Castles served many functions in the Medieval world. They were homes, defensive structures, and symbols of power that dotted the landscape. The possession of these complexes were significant markers of a noble's position in the Medieval hierarchy. Traditionally, a lord would subdivide lands under his control and parcel them out to worthy followers as a reward for service, but you can only do this so much without giving up controlling interest in your own territory. A lord needed a hired hand to look after the shop in his name, while he was busy doing whatever lordly things needed doing elsewhere. The castellan governed the castle in his lord's stead, ordering the household and the garrison.
The title of castellan, naturally, meant different things in different regions (and sometimes from position to position). The position of castellan was non-noble, but could be a hereditary title. It could be one of multiple titles held by an individual in lay or ecclesiastic governance. Some regions utilized them to direct regional strongholds or simple fortifications. In many cases, he was the manager of a castle and surrounding lands, responsible for: collection of taxes, maintenance of defensive structures, administering justice, and defending the domain under his control. Sworn vassals, they were often responsible for maintaining their own body of troops, but drew an annual wage from the lands under their direction. In many cases, while the lords were away, they ceased to be caretakers and took over the domain in fact. Some charted their own lineages back to mythic forebears to establish their credentials.
Placing someone in direct control over such an important possession was a calculated risk for the nobility. Once granted, that power was not always so easy to rescind. As they say, "Possession is nine tenths of the law." By investing a subordinate with a measure of your power, you set them up as authorities, who the locals get used to listening to and working with. The larger your domains, the more that you need to entrust to subordinates, who may stab you in the back at any time. Allegiances shifted at alarming rates in these times, at all levels of governance, especially as the middle class began to assert itself, blurring the lines between noble and commoner. What appears to have initially been an attempt to avoid giving control of important castles to power-hungry lesser nobles, instead simply muddied the waters even further.
References
title in non-British countries - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castellan
Germany - http://books.google.com/books?id=FHgaJ3k9j3MC&pg=PA99&lpg=PA99&dq=medieval+castellan&source=bl&ots=V2Au6_9kTb&sig=kYZfa0o9-u-PJYXy19U4gXtyd8g&hl=en&sa=X&ei=lrIhVM-BPNivyASg0oGgBQ&ved=0CCcQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=medieval%20castellan&f=false
France - http://books.google.com/books?id=5ebFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA152&lpg=PA152&dq=medieval+castellan&source=bl&ots=08bwxjiBj2&sig=NMC0mFMZxMjmj3NHP_6obZs8LtA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0bIhVIj8Ksj2yQTatYHQDA&ved=0CDIQ6AEwBTgK#v=onepage&q=medieval%20castellan&f=false
Flanders - http://books.google.com/books?id=WhmtAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA47&lpg=PA47&dq=medieval+castellan&source=bl&ots=EsLDQ48FuX&sig=gxD6T4iTyA0Ls5wHpnbtjwmCKz4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=S7MhVKi_IIq3yASo2oKgBg&ved=0CEQQ6AEwCTgK#v=onepage&q=medieval%20castellan&f=false
Related Thesis - http://repository.lib.ncsu.edu/ir/bitstream/1840.16/6290/1/etd.pdf
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