Part 1205

"The latest investigations of Brunner … have established the proof that feudalism originated in consequence of the introduction of cavalry service into the military system of the Frankish kingdom and that it retained its original character until well on towards the close of the Middle Ages. The Franks like the Lombards learned the use of cavalry from the Moors or Saracens. Charles Martel was led by his experiences after the battle of Poictiers to the conclusion that only with the help of mounted armies could these enemies be opposed with lasting success. It was between 732 and 758 that the introduction of cavalry service into the Frankish army took place; it had hitherto consisted mainly of infantry. The attempt was first made, and with marked success, in Aquitaine and Septimania; almost contemporaneously also among the Lombards. In order to place the secular nobles in condition to fit out larger masses of cavalry a forced loan from the church was carried through by Charles Martel and his sons, it being under the latter that the matter was first placed upon a legal footing. The nobles received ecclesiastical benefices from the crown and regranted them in the way of sub-loans. The custom of having a 'following' and the old existing relationships of a vassal to his lord furnished a model for the responsibilities of those receiving benefices at first and at second hand. The secular nobles became thus at once vassals of the crown and lords (seigneurs) of those to whom they themselves in turn made grants. The duty of the vassals to do cavalry service was based on the 'commendation': their fief was not the condition of their doing service but their reward for it. Hence the custom of denominating the fief (Lehn) as a 'fee' (feudum)—a designation which was first applied in southern France, and which in Germany, occasionally in the eleventh and ever more frequently in the twelfth century, is used side by side with the older term 'benefice,' until in the course of the first half of the 13th century it completely displaces it. With the further development of cavalry service that of the feudal system kept regular pace. Already in the later Carolingian period Lorraine and Burgundy followed southern France and Italy in becoming feudalized states. To the east of the Rhine on the contrary the most flourishing time of cavalry service and of the feudal system falls in the time of the Hohenstaufens, having undoubtedly been furthered by the crusades. Here even as late as the middle of the twelfth century the horsemen preferred dismounting and fighting with the sword because they could not yet manage their steeds and the regular cavalry weapons, the shield and the spear, like their western neighbors. But never in Germany did feudalism make its way into daily life as far as it did in France where the maxim held true: 'nulle terre sans seigneur.' There never was here a lack of considerable allodial possessions, although occasionally, out of respect for the feudal theory, these were put down as 'fiefs of the sun.' The principle, too, was firmly maintained that a fief granted from one's own property was no true fief; for so thoroughly was feudal law the law governing the realm that a true fief could only be founded on the fief above it, in such manner that the king was always the highest feudal lord. That was the reason why a fief without homage, that is, without the relationship of vassalage and the need of doing military service for the state, could not be looked upon as a true fief. The knight's fee only (feudum militare) was such, and only a man of knightly character, who united a knightly manner of living with knightly pedigree, was 'perfect in feudal law,'—in possession, namely, of full feudal rights or of the 'Heerschild.' Whether or not he had been personally dubbed knight made no difference; the fief of a man who was still a squire was also a true fief. … The object of the feudal grant could be anything which assured a regular emolument,—especially land, tithes, rents and other sources of income, tolls and jurisdictions, churches and monasteries;_ above all, offices of state. In course of time the earlier distinction between the office and the fief which was meant to go with the office ceased to be made. … The formal course of procedure when granting was a combination, exactly on the old plan, of the act of commendation, now called Hulde, which was the basis of vassalage, and the act of conferring (investiture) which established the real right of the man to the fief. … The Hulde consisted in giving the hand (=the performing of mannschaft, homagium, hominium, Hulde) often combined with the giving of a kiss and the taking of an oath (the swearing of fidelitas or Hulde) by which the man swore to be 'true, loyal and willing' as regarded his lord. The custom earlier connected with commendation of presenting a weapon had lost its former significance and had become merged in the ceremony of investiture: the weapon had become a symbol of investiture. … These symbols of investiture were in part the same as in territorial law: the glove, the hat, the cape, the staff, the twig; occasionally probably also a ring, but quite especially the sword or spear. As regarded the principalities it had quite early become the custom to fasten a banner on the end of the spear in token of the royal rights of supremacy that were to be conferred. Thus the banner became the sole symbol of investiture in the granting of secular principalities and the latter themselves came to be called 'banner fiefs.' The installation of the ecclesiastical princes by the king took place originally without any distinction being made between the office and the appanage of the office. It was done by conferring the pastoral staff (ferula, virga pastoralis) of the former bishop or abbot; in the case of bishops since the time of Henry III by handing the ring and crosier. In the course of the struggle concerning the ecclesiastical investitures both sides came to the conviction that a distinction could be made between the appanaging of the church with secular estates and jurisdictions on the one hand, and the office itself and the immediate appurtenances of the church—the so-called 'sacred objects' on the other. A union was arrived at in the Concordat of Worms which provided that for the granting of the former (the so-called Regalia) the secular symbol of the sceptre might replace the purely ecclesiastical symbols. As this custom was retained even after the incorporation of the ecclesiastical principalities in the feudalized state-system the ecclesiastical principalities, as opposed to the secular banner-fiefs, were distinguished as 'sceptre-fiefs.'"

_Schröder, Lehrbuch der deutschen Rechtsgeschichte (1889), pages 381-388._

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"By the time at which we have arrived (the Hohenstaufen Period) the knights themselves, 'ordo equestris major:' had come to form a class so distinct and so exclusive that no outsiders could enter it except in the course of three generations or by special decree of the king. Only to those whose fathers and grandfathers were of knightly origin could fiefs now be granted; only such could engage in judicial combat, in knightly sports and, above all, in the tournament or joust. … Feudalism did much to awaken a moral sentiment: fidelity, truth and sincerity were the suppositions upon which the whole system rested, and a great solidarity of interests came to exist between the lord and his vassals. The latter might bring no public charges against their master in matters affecting his life, limb or honor; on three grand occasions, in case of captivity, the knighting of his son, the marriage of his daughter, they were obliged to furnish him with pecuniary aid. Knightly honor and knightly graces come in the twelfth century to be a matter of fashion and custom; a new and important element, too, the adoration of woman, is introduced. A whole literature arises that has to do almost exclusively with knightly prowess and with knightly love. Altogether we see the dawn of a new social life."

