The practice of feeding livestock on land, or the right to graze animals on someone else's fields, especially in medieval agriculture.
From the Old English 'fold' (a pen or enclosure for sheep) plus the suffix '-age.' This term reflects medieval farming practices where shepherds would move flocks to different fields.
In medieval times, 'foldage rights' were incredibly valuable—they literally determined a farmer's wealth and survival. Lords of the manor controlled these rights fiercely, and disputes over foldage sparked feuds between families.
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