Marcher Lords
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A Marcher Lord is the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman empire)
- On his Celtic borders with Wales and Scotland, the King of England granted strong, trusted lords 'on the front' special, privileged status to help him defend or even push further the boundaries of his (Anglo-Saxon, later Norman etcetera) realm.
- The word for such a lord's border demesne is march, the same as used to render the mark of a continental margrave.
In one case, this very term is preserved in the comital title of Marcher Lords in one specific border area : Earl of March
- In a similar way, some strong earldoms in strategic border areas were granted the privileged status of county palatine, a term analogous with the continental count palatine (in German Pfalzgraf) but not so equivalent as the margrave