|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
reeve
reeve Anglo-Saxon gerefa). Reeve was the general medieval term for a supervising official and is found in a number of different contexts. The shire-reeve (scire-gerefa), appointed by the king, was for centuries the chief royal representative in the counties: the right to elect one's own sheriff was a valuable privilege, granted sparingly. The sheriff lost many of his judicial functions to the royal justices and the JPs and was superseded in the 16th cent. by the lord-lieutenant, though the post remains prestigious. The sheriff's deputy was the hundred-reeve, who held the hundred court. The term was also used for the chief officer of a town—a port-reeve or burh-reeve—until overshadowed in the larger towns by the office of mayor or lord mayor. The manorial reeve was one of the most familiar officials for most peasants. He was elected by the tenants but sometimes nominated by the lord, and was responsible for the organization of communal tasks, usually working with the lord's bailiff, and under the supervision of the lord's steward, who might have oversight of several manors. A notable description of the functions and duties of a manorial reeve before the Norman Conquest is to be found in ‘Gerefa’, a postscript to the tract Rectitudines singularum personarum (‘Rights and Ranks of People’).
J. A. Cannon |
|
|
Cite this article
JOHN CANNON. "reeve." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "reeve." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-reeve.html JOHN CANNON. "reeve." The Oxford Companion to British History. 2002. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O110-reeve.html |
|
reeve
reeve (Anglo‐Saxon gerefa). Reeve was the general medieval term for a supervising official and is found in a number of different contexts. The shire‐reeve (scire‐gerefa), appointed by the king, was for centuries the chief royal representative in the counties. The sheriff's deputy was the hundred‐reeve, who held the hundred court. The term was also used for the chief officer of a town—a port‐reeve or burh‐reeve—until overshadowed in the larger towns by the office of mayor or lord mayor. The manorial reeve was one of the most familiar officials for most peasants. He was elected by the tenants but sometimes nominated by the lord, and was responsible for the organization of communal tasks.
|
|
|
Cite this article
JOHN CANNON. "reeve." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN CANNON. "reeve." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-reeve.html JOHN CANNON. "reeve." A Dictionary of British History. 2004. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O43-reeve.html |
|
reeve
reeve A local official in Anglo-Saxon and post-Conquest England. The most important were shire reeves (SHERIFFS) who administered royal justice and collected royal revenues within their shire. Manorial reeves organized the peasant labour force on estates and their duties were considerable. They received a money wage, grants of grazing land, and remission of rent and feudal dues. Although often of VILLEIN status those reeves who contrived through annual reelection to make their office hereditary had considerably improved their economic condition by the 14th century, when Chaucer wrote of them in The Canterbury Tales.
|
|
|
Cite this article
"reeve." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "reeve." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-reeve.html "reeve." A Dictionary of World History. 2000. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-reeve.html |
|
reeve
reeve1 / rēv/ • n. Can. the president of a village or town council. ∎ chiefly hist. a local official, in particular the chief magistrate of a town or district in Anglo-Saxon England. reeve2 • v. (past and past part. rove / rōv/ or reeved) [tr.] Naut. thread (a rope or rod) through a ring or other aperture, esp. in a block: one end of the new rope was reeved through the chain. ∎ fasten (a rope or block) in this way. reeve3 • n. a female ruff. See ruff1 sense 3. |
|
|
Cite this article
"reeve." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "reeve." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-reeve005.html "reeve." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-reeve005.html |
|
reeve
reeve1 (chiefly hist.) in Anglo-Saxon times, high official having local jurisdiction; later, variously applied to local officers. OE. rēfa, aphetic var. of OE. ġerēfa, earlier ġirœfa, f. ġe- Y- + *rōf in seċġrōf host of men, stæfrōf alphabet = OHG. ruova, ruoba, ON. stafróf.
|
|
|
Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "reeve." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "reeve." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-reeve.html T. F. HOAD. "reeve." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-reeve.html |
|
reeve
reeve2 pt. and pp. reeved, later rove (naut.) pass (a rope) through a hole. XVII. perh. — Du. rēven reef, with shift of meaning.
|
|
|
Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "reeve." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "reeve." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-reeve1.html T. F. HOAD. "reeve." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-reeve1.html |
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
