A feud letter ( or ''Absagebrief'') was a

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in which a

feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

was announced, usually with few words, in

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. The letter had to be issued three days in advance to be legally valid. To prevent the feud from becoming a case of

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

and thus become punishable by law, those involved had to abide by the following rules: # The feud, whether between

knights A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

or between the

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and towns, had to be initiated by a formal feud letter. # Killing innocent parties was forbidden. # Razing of houses and laying waste to the land were allowed. # During the feud, fighting was not permitted in churches or at home, and the parties were to be allowed to go to and to return from church or court without being molested.

Examples

* Around 1444, the town of Soest declared war on the

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

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at the start of the Soest Feud with the following famous, brief feud letter: ''"Wettet, biscop Dierich van Moeres, dat wy den vesten Junker Johan can Cleve lever hebbet alls Juwe, unde wert Juwe hiermit affgesaget"''
(''"Know this, Bishop Dietrich of Moers, that we prefer the steadfast

Junker Junker (, , , , , , ka, იუნკერი, ) is a noble honorific, derived from Middle High German , meaning 'young nobleman'Duden; Meaning of Junker, in German/ref> or otherwise 'young lord' (derivation of and ). The term is traditionally ...

, John of Cleves, to you, and hereby give you notice thereof."'')

Examples

See also