Here is a very condensed version of titles:
First of all, there is a big difference between royalty and nobility. The easy distinction is this:
One is born into royalty. Only the King and Queen and direct relations are considered royalty.
Nobility is conferred upon you — if you are rich and in the aristocratic circles already.
Aristocracy means the upper, wealthier, and ruling classes. Many of the aristocracy have not been given titles so are not yet considered nobility.
Landed gentry is not quite considered aristocracy. They are merely people of “gentle birth and good breeding” who own land.
A commoner is someone without a title. Thus you can be at the top of the aristocracy, as the Queen Mother grew up, but still be considered a commoner if you (or your father) have not yet been granted a title.
All of us here in America are not merely commoners—we are baseborn, as was William Shakespeare. That is, we’re the bottom of the food chain in the English class system. But we don’t care.
The peerage is a collective term for people who possess certain titles of honor. People in this group are called peers. The titles in the peerage are, in descending order:
Duke or Duchess
Marquess (mar‘ kwess) or Marchioness (marsh‘ uh ness)
Earl or Countess
Viscount (vie‘ count, like pie count) or Viscountess
Baron or Lady
The above titles are inherited. If there is no heir, the title and property go back to the crown to be given away to some other needy person.
The two lower titles of Baronet/Baronetess and Knight are so lowly they are not considered part of the peerage, but anyone is pleased to have one anyway. It’s much better than no title at all. These titles are not inherited.
If the name of the title is derived from a place name, such as Coldwater, the title includes “of,” as in Duke of Coldwater. If the title derives from a personal name, such as Rivers, there is no “of,” as in Earl Rivers.
Catholics are not allowed to have titles in Great Britain (as far as I can tell). If you have chosen to be Catholic and are next in line to inherit a title, too bad—they won’t let you. Except for knights—I know they have knighted Jewish men and a Parsee man, but I’m still not sure about Catholics.
I don’t quite know how this fits in, but I noticed the Berkeley family made up their own unofficial titles. They didn’t have titles in the peerage, but they certainly seem like an interesting group of characters:
Maurice “The Resolute” de Berkeley
Thomas “The Wise” de Berkeley
Maurice “The Magnanimous” of Berkeley
Thomas “The Rich” of Berkeley
Maurice “The Valiant” of Berkeley
James “The Just” of Berkeley
William “The Wastall” Berkeley
Thomas “The Hopeful” Berkeley
Most people’s last names, such as Berkeley, above, are not really last names but the names of the castles where they were born. For instance, Edward III had a bunch of sons. Their official names, below, indicate which castle there were born in:
Edward of Woodstock
William of Hatfield
Lionel of Antwerp
John of Gaunt
Edmund of Langley
Thomas of Woodstock
William of Windsor
It was the same for women:
Constance of Castille
Blanche of Lancaster
Eleanor de Bohun
All of this information applies only to English titles—if you plan to be a Scottish or Irish nobleman, you have other rules to follow which I haven’t mentioned here because gadzooks isn't this enough?
(merci, http://www.marysidneysociety.org/)
First of all, there is a big difference between royalty and nobility. The easy distinction is this:
One is born into royalty. Only the King and Queen and direct relations are considered royalty.
Nobility is conferred upon you — if you are rich and in the aristocratic circles already.
Aristocracy means the upper, wealthier, and ruling classes. Many of the aristocracy have not been given titles so are not yet considered nobility.
Landed gentry is not quite considered aristocracy. They are merely people of “gentle birth and good breeding” who own land.
A commoner is someone without a title. Thus you can be at the top of the aristocracy, as the Queen Mother grew up, but still be considered a commoner if you (or your father) have not yet been granted a title.
All of us here in America are not merely commoners—we are baseborn, as was William Shakespeare. That is, we’re the bottom of the food chain in the English class system. But we don’t care.
The peerage is a collective term for people who possess certain titles of honor. People in this group are called peers. The titles in the peerage are, in descending order:
Duke or Duchess
Marquess (mar‘ kwess) or Marchioness (marsh‘ uh ness)
Earl or Countess
Viscount (vie‘ count, like pie count) or Viscountess
Baron or Lady
The above titles are inherited. If there is no heir, the title and property go back to the crown to be given away to some other needy person.
The two lower titles of Baronet/Baronetess and Knight are so lowly they are not considered part of the peerage, but anyone is pleased to have one anyway. It’s much better than no title at all. These titles are not inherited.
If the name of the title is derived from a place name, such as Coldwater, the title includes “of,” as in Duke of Coldwater. If the title derives from a personal name, such as Rivers, there is no “of,” as in Earl Rivers.
Catholics are not allowed to have titles in Great Britain (as far as I can tell). If you have chosen to be Catholic and are next in line to inherit a title, too bad—they won’t let you. Except for knights—I know they have knighted Jewish men and a Parsee man, but I’m still not sure about Catholics.
I don’t quite know how this fits in, but I noticed the Berkeley family made up their own unofficial titles. They didn’t have titles in the peerage, but they certainly seem like an interesting group of characters:
Maurice “The Resolute” de Berkeley
Thomas “The Wise” de Berkeley
Maurice “The Magnanimous” of Berkeley
Thomas “The Rich” of Berkeley
Maurice “The Valiant” of Berkeley
James “The Just” of Berkeley
William “The Wastall” Berkeley
Thomas “The Hopeful” Berkeley
Most people’s last names, such as Berkeley, above, are not really last names but the names of the castles where they were born. For instance, Edward III had a bunch of sons. Their official names, below, indicate which castle there were born in:
Edward of Woodstock
William of Hatfield
Lionel of Antwerp
John of Gaunt
Edmund of Langley
Thomas of Woodstock
William of Windsor
It was the same for women:
Constance of Castille
Blanche of Lancaster
Eleanor de Bohun
All of this information applies only to English titles—if you plan to be a Scottish or Irish nobleman, you have other rules to follow which I haven’t mentioned here because gadzooks isn't this enough?
(merci, http://www.marysidneysociety.org/)
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