Everything about Seneschal totally explained
A
seneschal was an officer in the houses of important nobles in the
Middle Ages. In the French administrative system of the Middle Ages, the
sénéchal was also a royal officer in charge of justice and control of the administration in southern provinces, equivalent to the northern French
bailli.
Etymology
The word is recorded in English since 1393, deriving via
Old French seneschal, from Frankish Latin
siniscalcus, itself from
Proto-Germanic roots
sini- 'senior' and
skalk 'servant' (as in
marshal etc.)
The seneschal in noble houses
The most basic function of a seneschal was to supervise feasts and domestic ceremonies; in this respect, they were equivalent to
stewards and
majordomos. Sometimes, seneschals were given additional responsibilities, including the dispensing of justice and high military command.
The term is probably of
Gothic origin. In the
Holy Roman Empire this officer had the title
Drussard, or
Truchsess (from
Old High German truhtsâzo; "sitting in front of" the
truht, the "
Tross";
Latin Dapifer,
French Écuyer de cuisine,
Dutch Drossaard, Drost, Baljuw,
Swedish Drots).
The
British scholar H.S. Bennett described the seneschal's role by saying that "the seneschal must know the size and needs of every manor; how many acres should be ploughed and how much seed will be needed. He must know all his
bailiffs and
reeves, how they conduct the lord's business and how they treat the peasants. He must know exactly how many penny loaves can be made from a quarter of corn, or how many cattle each pasture should support. He must for ever be on the alert lest any of the lord's franchises lapse or are usurped by others. He must think of the lord's needs, both of money and of kind, and see that they're constantly supplied. In short, he must be all-knowing and he's all-powerful".
The administrative sénéchal in France
Under the
Ancien Régime in southern France, the
sénéchal, who held office in the
sénéchaussée, was the king's representative charged with the application of justice and control of the administration. In northern France, the terms used were
bailli and
bailliage (
bailiwick). According to historian
Henry Hallam, the first sénéchaux to receive judicial functions did so by an edict of
Philip II of France in
1190, and "acted as the king's lieutenants in his domains", or a sort of roving ambassadors/ministers for the throne. See
Bailli for more information.
- William de Gometz was Seneschal of France circa 1000 AD
ref: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=robertfinnigan66&id=I242012
Sources and references
EtymologyOnline
This entry is in part from Webster's Dictionary (1913)Further Information
Get more info on 'Seneschal'.
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