Baronia, or Baronagium, the lordship or fee of a baron, either temporal or spiritual. Baronies, in their first creation, proceeded from the king himself, the chief lord of the whole realm, and could be holden immediately of no other lord. For example, the king enfeoffed a man of a great seigniory in land, to be held by the person enfeoffed and his heirs, of the king and his heirs, by baronial service; that is, by the service of twenty, forty, sixty, or such other number of knights, either more or fewer, as the king by his enfeoffment limited or appointed. In the ages immediately succeeding the Conquest, when a great lord was enfeoffed by the king of a large seigniory, such seigniory was called a barony, but more commonly an honour; as, the honour of Gloucestershire, the honour of Wallingford, the honour of Lancaster, the honour of Richmond, and the like. But there were in England certain honours which were often called by Norman or other foreign designations; that is to say, sometimes by English and sometimes by foreign names. This happened when the same person was lord of an honour in Normandy, or some other foreign country, and also of an honour in England. For example, William de Forz, de Force, or de Fortibus, was lord of the honour of Albemarle in Normandy, and also of two honours in England, namely, the honour of Holderness, and that of Skipton in Craven; and these honours in England were sometimes called by the Norman name, as the honour of Albemarle, or the honour of the earl of Albemarle.