Seigneur

Seigneur

https://chnm.gmu.edu/revolution/d/1114/

1114

Owner of a property or legal right with certain other rights attached to it, divided into useful rights: notably the right to command days of labor from those living on the land, to levy taxes or payments in kind, or to have exclusive access to a hunting ground, and honorific rights. Seigneurs did not have to be nobles. The seigneur could be a member of the clergy or a commoner without any change in the rights that went with the land.