First recorded in 1600–10
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In the Great Councils the prelates and greater barons had assembled, and the lesser barons were also summoned; the term baron being equivalent to tenant in chief.
From The World's Greatest Books — Volume 11 — Ancient and Mediæval History by Hammerton, John Alexander, Sir
No tenant in chief or royal servant might be excommunicated, or their land placed under interdict, but by the king's assent.
From History of the English People, Volume I Early England, 449-1071; Foreign Kings, 1071-1204; The Charter, 1204-1216 by Green, John Richard
Theory of Selden; According to the first, every tenant in chief by knight-service was an honorary or parliamentary baron by reason of his tenure.
From View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages, Vol. 3 by Hallam, Henry
The tenant-in-chief of the king who was rich enough had his cause carried to the King's Court of barons, where he was tried by his peers.
From Henry the Second by Green, Mrs. J. R.
That grantee, the tenant-in-chief, has the right to demand from his sub-tenants, to whom he has given out fractions of his estate, the same dues that the king exacts from himself.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 5 English History by Various
It is only at the cost of long and ruinous conflicts that bishops and other prelates establish some distinction between their position and that of the ordinary tenant-in-chief.
From Medieval Europe by Davis, H. W. C. (Henry William Carless)
The old Parliaments, which every tenant-in-chief had at least the customary right of attending, were no longer to exist.
From A Student's History of England, v. 1 (of 3) From the earliest times to the Death of King Edward VII by Gardiner, Samuel Rawson
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