User:NikolinaR146/sandbox

Heritage(law)
Bastina is a term which signified right to property on the land that was inherited in the middle-ages Serbia. The word ,,bastina” has meaning of fatherland, father's inheritance. Aside from the meaning of land ownership, it also has an abstract meaning, ownership in general. Bastina is often seen in scripts from XIV and XV century, as well as in Dušan's code. Primarily, heritages are safe, no matter who owns them. The owners of ,,bastina” had the liberty to do whatever they wanted with them. They could give them to the church, keep them for themselves or sell them. Bastina wealth, land, properties, vineyards were given in dowry. The exception were villagers and workers of the lowest class which were the inherited ownership of the feudal lord. Bastina were exempt of all work and tax except for military service of the owner. Through military service, the lord would get the right on unlimited, permanent ownership of the bastina. It was only taken away due to cheating. Dušan's code limited the self-will of the lords and their families. Nobody could take heirdom by force, purchase or trade could only be done if the owner agreed. The right of inheritance was only given to relatives up to the 8th generation, but the owner could leave his heirdom to anyone. The name ,,bastinik” was given to nobles (ruling class), who were given or inherited the heirdom. Between ,,bastinika” there weren't any ethnic or religious differences. Bastina could even be owned by foreigners. They were lords or knights, they had usus (the right of use), fructus (the right of harvesting fruit) and abusus (the right of dispositioning things).

Basic forms of land ownership in the Middle Ages
Free bastina belonged to the privileged class, and subordinated to the non-privileged. Their difference is not in whether one of them was limited and burdened, and the other was not, but in the type of burden and restrictions. The aristocratic ,,bastina” was burdened with military service and the payment of soybeans, and the restrictions referred to the rights of family members and close relatives. Nobles, churches and monasteries had this type of ,,bastina”. Church estates often had a special name "metoh, metohija".

"With the development of feudal relations, the free peasantry is disappearing, but in some places, bastina did not belong to the rulers were still maintained. Article 174 of Dušan's code stipulates that people dispose of their bastina under the condition that there is a worker for the master whose village it is. This type of property was interpreted as a subordinate bastina. In the case of a subordinate bastina, the burden was labor and duties, and it was limited by the rights of neighbors and the rural municipality. This kind of bastina belonged to the Sebras, especially the Merops, the inhabitants of the free heritage. The masters also have a subordinate settlement heritage. Dušan's code confirms this type of inheritance to the knights . There was a possibility of reduction as well as increase of land, and that depended on the reduction and increase of the number of workers on a bastina. Special mention should be made of the priestly bastina. The priestly bastina was subordinated until the appearance of Dušan's code, when it became free, and only the Code released the priests-heirs of burdens and work in favor of the lord of the country.