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The seigneurial system was the semi- feudal system of noble privilege in France and its colonies.

This article currently focuses on the seigneurial system as it applied to dividing land in New France.

The seigneurial system was introduced to New France in 1627 by Cardinal Richelieu. Land was arranged in long strips, called seigneuries, along the banks of the St. Lawrence River. Each piece of land belonged to the lord, or seigneur. The seigneur divided the land further among his tenants, known as censiteurs or habitants, who cleared the land, built houses and other buildings, and farmed the land. The habitants paid taxes to the seigneur (the cens et rentes, or "cents and rents"), and were usually required to work for their seigneur for three days per year, often building roads (the corvée). Unlike Roman-based feudalism from which it was derived the lord of the manor was not granted the "haut" or "bas" jurisdiction to impose fines and penalties as in Europe, those powers were given to the intendant of the king.

Seigneuries were often divided into a number of areas. There was a common area on the shore of the St. Lawrence river, behind which was the best land and the seigneur's estate itself. There was also one or more sets of farmland, not adjacent to the river, immediately behind the first set.

Seigneurs were vassals to the king, who granted them the deeds to the seigneuries. The king was represented in New France by his intendant; the first intendant of New France was Jean Talon, who made it a requirement that seigneurs actually live on their estates.

The seigneurial system differed somewhat from its equivalent in France; while in France it was a remnant of the feudal system, in New France it was seen as an incentive for settlement and colonization. It also allowed for increased control over settlement by a central authority.

After the Battle of the Plains of Abraham and the conquest of Quebec by the BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain was created by the merger of the Kingdoms of Scotland and England in 1707 (see Act of Union 1707). A single parliament and government, based in Westminster in London, ran the entire kingdom. They had shared a monarch si during the Seven Years' WarThis article is about the 1756 1763 war. For the 1592 1598 war in Korea, see Seven Year War. The Seven Years' War ( 1756 1763) pitted Great Britain, Prussia and Hanover against France, Austria, Russia, Sweden, and Saxony. It was the first " world war"; mo, the Quebec ActThe Quebec Act of 1774 was an act by the British Parliament setting out procedures of governance in the area of Quebec. After the Seven Years' War, a victorious Great Britain achieved a peace agreement through the Treaty of Paris (1763). Under the terms o of 1774Events January 21 Mustafa III, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire dies and is succeeded by his brother Abd-ul-Hamid I. May 10 Louis XVI becomes King of France. June 2 Intolerable Acts: The Quartering Act, requiring American colonists to let British soldiers int retained the seigneurial system. It remained relatively intact for almost a century; some Englishmen purchased seigneuries; others were divided equally between male and female offspring; some were run by the widows of seigneurs as their children grew to adulthood. The system was formally abolished by GovernorA governor is an official who heads the government of a colony, state or other sub-national state unit. Most countries in the world have some sort of official known as a governor, though in some countries, the heads of the states, provinces and regions ma Lord ElginJames Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine ( July 20, 1811 November 20, 1863) was a Governor General of the Province of Canada. He was the son of Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, and like his father was known as Lord Elgin . He became Gove on June 22June 22 is the 173rd day of the year (174th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 192 days remaining. Events 168 BC Battle of Pydna: Romans under Lucius Aemilius Paullus defeat and capture Macedonian King Perseus, ending the Third Macedonian Warnd 1854Events January 13 The accordion is patented by Anthony Faas. February 11 Major streets lit by coal gas for first time. February 14 Texas is linked by telegraph with the rest of the United States, when a connection between New Orleans and Marshall, Texas i by legislative act called An Act for the Abolition of Feudal Rights and Duties in Lower Canada which was brought into effect on the December 18 of that year. The act called for the creation of a special Seigneurial Court composed of all the justices of Lower Canada, which was presented a series of questions concerning the various economic and property rights that abolition would change. Some of the vestiges of this system of land-owning continued into the twentieth century as some of the feudal rents continued to be collected. The system was finally abolished when the last residual rents were repurchased through a system of provincial bonds.