Feudal Obligations Quotes
The Emperor had made his brother King of Holland, thinking of it as an unimportant backwater of the French Empire. But Louis took his oath and job very seriously, and although he did not have the great talent of his brother, he made a serious effort to be a good king.
Strong argued in petitioning a Connecticut court for divorce in 1788 that her husband’s abuse had removed her obligation to obey him
Cities operated on an entirely different plane than the rural countryside which was divided up and given to nobles and the peasants on the land were serfs—virtual slaves to the noble. Cities allowed more equality, opportunity, freedom, modernity, and education. However, serfs would vote with their feet and move into cities leaving the princes devoid of their surf labor. The Emperor tried to stave off this trend by preventing the cities from admitting the surfs who were otherwise generally welcome as they, like immigrants classically provided an excellent source of compliant, low cost labor. Ironically, there are third world countries who even in modern times are trying to restrict the immigration of peasants to the cities.
This early form of estate tax was a very popular act, as inheritors no longer had to pay the full "market price" of the estate to the state in order for the family to continue possession. Thus the estate tax was a welcome alternative for the then wealthy families.
Prior to that there was no redress any layperson had except to the religious courts. Churches throughout the Christian world excoriated this early separation between church and state, and giving civil courts jurisdiction over the churches on non-religious matters. Thomas Beckett led the English opposition to the enforcement.
