Nobility of Great Nortend

The Peerage of Great Nortend, also known as the Peerage of Erbonia, comprises all of the peerages created in the Kingdom of Nortend, Cardoby and Hambria, and its predecessors, the Kingdom of Nortend and Cardoby, and the Kingdom of Hambia. Peerages are the personal gift of the Sovereign, presently Alexander II, from time to time, and are hereditary.

Tenure

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. 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 administered by an earl, whilst a duchy an area of land administered 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.

Ranks

The ranks of the peerage are duke, margrave, earl, viscount, 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.

All male members of the peerage, that is, all male peers, have the automatic right to sit in the House of Lords as Lords Temporal, unless they are accorded the rank of Lord Spiritual as a prelate. 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.

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.

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:

• The Margrave of Shighton
• The Margrave of Lasmere, who is the Lord High Constable and the King's Marischal
• The Margrave of Nailbridge
• The Margrave of Bine
• The Margrave of St Deans
• The Margrave of Corfell
• The Marquess of Aston
• The Marquess of Sulthey

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.

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 and thus eligible to sit in the House of Lords, and so viscounts are typically granted a nominal barony of only one or two manors.

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 "My Lord", and referred to as "The Right Honourable" and "His Lordship", with his formal title being "The Right Honourable and Truly Noble Lord". The wife of a viscount is titled a viscountess. There are 147 viscounts in Great Nortend, excluding including subsidiary titles, making them the most common form of peerage.

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 Much Honoured' and 'His Lordship'. His formal title is 'The Much 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.

Knight banneret

A knighthood banneret, abbreviated 'Bart' and commonly known as a banneretcy, is a hereditary title. Ordinarily, a knight banneret is not considered a peer and cannot by virtue of such a knighthood sit in Parliament as he is not a baron. However, it is customary for the first holder of a banneretcy to be permitted to sit by virtue of a legal fiction whereby he is granted a life estate per baroniam of a nominal fief as tenant-in-chief of a 'square tile of the chequered floor' of the Royal Armoury.

A knight banneret is titled 'Sir', and his wife 'Lady', as with all knighthoods. A knight banneret ranks normally above all other knights. Banneretcies are typically awarded for service to society or to honour outstanding officers. 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. The former Prime Minister, Sir Benjamin Davies, is one example, being elevated from the House of Knights and made a knight banneret in order for the King to make him Lord High Treasurer.