Faida

Feida. L. Lat. [Germ. fehrde, feud; Sax. fah, enmity; fah, a foe.] In old European law. A combination of kindred, to revenge the death of any of their blood against the killer and all his race. Cowell, voc. Feud. A right or custom common to most of the nations of Europe during the middle ages, by which the relatives of a person injured or slain, took up his quarrel, (susceperunt inimicitias,) by placing themselves in a state of open and declared enmity against the wrongdoer and his family, and carrying on a species of private war for the purpose of obtaining the desired satisfaction or revenge. This custom, which is sometimes called deadly feud, was of Germanic origin, and prevailed on the continent and in England down to the time of the Norman invasion. According to the Saxon laws, it might be waived by a pecuniary compensation. Hence the proverb cited by Spelman: Bygs spere of side, othe bere, (buy spear off side, or bear;) i. e. buy exemption from war, or carry it on. Spelman, voc.

Faida. 1 Robertson's Charles V. Appendix, Note xxi.