[ANSTHRLD] a couple questions

[Sara L Uckelman]

Quoth Alden Drake:
> al official.=A0 It would=A0make sense=A0though, to have non baronial groups=
>  have Sheriffs instead of Seneschals, since Seneschals served in a noble's =
> household, and shires don't have a landed noble.

The use of "seneschal" in our period was not restricted to official
serving in the households of nobles.  the OED online s.v. seneschal
in meaning 2 glosses it as "the title of a governor of a city or 
province, and of various administrative or judicial officers," with
citations from as early as c1400: "To bene Senescal and wardein of 
Gascoigne."  Under this definition, the term seems a fine fit for
the chief official of a Shire.

-Aryanhwy


 
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