What is the lord of manor?

Answer 1

The lord of a manor was the person who owed or controlled it. The manor was an estate that had farm fields, forest, cottages for the peasants who lived there, farm buildings, a nice house called the manor house, and possibly any of a number of other things, among which might be a village, a church, or a mill. The manorial system included relationships between the lord and the peasants, in which each had rights and responsibilities. The peasants had a right to live there, to work there, and to be protected by the lord, but they often did not have the right to move away. The lord had a right to rent for the places where the serfs lived, which came in the form of labor, food they grew (often specifically wheat), or money.

Answer 2

Let's suppose you are a 12th century Anglo-Norman knight named Reginald fitzUrse. You are around 25 years old in 1170 and you hold manors at Barham in Kent and Wilton in Somerset and more land in Northamptonshire. You do not own any land - it still belongs to the king, but in the feudal system you can legally hold it.

You are lord of those manors, but you can not be present at all of them at the same time, so you spend some time at each in turn. They are collectively called your "honour" and it is typical for knights to hold many manors dotted around England in this way.

You have stewards to look after each of your land holdings on your behalf - they act as estate managers in your absence.

(Reginald fitzUrse, by the way, was one of the murderers of Thomas Becket. Following the murder his lands were all confiscated by Henry II).