Funding has been secured for a major new research project into Jersey’s historic feudal system, which dates back to medieval times.
The £250,000 needed for ‘The Fiefs and Seigneurs of Jersey: History and Significance’ project was successfully raised through private individuals, with support from Jersey Heritage, the Société Jersiaise and the Government of Jersey. The latter has given a grant from funding to celebrate ‘Millenium 2027, European Year of the Normans’, which will mark the 1,000th anniversary of William the Conqueror’s birth.
A two-year contract for the project has been signed with Swansea University and a team led by Daniel Power, Professor of Medieval History at the University, will begin delving into the history of the Island’s fiefs and seigneurs. The aim is to present a summary of the research at a seminar in Jersey in 2027, followed by a definitive publication on this aspect of Jersey’s story at a later date.
John de Veulle, former Chair of Jersey Heritage, is one of the people driving forward the project. He said: ‘Our thanks go to everyone who is contributing to and supporting this major research project into an important aspect of Jersey’s history. The Island’s feudal system dates back hundreds of years and still has an impact on Jersey today. It has not yet been thoroughly studied and it will be fascinating to see what the new research uncovers.’
The feudal system in Jersey revolved around a hierarchical system between the Crown, landowners and tenants. Seigneurial rights from which financial advantage was accrued were abolished in the Island in 1966 but the obligations, customs and language attached to various titles are still in existence. Properties described as ‘manors’ are a familiar part of Jersey’s landscape and Seigneurs of landholdings known as fiefs attend the annual hearing before the Royal Court known as Assise
d’Heritage. The Island’s Seigneurs paid homage to King Charles during a special Royal Court sitting held last year during the Monarch’s Royal Visit to Jersey.
The new research project will focus on the function, nature and characteristics of fiefs and fief-holders during the Middle Ages (from the 11th century onwards, when Jersey formed part of the Duchy of Normandy) and early modern period up to the English Civil War (1642-1660).
Professor Power said: ‘The history of law and landholding in Jersey and the other Channel Islands provides a fascinating link between the medieval and early modern past and today. The Islands were culturally Norman yet separated politically from mainland Normandy from 1204 onwards, a context that allowed their institutions and legal culture to evolve in a unique way. Rich archival evidence offers huge potential for research into Jersey’s system of fiefs and Seigneurs. The generosity of Jersey donors is making possible this new research and is providing a valuable opportunity to place the history of Jersey within its broader Anglo-French and European context.’
Developing as a political and economic system with land tenure at its core, ‘feudalism’ prevailed in parts of Europe by the 11th century. Typically, the ruler of a particular territory parcelled out much of the land under his rule to his key supporters, and they in turn rewarded their followers with grants of land who then exercised their lordship over the land under their control. It led to the evolution of
hierarchical societies based on the holding of land in fief (fee) and on the reciprocal relationship between seigneur (lord) and tenant (vassal).
In Jersey, these tenures determined the relations between the Crown and the seigneurs, as well as between the seigneurs and the tenants; those people who occupied and worked the land. Just as the seigneur owed services, duties and obligations to the Crown, so the tenants’ right to use the land and
facilities on the fief, such as a watermill, and perhaps also some of the common land, relied on a range of obligations to the local seigneur.
The earliest historical records show that Jersey was thoroughly feudalised, with the majority of the population as tenants holding land from seigneurs, including the Crown, who controlled five whole parishes and a large part of the remaining seven. Jersey was part of the Duchy of Normandy at the time and the Dukes of Normandy parcelled out land to reward the military aristocracy and as gifts to the Norman Church.
Between the 12th and 20th Centuries, 245 fiefs are said to have existed in Jersey, though not all simultaneously. They ranged in size from the most important, the Fief de St Ouen, which occupied a swathe of the parish of St Ouen, to the Fief de Burrier in St Martin, which comprised a small grouping of fields.
Jersey’s feudal experience was remarkably similar to that of Normandy but there were also variations. The dues, services and rents owed in Jersey were extensive and, in some cases, onerous but generally speaking from the perspective of the tenants, the experience was not oppressive. Gradually over time, tenants were viewed in effect as the owners of the land they occupied, subject always to
the seigneur’s rights, such as the payment of a fee upon the sale of the property and when a tenant died without direct heirs. Certain aspects of the feudal relationship nonetheless proved unpopular enough that they resulted in isolated outbursts of opposition, such as that experienced in the 16th and 17th Centuries. From at least the second half of the 19th Century, there were concerted efforts by some
Jersey politicians to bring an end to the system. However, it was not until the Seignorial Rights (Abolition) Law 1966 that seigneurial rights from which financial advantage was accrued came to an end in the Island.
A postdoctoral researcher is scheduled to work on the project between April 2026 and March 2028.
The post has been advertised; the closing date for applications was 25 November 2025.
