In the customs and laws of the kingdom of England, the () was the ancient, or chief, seat or castle of a nobleman — the primary place of his baronial court. The caput baroniae was not to be divided between multiple daughters (if there was no son to inherit); instead, the whole of it was to descend entirely to the eldest daughter , .

The stated that a lord's tenantss would (when escalating disputes or like matters) have to go to the of their [land-] lord, even if it was in another county.

The central settlement of an Anglo-Saxon multiple estate (an estate which had main and subsidiary settlements) was called a (also short for ).

The word is also used for the centre of administration of a hundred, as well as of the early feudal honour.

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