Titles of nobility and honor are the terms used to categorize those persons holding high rank in a nation socially organized along aristocratic lines. Modern European titles originated in feudal times, largely during the early Holy Roman Empire. Titles were formerly widespread, but today only a few nations recognize a formal peerage, Great Britain being the preeminent example. A provision of Article I, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution prohibits the granting of titles of nobility by the United States.

In the traditional aristocratic society the monarch represents the apex of the hierarchy. The commonest titles of rulers are emperor (empress) and king (queen). Rulers of smaller nations often hold lesser titles: prince (princess), grand duke, or duke. Nonruling members of royal families also generally hold titles of nobility: prince or princess, duke or duchess, and sometimes lesser titles. In Britain, for example, the children of the sovereign are princes and princesses; the sons are often also created royal dukes. Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, is also a royal duke: the duke of Edinburgh.

The duke (from the Latin dux, "leader") is the highest title in the peerage. The first nonruling duke was created in England by Edward III, who made his oldest son, Edward, the Black Prince, duke of Cornwall in 1337. The title, however, had a checkered career. It vanished altogether during the reign of Elizabeth I (who had her cousin, the duke of Norfolk, beheaded for treason). Elizabeth's successor, James I, reinstated the title. Great victors in battle have been raised to dukedoms (for example, Marlborough and Wellington), but mostly the title went hand in hand with the great landholding magnates. Many of these were concentrated in mid-England, which became known as the Dukeries. No new nonroyal dukedoms have been created in the 20th century; the last created duke without royal connections was the duke of Westminster in 1874.

This title dates from the Norman period. Originally the title applied to lords guarding the border areas, or marches. In Germany the comparable title was Markgraf (margrave), granted to counts who stood on border guard for the ruler; margraves could be further distinguished by the type of territory over which they ruled (Landgraf or Pfalzgraf).

The title of earl--third in precedence and the oldest title and rank of English nobles--is of Saxon-Danish origin (meaning "chieftain"). The earl was originally one who administered a shire or province. The equivalent Continental title is count (from the Latin comes, "companion"). In more recent times earldoms in Britain were often conferred on retired prime ministers; thus, Sir Anthony Eden became earl of Avon in 1961 and Harold Macmillan, earl of Stockton in 1984.

This title, which means vice-count, deputy, or lieutenant of a count, is an office that was well established in the Holy Roman Empire of Frederick I Barbarossa. Leading British soldiers of World War II (for example, Field Marshal Montgomery) were raised to the title of viscount.

Finally, the lowest on the ladder of peerage are the barons. They too came to England with the Norman invasion, and on the Continent barons remain the most numerous relics of a bygone age. The name meant an individual holding land directly from the sovereign.

Members of these ranks are not members of the peerage; that is, they do not sit in the House of Lords. Baronets and knights (see knight) are both titled "Sir," but baronetcies are hereditary, and knighthoods are not. The term baronet was first applied to nobles who had lost the right of individual summons to Parliament in the 14th century. The hereditary order of baronets was introduced by King James I in 1611, and the title was sold to gentlemen prepared to establish plantations in Ireland. Nova Scotia was accorded a similar status for newly created baronets in 1624. The baronet is styled "Sir Thomas Beecham, Bart."

British knighthood has two forms: ----

(1) the oldest and simplest is the Knight (derived from the saxon cnyt, signifying "attendant") Bachelor, and
(2) the knight enrolled in one of the eight orders of chivalry:
-the Order of the Garterthe oldest existing honorfor England,
-the Order of the Thistle for Scotland,
-the Order of the Bath,
-the Order of Saint Patrick,
-the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George,
-the Order of the Star of India,
-the Royal Victorian Order, and
-the Order of the British Empire.

French and German equivalents of the British knight are chevaliers and ritters. Both terms mean "horseman," which indicates that the title was connected with mounted warriors and reflects the fact that from the days of the Roman Empire, mounted warriors enjoyed high social status.

Active nobility has practically died out on the European continent with the extinction of the principal national dynasties--Russian, French, Austrian, German, and Italian. Even in Britain, a considerable adaptation has been made. The creation of peers had always been a political act. This fact was apparent, for example, in 1832 when Lord Grey, the prime minister, forced the House of Lords to pass the Reform Bill by threatening to have King William IV create enough new Whig peers to pack the House of Lords with his supporters. In 1911, Herbert Asquith's Liberal government used the same threat to force the House of Lords to accept the Parliament Bill that effectively ended its political powers. The Life Peerages Act of 1958 allows nonhereditary barons and baronesses to be created. No new hereditary peers were created between 1964 and 1983, when the practice was revived. The Peerage Act of 1963 was passed to permit individuals to disclaim peerages and remain commoners--thus, for example, qualifying them to remain members of the House of Commons where real political power lies. The value of the modern honors system to Britain is that political or other services may be acknowledged by titles rather than by gold. Some observers see the system as a symbolic and inexpensive way of rewarding those who have performed some noteworthy service. Almost all other nations have orders of honor, although the United States is extremely sparing and has just one, the Legion of Merit, which is for foreigners. In contrast Panama has 2, and the former USSR had 17.



James McMillan Bibliography: Adonis, Andrew, Making Aristocracy Work: The Peerage and the Political System in Britain, 1884-1914 (1993); Burke's Peerage and Baronetage (quadrennial); Cannadine, David, Decline and Fall (1992); Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage (1990); Motley, Mark, Becoming a French Aristocrat (1990); Rubenstein, W. D., Biographical Dictionary of Life Peers (1991). (c) 1997 Grolier, Inc.