indenture

A formal contract by which a high-ranking feudal lord , a prince or king , defined and retained the terms under which his liegemen would serve in a given campaign. Prior to the 14th century these agreements were basically verbal, but by the time of Edward III the contracts were often very specific. Contrast these documents with commissions of array , where the Crown levied a demand for troops on shires and boroughs .

A contract binding one person to work for another for a given period of time