Heerlijkheid

A heerlijkheid (a Dutch word; pl. heerlijkheden; alternative spelling heerlykheid) was the basic administrative and judicial unit in rural areas in Dutch-speaking lands before 1800. It originated in the feudal subdivision of government authority in the Middle Ages. The closest English equivalents of the word are "seigniory" (or "seigneury") and "manor". The heerlijkheid system was the version of seigneurialism or manorialism that prevailed in the Low Countries and was the precursor to the modern municipality system in the Netherlands and in the Flemish region of Belgium.