A bailiwick (/ˈbeɪlɪwɪk/) is usually the area of jurisdiction of a bailiff, and once also applied to territories in which a privately appointed bailiff exercised the sheriff's functions under a royal or imperial writ. The bailiwick is probably modelled on the administrative organization which was attempted for a very small time in Sicily and has its roots in the official state of the Hohenstaufen. A bailiwick (German: Ballei) was also the territorial division of the Teutonic Order. Here, various “Komtur(en)” formed a Ballei province.