Merchet

Merchet

A merchet was a fine paid on a marriage during the Middle Ages in England. The word derives from the plural form of daughter, merched, in old Welsh. A peasant would pay a merchet to his lord upon the marriage of a woman. The justification for this was that when a woman married, her lord was losing a worker. Usually the bride's father would pay, as buying the right to give his daughter away.

There is an unsubstantiated theory that relates this fine to droit de seigneur [1]

References

  1. ^ Gage, Matilda Joslyn (1893) "Marquette" Chapter IV of Woman, Church and State p.171

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  • Merchet — Marchet Mar chet, Merchet Mer chet, n. [LL. marcheta; of uncertain origin.] In old English and in Scots law, a fine paid to the lord of the soil by a tenant upon the marriage of one the tenant s daughters. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Merchet — …   Википедия

  • Merchet — A *fine paid to a lord for permission for a daughter to marry; its value was variable, according to the wealth or poverty of the father. The lord needed recompense for the loss to his *manor of the daughter s future children and their potential… …   Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases

  • Merchet — 1) Payment due to a manorial lord upon marriage. (Bennett, Judith M. Women in the Medieval English Countryside, 234) 2) A payment by unfree tenants for the right to marry off daughters or other female relatives. (Waugh, Scott. England in the… …   Medieval glossary

  • merchet — /marchat/mar / In feudal law, a fine or composition paid by inferior tenants to the lord for liberty to dispose of their daughters in marriage. The same as marcheta (q.v.) …   Black's law dictionary

  • merchet — /marchat/mar / In feudal law, a fine or composition paid by inferior tenants to the lord for liberty to dispose of their daughters in marriage. The same as marcheta (q.v.) …   Black's law dictionary

  • merchet — Same as marcheta …   Ballentine's law dictionary

  • merchet — variant of marchet …   Useful english dictionary

  • Jean-Dominique Merchet — est un journaliste français spécialisé dans les questions militaires. Biographie Il est né le 26 octobre 1959 à Besançon et fut élève de l Institut d études politiques de Grenoble. Passionné par les questions militaires, il a été pendant vingt… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Formariage — Merchet The sum commonly paid by a serf to his lord when the serf s daughter marries a man from another manor. ♦ Fine on marriage to an individual not dependent on the same lord. (Duby, Georges. Rural Economy and Country Life in the Medieval West …   Medieval glossary

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