<P> The word derives from traditional inherited divisions of the countryside , reassigned as local jurisdictions known as manors or seigneuries ; each manor being subject to a lord ( French seigneur ) , usually holding his position in return for undertakings offered to a higher lord ( see Feudalism ) . The lord held a manorial court , governed by public law and local custom . Not all territorial seigneurs were secular ; bishops and abbots also held lands that entailed similar obligations . </P>
<P> The word derives from traditional inherited divisions of the countryside , reassigned as local jurisdictions known as manors or seigneuries ; each manor being subject to a lord ( French seigneur ) , usually holding his position in return for undertakings offered to a higher lord ( see Feudalism ) . The lord held a manorial court , governed by public law and local custom . Not all territorial seigneurs were secular ; bishops and abbots also held lands that entailed similar obligations . </P>
who owned the manor in the middle ages
who owned the manor in the middle ages
a higher lord
a higher lord