French title of nobility
A
seigneur
(
French pronunciation:
[s??œ?]
ⓘ
) or
lord
is an originally
feudal
title in
France
before the
Revolution
, in
New France
and
British North America
until 1854, and in the
Channel Islands
to this day. The seigneur owned a
seigneurie
,
seigneury
, or lordship?a form of title or
land tenure
?as a
fief
, with its associated obligations and rights over person and property.
[1]
In this sense, a seigneur could be an individual?male or female, high or low-born?or a collective entity, typically a religious community such as a
monastery
,
seminary
,
college
, or
parish
. In the wake of the
French Revolution
,
seigneurialism
was repealed in France on 4 August 1789 and in the Province of Canada on 18 December 1854.
[2]
Since then, the feudal title has only been applicable in the Channel Islands and for
sovereign
princes by their families.
Terms
[
edit
]
The English seigneur is borrowed from the French
seigneur
, which descends from
Middle French
seigneur
, from
Old French
seignor
(oblique form of
sire
), from
Latin
seni?rem
, the accusative singular of
senior
("elder"), the comparative form of
senex
("old, elderly"). It is a doublet of the English words
senior
,
sir
,
sire
,
seignior, sieur
, and
monsieur
and shares the same provenance as the
Italian
signore
,
Portuguese
senhor
, and
Spanish
senor
, which?like
mister
?referred to feudal lords before becoming general words of respectful address towards men.
The noble title and land title of a seigneur is a seigneurie or
lordship
, the rights that the seigneur was entitled to is called
seigneuriage
, and the
jurisdiction
exercised over the fief was
seigneur justicier
. The bearers of these titles, rights, and jurisdiction were generally but not exclusively male. A female seigneur was generally known as a seigneuresse or lady. The seigneur could be a noble or a
roturier
(commoner) as well as a corporation such as religious order, a monastery, a parish.
In English,
seigneur
is used in historical scholarship to discuss the French seigneurial system.
[3]
It is also frequently
calqued
as "
lord
", the analogous term in the English feudal system.
The term
grand seigneur
has survived in English and French. Today this usually means an elegant, urbane
gentleman
. Some even use it in a stricter sense to refer to a man whose manners and way of life reflect his noble ancestry and great wealth. In addition,
Le Grand Seigneur
had long been the name given by the French to the
Ottoman sultan
.
[4]
Notre Seigneur Jesus-Christ
is the French equivalent of the English
Our Lord
Jesus
Christ
.
The English word
seignorage
is also derived from
seigneur
.
Current use in the Channel Islands
[
edit
]
The title is still used in the
Channel Islands
, self-governing territories in the
English Channel
which swear fealty to the
British Crown
as the successor to the
Duke of Normandy
.
[5]
In particular, it refers to the
Seigneur of Sark
, the hereditary ruler of
Sark
, a jurisdiction of the
Bailiwick of Guernsey
. The
Seigneur of Saint Ouen
and the
Seigneur of Samares
are titles in the
Bailiwick of Jersey
. According to the Feudal Dues Law of 1980 of Guernsey, the style of Dame or Seigneur is legally authorized for use by Seigneurs and Dames of Fiefs of the Crown Dependency of Guernsey.
[5]
Guernsey or the
Bailiwick of Guernsey
is one of the Channel Islands that is a
Crown Dependency
. Guernsey still has
feudal law
and legal fiefs in existence today. Each fief has a Seigneur and/or Dame that owns the fief. The Guernsey fiefs and seigneurs have long existed before baronies and are part of
Normandy
. While nobility has been outlawed in France and Germany, noble fiefs still exist by law in Guernsey. The owners of the fiefs actually convene each year at the
Court of Chief Pleas
under the supervision of His Majesty's Government. There are approximately 24 private fiefs in Guernsey that are registered directly with the Crown. Some Fief Seigneurs own more than one Fief or have several Fiefs within their Fief territory.
[6]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Seigneur"
.
Merriam-Webster
.
- ^
An Act for the abolition of feudal rights and duties in Lower Canada
, S.Prov.C. 1854, c. 3.
- ^
See e.g.
O. Hufton (1979), "The Seigneur and the Rural Community in Eighteenth-Century France. The Seigneurial Reaction"; R. Blaufarb (2010), "Communaute and Seigneurie in Early Modern Provence"; H. Root (1985), "Challenging the Seigneurie: Community and Contention on the Eve of the French Revolution".
- ^
"Le Grand Seigneur (i.e., the sultan)"
.
NYPL Digital Collections
. Retrieved
2020-10-22
.
- ^
a
b
The Feudal Dues (Guernsey) Law, 1980
(PDF)
(Law). States of Guernsey. 1980
. Retrieved
2020-04-17
.
- ^
"English to English Dictionary ? Meaning of Fief in English is : feoff, feud, fee, demesne, dependency, domain, fiefdom, manor, estate in fee, acres, allodium, benefice, copyhold, equitable estate, estate at sufferance, estate for life, estate for years, estate in expectancy, estate in possession, estate tail"
.
dictionary.studysite.org
. Retrieved
2023-06-09
.
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