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Ban (medieval)
In the Middle Ages, the ban (Latin ''bannus'' or ''bannum'', German ''Bann'') or banality (French ''banalité'') was originally the power to command men in war and evolved into the general authority to order and to punish. As such, it was the basis for the raising of armies and the exercise of justice.Mathieu Arnoux, "Ban, Banality", in André Vauchez (ed.), ''Encyclopedia of the Middle Age'' (James Clarke and Co., 2002 xford Reference Online, 2005. The word is of Germanic origin and first appears in fifth-century law codes. Under the Franks it was a royal prerogative, but could be delegated and, from the tenth century, was frequently usurped by lesser nobles.Theodore Evergates, "Ban, Banalité", in Joseph R. Strayer (ed.), ''Dictionary of the Middle Ages'' (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1983), vol. 2, p. 69. The adjective "banal" or "bannal" describes things pertaining to the ban. Its modern sense of "commonplace" (even "trite") derives from the fact that tenants were freq ...
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Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and transitioned into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. Population decline, counterurbanisation, the collapse of centralised authority, invasions, and mass migrations of tribes, which had begun in late antiquity, continued into the Early Middle Ages. The large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the 7th century, North Africa and the Middle East—once part of the Byzantine Empire� ...
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Georges Duby
Georges Duby (; 7 October 1919 – 3 December 1996) was a French historian who specialised in the social and economic history of the Middle Ages. He ranks among the most influential medieval historians of the twentieth century and was one of France's most prominent public intellectuals from the 1970s to his death. In 2019, his work was published in the '' Bibliothèque de la Pléiade''. He is one of the rare historians to benefit from such an honor, with Herodotus, Thucydides, Ibn Khaldoun, Froissart and Michelet. Early life and education Born in Paris to a family of craftsmen of Burgundian and Alsacian origin, Duby was initially educated in the field of historical geography before he moved into history. He earned an undergraduate degree at Lyon in 1942 and completed his graduate thesis at the Sorbonne under Charles-Edmond Perrin in 1952. Career He taught first at Besançon and then at the University of Aix-en-Provence before he was appointed in 1970 to the Chair of ...
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Heerbann
The ''Heerbann'' (also formerly ''Heermannie'', Middle High German, MHG ''herban'', Old High German, OHG: ''heriban'', Mid. Latin: ''Heribannus''), in the Imperial Military Constitution (''Reichsheeresverfassung'') of the Holy Roman Empire, was the call to all free landowners capable of bearing arms to participate in a military campaign, i.e. in an imperial war (''Reichskrieg''). According to the original meaning of the word (OHG: ''bannan'' = to 'demand' or 'prohibit', actually 'to speak'), the ''Heerbann'' was a 'call of the king or duke to military service;cf''Heerbann''at Duden online see also king's ban. However, as the feudal system in the Holy Roman Empire developed in the Early Middle Ages, the ''Heerbann'' became superfluous as a means of raising armies and increasingly fell into disuse after the death of Charlemagne. The ''Heerbann'' was particularly onerous for poorer landowners, several of whom had to equip a knight for war (one for every 3 Hide (unit), hides), so th ...
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Arrière-ban
In medieval and early modern France, the arrière-ban (Latin ''retrobannum'') was a general proclamation whereby the king (or duke) summoned to war all the vassals of his vassals.. The term is a folk-etymological correction of Old French ''herban'' (attested 1101), from ban'' (proclamation); compare German ''Heerbann">Ban_(medieval).html" ;"title="Germanic languages">Germanic ''here'' (army) and ''Ban (medieval)">ban'' (proclamation); compare German ''Heerbann''. Although in theory, the arrière-ban depended on feudal relations, in practice it amounted to a general Conscription#Medieval levies, levy on all able-bodied males in the kingdom. In theory, this included all men between the ages of 18 and 60 years, in practice such a wide-ranging levy was never carried out for fear of conjuring an ill-suited mob. Most arrière-ban's were in fact local in nature. Conscription could be commuted by a money payment, which became an important source of revenue for the crown. The Duke of Nor ...
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Units Of Measurement In France Before The French Revolution
The traditional French units of measurement prior to metrication were established under Charlemagne during the Carolingian Renaissance. Based on contemporary Byzantine units of measurement, Byzantine and Ancient Roman units of measurement, ancient Roman measures, the system established some consistency across Carolingian Empire, his empire but, after his death, the empire fragmented and subsequent rulers and various localities introduced their own variants. Some of Charlemagne's units, such as the king's foot () remained virtually unchanged for about a thousand years, while others important to commercesuch as the French ell () used for cloth and the French pound () used for amountsvaried dramatically from locality to locality. By the 18th century, the number of units of measure had grown to the extent that it was almost impossible to keep track of them and one of the major legacies of the French Revolution was the dramatic rationalization of measures as the new metric system. The ...
