Vavasour
[vav-uh-sawr, -sohr]
: a feudal tenant ranking directly below a baron
*see the Regestum of Phillip II Augustus for use of the term
*also, the term is found in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales under The Franklin’s Portrait:
356: Ful ofte tyme he was knyght of the shire.
357: An anlaas and a gipser al of silk
358: Heeng at his girdel, whit as morne milk.
359: A shirreve hadde he been, and a contour.
360: Was nowher swich a worthy vavasour.