In medieval law, the transfer of property or land, especially as payment for feudal service or as a formal gift with ceremony.
From Old French 'fief' (estate, fee) combined with the suffix '-ment' (action or process), referring to the feudal practice of granting land as a reward or obligation.
Medieval foeffment was theater—the actual transfer of a stick or clod of earth mattered less than witnesses and ceremony, because without legal documentation, written proof was currency.
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