After the Norman Conquest,
feudalism was introduced, forming a parallel administrative system to the local courts. The feudal system organised land on a
manorial basis, with
stewards acting as managers for the landlords. The Norman term describing the court functionary—
bailiff—came to be used for reeves associated with lower level courts, and with the equivalent role in the feudal courts of landlords. Courts fulfilled administrative, as well as judicial, functions, and on the manorial level its decisions could concern mundane field management, not just legal disputes. The manorial bailiff thus could be set tasks such as ensuring certain crops were gathered, as well as those like enforcing debt repayment. Sometimes, bailiffs would have assistants to carry out these tasks, and the term reeve now came to be used for this position—someone essentially assisting the steward, and sometimes a bailiff, by effectively performing day-to-day supervision of the work done on the land within a particular
manor. This reeve has been described as "the pivot man of the manorial system". He had to oversee the work which the peasants were bound to perform, as an obligation attached to their holding of land in the Manor, for the
lord of the manor on the
demesne land; such reeves acted generally as the overseer of the
serfs and peasants on the estate. He was also responsible for many aspects of the finances of the manor such as the sale of produce, collection of monies and payment of accounts. He was usually himself a peasant, and was chosen once a year, generally at
Michaelmas. In some manors the reeve was appointed by the
lord of the manor, but in others he was elected by the peasants, subject or not to a right of veto by the lord. It depended on the custom of the manor, but there was an increasing tendency for election to be favoured. No doubt an elected reeve was more willingly obeyed, and sometimes the peasants would be made financially liable if an elected reeve defaulted. Although this reeve was subject to the steward, the steward might not always be resident within the manor, and might manage many, and would not usually concern himself with day-to-day working. A good reeve who carried out his duties efficiently, and was trusted by the lord and the peasants alike, was likely to stay in office more or less permanently. By the 14th century the reeve was often a permanent officer of the manor. With the subsequent decline of the feudal system, and the subversion of its courts by the introduction of
justices of the peace (magistrates), this use of reeve fell out of practice. ==Depiction by Chaucer==