Seigneur (English:
Lord, German:
Herr), often abbreviated as
sieur, was the name formerly given in
France to someone who had been granted a
fief by the crown, with all its associated rights over person and property. This form of lordship was called
seigneurie, the rights that the
seigneur was entitled to were called
seigneuriage, and the
seigneur himself was the
seigneur justicier, because he exercised greater or lesser
jurisdiction over his fief. Since the repeal of the
feudal system on 4 August 1789 in the wake of the French Revolution, this office has no longer existed and the title has only been used for
sovereign princes by their families.