Commandry: Encyclopedia - Commandry

Commandry

Commandry (British English), or commandery (American English), was the smallest division of the European landed estate or manor under the control of a commendator, or commander, of an order of knights. The word is also applied to the emoluments granted to a commander of a military order of knights.

The word came from French commanderie, from medieval Latin commendaria, meaning "a trust or charge". Also called "commendæ" in Latin.

Originally commandries only existed for the Order of Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, but later also for the Order of Teutonic Knights and other orders. Its equivalents for Knights Templars were preceptor and preceptory. In 1540, the Knights of St. John's possessions in England were seized as crown-property.

Commandery (郡 in pinyin: jùn) was a historical administrative level of China. During the Zhou Dynasty, it was one level below a district (縣 / 县). Qin Shi Huang inverted the hierarchy and made commanderies higher than districts. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, commanderies were abolished and replaced by zhou-prefectures (州).

Notable commandries:

• Daifang commandery
• Lelang commandery

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Commandry", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki