Nobility - Tumblr Posts
Fantasy Guide to Noble Titles & What they Mean
So I get a lot of questions about what nobles actually do or how much they own or why a certain title is higher than another. Understanding the complexities of nobility and their hierarchy can be a bit of a head twister but hopefully this will help you out. Just for the moment we will be focusing on European Titles because I can't fit all the titles into one post. Forgive my shitty doodles. The diagrams mark out where the particular noble would rule.
Archduke/Archduchess
These titles have two meanings. In the latter half of the Austrian Empire, it was used to denote senior members of the Royal family such as children and siblings. It is also a non Royal title given to someone who rules an archduchy, a large portion of land with in the kingdom. They are in charge of the archduchy, ensuring it runs smoothly. They are referred to as Your Grace.
Grand Duke/Grand Duchess
The Grand Duke is probably the trickiest of all these titles as there is a dual meaning. A Grand Duke can rule a state as a sovereign like in Luxembourg or they can rule a Grand Duchy (a large portion of land within a kingdom) like the Grand Dukes of Russia. The Grand Duke was below the Archduke and their lands may be smaller. They are in charge of ruling their Grand Duchy, upholding the monarch's laws in their name. They are referred to as Your Grace.
Duke/Duchess
The Duke is the highest rank in most European nations. The Duke rules a large portion of the kingdom- called a Duchy- which you can think of as a county/state. The Duchies are often awarded by the monarch to their children who are not the heir. The Duke is charge with running that portion of land by order of the monarch, handling the over all business of that piece of the Kingdom. Dukes are referred to as Your Grace. There was only one Duke per Duchy.
Marquess/Marchioness
A Marquess is the next rung down from Dukes. The Marquess is in charge of a portion of land within a Duchy which is called a Marsh which lays near a border. The Marquess is solely responsible for the running of that portion of land. The Marquess is called The Most Honourable (Insert name), the Marquess of XYZ. There could be multiple marquesses in a Duchy if it was near a large border.
Earl/Count/Countess/Compte/Comptesse
An Earl/Count Rules over an Earldom, which is a section of a Duchy but it has less importance than a Marsh ruled by the Marquess. The Earl/Count is the third highest ranking within the Duchy. Often it was the subsidiary title of the heir of the Dukedom, so the eldest son/daughter of the Duke would be the Earl. The Earl/Count of X is addressed as Lord X for example, the Earl of Grantham, is called Lord Grantham. There could be multiple Earls/counts per Duchy.
Viscount/Viscountess/Viscompte/Viscomptess
Viscounts are the Earl/Count's second in command, ruling a portion of land with the Earldom. They handled the judiciary matters of their lands and their barons. Viscounts were addressed as the Right Honourable (insert name) Viscount of XY. Viscounts can also be used as a subsidiary title for the son of a Earl. When Thomas Boleyn was made Earl of Wiltshire, his son George was made Viscount Rochford. There might be multiple Viscounts in a Duchy.
Baron/Baroness
The Baron is the lowest of ranks in the nobility pyramid. Before the mid-medieval period, almost all nobles were labelled as Barons. They ruled over a portion of the land under the Duke, the Earl and Viscount. There were always a huge force of barons with in the Duchy. They handled the minor local disputes of their lands, collecting taxes and monies owed. If they faced a larger issue or crime, they would pass it up to the next ranking noble the Viscount and then it could travel all the way up to the Duke. The Baron of Townville were referred to as as Lord Townville.
Fantasy Guide to Addressing Nobility
It can be hard to remember how to properly address your noble or royal characters when writing a fantasy court. Here is a quick guide:
1. King/Queen:
Usually addressed as either “Your Grace” or “Your Majesty”. Consort (married to a ruler and not reigning in their own right) can be addressed the same. Sire or Madam can be used also.
2. Prince/Princess:
They are addressed as “Your Highness”. They are NEVER addressed the same as a King or Queen
3. Duke/Duchess:
These are addressed with “Your Grace”. This was a common term also used by royalty before Henry VIII got to big for his codpiece.
4. Earl (Count)/Countess:
Are almost never referred as the “Earl of Narnia” but “Lord Narnia”.
5. Lord/Lady:
An easy one. They are called “My Lord” or “My Lady”.
6. Emperor/Empress:
These may be equal to a King/Queen for status but the have a grander title. They are only addressed as “Your Imperial Highness/Majesty”
I hope this helps when writing your court or fantasy novel.
Fantasy Guide to Writing a Royal Family
Royal families usually rule the plot and world of your novel. They are complex, decadent and murderous. How can we write such a large complex entity?
Family Tree
You need to make a list of the royals in your story. Add dates of birth and death. Who is whose brother? Mother? Father? It is easy to work backwards from the royals today back to the past. How does your character inherit the crown? Or how close are they to the throne? Add in uncles, aunts, cousins. Keep going until it feels expansive.
