Nobility of Great Nortend

The Nobility of Great Nortend consists of the peerage as well as the ennobled gentry created in the Kingdom of Nortend, Cardoby and Hambria, and its predecessors, the Kingdom of Nortend and Cardoby, and the Kingdom of Hambia. Peerages and nobility are the personal gift of the Sovereign, presently Alexander II, from time to time, and are, subjct to certain rules, hereditary.

Peerage

History

The system of peerage was founded on the principle of baronage, where all peers are barons holding fiefs from the Crown per baroniam. The entire territory of the Realm is divided into 30,345 manors. A typical ancient barony is a collection of around five to fifteen manors, not always coterminious. 14,479 of the 30,345 manors are divided into baronies held by lay nobles forming the Lords Temporal.

When ennobling a commoner as a peer, a manor must be granted to him to hold per baroniam. This may be an existing manor held by him by another tenure, or a different manor entirely. A statute passed under the Great Seal with the consent of the House of Lords is required to convert lands held from a mesne lord into an estate per baroniam held directly of the Crown.

All male peers have the automatic right to sit in the House of Lords as Lords Temporal. Female peeresses holding a peerage in their own right are not permitted to sit in the House of Lords, and must nominate a male to sit in lieu. Seventeen diocesan bishops, as corporations sole sit in the House of Lords as Lords Spiritual as well as five abbots, although they are not peers.

Ranks

The ranks of the peerage are duke, margrave, earl, baron and to an extent, knight banneret. Royal titles such as queen, princess or prince are not peerages, although the holders thereof may also hold peerages.

Dukes

A duke holds a dukedom as tenant-in-chief. There are twenty seven dukes in Great Nortend, with four in Cardoby, sixteen in Nortend and seven in Hambria. Dukedoms outside of Cardoby typically cover large towns and cities, and in such cases, he is usually ex officio the Lieutenant of the Borough. A duke's wife is titled as a duchess, exepting the wife of the Duke of Morney who is titled Duchesse.

A duke is directly addressed "Your Grace" and then "Sire", and referred to as "The Most Noble" and "His Grace". His formal title is "The Most High, Most Potent and Most Noble Prince". Royal Dukes hold have a formal style of "The Most High, Most Mighty and Most Illustrious Prince" whilst Royal Duchesses have the style of "The Most High, Most Gracious and Most Excellent Princess".

Margraves

A margrave is the tenant-in-chief of a march, which are certain baronies on the border between Hambria and Nortend. A margrave has responsibility for his march's militia and is the Lieutenant of the March. There are also a Marquess of Sulthey, which is a title held by the Archbishop of Sulthey, which is not a noble title.

A margrave is addressed "My Lord". He is titled "The Most Honourable" and "His Lordship", with the formal title of "The Most Noble, Most Potent and Most Honourable Prince". A margrave's wife is titled a marchioness. Royal margraves are known as marquesses and rather than marches, are tenants-in-chief of marchdoms. There are currently six extant marches and two marchdoms, held by six margraves and two marquesses, excluding subsidiary titles, which are:

Earl

An earl is the tenant-in-chief of an earldom which consists of one or more baronies, typically in the relationship of one barony per hundred. An average county has three or four earls with around two baronies comprising his earldom. A number of earls are tenants-in-chief of certain Royal castles, such as Castle Alsby, whereof the Earl of Alsby is tenant-in-chief.

The major earl in a county is traditionally appointed the Lieutenant of the County, which is a grouping of earldoms, baronies and viscounties. He is addressed "My Lord" and referred to as "The Right Honourable" and "His Lordship". His formal title is "The Right Honourable, Most Noble and Truly Puissant Prince". The wife of an earl is known a countess. There are 98 earls in Great Nortend, not including subsidiary titles. A notable earl is the Earl of Parrum, held by the King of Aswick, William I.

Baron

A baron is the tenant-in-chief of one or more baronies. Whilst many barons are elevated to higher levels of peerage, they are still barons and must continue to hold the title to their lands to remain peers.

