Manor,

Manor, in English law, denotes the land held by a body of tenants under one seignory or lordship. Manors were probably formed by the gradual establishment of feudal rights over free townships and subject communities of villeins or serfs; but, according to legal theory, the lord derives his rights from the king or from some superior lord. In a fully-organised manor the local customs are enforced by three courts: a Court Baron for the free tenants, who are emphatically the barones or men of the manor; a Customary Court for the copyholders, who hold by base or customary tenure; and a Court Leet, in which officers are elected and minor offences punished. The lord's demesne includes lands occupied by himself and by his tenants-at-will, including customary tenants. Freehold lands do not form part of the lord's demesne; but free tenants are essential to the existence of a manor. Where the services of free tenants have been allowed to pass into desuetude, the manor survives as a 'manor by reputation,' but the Customary Court is kept alive for the purpose of recording acts and events which affect the title to copyhold lands, and of collecting the quitrents, fines, &c., which are payable to the lord. No new free tenure can be created in England since the statute Quia Emptores, passed in 1290; all existing manors, therefore, must trace their origin from before that time. The king himself was lord of many manors in right of his crown; and these are called manors of ancient demesne, to distinguish them from lands which fell casually into the king's hands by forfeiture or otherwise. Manors closely resemble the feudal estates known to the law of Scotland. In the United States there is no institution corresponding to the manor. See FEUDALISM.