As part of seigneurial tenure, what did habitants owe their seigneur?

• A. Pay tithes, annual fees, and provide grain to the seigneur
• B. Military service, annual contributions, and labor to the seigneur
• C. Pay tithes and taxes to the Crown
• D. No duties

Answer: (B)

In seigneurial tenure, habitants owed the seigneur a mix of duties that kept the estate functioning: a regular rent to the seigneur (cens and rentes), labor on the seigneur’s lands (corvée), and, in times of need, participation in military defense. This combination shows how landholding was linked to both economic contributions and service, tying the tenant farmers to the seigneur’s estate and to the colony’s defense and infrastructure. The other options don’t fit because tithes were church obligations, taxes were paid to the Crown, and the system did involve duties rather than none at all.