Vavasseur

A French title of nobility, the nature of which is a matter of some debate. By some authors he was said to be a vassal who held a fief from another vassal raised to a seigneurie. Others held the title to be immediately below that of a baron. Du Change acknowledge two types of Vavasseurs: Grand Vavasseur raised by the king and Petit Vavasseur, raised by the first mentioned. The feudal territory of a Vavasseur was called Vavassorie.

Sources:

Dictionnaire encyclopédique de la noblesse de France
Nicolas Viton de Saint-Allais (1773-1842) — Paris, 1816