German feudalism

thumb|160px|Image of a , the heraldic coronet of a titular thumb|160px|Heraldic headpiece of a mediatised houses|mediatised ' (; feminine: ' ) is a historical title of the German nobility and later also of the Russian nobility, usually translated as "count". Considered to be intermediate among noble ranks, the title is often treated as equivalent to the British title of "earl" (whose female version is "countess").

thumb|Floor of the Landtag of Lower Saxony|Lower Saxony Landtag in [[Hanover in 2018]] A Landtag () is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non-federal matters.

thumb|upright|Usual Crown (heraldry) of a Fürst in Crown (heraldry)#German-speaking countries|German-speaking countries

An ', sometimes simply advocate, (German, ), or ' (French, ) was a type of medieval office holder, particularly important in the Holy Roman Empire, who was delegated some of the powers and functions of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as an abbey. They typically had responsibility for the "comital" functions which defined the office of early medieval "counts", such as taxation, recruitment of militias, and maintaining law and order. This type of office could apply to specific agricultural lands, villages, castles, and even cities. In some regions, advocates came to be governors

The ministeriales (singular: ministerialis) were a legally unfree but socially elite class of knights, administrators, and officials in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire, drawn from a mix of servile origins, free commoners, and even cadet sons of minor noble families, who served secular and ecclesiastical lords and often rose to hold hereditary land, noble titles, and political power indistinguishable from the free nobility.

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thumb|A Schultheiß in the 16th century

__NOTOC__ thumb|An Amtmann in his office or Amtsstube. Reconstruction at Mildenstein Castle (administrative seat in the Amt of Leisnig)

Law regarding feudal contracts in the Holy Roman Empire

thumb|260px|Warmond House (Huis te Warmond), the manor house for the Hoge Heerlijkheid of Warmond A heerlijkheid (a Dutch word; pl. heerlijkheden; also called heerschap; Latin: Dominium) was a landed estate that served as the lowest administrative and judicial unit in rural areas in the Dutch-speaking Low Countries before 1800. It originated as a unit of lordship under the feudal system during the Middle Ages. The English equivalents are manor, seigniory and lordship. The German equivalent is Herrschaft. The heerlijkheid system was the Dutch version of manorialism that prevailed in the Low Cou

thumb|The Heerschildordnung of Eike von Repgow shows the estate structure of a medieval society, Heidelberg University Library, Cod. Pal. Germ. 164, fol. 1r The Heerschild (; ), also called the shield of knighthood, in the Early Middle Ages was the right to raise a feudal levy of troops. The call to do so was the Heerbann. The resulting importance of a system of military ranks, based on the ability to provide men for a campaign, became modified in the law books published in the 13th century. It finally ended up as being an important part of the structure of medieval society, as captured in the

historical territory (–1524)