90	THE  KNIGHTS  TEMPLARS
all men alive or dead ".    If, however, he was already the
vassal of another lord, he could add " except so and so w.   A
man who possessed land was necessarily a vassal^ his suzerain *
was either the king or some lesser lord*    A noble might be
the vassal of a lord for one fief and suzerain of the same lord
in respect of other land, and the feudal system gave rise to
many such anomalies.    In the Latin states of the East, the
danger of the concentration of numerous fiefs in a single hand
was recognised, and certain limitations were introduced to
prevent this; similarly, a fief could not be sub-divided beyond
a certain limit.   The feudal system aimed at the provision of
a supply of fighting men*    For that reason, a knight who
lived abroad for more than a year and was consequently
unable to serve in the field at the summons of his lord could
be deprived of his land and another knight be given the
property*   The bourgeois could have property in towns, but
only a knight could hold a fief*    It was, however, much easier
for a bourgeois to be raised to knighthood in Palestine than
in Europe during the Crusading era,
As with the crown, the male took precedence of the female
in the succession to a fief.   The suzerain held a fief if the heir
were under age, but he must surrender it when the male heir
reached the age of fifteen,    If there were no direct male heir,
a female could succeed, but only if she married according
to her lord's will.   An heiress was regarded as ripe for
marriage when she was twelve, and her suzerain was required
to provide her with a husband when she reached that age,   If
he failed to do so, she had the right to demand that he give
her the choice of three men, and, on his refusal, she could
marry at will.   Marry she must, however, before she could
possess her heritage unless she had reached the age of sixty*
The Assizes point out that the purpose of marriage is to beget
children and the requirement of marriage is therefore waivod
for elderly women,
The judicial system was much superior to that existing a$