_E. F. Henderson, A History of Germany in the Middle Ages, page 424-425._

See, also, FEUDALISM (page 1117); and EUROPE (pages 1019-1020).

FIELD, Cyrus, and the ocean telegraph.

See ELECTRICAL DISCOVERY AND INVENTION: A. D. 1854-1866 (page 776).

FINNISH POPULAR POETRY.

See KALEVALA (page 1935).

_John Martin Crawford, Kalevala, https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5186 One of several versions._

FLEMINGS, Commerce of the.

See (in this Supplement) COMMERCE, MEDIÆVAL.

FLORENTINE BANKERS AND MONEY CHANGERS.

See MONEY AND BANKING (pages 2205 and 2206).

FORMOSA.

"Formosa, or Taiwan, as it is called by the Chinese, is about 400 miles south of the mouth of the Yang-tse, and 100 from the mainland of China. It lies between 25° 20' and 21° 50' north latitude, is nearly 240 miles long, by an average of 75 miles wide, and has an area of about 12,000 square miles. It is remarkable for its beauty and fertility, and also for the variety of its products. It was formerly attached to the province of Fohkien, and governed by a resident commissioner; but since the Franco-Chinese War, during which the French, under Admiral Courbet, were foiled in their efforts to take possession of it, it has been erected into an independent province by imperial decree, and is now [1887] governed by Liu Ming-Ch'uan, an able and progressive man, with the title and almost unlimited authority of governor-general. The island was once in the possession of the Spaniards, who called it Formosa (beautiful), but did not colonize it. It then passed into the hands of the Dutch, who built Fort Zealandia, and established a trading-post on the southwest coast, near the present city of Taiwan-fu, and another known as the Red Fort, at Tamsui, on the northwest coast. But the Dutch in turn abandoned the island about the year 1660, immediately after which it was occupied and colonized by the Chinese from Amoy and other points on the coast of Fohkien. The population is now estimated by the governor-general at 4,000,000 Chinese and 60,000 savages, but the first figures are doubtless much too large. The savages are a fine race of men of the Malay or Polynesian type, who hold nearly all the east coast and the mountain region, covering over one half the island. They live mostly by hunting and fishing, or upon the natural products of the forest, and cultivate but little land. They wear scarcely any clothing, use bows, arrows, and knives, together with a few old-fashioned matchlocks, and yet withal they have up to the present time successfully resisted all efforts to subjugate them or to take possession of their fastnesses. They are brave, fierce, and active, but have made scarcely any progress in the arts of civilization. They are naturally kind and hospitable to Europeans, but look upon the Chinese as their deadly enemies."

_J. H. Wilson, China, chapter 18._

In 1874, in order to obtain redress for a murder of Japanese sailors by savages on the eastern coast of Formosa, the Japanese Government undertook to take possession of the southern part of Formosa, "asserting that it did not belong to China because she either would not or could not govern its savage inhabitants. … The expedition was called a High Commission, accompanied by a force sufficient for its protection, sent to aboriginal Formosa to inquire into the murder of fifty-four Japanese subjects, and take steps to prevent the recurrence of such atrocities. A proclamation was issued April 17, 1874, and another May 19th, stating that General Saigo was directed to call to an account the persons guilty of outrages on Japanese subjects. As he knew that China was not prepared to resist his landing at Liang-kiao, his chief business was to provide means to house and feed the soldiers under his command. The Japanese authorities do not appear very creditably in this affair. No sooner did they discover the wild and barren nature of this unknown region than they seemed fain to beat an incontinent and hasty retreat, nor did the troops landed there stand upon the order of their going. … The aborigines having fled south after the first rencontre, the Japanese leader employed his men as best he could in opening roads through the jungle and erecting houses. Meanwhile the Peking authorities were making preparations for the coming struggle, and though they moved slowly they were much in earnest to protect their territory. General Shin Pao-chin having been invested with full powers to direct operations against the Japanese forces, began at once to draw together men and vessels in Fuhchau and Amoy. The Japanese consuls at Amoy and Shanghai were allowed to remain at their posts; and during the year two envoys arrived at Pelting to treat with the Court. … The probabilities were strong against any settlement, when the parties were induced to arrange their quarrel by the intervention and wise counsel of Sir T. F. Wade, the British minister. The Japanese accepted 500,000 taels for their outlays in Formosa for roads, houses, and defences; agreeing thereupon to retire and leave the further punishment of the aborigines to the Chinese authorities. The two envoys left Peking, and this attempt at war was happily frustrated. … The civilization of all parts of Formosa has since rapidly advanced by the extension of tea and sugar culture, the establishment of Christian missions, and the better treatment of the native tribes."

_S. W. Williams, The Middle Kingdom, chapter 26 (volume 2)._

FOURIER AND FOURIERISM.

See SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: A. D. 1832-1847, and 1841-1847 (pages 2939 and 2943).

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FRANCE: Start--------

FRANCE: Outline Sketch of general history.

See EUROPE (page 1015. and after).

FRANCE: 1ST-5TH CENTURIES. The early routes and marts of trade.

See (in this Supplement) COMMERCE, ANCIENT.

FRANCE: 12TH-13TH CENTURIES. Rise of the Privileged Bourgeoisies and the Communes. The double movement of Urban Emancipation.