Nulle terre sans seigneur

{{Short description|Principle of feudal systems}}

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In feudal law, nulle terre sans seigneur (French for "no land without (a) lord", {{IPA|fr|nyl tɛʁ sɑ̃ sɛɲœʁ|pron}}) is the principle that one provides services to the sovereign (usually serving in his army) for the right to receive land from the sovereign. Originally a maxim of feudal law,{{cite book |title=Black's Law Dictionary |publisher=West Publishing Co. |place=St. Paul, Minnesota |date=1891–2018}} it applies in modern form to paying rates or land tax for land of former feudal or feudal-like origin such as land with modern fee simple title, as opposed to land with allodial or udal title.{{citation needed|date=May 2018}}

In the original French, the expression means "No land without a lord" though the legal sense might be more akin to "no property without a liege" since it was at the basis of the link between the infeodated or feal and his liege, in the feudal system.