Legal Definitions - victual rent

Definition: Victual rent is a type of rent that is paid in grain or its equivalent monetary value. In civil law, victus refers to sustenance, support, or a means of living.

• A tenant may pay their landlord a victual rent of 10 bushels of wheat per year.
• In medieval times, serfs would pay their lord a victual rent in the form of crops or livestock.

These examples illustrate how victual rent is a form of payment that is not made in money, but rather in goods that can be used for sustenance or trade. In the first example, the tenant is paying their landlord with a portion of their crop yield, which can be used to feed themselves or sold for profit. In the second example, serfs were required to give a portion of their harvest to their lord as a form of tribute, which helped to sustain the lord's household and maintain their power.