Lord of the Manor
Overview
 
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...

 that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties
Moiety title
Moiety title is legal term describing a portion other than a whole of ownership of property. The word derives from Old French moitié meaning "half" , from Latin medietas "middle", from medius....

. A title, similar to Lord of the Manor, in French would be Seigneur du Manoir, Schloßherr ("Lord of the Castle") in German and godsherre in Norwegian and Swedish.

Historically a Lord of the Manor might be a tenant-in-chief
Tenant-in-chief
In medieval and early modern European society the term tenant-in-chief, sometimes vassal-in-chief, denoted the nobles who held their lands as tenants directly from king or territorial prince to whom they did homage, as opposed to holding them from another nobleman or senior member of the clergy....

 if they held a capital manor directly from the Crown; otherwise they were mesne lord
Mesne lord
A mesne lord was a lord in the feudal system who had vassals who held land from him, but who was himself the vassal of a higher lord. A mesne lord did not hold land directly of the king, that is to say he was not a tenant-in-chief. His subinfeudated estate was called a "mesne estate"...

s if they did not hold directly from the Crown, yet had their own tenants.
 
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