Medieval Noble Titles

Finally! Face-to-face with someone and it still took me two hours to pull from someone this basic information. But, hey, now I know the power structure setting of my fantasy story - which is good because the story is all about the power structure. No power structure and I am left with only my wild imagination, which I have learnt does not pay the bills.


One small noteworthy observation is that what follows is a simple idiot's guide - just the kind I like - and that took 2 hours to pull from an intelligent young man. Hmmm....? (And nothing mentioned about an Earl. I will have to fix that.)

Naturally... I Google something which I cannot even remember what and I come upon this site www.shadowedrealm.com/glossary and the information below which is everything I need. Now if only I had this information 2 months ago. Either I am stupid or I am supernaturally blind to miss this site and then stumble upon it. The word FUCK! is appropos to describe my frustration with myself. It is vulgar, base and an all too common situation of time wasting I cannot seem to elevate myself above. FUCK YOU Paul Varjak. God Damn it!


NOBLE
In a feudal sense, a noble was a member of the nobility. Nobles were often also referred to as aristocrats. In England, nobles were members of the peerage.

PEERAGE
The positions and rankings of nobility that existed in England. Peerages were granted by the king or queen. Hereditary peerages were usually passed on to the eldest son as an inheritance. If there was no son in the line, then rules existed for who would receive the peerage

THANE
A later Anglo-Saxon term for a great noble or aristocrat. Earlier, the term gesith was used for this type of person.

TITLES IN LINES OF SUCCESSION:

King then Queen (in situations where the queen is not chattel)
Royal Scion = Prince or Princess (the daughter used for alliances)
Duke/Duchess =
1. Sibling of the King
2. Son of the Duke (i.e. the King's Nephew
3. conveyed title to Duke's grandson or through marriage (husband assuming the Duches' masculine title Duke, or by the King's decree if marriage to Prince/Princess)

TITLES IN NOBLE HOUSES:

Marquis/Marquess
Also called a marquis. A rank within the nobility lying below Duke and above Count (or Earl in the English peerage)

Marquise (France)
In France a woman that holds the same rank as a male marquess or marquis in her own right. Outside of France she would be called a marchioness.

Marchioness (Abroad)
A woman that holds the same rank as a male marquess or marquis in her own right. In France she would be called a marquise

Earl = Count
A ranking within the English peerage lying below the rank of marquess/marquis and above the rank of viscount

Count = Earl
A ranking within the European nobility that was the equivalent of an earl in the British peerage (an earl lies below the rank of marquess/marquis and above the rank of viscount).

Viscount
A ranking within the nobility (and the English peerage) that lies below the rank of earl or count and above the rank of baron

Viscountess
A woman that holds the same rank as a male viscount in her own right

Baron
A ranking of nobility, below viscount and above the rank of baronet. The baron lies at the bottom level of nobility in the British peerage and is the lowest grade in the House of Lords.

Baronet
A dignity or degree of honor next below a baron and above a knight and is the only knighthood that is hereditary.

Knight
From the Saxon cniht, originally a man-at-arms bound to the performance of certain duties, among others to attend his sovereign or feudal superior mounted on horseback in time of war.

The institution of knighthood, as conferred by investiture, and with certain oaths and ceremonies, arose gradually throughout Europe as an adjunct of the feudal system. The character of the knight was at once military and religious. The defense of the Holy Sepulchre and the protection of pilgrims were the objects to which, in the early times of the institution, he especially devoted himself.

The ceremonies practiced in conferring knighthood have varied at different periods. In general, some religious ceremonies were performed and the sword and spurs were bound on the candidate. After this a blow was dealt him on the cheek or shoulder, as the last affront which he was to receive unrequitted. He then to an oath to protect the distressed, maintiain right against might, and never by word or deed stain his character as knight and a Christian.

A knight might be degraded for the infringement of any part of his oath, in which case his spurs were chopped off with a hatchet, his sword was broken, his escutcheon reversed, and some religious observations were added, during which each piece of armor was taken off in succession and cast from the recreant knight.

Knight-banneret

A knight who carried a banner, who possessed fiefs to a greater amount then the knight-bachelor, and who was obliged to serve in war with a greater number of attendants. He was created by the sovereign in person on the field of battle.

Also, military commanders who sometimes stood in for tenants-in-chief to lead Battles (an organizational division for armies) but who technically were not qualified to do so.

Knight-errant

Literally, a wandering knight. A knight who traveled in search of adventures, for the purpose of exhibiting military skill, prowess, and generosity.

KNIGHT SERVICE - Knight Fiefdom

A tenure of lands held by knights on condition of performing military service. It was abolished in the time of Charles II of England (c. 1630).

The system of knight-service introduced into England by William the Conqueror empowered the king, or even a superior lord who was a subject, to compel every holder of a certain extent of land, called the knight's fee, to become a member of the knightly order. A knight's investiture was accounted proof that he possessed the requisite of knightly arms and was sufficiently trained in their use. After the long war between France and England, it became the practice for the sovereign to receive money compensations from subjects who were unwilling to receive knighthood. A series of grievances developed out of this system.

Lord
In the medieval sense a person with authority over others and usually a title of nobility that may have been either inherited or gained. Major medieval lords (such as kings) often had control over a great deal of land that they could parcel out to vassals in exchange for feudal obligations. Smaller lords might have only have one manor with which to administer their lands.

Lady
A woman who exercised power, whether over a manor, over vassals, or even over a realm.