THE ANCIENT VIKING FIEFDOM OF THE NORSE ISLANDS OF THE CHANNEL

" THE FIEF BLONDEL "  Est. 1179

Greetings from the Ancient Lords, Dames and Seigneurs of Private Fief Blondel Est. 1179 -  "Le Seigneurs de la Fief Thomas Blondel"

One of the Last Private Fiefs Recognized in Her Majesty's Crown Dependencies

Friherre av Fief Blondel,  Kanaløyer Est. 1179

History of the Viking Norman Seigneur & Fiefdoms

911AD - The Norse Channel Islands were conquered by the Vikings before 911AD. As a concession to the invaders, Fiefs of the Channel Islands begin with the Grants by King Charles the Simple. In 912, Charles the Simple, King of France, ceded to Rollo, the great Norwegian Chieftan, the province of Neustria, now called Normandy, and Rollo became the first duke of that province. On his baptism and marriage with Gisele, daughter of Charles, he also received Brittany, for which Juhael Berengier, Earl of Rennes, did him homage.

911AD. The Great Viking Chief Rollo Göngu-Hrólfr or Gaange Rolf.
Chief Rollo was a Viking Warrior who became the first ruler of Normandy, a region of France. He is sometimes called the 1st Duke of Normandy and speculations point to Denmark as Rollo's birth place. Guernsey, second largest of the Channel Islands. It is 30 miles (48 km) west of Normandy, France, and roughly triangular in shape. With Alderney, Sark, Herm, Jethou, and associated islets, it forms the Bailiwick of Guernsey.

1020AD - The Fiefdom of Thomas Blondel came about through the medieval fragmentation of Fief Au Canelly and consequently, of the initial half of Guernésiais or Guernsey given by Duke Richard II in 1020 to Neel, Vicomte of the Cotentin.

AD 1179 - We find Legal Reference of Lord Seigneur of Thomas Blondel, a noble fief, in a charter of 1179AD when he is witnessing a grant to St. Michael's Mount. He is Robert Malmarchie (Thomas Blondel).

1200's AD - The Parish of St. Andrew in which Thomas Blondel lies contained a group of four late 12 century ecclesiastical Fiefs, one held by the Bishop of Countances, the second held by the Abbot of Cormery, Tours, the third held by the Abbot of La Croix St. Lewfroy, Evreux, and the fourth held by the Abbess of Trinity, Caen. The Fief Thomas Blondel derives its name, as we have already observed from the family of Malmarcher or Malmarchy who are recorded in the charters as existing in Guernsey in the 12th Century. Today, The region of The Fief de Thomas Blondel lies in both St Peter-in-the-Wood and Torteval Counties or Parishes of the Island of Guernsey

In 1270, on the death of Sir Henry Le Canelly, the Guernsey fief was divided between his daughters. Guilemette, the wife of Henry de Saint Martin obtained a considerable part of the island originating later the fiefs of Janin Besnard, Jean du Gaillard, Guillot Justice and Thomas Blondel. This was confirmed by the tenants and officers of the Fief in letters patent issued by Guernsey's Royal Court under the Bailiwick Seal in 1463. The original noble, Thomas Blondel was a jurat of Guernsey’s Royal Court from 1421-45. The Blondel family has given several jurats to the island. Later the Columbines and Fiotts were the holders of the title. For a time, the rights over the Fief were divided in two.

A Record of the Feifdom Deed of the Fief of Thomas Blondel in the parishes of St Peter of the Wood and Torteval, Guernsey, made by Janet Blondel to Thomas de la Court. attested by Jean Bonamy and Jacques Guille, jurats. See University of Leeds Library GRANT of BLONDEL

The Noble Fief of Blondel is one of the island's few feudal titles not held by the Queen.

The Feudal Lord's of Blondel - Approx. Chronology of FreeLords who Held the Norman Title.

