Designing Your Character & Other Handy Things 2

Medieval Nobility

Peerage - Hereditary titles (such as Count, Duke, and Earl), often linked to lands, powers, or responsibilities. For instance, English and Scottish peers had the right of summons to parliament. the whole body of peers; aristocracy . The position, rank, or title of a peer. A book listing the peers and giving genealogical and other information about them. *The following titles are listed in "pecking order" from highest to lowest. Some titles are particular to a country and not "across the board."

Viceroy & Vicereine- The governor of a country or province who rules as the representative of a king or sovereign. a person appointed to rule a country or province as the deputy of the sovereign: the viceroy of India.

Archduke & Archduchess - A sovereign prince. A title of the sovereign princes of the former ruling house of Austria.

Grand Duke & Grand Duchess - The sovereign duke of any of various European states. The sovereign of a territory called a grand duchy, ranking next below a king.

Duke & Duchess - A nobleman of the highest hereditary rank. A member of nobility; historically the highest rank below the reigning monarch. A British nobleman holding the highest hereditary title outside the royal family, ranking immediately below a prince and above a marquis; a member of the highest rank of the British peerage. In England, the title was reserved for members of the royal family.

Marquess & Marchioness - A member of the British peerage ranking below a Duke and above an Earl. Lords responsible for guarding border areas, known as "marches." In some cases, the eldest son of a Duke was known as a Marquess.

Marquis & Marquise - A nobleman ranking next below a Duke and above an Earl or Count. In some instances, used interchangeably with Marquess.

Margrave & Margravine - A member of the German nobility corresponding in rank to a British Marquess. A German nobleman ranking above a Count. Margraves were originally Counts appointed to govern frontier provinces, but all had become princes of the Holy Roman Empire by the 12th century

Count & Countess - A European nobleman whose rank corresponds or is equivalent to that of a British Earl.

Earl & Countess - A member of the British peerage ranking below a Marquess and above a Viscount. The highest title attainable by an English nobleman who was not of royal blood. Also known in earlier times as Ealdorman.

Viscount & Viscountess - A member of the peerage in Great Britain ranking below an Earl and above a Baron. The fourth level of peerage, a Viscount was a lieutenant or deputy of a Count (from "vice-count"), or the title of courtesy for the eldest son of an Earl or Marquess.

Baron & Baroness - One of a class of tenants holding his rights and title by military or other honorable service directly from a feudal superior (as a king). A vassal who served as a member of the king's great council. It was not, of itself, a title, but rather a description of the Tenants-in-Chief class of nobility.

Baronet & Baronetess - The holder of a rank of honor below a baron and above a knight. Originally English Barons who had lost the right of their individual summons to Parliament. Often these titles were sold to gentlemen willing to set up plantations in Ireland or Nova Scotia.

Knight & Dame (Lord & Lady) - Knights were warriors who fought on horseback. In return for land, they pledged themselves as vassals to the king. Only the sons of lords could become knights. Candidates for knighthood began training as pages at the age of 7, learning social graces and skills such as fencing and hunting. At 13 or 14 they became squires and began to practice fighting on horseback. Squires served as assistants to knights both in the castle and on the battlefield. At 21 a squire could become a knight himself, kneeling before the lord of the manor to be "dubbed" on the shoulder with a sword. Kings, local lords, and knights were all part-of a ruling class that called itself noblemen. The Lords (knights) ruled over the fiefs or manors. They rented their land to peasants who worked for them. The trained knights were bound by oath to serve the nobles who had granted them their fiefs. The warrior (on retainer) who owed military service to his lord in exchange for payment of money, titles, and/or fief (land). Knights also aspired to the ideals of loyalty, generosity and courtesy, known as chivalry.

Vassals - (in the feudal system) a person granted the use of land, in return for rendering homage, fealty, and usually military service or its equivalent to a lord or other superior; feudal tenant. Vassals ruled lands granted to them by their king. Those lands were called fiefs. Within fiefs, a vassal acted as a local lord and could give portions of it to vassals of his own. Someone might be the vassal of one person, but the lord of another. Noblewomen were the wives and daughters of noblemen. They were in charge of the household servants and supervised the upbringing of children. They also helped take care of the sick and the poor. In certain cases, noblewomen themselves could own land. They could inherit it from their parents or from their husbands. When a nobleman was away, his wife ruled the manor. This meant that the noblewoman, if called upon by her lord, could send knights into battle, just as a man would. A free man who held land (fief) from a lord to whom he paid homage and swore fealty. He owed various services and obligations, primarily military, but he also advised his lord and paid him the traditional feudal aids required on the knighting of the lord's eldest son, the marriage of the lord's eldest daughter, and the ransoming of the lord, should he be

Armiger - A person entitled to bear heraldic arms.

Gentry - Wellborn and well-bred people. In England, the class below the nobility. An upper or ruling class; aristocracy. Those who are not members of the nobility but are entitled to a coat of arms, especially those owning large tracts of land.

Tenant-in-Chief - A lord or institution (the Church being most common) holding land directly from the king. All Earls were Tenants-in-Chief.

(found on http://musicians4freedom.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Medieval-People.pdf)