Period Peerage/Social Class

[Element of Air]

So, I was just thinking, and it has been far to long for me to even start to recall, the statuses of Class and rankings in court and life in The Medieval/Renaissance times.

I have all of these titles and have tried to locate their information online and so far have this information.

I simply want to know in a pyramid sort of way the highest class, down to the lowest.

What they did and stood for and how their titles were used.

Also were some only used in France and others with equal status called something else in
Britain/England?

What did they rule and where were they from (France/England/Germany).

Were the children of one title given another such as a King has a son who is a called Prince?

What areas of land do they rule and who rules under who?


I have all of these that I am aware of and their position in rank and if anyone else knows of any others that would be great!

King/Queen. (obvious)
Prince/Princess
Duke/Duchess (nobleman, historically of highest rank below the King or Queen)
Marquess/Marquis/Marchioness (Ranks above an Earl and below a Duke)
Count/Countess (equivalent to Earl)
Earl (equivalent to Count)
Viscount (above Baron, below Earl/Count)
Baron/Baroness (lowest rank in the peerage)
Sir/Sire (as title of honor of a knight or baronet)
Knight (non-heritable form of gentility, but is not nobility)
Lord/Lady (aristocratic rank, control over a portion of land and produce/labor of serfs living thereon)
Serf (slave or peasant under rule of a Lord)
Page (Apprentice, assistant, young errand boy)
Squire (young man who aspired to the rank of knighthood and who served an existing knight as his attendant or shield carrier)

[Master James]

Someone actually took the time to right it all up and put it on a website.  Its accurate as far as I know.  Here you go.  http://jackytappet.tripod.com/chain.html

[Element of Air]

Cool, that is exactly what I was looking for and could not locate a site with it all in one place so I thought we might try to do it our selves. But this works too!

Thanks so much!

[DonaCatalina]

Were the children of one title given another such as a King has a son who is a called Prince?

Then you have Spain with a slightly different spin on it all.
TYPICALLY but not always, The Viscounts (Vizcondes) are sons of Dukes.

The Duke of Veragua and De La Vega, is Don Cristóbal Colón. His son and heir is Don Diego Colón who holds the titles Marqués de Aguilafuente and If I remember correctly, Vizconde de Roda.

The Viscount de Cadiz is most likely to be the son and heir of the Duke de Cadiz.

Then there are the Grandees. The Grandees of Spain may have other titles, such as Duke or Count, but this dignity moves their rank considerably higher. The Grandees of Spain were the only men allowed to stand in the presence of the king with their hats on.

The website that Master James posted is actually quite good.

[Imestra]

Master James, a most excellent link, indeed!  And how amazing is it that Actors are placed just above Thieves/Pirates....

[Queen Maggie]

Actually, in England, the title Viscount did not exist in Tudor/Elizabethan times. As to being sons of Dukes, that is because they are usually one of the lesser titles of the Duke, and are given as a courtesy to the eldest son (only) as a preparation and signal that someday he will inherit all the titles.

One of the exercises we'd do at MDRF during rehearsals was to line up, most noble down the "Great Chain of Being" to the lowliest, so each person would know to whom they must bow, and who owed courtesy to them.

Another historic point:it was only during Henry VIII's reign that the address "Your Majesty" was introduced (by him!) Before that, people often used "Highness" for all royals.

There are <i>no</i> equals. Everyone is either higher on the social scale, or lower, so courtsies and bows go only in one direction. If two of the same title meet, the earlier created title takes precedence. Age, and religious orders also increses status. It's complicated and only gets worse as one continues into the 17th and 18th centuries.

[Drake Starsong]

Master James, a most excellent link, indeed!  And how amazing is it that Actors are placed just above Thieves/Pirates....

I just said the same thing to myself.."Wow...Actors are lower than beggars..." Things certainly have come a long way

[peggyelizabeth]

From what I've read about Scotland, until the unification of Scotland and England upon James VI/I's ascension to the English throne upon Elixabeth's death in 1603, Scotland's highest non-Royal title was Earl/Countess, Dukes were established later and I don't recall reading anything on Marquises/Marchionesses Bishops and Archbishops were around earlier.