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Banlieue
In France, a banlieue (; ) is a suburb of a large city, or all its suburbs taken collectively. Banlieues are divided into autonomous administrative entities and do not constitute part of the city proper. For instance, 80percent of the inhabitants of the Paris metropolitan area live outside the city of Paris. Beginning in the 1970s, the term ''banlieue'' has taken on a particular connotation, becoming a popular word for economically-deprived suburbs featuring low-income housing projects (HLMs) that are home to large immigrant populations. People of foreign descent reside in what are often called poverty traps. In present-day France (2025), approximately 1,500 suburbs are home to more than 5 million people. Etymology The French word banlieue is derived from the thirteenth century Vulgar Latin term ''banleuca'' composed of the German term ''ban'' meaning decree or official announcement with ''leuca'' which refers to the extension of the authority beyond the walls of a town. Histor ...
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Knight's Fee
In feudal Anglo-Norman England and Ireland, a knight's fee was a unit measure of land deemed sufficient to support a knight. It would not only provide sustenance for himself, his family, and servants, but also the means to furnish himself and his retinue with horses and armour to fight for his overlord in battle. It was effectively the size of a fief (or "fee" which is synonymous with "fief") sufficient to support one knight in the ongoing performance of his feudal duties (knight-service). A knight's fee cannot be stated as a standard number of acres, as the required acreage to produce a given crop or revenue would vary depending on many factors, including its location, the richness of its soil and the local climate, as well as the presence of other exploitable resources such as a fishing weir, quarries of rock, or mines of minerals. If a knight's fee is deemed coterminous with a manor, an average size would be between 1,000 and 5,000 acres, of which much in early times was s ...
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Potestas
''Potestas'' is a Latin word meaning power or faculty. It is an important concept in Roman Law. Origin of the concept The idea of ''potestas'' originally referred to the power, through coercion, of a Roman magistrate to promulgate edicts, give action to litigants, etc. This power, in Roman political and legal theory, is considered analogous in kind though lesser in degree to military power. The most important magistrates (such as consuls and praetors) are said to have ''imperium'', which is the ultimate form of ''potestas,'' and refers indeed to military power. ''Potestas'' strongly contrasts with the power of the Senate and the ''prudentes'', a common way to refer to Roman jurists. While the magistrates had ''potestas'', the ''prudentes'' exercised ''auctoritas''. It is said that ''auctoritas'' is a manifestation of socially recognized knowledge, while ''potestas'' is a manifestation of socially recognized power. In Roman political theory, both were necessary to guide the ''res ...
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Demesne
A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land subinfeudation, sub-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 their realm. The concept originated in the Kingdom of France and found its way to foreign lands influenced by it or its fiefdoms. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, royal demesne is the land held by the Monarch, Crown, and ancient demesne is the legal term for the land held by the king at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086. Etymology The word derives from Old French , ultimately from Latin , "lord, master of a household" – ''demesne'' is a variant of ''domaine''. The word ''barton'', which is historically synonymous to ''demesne'' and is an element found in many place-names, can refer t ...
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Corvée
Corvée () is a form of unpaid forced labour that is intermittent in nature, lasting for limited periods of time, typically only a certain number of days' work each year. Statute labour is a corvée imposed by a state (polity), state for the purposes of public works. As such it represents a form of levy (taxation). Unlike other forms of levy, such as a tithe, a corvée does not require the population to have land, crops or cash. The obligation for tenant farmers to perform corvée work for landlords on private landed estates was widespread throughout history before the Industrial Revolution. The term is most typically used in reference to Medieval Europe, medieval and early modern Europe, where work was often expected by a feudal landowner of their vassals, or by a monarch of their subjects. The application of the term is not limited to feudal Europe; corvée has also existed in Egypt, modern and ancient Egypt, Sumer, ancient Sumer, ancient Rome, China, Japan, the Incan civil ...
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Castellan
A castellan, or constable, was the governor of a castle in medieval Europe. Its surrounding territory was referred to as the castellany. The word stems from . A castellan was almost always male, but could occasionally be female, as when, in 1194, Beatrice of Bourbourg inherited her father's castellany of Bourbourg upon the death of her brother, Roger. Initial functions During the Migration Period after the fall of the Western Roman Empire (third to sixth century), foreign tribes entered Western Europe, causing strife. The answer to recurrent invasion was to create fortified areas which evolved into castles. Some military leaders gained control of several areas, each with a castle. The problem lay in exerting control and authority in each area when a leader could only be in one place at a time. To overcome this, they appointed castellans as their trusted vassals to manage a castle in exchange for obligations to the landlord, often a noble. In the 9th century, as fortification ...
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