Topic summary
Bailli
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Bailiff (France).
Name
Bailli is first noted in the 12th century and comes the same word in Old French which means to govern or administer. One 17th Century author credits the Old French word as meaning at the time "guardian" or "protector." This word derives from the Vulgar Latin term bajulivus meaning "official in charge of a castle" (i.e., a royal castellan or "porter."