In the
feudal system the
demesne ( ; from Old French
demeine, ultimately from Latin
dominus, "lord, master of a household" –
demesne is a variant of
domaine with an unetymological
s inserted) was all the land, not necessarily all
contiguous to the
manor house, which was retained by a
lord of the manor for his own use and support, under his own management, as distinguished from land
sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The system of
manorial land tenure, broadly termed
feudalism, was conceived in Western Europe, initially in France but exported to areas affected by
Norman expansion during the
Middle Ages, for example the Kingdoms of
England,
Sicily,
Jerusalem,
Scotland, and
Ireland.