs'corvée came to be commuted to money payments. With the advent of theearly modern period, demesne lands came to be cultivated by paid labourers. Eventually, many of the demesne lands were leased out either on a perpetual (i.e., hereditary) or a temporary renewable basis so that many peasants functioned virtually as free proprietors after having paid their fixed rents. In times ofinflation or debasement of coinage, therent might come to represent apittance, reducing the feudal aristocrat to poverty among a prosperousgentry.[citation needed]
Demesne lands that were leased out for a term of years remained demesne lands, though no longer in the occupation of the lord of the manor. See, for example,Musgrave v Inclosure Commissioners (1874) LR 9 QB 162, a case in which the three judges of the Queen's Bench Divisional Court and everyone else concerned assumed without argument that farms which were let by the lord of the manor were part of the lord's demesne land.
In Ireland, demesne lands were often demarcated with high stone walls.[8][9] Today, 24townlands in Ireland bear the name of "Demesne", and many others contain the word.[10]
Immediately following theNorman Conquest of 1066, all land in England was claimed by KingWilliam the Conqueror as his absolute title byallodial right, being the commencement of the royal demesne, also known asCrown land. The king made grants of very large tracts of land under various forms offeudal tenure from his demesne, generally in the form offeudal baronies. The land not soenfeoffed, for example royalmanors administered by royalstewards and royal huntingforests, thus remained within the royal demesne. In theDomesday Book of 1086, this land is referred to asterra regis (literally "the king's land"),[11] and in Englishcommon law the termancient demesne refers to the land that was held by the Crown at the time of the Domesday Book.[12]
The royal demesne was not a static portfolio: it could be increased, for example, as a result ofescheat or forfeiture where a feudal tenure would end and revert to its natural state in the royal demesne, or it could be reduced by later grants of land. During the reign of KingGeorge III (1760–1820), Parliament appropriated most of the royal demesne, in exchange for a fixed annual sum thenceforth payable to the monarch, called theCivil List. The royal estate ofWindsor, still occupied by British monarchs and never relinquished since 1066, is a rare example of an ancient royal demesne.
In theLordship of Ireland,King Henry II claimed a large area as the royal demesne in 1171:Dublin, its hinterland, the coastline down toArklow and the towns ofWexford andWaterford.[13][14] This region around Dublin would evolve intothe Pale.[15]
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