For example, the Earl of Hamberwick is also the Viscount of Fourton and the Baron of Fourton, the Baron of Hamberwick, the Baron of Hayington, the Baron of Ludderstow, as the Earldom of Hamberwick, which includes the Barony of Hamberwick (which consists of eighteen parishes or manors) and the Barony of Hayington (which consists of sixteen parishes or manors), was raised to the status of an earldom by letters patent and the Barony of Fourton (which consists of one parish or manor) to the status of a viscounty. He also holds the Barony of Ludderstow (which consists of twenty-one parishes or manors), which has not been raised to a higher status and thus he is simply Baron of Ludderstow. Hence, the Earl of Hamberwick holds a total of 56 parishes or manors.

On the other hand, the Viscount of Mastingbrook is only the Baron of the Barony of Mastingbrook (which consists of one parish or manor), however is also a mesne lord of much of the Earl of Roseham's hundreds. The Baron of the Barony of Pethwaight (which consists of fifteen parishes or manors) is an example of a simple baron, whose barony has not been elevated.

It is the case that many baronies have been elevated into earldoms, marches and dukedoms; however, there still remain a a number of single baronies that are held by barons. Baronies, excluding nominal baronies, usually correlate to a single hundred, and are named for the caput baroniae, which is the major or most important parish therein. These single barony hundreds, though not under the feudal lordship of an earl, are still considered to be part of the county. He is addressed as 'My Lord', and referred to as 'The Very Honoured' and 'His Lordship'. His formal title is 'The Very Honoured and Truly Noble Lord'. There are 102 barons in Great Nortend (not including subsidiary titles), who hold a total of 1530 parishes, with a total of 2142 manors held in tenure per baroniam.

Viscount

Originating in the Latin title, vices comes or vice count, a viscount is theoretically the deputy of an earl. Viscounts generally hold land within a given earldom, often being the mesne lord of one of the earl's baronies. He, however, must also hold land per baroniam in order to be considered a peer. Most viscounts therefore are not technically peers although it is a hereditary title; however a number of baron-viscounts exist. Viscounts, however, rank higher than barons though they may not sit in Parliament.

The High Sheriff of a county or borough, being the King's judicial representative within the county or borough, is appointed from the ranks of viscounts, often for periods of a few years. He is addressed as "Your Worship", and referred to as "The Right Worshipful" and "His Worship", with his formal title being "The Right Worshipful the Viscount of X". The wife of a viscount is titled a viscountess. There are 147 viscounts in Great Nortend, excluding subsidiary titles, making them the most common form of nobility; however, only 23 of them are considered peers, included within the ranks of barons.

Nobility

Knight banneret

A knighthood banneret, abbreviated 'Bart' and commonly known as a banneretcy, is a hereditary knighthood. A knight banneret is titled 'Sir', and his wife 'Lady', as with all knighthoods. A knight banneret ranks socially above all other knights, except Knights Companion of the Order of Saint Edmund.

Banneretcies are typically granted for service to the Crown or to honour outstanding officers or soldiers. One special case of banneretcies is that awarded to persons elevated from the Commons to serve as a minister of the Crown which is required to be drawn from the House of Lords.

Ordinarily, a knight is not a peer and cannot by virtue thereof sit in the House of Lords. However, as the King is empowered to summon any person to Parliament by a writ of ad parlamentum mandamus, bannerets may be summoned and sit for life in the House of Lords, non-status as a baron notwithstanding. Such a banneret is known as a Lord Banneret. Note that only bannerets may be summoned, per the Carta Erboniæ Libertatum which forbids the summons of knights batchelor, commoners &c. as suitours of the House of Lords.

The former Prime Minister, Sir Benjamin de Davies, is one example of a Lord Banneret, being elevated from the House of Knights and made a lord banneret in order to become Lord High Treasurer. The present Lord High Treasurer, Sir Spencer de Stornton, is also a lord banneret.

Banneretcies are also used to create Lords Justices of the Court of Counsellours.