Prestige Titles · Lordships of England
The Lord of Leeds
A Domesday manor that clothed the nation in wool.
Leeds' history
Leeds appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Ledes", a small manor on the River Aire. Its fortunes were transformed by the Cistercian monks of nearby Kirkstall Abbey, who became expert sheep farmers and wool traders and laid the foundations of the industry that would define the whole region.
The Lords of Leeds
The manor of Leeds belonged to the de Lacy family, who were also the mighty lords of Pontefract Castle. Centuries later, in 1626, Sir John Savile won the town its first royal charter, giving Leeds the self-government it needed to grow into one of England's greatest centres of cloth.
Notable figures:the de Lacy family · Sir John Savile
Why the title mattered
Wool was medieval England's single greatest export, worth more than anything else the country sold abroad. Leeds sat at the heart of that trade, and much of the nation's wealth was quite literally woven from cloth like the kind it produced. To see how such titles compared with the ranks of the peerage, read the full order of precedence.
Become a Lord
The families who ruled Leeds earned their titles over centuries. You can become a Lord far more easily, with a genuine title pack of your own.
Lord Title Pack
£44.99£59.99
Become a Lord →Real parchment certificate · sealed Master Title Deed · a donation to the Woodland Trust
