Canada’s Forgotten Feudal Past

An ancient system that lingered into 20th century Quebec

Boundaries of fiefs, including sub-fiefs, in Lower Canada, 1923 (Université Laval / CC BY-SA 3.0)

Feudalism is often romanticized in modern pop culture. It was a system that people think back on only to remember mounted knights, regal lords, and the glory of a decentralized European continent ripe with adventure. In reality, it was a miserable system in which the few exploited the many in unfair and often brutal ways.

Feudalism is defined by the Canada History Project as:

“a system of political and social organization prevalent in western Europe during the Middle Ages (roughly 500–1450 AD). It was based on the relationship between a lord, who provided land and protection, and a vassal or serf, who pledged military and other services to his lord. The serf was tied to the same lord or piece of land for life.”

And that is exactly how most people remember it, as a system confined to Europe and the Middle Ages. However, feudalism reared its ugly head in the New World for centuries, even lingering into the 19th and 20th centuries. It is a piece of history often forgotten that ties Canada to New France and an outdated feudal past.

Seigneurs and habitants

In the tradition of Old Europe, all of the lands in North America claimed by France were, legally, in sole…