Custom of the Manor – A Glossary: Homage

Posted: 08 Oct 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Genealogy resources, Land and property | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

In common modern usage paying homage is to respectfully acknowledge superiority of someone or something. In the context of the manor, homage has more specific meanings. To do or make homage was a formal and public acknowledgement of the feudal relationship of a vassal (tenant) with the lord of the manor, a form of allegiance. Such an allegiance was one of the terms under which a tenant may hold land from his lord. The service of homage could only be made by tenants with an estate greater than for life and only be made directly to the lord himself.

Coke describes the oath taking ceremony. The unarmed and unguarded, bare headed tenant kneels on both knees and holds both hands up to the lord (symbolic of reverence and subjection). The lord incloses the tenant’s hands between his own (symbolic of protection and defense) while the tenant says:

” I become your man from this day forward of life and limb, and of earthly worship, and unto you shall be true and faithful, and bear you faith for the tenements that I claim to hold of you, saving the faith that I owe unto our sovereign lord the king”

Churchmen and unattached women (femme sole, single women or widows) could not become the lord’s man or woman, because they had commitments to God or a potential future husband. So they did an partial homage, swearing to be true and faithful only.

Homage ceremony

Homage ceremony (Wikimedia commons)

What did becoming the lord’s man entail? In the Court Baron or Customary Court, the lord’s men or homage, which acted as judges or jury, depending on the type of case. Duties included attendance at the court, reporting events affecting property rights (e.g. deaths of tenants), reporting breaches of the lord’s rights (e.g. encroachment of common land) and resolving disputes between tenants.

The legal Latin term for homage is homagium or humagium.

 

© Sue Adams 2015

Custom of the Manor – A Glossary: Feudal

Posted: 01 Sep 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Genealogy resources, Land and property | Tags: , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Feudal systems closely connected governance and land tenure. It was based on the relationship between two free men, a lord and a vassal. The lord gave the use of his land, rights and privileges to his vassal in return for a variety of services, including military service, money, labour, something symbolic, or prayers. Over time services were commuted to money rents.

A hierarchy of ownership developed with the monarch as the ultimate lord. The king’s vassals could pass on rights and privileges to their own vassals.

feudal system

The Feudal System

Feudal systems arose in parts of Europe between the 10th and 12th centuries. In England the feudal system was finally abolished on 1 January 1926 by the Law of Property Act 1922 and related acts.

Feudal is derived from medieval Latin feudum , feodum or French féodal.

Gaenovium – Keys to Open Data and Open Standards

Posted: 17 Oct 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Genealogy issues, Genealogy resources | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment
leiden keys

The shield of Leiden’s municipal coat of arms. The crossed keys are the symbol of St Peter, patron saint of the city to whom the oldest church was consecrated in 1121.

On 7 October 2014, a group of genealogy technologists gathered in Leiden, The Netherlands, for the first Gaenovium conference. Although small with around 25 delegates, it was certainly forward looking and shows promise of things to come. It seems fitting that open data and open standards for genealogy have been expounded in the city whose symbol is a pair of crossed keys.

Unlocking the full potential of historical documents requires:

  • practical, convenient and non-discriminatory access, or the researcher’s work can’t even get started
  • un-restricted use, re-use and re-combination of data, so the researcher is free to follow any line of enquiry and can freely collaborate with others

The principles promoted by open movements such as Open Definition have found support in the academic and cultural domains. Gaenovium attendees included representatives of universities and commercial digitisation and archival management companies, which all exploit open data to their advantage. Independent developers, genealogy organisations from the Netherlands, Nederlandse Genealogie Vereniging, and Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie, and Verein fur Computer-genealogie e.V. from Germany, accounted for most other delegates.

Generally historical data were not collected for the purpose of genealogy. Genealogists are masters of reusing and combining data, but sometimes forget that the data may also be used for other kinds of research. Marijn Schraagen of Leiden University spoke about algorithms for name matching, which has applicability beyond genealogy. He compared new and established algorithms for efficient use of computing resources and scalability as well as functional capability. He commented that a new algorithm may not be better at matching names, but might do so more quickly. Over dinner, an attendee from Utrech University described using compiled genealogies to investigate human life spans.

Digitisation and archive management companies Picturae, Mindbus, and DE REE archiefsystemen were represented. Dutch cadastral maps on HISGIS, WieWasWie and Archieven.nl are examples of their collaborative work that are well worth exploring. I am guilty of a common sin committed by native English speakers. I often pass over resources that are not in English, and just look what I missed!

Leiden bicycle

Google translate renders the sign as,
“prohibitions against mopeds off fix to the fence , they will be removed”

Open data advocate, Bob Coret convincingly demonstrated Open Archives, a platform that combines data from several Dutch heritage institutions.   Use of the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) in a genealogical context highlights the connection between archives and genealogy. The majority of genealogical sources are original documents housed in an archive, or some derivative such as microfilm or digital image.

Michel Brinckman presented a detailed view of the Archives-to-Archive data model behind WieWasWie and Open Archives. Timo Kracke showed some of the complexities of place name data.

A discussion of genealogy data standards would be incomplete without mention of GEDCOM. Louis Kessler’s  Reading wrong GEDCOM right set out pragmatic best practices for overcoming an imperfect and poorly implemented standard.

The panel discussion, mediated by Bob Coret, with Louis Kessler, myself and Phil Moir of D C Thompson Family History (aka findmypast, GenesReunited etc.) examined the way forward. The newly re-invigorated Family History Information Standards Organisation (FHISO) has now started to develop a new standard.

So, how did the big four genealogy companies appear at Gaenovium? FamilySearch were roundly criticised for their failure to engage and co-operate with others in standards development. Although I appreciate the records they make available, I find myself unable to defend them. They sent no representative, so remain disengaged. Ancestry also did not attend, and were not even mentioned. Even though I disagreed with Phil Moir of D C Thompson Family History during the panel discussion, I appreciated his presence. I hope the feedback helps the company to serve its customers better. My Heritage demonstrated their engagement with innovation the genealogy industry by sponsoring the conference. In addition, they sent two delegates who actively showed interest in the opinions of others.

Gaenovium dinner

Gaenovium delegates leaving The Pavilion. “Follow me to dinner” said the genial host, the man with the bicycle (aka. Tamura Jones)

 

© Sue Adams 2014

 

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