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Gavelkind () was a system of land tenure associated chiefly with the county of Kent, but also found in Ireland and Wales and some other parts of England. Its inheritance pattern is a system of partible inheritance, which bears resemblance to Salic patrimony: as such, it might testify in favour of a wider, probably ancient Germanic tradition. Under this law, land was divided equally among sons or other heirs.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Gavelkind )〕 Over the centuries, various acts were passed to degavel individual manors but, in England and Wales, it was the Administration of Estates Act 1925 that finally abolished the custom.〔Elton. The tenures of Kent. ch. XVI - Disgavelled Lands〕 == Gavelkind in Kent== Before abolition of gavelkind tenure by the Administration of Estates Act of 1925, all land in Kent was presumed to be held by gavelkind until the contrary was proved. It was more correctly described as socage tenure, subject to the custom of gavelkind. The chief peculiarities of the custom were the following:〔 * A tenant could pass on part or all of his lands as a fiefdom from fifteen years of age. * On conviction for a felony, the lands were not confiscated by The Crown. * Generally the tenant could always dispose of his lands in his will. * In case of intestacy, the estate was passed on to all the sons, or their representatives, in equal shares, leaving all the sons equally a gentleman. Although females claiming in their own right were given second preference, they could still inherit through representation. * A dowager was entitled to one half of the land. * A widow who had no children was entitled to inherit half the estate, as a tenant, as long as she remained unmarried. Gavelkind, an example of customary law in England, was thought to have existed before the Norman Conquest of 1066, but generally was superseded by the feudal law of primogeniture. Its survival (until as late as 1925) in one part of the country, is regarded as a concession by the Conqueror to the people of Kent.〔R. J. Smith, "The Swanscombe Legend and the Historiography of Kentish Gavelkind," in ''Medievalism in the Modern World. Essays in Honour of Leslie J. Workman'', ed. Richard Utz and Tom Shippey (Turnhout: Brepols, 1998), pp. 85-103.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「gavelkind」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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