Feoffment

In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment /ˈfɛfmənt/ or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of title in land by a system in which a landowner would give land to one person for the use of another. The common law of estates in land grew from this concept.