从次级分封到同级转让——1290年英格兰《封地买卖法》解读

From Subinfeudation to Subinstitution:An Interpretation to Quia Emptores

封建保有制下的土地转让是研究封建主义转型的核心问题。13世纪末,随着领主与封臣人身依附关系的减弱,封地的转让已成为大势所趋,封臣转让封地往往通过同级转让与次级分封两种方式,在次级分封下,领主原本基于保有地所享有的义务以及附属性权益都受到损害。基于此,1290年英王在大议会的请求下颁布《封地买卖法》,一方面顺应趋势,允许封臣自由转让封地而无需领主同意;另一方面禁止封臣以次级分封的方式转让封地,只允许同级转让。封建关系中的各方因其所处地位的不同而受到的影响各异:中间领主既是封臣又是领主的双重身份使其态度由他所保有封地的大小而决定;对直属封臣而言,虽然禁止次级分封有利于保障其权益,但自身的转让行为却依旧需得到国王的许可;而国王则能够限制直属封臣的转让且禁止其次级分封从而保证了自身利益。封地的自由同级转让使得原本基于人身依附的保有关系逐渐让位,保有人在封地上的地产权成为土地保有人关注的焦点,保有人在地产权下扩展对土地的利用,推动了英格兰土地法的发展。同时,通过对文本的解读发现,该法对封地转让的规范不利于封建关系的维系,但回溯历史,其中的规定不过是对已有惯例的制度化表达。与其说它导致了英格兰封建主义的衰落,毋宁说是敲响了封建主义的丧钟。

The land alienation under feudalism is the core issue of the study of feudalism transformation.At the end of the 13 th century, with the weakening of the interdependent relationship between the lord and the vassals, land alienation had become a trend.There were always two ways for vassals to alienate their land-substitution and subinfeudation.Meanwhile, under the subinfeudation, the services and incidents originally enjoyed by the lord based on the tenure were greatly shrank.On the basis of this, the King promulgated Quia Emptores at the request of the Great Council.On the one hand, it conformed to the trend, allowing vassals to alienate land without the permission of the lord.On the other hand, it forbade the way of subinfeudation, and only the substitution was allowed.The different influences over the parties in the feudal relationship depended on their different status: the mesne lord held a dual identity of the lord and the vassal, so his attitude towards this matter was determined by the size of his fiefdom;to the tenants in chief, they still needed the license of the King for their own alienation although the prohibition of subinfeudation contributed to the protection of their rights and interests;then the King became the biggest winner of the law as he was able to limit the transfer of the tenants in chief and forbid their way of subinfeudation to ensure his own interests.It will be found through the interpretation of the text that the law on the transfer of the enfeoffment was not conducive to the maintenance of feudal relations, but back to history, provisions in it were only the institutionalized expression of existing practices.It sounded the feudal death knell rather than lead to the decline of feudalism in England.