The word Lord is often used as a reference to God or Jesus. But the lord is also a title given by the King or Queen of a Kingdom, so as to give the person a “promotion”. The lord is a person who holds directly from the King.

Lords were from upper social ranks. Knights for instance, had a lesser impact than lords. If a knight wanted to serve a lord, he had to swear the oath of fealty : they became the lord's vassal and depended on him materially. For instance, if a person, say a knight, wanted to get a plot of land, he had to go through the ceremony and to become a vassal. Only then the lord would give him the plot, called “fief”.

In compensation for the land given, vassals would fight for their lord when needed. A similar operation bound serfs to their seigneurs. Except that vassals were somehow more free than serfs. Serfs were just peasants, looking for food to avoid hunger and starvation. And above all, serfdom was inherited from the father. If he became a serf, then all his kids would become serfs.

In Scotland, the term “Laird” refers to the equivalent in English, lord. Both were owners of lands but some differences exist, notably in that lairds had no voting rights, unlike lords.

There were around 40,000 and 50,000 “Seigneuralisms” in the world in the 12th century.