[Master James]

Actually, in England, the title Viscount did not exist in Tudor/Elizabethan times. As to being sons of Dukes, that is because they are usually one of the lesser titles of the Duke, and are given as a courtesy to the eldest son (only) as a preparation and signal that someday he will inherit all the titles.

Actually that is not correct.  Viscount did exist during Elizabeth's time.  We in VARF play real persons in the Elizabethan court and my persona is Sir Thomas Sackville, Baron Buckurst and he married his daughter Jane to Anthony Browne, Viscount Montegue in 1592 and gave a dowry of 3 manors and 20,000 pounds.

Now as to it being given to the son of a Duke, they are given the title Earl but only the first son.  Sir Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk had a son Philip who was the Earl of Arrundel.  Typically the higher in peerage you are the higher the title your first son gets.  Its just one below and in some cases the second son might get a title below his brother if their father is high enough.

Father     1st son     2nd son
Duke        Earl          Baron
Marquis     Earl          Baron
Earl          Baron

As far as I know these are the only ones that get actual titles while their father is still alive.  All other peerage are titled Lord until they inherit the title.

[lys1022]

According to Burke's Peerage, the first English Viscount was the 6th Lord of Beaumont.

viscount: holder of the second lowest rank of peerage (1), called a viscounty or viscountcy. The word derives from the Latin vice-comes, or deputy to a comes (early equivalent of count), and in the British Isles was in early times used to refer to the Sheriff of a county, the earl (Anglo-Saxon equivalent of a count) of that county being then its chief administrative officer, appointed by the Crown. The Latin term vicecomitatu, meaning a sheriffdom, was used in Scottish legal documents until quite recently. Viscount only began to be used as a peerage honour in the 15th century, and is in fact the most recent addition to the ranks of the peerage (2). The first viscountcy was conferred in February 1439/40 on the 6th Lord (Baron) Beaumont (see BEAUMONT, Bt), who thus became Viscount Beaumont. Unlike viscounts in the English peerage, those in the Scottish peerage, the first of whom was Fentoun, so created in 1606, were known as 'Viscount of Blank', even where 'Blank' was a family name rather than a place. The only one still to use this form would appear to be the Viscount of Arbuthnott. For observations on the level of distinction considered as meriting a viscountcy in the 19th and 20th centuries see the appropriate passage in the Introduction. Mutatis mutandis, a viscount, his wife, widow and children are addressed or referred to as for a baron.

Here's the link to the page quoted above:
http://www.burkes-peerage.net/articles/peerage/page66-viscount.aspx

[Element of Air]

Wow, this is all so interesting. It seems as though it was a real mess back then and it was a very intricate ladder!

This is a very informative topic now. I am glad that we are all sharing our research and knowledge.

[Queen Maggie]

Actually, in England, the title Viscount did not exist in Tudor/Elizabethan times.

Actually that is not correct.  Viscount did exist during Elizabeth's time. 

I stand corrected. I usually play earlier, Henriciian times, and I must've misremembered. I had thought that the title of viscount didn't appear until late 1700s.

[daylight]

 Great topic, I love all the chat about past and knowledge that was shared. I learned from this thanks

[DonaCatalina]

Since it appears to be germane to the topic,
Different nobles had different forms of address.
Take for example Duke.

The rule is that a social inferior addresses him as "Your Grace" and a social equal as "Duke." If a Social equal was showing him extra courtesy or negotiating something, they would probably use "Your Grace" in that situation also.
Dukes from different countries might show each other exaggerated courtesy for diplomatic reasons.

The forms of address vary as you go down the chain. It's very complicated in some ways.
This website explains the English usage in its currently frozen form.
http://www.chinet.com/~laura/html/titles12.html

[DT_Masters]

Four questions of "terms" that one sees from time to time.

Military officers such as generals, ship captains; would they fall intio Knights/Local Officials?
Diplomats such as courtiers: same as the above?

In some references, there is a second explanation of a Squire: the senior landholder or farmer of a region. Could this be a Lord without aristocratic rank or another title for a Lord?

In Shakespearean plays, such as Hamlet, Gentlemen are mentioned. Where would they be in the rank structure?