Reeve (England)

Anglo-Saxon status

Cyning (sovereign)

Ætheling (prince)

Ealdorman (Earl)

Hold / High-reeve

Thegn

Thingmen / housecarl (retainer)

Reeve / Verderer (bailiff)

Churl (free tenant)

Villein (serf)

Cottar (cottager)

Þēow (slave)

v t e

In Anglo-Saxon England, the reeve was a senior official with local responsibilities under the Crown, such as the chief magistrate of a town or district. After the Norman Conquest, it was an office held by a man of lower rank, appointed as manager of a manor and overseer of the peasants. In this later role, historian H. R. Loyn observes, "he is the earliest English specialist in estate management."^[1]