A
bailiwick is usually the area of jurisdiction of a
bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the
sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial
writ. The word is now more generally used in a
metaphorical sense, to indicate a sphere of authority, experience, activity, study, or interest. A bailiwick was also the territorial division of the
Teutonic Order. Here, various
“Komtur(en)” formed a
Ballei province.