Seigneur
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This article is about the French title of nobility. For other meanings, see Seigneur (disambiguation).
In France, a seigneur (Lord) was formerly the name given to someone who held a fief of the crown with all the associated rights over person and property. This form of rule was called seigneurie, but the epitome of the rights due to the seigneur was called seigneuriage, and the seigneur himself seigneur justicier, because he exercised high or low jurisdiction over his fief. Since the abolition of feudalism on 4 August 1789, this status no longer existed; the title was used only in relation to sovereign princes and princes from their families.
In linguistic usage, the term grand seigneur has survived. Today, this is usually used to describe a distinguished, worldly gentleman. Some still use it in a narrower sense to designate a man whose manners and manner of life betray his noble birth and great fortune. Moreover, Le Grand-Seigneur is the French name for the Turkish Sultan; Le Seigneur is the name for God the Father in the French ecclesiastical style alone, while Jesus Christ is preferably called Notre-Seigneur.
The word seignorage is also derived from seigneur.
