allodial

or a·lo·di·al

[ uh-loh-dee-uhl ]

adjective

1. free from the tenurial rights of a feudal overlord.

allodial

/ əˈləʊdɪəl /

adjective

1. (of land) held as an allodium
2. (of tenure) characterized by or relating to the system of holding land in absolute ownership

   the allodial system

3. (of people) holding an allodium

Other Words From

• al·lodi·ali·ty noun
• al·lodi·al·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of allodial¹

1650–60; < Medieval Latin allodiālis, equivalent to allōdi ( um ) allodium + -ālis -al ¹

Example Sentences

Seigneurs who protected heretics in their lands forfeited them to the lord, or, if allodial, to the king.

From Project Gutenberg

Yet already there had been sufficient persecution to occasion the necessity of settling the novel questions arising from the confiscations, and the Diet of Worms, on June 2 of the same year, had decided that the allodial lands and the movables should go to the heirs, the fiefs to the lord, and in case of serfs the personalty to the master, thus excluding the Church and the persecutors from any share.

From Project Gutenberg

Houses of heretics, if allodial, were to be torn down; if held in fief, forfeited to the lord.

From Project Gutenberg

In Germany the Diet of Worms, in 1231, indicates the confusion existing in the feudal mind between heresy and treason by allowing the allodial lands and personal property of the condemned to descend to the heirs, while fiefs were confiscated to the suzerain.

From Project Gutenberg

On the 12th of November 1834 the landgrave Viktor Amadeus of Hesse-Rotenburg died, leaving to his nephews, the princes Viktor and Chlodwig Hohenlohe, his allodial estates: the duchy of Ratibor in Silesia, the principality of Corvey in Westphalia, and the lordship of Treffurt in the Prussian governmental district of Erfurt.

From Project Gutenberg