• 1st Seigneur Feudal Duke & Lord - Great Viking Chief Rollo Göngu-Hrólfr or Gaange Rolf  - Le Seigneur of the Noble Fief including Fief Blondel 1179 a Norman Freeholder Lord of property, region, and land rights over small palatinates.   Also known as a: Friherre/Freiherr - The Fief Thomas Blondel  
• 2nd Seigneur of the Fief Blondel or Feudal-Free-Lord) Family Le Canellys until 1204   
• 3rd Seigneur of Fief Blondel - Sir William De Chesney 1284 
• 4th Lord - Le Dame Janet Blondel until 1440
• 5th 1440 - Seigneur of Fief Blondel - Sieur Thomas De La Court     
• 6th Seigneur of Fief Blondel -  Freeholder-Feudal-Lord & Friherre/Freiherr) George S. Le Couteur, Seigneur of Fief Thomas Blondel    
• 7th Lord Seigneurs or Freeholder-Feudal-Lord & Friherre/Freiherr) Seigneur Daniel Hardy & Le Dame Marie Guille.    
• 8th Lord) Seigneur Pierre Robillard of Maison de Pleinmont, Torteval, was the Seigneur of Fief de Thomas Blondel. The rights over the Fief again joined during the XIX century as shown in documents of 11/10/1800 (Reg Tome 26, p 420) and 19/05/1798 - Pierre Robilliard obtained the Fief from Daniel Hardy & Marie Guille. 1800   
• 9th Seigneur of the Fief Blondel -  The Le Couteur Family
• 10th  Seigneur Count Marcov) The rights of Fief Thomas Blondel acquired by (Count & Seigneur Marcov of Spain) from Sept.  2000 until December of 2017.    
• 11th Free Lord & Seigneur) Counselor George Mentz JD MBA, Seigneur of Fief of Blondel) on the island of (Dgèrnésiais - Guernsey French) in Dec. 2017, the rights of the Private Fief of Thomas Blondel were acquired by George Mentz, Esq of the United States. Acquired by conveyance and payment of: Duty, Treizième & Congé, and Jurats fee, and Fief Permission Fees to the HM/Crown and Receiver General, HM Clerk Greffier and Courts **   Mentz is an international lawyer who studied Common, Civil and French/Latin Law who has a keen interest in maintaining the Feudal Courts of the Fief Blondel because it is one of the oldest feudal courts in the world. Mentz is also the titular feudal Lord Baron of Ancient Longford-Westmeath in Ireland through acquisition from the original sale from Earl and Lord Westmeath.

The Fief territory itself is spread over areas in the parishes of St. Pierre-du-Bois and Torteval and contains within it ancient buildings, beachfront, ocean access, & port lands of the island. The private Fief Blondel may be one of the few Legal Feifs in the World that does not require or demand annual or periodic fealty or oaths to and from the Crown. Thus, it is an independent and free fiefdom and one of the oldest surviving fiefs and lordships in the world.

The Chief Pleas of the Seignorial court of Seigneurial court of Fief Thomas Blondel were held annually at the mounting block or steps (perron) of the Church of St. Pierre-du-Bois.

The Fief Blondel is a private fief dating back to 1179 in the Crown Holding Island of Guernsey.

A Fief of Fiefdom – is a feudal area of land for which residents once paid fees or rendered services to the Lord Baron or Seigneur in return for the right to use the land in commerce. The Free Fief Blondel is in two parishes or counties of Torteval and St. Peter of the Wood. The Fief sits on the Eastern part of the island and includes areas in the North, Central and South East Sections of the Island including: beach, woods, buildings, common areas, sacred lands, and other commercial buildings and farm land along with potentially including small islands offshore of the fiefs beach and foreshore.

Historically, fiefs, small baronnies of land, were granted as a form of over-lordship, giving the Free-Lord or Seigneurs the rights over the people and property on that land under the ancient norman feudal system.

Style of Seigneur - As per the The Feudal Dues (Guernsey) Law, 1980 Style of Seigneur of a fief etc. Section 4. The foregoing provisions of this Law shall be without prejudice –
(a) to the right of any person to use, in the case of a male person, the style of Seigneur and, in the case of a female person, the style of Dame, of a fief,
(b) to the feudal relationship between Her Majesty and any person holding an interest in a private fief on or at any time after the commencement of this Law, or to the feudal relationship between any person holding an interest in any fief and any person holding an interest in a dependency of that fief, and
(c) to the right or obligation of any person by virtue of that person holding an interest in any fief which is not a right to which those provisions apply or any obligation correlative thereto.
www.guernseylegalresources.gg/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=71301&p=0

Most of the legal rights formerly enjoyed by the Seigneurs of fiefs having been abolished by law in 1966 but international law and custom still pertains to the rights of beaches, airwaves, underground, common areas, foreshore, and other rights such as hunting and fishing. A fief owner does register the title in an act of legal title conveyance with Her Majesty's Receiver General much like the transfer of land rights, mineral rights or water rights and the fief buyer pays special consideration of Treizième & Congé fees to the CROWN for the transfer and rights. The Fief holder can be styled Seigneur (or Dame) du Fief de la ..... Generally speaking, the title is not normally used except in formal settings. A fief, in legal theory, is held directly from the Crown. However, this fief does not owe homage or any other services but does maintain rights to conduct customs and formalities such as creating honorrific Fief Officers and Courts or possibliy representing the Fief in any unclaimed area of law such as foreshore, airwaves, water rights, hunting and fishing rights etc.