Legal Definitions - free and common socage

Definition: Free and common socage is a type of lay tenure where a tenant holds lands in exchange for providing the lord with husbandry-related service instead of military service.

Example: If a peasant's duties were fixed, such as helping the lord with sowing or reaping at specified times, the tenure was usually called socage. This was originally the tenure of socmen, but it became a generic term for all free services other than knight-service, serjeanty, or spiritual service.

Explanation: The example illustrates how free and common socage was a type of tenure where a tenant provided certain services to the lord in exchange for holding lands. These services were not military-related but rather related to agriculture and husbandry. The example also shows how the term socage was used to refer to all free services other than knight-service, serjeanty, or spiritual service.