Reeve (England)

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In England, a reeve was an official appointed to supervise lands for a lord. He had many duties such as making sure the serfs started work on time and ensuring that no one was cheating the lord out of money. The system was introduced by the Saxons, dating at least to the 7th century, and continued after the Norman conquest.

The reeve of an entire shire was a Shire-reeve, predecessor to the Sheriff.