The territory, domain, or jurisdiction controlled and administered by a castellan; a castle and its surrounding lands.
From Old French 'castellanie', derived from 'castellain' (castellan) plus '-ie' (suffix denoting a region or office). The term reflects the feudal system where military strongholds served as administrative centers for surrounding territories.
A castellany was basically a medieval administrative package deal—when you got control of a castle, you also got the village, farmland, forests, and fishing rights surrounding it. Your income came from rents, taxes, and trade tolls collected from everyone living there!
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