A '''paréage''' is a
feudal treaty recognising joint sovereignty over a territory by two rulers, who were on an equal footing, ''
pari passu''; compare
peer. Such a contract could be signed between two secular rulers or, most usually, by a secular and an ecclesiastic ruler, as in the case of the most famous ''paréage'', that which founded the
Principality of Andorra. They were very popular in that region,
Languedoc and
Catalonia, during the high and late
Middle Ages, especially between lay and clerical interests.
Paréage could also refer to the equal division of land and titles between sons of an inheritance.