By the 12th century a distinction was made between greater ministerials (ministeriales maiores) who had their own vassals and lesser ministerials (ministeriales minores) who had no vassals of their own.
Od 12. stoljeća počinje se govoriti o velikim ministarijalcima (ministeriales maiores), koji su imali vlastite vazale, i manjim ministerijalcima (ministeriales minores), koji su bili slični nižem plemstvu.