LIEGE (2)

Liege (lēj), n. 1. 1. A free and independent person; specif., a lord paramount; a sovereign. Mrs. Browning.
The anointed sovereign of sighs and groans, Liege of all loiterers and malcontents. Shak. 2. 2. The subject of a sovereign or lord; a liegeman.
A liege lord seems to have been a lord of a free band; and his lieges, though serving under him, were privileged men, free from all other obligations, their name being due to their freedom, not to their service. Skeat.