The service of marriage () was a legal obligation in the

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was one of the Crusader states established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost two hundred years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1 ...

of a female

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

towards her lord. Since her sex precluded her from rendering personal military service, marriage was regarded as a service a liegewoman could perform instead. When summoned, the vassal had to choose a husband among three candidates presented to her by her lord. The lord was obliged to suggest only men who were not inferior in rank to her or to any former husband she may have had. The intention was to attach to her fief a consort who could render personal service to her lord. A widowed heiress could not be compelled to remarry for a year and a day after her husband's death. A vassal's widow had the right to rule his lands on behalf of their minor child, but if she refused to perform the service of marriage, the lord was allowed by law to take over the management of the child's land. Otherwise, jurists

Balian of Sidon Balian I Grenier was the count of Sidon and one of the most important lords of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1202 to 1241. He succeeded his father Renaud. His mother was Helvis, a daughter of Balian of Ibelin. He was a powerful and important ...

, John of Beirut, and Ralph of Tiberias disagreed on which penalty a liegewoman should be subjected to if she withheld the service of marriage. In the early 13th century, lords frequently treated cases arbitrarily. Beatrice, heiress of Joscelin of Courtenay, violated her feudal contract by marrying Otto of Henneberg without King Aimery's permission, but the couple were not hindered from granting their lands to the

Teutonic Knights The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...

after the king's death. A

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

could punish the liegewoman for such an infringement of her lord's rights by confiscating her fief, but the measure ceased to have effect when the regency ended. King Hugh failed to enforce the service of marriage from the lady of Beirut,

Isabella Isabella may refer to: People and fictional characters * Isabella (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Isabella (surname), including a list of people Places United States * Isabella, Alabama, an unincorpo ...

, who was put under the protection of the Egyptian ruler

Baibars Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari (; 1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), commonly known as Baibars or Baybars () and nicknamed Abu al-Futuh (, ), was the fourth Mamluk sultan of Egypt and Syria, of Turkic Kipchak origin, in the Ba ...

by her husband, Hamo le Strange.

References

Sources

* * {{cite book , last=Riley-Smith, first=Jonathan, author-link=Jonathan Riley-Smith, year=1973 , title=The feudal nobility and the kingdom of Jerusalem, 1147 - 1277, publisher=Macmillan Feudalism in the Kingdom of Jerusalem Marriage law Women's history