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 temporal ranks of the Erbonian nobility are duke, count, lord, knight and esquire. Dukes, counts and lords form the peerage, while knights and esquires form the gentry. Royal titles such as king, queen, prince or princess are not peerages, although the holders thereof may also hold peerages. Peers are generally summoned to sit in the House of Lords, although this is in principle the gift of the Sovereign.

The spiritual equivalents of the temporal nobility are the cardinals, archbishops, bishops, abbots and deans.

Dukes

A duke holds a dukedom as tenant-in-chief, and ranks above a count, alongside bishops, which are the spiritual equivalents to a duke. There are six dukes in Great Nortend of ancient origin—Allells, Caune, Bockwell, Saithsey, Marcaster and Fivewells—and three of new elevation—Limmes, Derham and Bailmorden.

The wife of a duke is titled a duchess. A duke is addressed as „my Lord [Duke]” and styled „The Most Noble Lord Duke of X” or „His Lordship”. A duke is formally styled „the Most High, Most Mighty and Most Noble Lord” while a duchess is styled „the Most High and Most Mighty Lady”.

Counts

A count is the tenant-in-chief of a county, and ranks above a lord. Counties vary in size, but an average shire consists of three or four counties along with single baronies. There are 98 counts in Great Nortend, not including subsidiary titles. A notable count is the Count of Parrum, held by the King of Aswick, William I. A number of counts are tenants-in-chief of certain Royal castles, such as Castle Alsby, whereof the Count of Alsby is tenant-in-chief.

A march count ranks higher than an ordinary count, and holds a march instead of a county. The major count in a shire is often appointed the King’s Lieutenant of the Shire.

A count is addressed „my Lord [Count]” and referred to as „The Right Noble Lord Count of X” or „His Lordship”. His formal style is „The Right High, Right Mighty and Right Noble Lord”, while a countess is styled „The Right High, Right Mighty and Right Noble Lady”.

Lords

A lord is typically the tenant-in-chief of one or more baronies. Whilst many barons are elevated to higher levels of peerage, they are nonetheless barons in grossa. The ancient baronies usually correspond to a single hundred, and are named for the caput baroniae, being the major or most important parish therein.

There are 102 lords baronial in Great Nortend (not including subsidiary titles), who hold a total of 1,530 parishes, with a total of 2,142 manors held in tenure per baroniam.

A lord is addressed as „my Lord”, and referred to as „the Noble Lord” and formally styled as „the High, Mighty and Noble Lord of X”. A lord’s wife is styled a lady. There are also a number of lordships of honour, such as various lords mayor, lords chancellours, lords justices and lords banneret &c. which rank as counts or lords, albeit they are not noble ex officio. Such lords are generally styled as „the Right Honourable Lord” or „the Honourable Lord”.

Gentry

Viscount

Originating in the Latin title, vices comes or vice count, a viscount ranks below a baron. Viscounts generally hold land within a given county, often being the mesne lord of one of the count's baronies. He, however, must also hold land per baroniam in order to be considered a peer. Most viscounts therefore are not peers although part of the nobility; however a number of lord viscounts exist. The High Sheriff of a shire or borough, being the King's judicial representative within the shire or borough, is appointed from the ranks of viscounts, often for periods of a few years.

A viscount is addressed as „Your Honour”, and styled as „the Right Honourable 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 lords viscounts, included within the ranks of barons. A mayor ranks with viscounts.

Banneret

A banneret is a hereditary title, originally a form of knighthood. A banneret ranks above all other knights, except Knights 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. A banneret is addressed as „Your Honour” and titled „Sir”, and his wife, a banneress, as „Lady”. He is styled „the Honourable Sir A. B., Banneret”, almost always abbreviated to „Bart.”.

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.

Knights

An ordinary knighthood is not hereditary. A knight is addressed as „Sir” and his wife as „Lady”. The type of knighthood is usually given after the name.

Esquires

An esquire is any person who is entitled to the noble particle „de” or „a” in his name. Sometimes, „Esquire” is placed after the name to designate such an honour.