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The study of a specific type of feudal property known as the dependent fief (arrière-fief) shows that the development of the Laurentian rural landscape and of Canadian colonial society in general was far less straightforward and uniform than has been thought. A form of property originating in the Paris custom, the dependent fief was governed above all by the choices and aspirations of resident populations. It was first and foremost a social and economic reality. The study of this form of land ownership and of the motivations and conditions of the concessions reveals a specific social dynamic. The attachment of vassal lords to their dependent fiefs reveals what was socially at stake in this type of tenure. Moreover, the various types of development and use of agricultural resources it allowed point to its economic importance.