castellan

See also: castellán

English

Etymology

From Middle English castelain, from Old French castelain (compare modern châtelain), from Latin castellanus (“pertaining to a castle, an occupant of a castle, or a governor of a castle”), from castellum castle, citadel, diminutive of castrum fortified place. See castle. Doublet of Castilian, castellano, castellanus, and chatelain and compare chatelaine.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkæstələn/, /ˈkæstɪlən/

Noun

castellan (plural castellans)

1. (obsolete) A feudal lord with a fortified manor.
2. (chiefly historical) The governor or caretaker entrusted to oversee a castle or keep for its lord.
   • 1851, Luther Calvin Saxton, Fall of Poland, volume 2, Charles Scribner, page 442:

     The inferior secular senators are ninety-two, containing the ten crown-officers, and eighty-two castellans. The latter are again divided into thirty-three great castellans, and forty-nine little castellans.

   • 2003, Benno Teschke, The Myth of 1648: Class, Geopolitics, and the Making of Modern International Relations, Verso, page 86:

     Castellans, often exercising control over a few villages and half a dozen small lordships, transformed their banal lordships into quasi-sovereign mini-states, independent of royal or comital sanction or control.

   • 2015, Christine Shaw, Barons and Castellans: The Military Nobility of Renaissance Italy, Koninklijke Brill, page 47:

     The wave of attacks on the castellans in 1511 followed faction-fighting in Udine, in which castellans and their families were massacred by supporters of the Savorgnan.

Synonyms

• chatelain

Hypernyms

• (lord): lord, feudal lord, lord of the manor

Related terms

• castellany
• castellate

Translations

governor or caretaker of a castle or keep

• Albanian: kështjellar (sq) m
• Arabic: حَاكِم قَلْعَة m (ḥākim qalʕa), حَاكِم قِلْعَة m (ḥākim qilʕa)
• Belarusian: кашталя́н m (kaštalján)
• Bulgarian: управи́тел на за́мък m (upravítel na zámǎk), кастела́н m (kastelán)
• Catalan: castellà (ca) m, castlà m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 城主 (zh) (chéngzhǔ)

• Czech: kastelán (cs) m
• Danish: kastellan c
• Dutch: kastelein (nl) m
• Estonian: kastellaan
• Finnish: linnanherra
• French: châtelain (fr) m
• Friulian: cjastelan m
• Galician: casteleiro (gl) m
• German: Kastellan (de) m
• Greek: καστελάνος (el) m (kastelános), πυργοδεσπότης (el) m (pyrgodespótis)
• Hungarian: várnagy (hu)
• Italian: castellano m
• Japanese: 城主 (ja) (じょうしゅ, jōshu)
• Korean: 성주(城主) (seongju)
• Marathi: कॅस्टेलन m (kĕsṭelan)
• Persian:

  Iranian Persian: حاکِمِ قَلْعِه (hâkem-e ğal'e)

• Polish: kasztelan (pl) m
• Portuguese: castelão (pt) m
• Romanian: castelan (ro) m
• Russian: кастеля́н (ru) m (kastelján)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: кастѐла̄н m

  Roman: kastèlān (sh) m

• Slovak: kastelán m
• Slovene: kastelan m
• Spanish: castellano (es) m
• Swedish: kastellan (sv) c
• Ukrainian: каштеля́н (uk) m (kaštelján)

Romansch

Alternative forms

• chastellan (Rumantsch Grischun)
• castelàn (Sutsilvan)
• chastlaun (Puter)
• chastlan (Vallader)

Etymology

From Latin castellānus.

Noun

castellan m (plural castellans)

1. (Sursilvan, Surmiran) steward, governor, overseer, sheriff, bailiff, administrator

Usage notes

In a feudal, mediaeval context, this term refers to a local representative of the ruler, who ruled from a fortified castle on his ruler's behalf.