A territorial lord (german: Landesherr) was a ruler in the period beginning with the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

who, stemming from his status as being immediate (''unmittelbar''), held a form of authority over a territory known as '' Landeshoheit''. This authority gave him nearly all the attributes of

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

. Such a

lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are ...

had authority or dominion in a

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

, but this fell short of sovereignty since as a ruler of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

, he remained subject to imperial law and supreme authority, including imperial tribunals and imperial war contributions. The territorial lord was generally a member of the high aristocracy (''

Hochadel The German nobility (german: deutscher Adel) and Royal family, royalty were status groups of the Estates of the realm, medieval society in Central Europe, which enjoyed certain privileges relative to other people under the laws and customs in the G ...

'') or

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

, who was the title bearer or office holder of an existing or constituent state through the custom of primogeniture or feudal law. In the Holy Roman Empire, the lords of the individual member states, the imperial states or ''Reichsstände'' (excluding the Holy Roman Emperor), were the territorial lords of the regions ruled by them. During the

High Middle Ages The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended around AD 150 ...

, the system was further expanded as the lords began reclaiming territories and this was done by granting

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

s jurisdiction over the acquired lands. It is also suggested that this development has led to the freedom of the

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasant ...

s, since there were instances where they were granted freedom and, in practice, ownership of the land.

Authority

The territorial lord usually had the rights of

coinage Coinage may refer to: * Coins, standardized as currency * Neologism, coinage of a new word * '' COINage'', numismatics magazine * Tin coinage, a tax on refined tin * Protologism ''Protologism'' is a term coined in 2003 by the American literary ...

and

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. J ...

over his domain. A prerequisite for being a territorial lord was the combination of property and estate ownership, as well as sovereignty, in one person as a unified legal concept. The lords' economic domination, particularly in the

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

an territories, can be demonstrated in the way ownership of the

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

was vested in their hand. This ensured the dependence of the peasantry, since they were forced to grind their grains in their lord's mill. An account cited that a uniquely good phenomenon that resulted from the emergence of the territorial lords was the way they manifested claim to dominion, which was responsible for the thriving

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

today. Based on available forest history, these forests became a foundation of political power, and were thus not only subsumed within a territory but also protected rather than cleared. This was significant because it protected the great forests from the increasing appetite for wood of the emergent

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

industry, particularly in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

References

{{Authority control Legal history of the Holy Roman Empire Lords of the Holy Roman Empire Medieval law Nobility Titles of nobility of the Holy Roman Empire