Der feudale Liberalismus des englischen Liegenschaftsrechts

Rahmatian, A. (2022) Der feudale Liberalismus des englischen Liegenschaftsrechts. Zeitschrift für Europäisches Privatrecht, 2, pp. 273-301.

Abstract

The following article introduces the feudal concept of real property or land that still exists in England (that is, England and Wales). It is a surprising fact that in the country where modern capitalism was developed, feudal principles still apply to the “ownership” of land. Because even today every transfer of land or real estate in England is, technically speaking, an exchange of vassals of the crown. Every property in England is actually a tenure, i.e. historically speaking, and legally still, albeit in a very reduced way, a fief. The only property owner is the crown. The article first gives a brief description of the institutions of the feudal system of the High Middle Ages and how its remnants still have an effect on the current system of land law in England. While the personal feudal relationship gradually disappeared completely, the property relationship of the actual fief is still present, but greatly simplified: this is the so-called fee simple, the only form of fief that has survived to this day. The article then discusses the sharp criticism of feudalism and its social and political effects by one of the most important representatives of the Scottish Enlightenment in the eighteenth century, Lord Kames. The criticism by Lord Kames remained ineffective, probably also in Scotland, which, however, formally abolished in 2004 its separate feudal system on which Scottish property transactions were based. The article concludes with a brief discussion of the current constitutional and social effects of the traces of the English feudal system on Britain as a whole.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Rahmatian, Professor Andreas
• Authors: Rahmatian, A.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Law
• Journal Name: Zeitschrift für Europäisches Privatrecht
• Publisher: C.H.BECK.
• ISSN: 0943-3929

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