Freiherr in The Feudal System
The title Freiherr derives from the fact that the holder held free (allodial) title to his land, unlike ordinary barons, who were originally knights (Ritter) in vassalage to a higher lord or sovereign, and unlike medieval German ministerials who were bound to provide administrative services for a lord. A Freiherr sometimes exercised hereditary administrative and judicial prerogatives over those resident in his barony instead of the liege lord, who might be the duke (Herzog) or count (Graf).
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Famous quotes containing the words feudal system, feudal and/or system:
“It was evident that, both on account of the feudal system and the aristocratic government, a private man was not worth so much in Canada as in the United States; and, if your wealth in any measure consists in manliness, in originality and independence, you had better stay here. How could a peaceable, freethinking man live neighbor to the Forty-ninth Regiment? A New-Englander would naturally be a bad citizen, probably a rebel, there,—certainly if he were already a rebel at home.”
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