FETISHISM. 5G6 FEUDALISM. monies and minor observances. The fetish is usually a figure modeled or carved from clay, stone, wood, or other material in imitation of some deified animal or other object; frequently it consists of fur, feathers, hair, bone, or tooth of a tutelary animal: sometimes it is the animal it- self, or some tree, rock, river, or place associated with the tutelary in the mind of the devotee; and in certain cases the belief is so definitely crystallized about the object itself that the cus- tomary connection with the tutelary eludes de- tection — when the belief may be said to grade into idolatry. First noted by Portuguese trav- elers in Africa, it is now recognized that fetish- ism is by no means confined to western Africa, but prevails among the primitive peoples of all lands; also that the belief represents a fairly definite stage in the development of fiducial notions and practices. Tylor justly limited fe- tishism to the doctrine of potencies (or spirits) at- tached to, or conveying influence through, mate- rial objects, in contradistinction from animism, which he defined as the doctrine of spirits in gen- eral, and also indicated the way in which fetish- ism grades into idolatry. Briefly, fetishism usu- ally arises in the primordial belief called by Powell 'hecastotheism,' and accompanies the suc- ceeding stage of zootheism, to die out in the idolatry preceding the development of spiritu- alized faiths. Significant vestiges of the early belief persisted among the ancient Greeks, who reverenced trees and sacred places ; the Romans, who cast clods of native earth on the site of the sacred city; the Druids of England, who adored oak and mistletoe; the early Germans and Celts with faith in fairies, and many other peo- ples. See Man, Science of; Sopiiiologt. FET'LOCK, or FETTERLOCK. In heraldry, a form of padlock. Edward IV. of England adopted thi- as a charge after the battle of Morti- mer's Cross, in 1471. FEU (from OF. feu, fieu, fied, fief, fee. from ML. feudum, property held in fee). In the law of Scotland, a right to the use and employment of lands, houses, or other heritable objects, in per- petuity, in consideration of an annual payment in grain or money, called feu-duty, and certain other contingent burdens called casualties of su- periority. Though 'feu' was, like 'feud' and "fee' in English law. formerly used to express any kind of tenure by which the relation of lord and vassal was constituted, in its narrower meaning which we have here indicated, and which is that in which it is now almost exclusively used, it was opposed, on the one hand, to those tenures in which the return consisted of military or other personal service, and. on the other, to those in which the return was illusory, the only object of which was to preserve the relation of superior and vassal. A feu, in short, was a perpetual lease — a feu-farni. as it was often called — by which the tenant became bound to pay a sub- stantia! consideration, and his rights under which he might forfeit, as the penalty of non- payment. In the present day the disposal 'if land in fen i- practically a sale for a stipulated annual payment, equivalent to chief rent. It is in I lii-i Hl'IiI [ingly, that feus are generally ■ ■ il la nd : and t hough feus resemble English freeholds in substance, their forms agree with copyhold tenure. See Patei ,.,,. id Scotch Law. FEUCHTERSLEBEN, f oiK'ters-la'ben, Ernst, Baron von (1800-49). An Austrian physician, philosopher, and poet, born in Vienna. He studied in the university of that city, became lecturer there in 1844, and was made Under- Secretary in the Ministry of Public Instruction in 1848, but resigned in the same year. His Lehr- bitch dcr iirztlichen Seelenkunde (1845) was translated into English, and others of his attrac- tively written medico-philosophical works enjoyed a high reputation. He is, however, best known by his Zur Diiitetik der Seele (1838), which is still widely read. His non-medical works, with a biography (7 vols.), were published in 1851-53. Some of his lyric and didactic verses appear in most anthologies. FEUD (AS. foehl>, enmity, from fah, hostile, OHG. feheda, Ger. Fehde, hatred, Olr. 6lch, en- emy, Lith. piptas, bad. OPruss. popaika, he de- ceives) . A war waged by one family or small tribe on another, to avenge the death or injury of one of its members. It prevailed extensively among the nations of northern Europe; and it was only by gradual steps that the practice was first re- stricted and then abolished. The laws of the Em- peror Rudolph I. recognized the right of waging feuds. At last, partial associations were formed, the members of which bound themselves mutually to settle their differences by courts of arbitration and compensation, without going to war. The practice, however, continued in many parts of the world, and has survived to the present day in the feuds of the Kentucky and Tennessee moun- tains in America, and in the Corsican vendetta. FEUD (inlaw). See Fee. FEUDAL ARCHITECTURE. A term ap- plied to architecture during the Feudal Age; that is, from about the tenth century to the fifteenth. (See Gothic Architecture; Roman- esque Art.) It is generally used in reference to the military architecture of that period, which will be found treated in the article Castle. FEUDALISM (Fr. fiodaUsme, Sp., Port., It. feudalism*), from ML. feudum, Kng. feud, from OHG. fihu, AS. froh. cattle. Lat. pecu, Skt. pa&u, cattle). The name used for a group of customs, embracing the political and economic sides of life, which ^ave to society its characteristic shape during the greater part of the Middle Ages. The rise of the institutions which we call feudal became noticeable shortly after the Germanic invasions, and they attained their highest de- velopment from the ninth to the thirteenth cen- tury. With the beginning of the fourteenth cen- tury cei tain non-feudal institutions appeared. and gradually a more modern type of society began to take form. These changes, slow at first, became more rapid and fundamental until even- tually the feudal system, as' such, was quite overthrown, though certain customs lingered far down into I lern times, and in .-.nine few re- spects still exercise considerable influence in various countries. Feudalism, therefore, must be -Iodic. I in its origin, its period of highest development, an. I its decline; and in the exam- ination of tin' chief features of the system, ntt.n linn must !»• paid to the way in which it affected (1) personal relationship; (2) landholding; and I) the distribution of political power.
