Erbonian nobility

The Erbonian nobility form the upper class of the society of Great Nortend made up of the peerage and ranking gentry recognised by the government of Great Nortend. Individual members may enjoy special rights as well as responsibilities under law and remain highly influential in Erbonian politics and society.

Principles

The Erbonian nobility is based on the traditional feudal system of land tenure in the Kingdom, which has been retained in some form or another to the modern day. This system divides Great Nortend into 30,345 manors, usually associated with a certain village or settlement.

All peers are required to be barons, in that they are required to hold a fief from the Sovereign as tenant-in-chief per baroniam, sive grand serjeanty. The baronies which they are the feudal lord of are usually collections of manors, or parishes; however, it can be as small as a square acre of land. The historical basis for the counties, marches and duchies that make up the principle sub-units of the civil provinces of Erbonia is the system of feudal tenure of lords. For example, a county is an area of land which is held by an earl, whilst a duchy an area of land held by a duke.

Today, this system still applies, except that through the proliferation of peerages, many historically larger baronies have been either broken down into smaller ones or dotted with scattered singular baronies of only one or two manors for many newly created peers. When ennobling persons not already holding land per baroniam or by grand serjeanty, such as those holding from the Crown merely by knight-service or wardage, or from a mesne lord, either one or more manors, or parts thereof, of the King's demesne is subenfeoffed to the prospective peer or a the existing tenure converted to a barony. For example, when Robert Flanch, Lord of the Manor of Wesleigh, was by King George III, created Baron of Wesleigh, his existing estate in Wesleigh, being held directly from the Crown per scutage, was converted into lands tenere per baroniam. It is impossible for the Crown to convert lands held from a mesne lord into an estate per baroniam; in such cases, the tenant must petition all of his superior lords for a licence of alienation and substitution, to convert his lands into a freehold directly of the Crown.

Noble surnames

Nobility is principally distinguished by a territorial name with the nobiliary particle de. It is inherited by all legitimate male-line ancestors of the original grantee, subject to the rules of marriage. This territorial name relates to the feudal barony held in the family. For example, Andrew Sebastian Charles de Alton-Hault, The Duke of Limmes.