A history
Now that you have a family tree, you have to create a history. How did the family come into power? Is there any mad monarchs, heroes and saints in the family of the past? A World of Ice and Fire, gives us chapters on every Targaryen King to rule Westeros. A history gives a family a grounded feel and a rich background. This can explain the motives of a character in a crown
Infighting
Royals can be volatile. If you are a step close to the throne, you want that shit. You will kill to get it. Royal families are guilty of infighting. Cousins will fight for supremacy. Sisters battle sisters over rights and honours. Brothers may turn to murder to dispatch each other. Royal families will almost always devour themselves. Like the Houses of York and Lancaster did, leaving the House of Tudor to swoop in and get the crown.
Danger
Royals are at the top so they fall hard. People will come to cast them down. Whether it’s the people or a rival family or a foreign invader, your royal family is in grave danger.
In most cases, the boys of a royal family are slaughtered as in the Plantaganets of England with the Princes in the Tower. The Plantaganet princesses were married to Tudor bannermen or sent to a nunnery. In some bad cases, everyone dies.
The Russian/Bolshevik Revolution murdered the entire royal family: the Tsar, the Tsarina, the four grand duchesses and the tsarevitch, leaving only a couple of cousins living abroad.
In some cases the family is exiled. This is the best case scenario as they can try come back at some point. An example of this is Bonny Prince Charlie and his father.
Vox Populi
How do the people receive your royals? Do they love them? Or do they despise them? Most royal families get mixed reviews. If they do good works like giving the people peace, they are loved. Over taxation can change the people’s opinions and turn them against your royals.
Titles
Not all royals have a title. The further away from the throne you are, the less likely you have a Royal title. Prince William’s kids get the title. Prince George’s children and grandchildren will get the titles prince and princess but only the children of Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis will get it but not their grandchildren.
I suddenly want to go that era in manhwas where women are all about reading books, wearing expensive things and stopping their husbands to cheat lol.....
Can I have that plz!!
Tradičné odievanie
Uhorskí fištróni* štramáci - I
Zdroj - https://www.facebook.com/historical.costumes
*Ja netuším, ako sa mi v hlave bunky zrazili, že som si spojila "vyštafírovať sa" a "fištrón", ale dobre. Chyba opravená. Fištrón je um, bystrý úsudok. Štramák je krásavec. Lingvistické okienko ukončené.
EDIT 2.0 - Fičúr! Fičúr je to slovo, čo som mala niekde v podvedomí, ale na udicu sa mi chytili len fištrón a štafírovanie! Takže k štramákovi ešte fičúr - vyfintený panák, stará sa o vzhľad a módu.
Uhorské fešandy - II
Zdroj - https://www.facebook.com/historical.costumes
Arcady's wife was really something in The Great s2
THE GREAT ~ 2x10
Wynne Lovett! My first real DnD Character after the starter pack. I love her very much and I'm really proud of how she is coming a long. She's an aasimar Paladin.
~French Nobility/Royalty Titles~💗🤍💗🤍
French Nobility
Who are the nobility?
In France, nobility was a quality of the individual, a legal characteristic that could be held or acquired, and conferred some rights and privileges; such as levied taxes in times of war (since the nobility was supposed to fight for the sovereign), or since the 17th century, only weaker taxing exceptions. Also, a number of military and civic positions were reserved for nobility.
How is it inherited?
Nobility was usually hereditary only through the male line; a nobleman could marry a commoner and keep his nobility, but a noblewoman could not. When the nobility was hereditary, even though it was transmitted through the father, a higher percentage of noble blood or a higher number of noble generations in the family could be important as well.
How is nobility acquired?
By Birth. Usually from the father since 1370 (only exceptions are nobility in Champagne until the 16th century and Bar until the French Revolution). Bastards of nobles became nobles when legitimated by letters of the sovereign until 1600, after that a separate act of ennoblement was required (except royal bastards, they were always nobles even with no legitimation).
By Office. Depending on the office, the holder became noble either after a number of years in office or immediately. This kind of nobility could be personal or hereditary for 2, 3 or more generations. Here we have nobles for fiscal offices (tax courts and state auditors), “noblesse de robe” (for judicial offices, members of the parliament or courts that have been in office for 20 years), “noblesse de cloche” (municipal offices, the mayors of towns), administrative offices (the places on the household of the king and the secrétaires du Roi) and military commissions (since 1750 officers reaching the rank of general would receive hereditary nobility).
By Letters. Meaning, by royal grant, meaning that the king could always ennoble whoever he wished.
Could nobility be lost?
Yes it could. You lose it by failing to your failing duties (this was called “déchéance”, kind of like Athos in The Musketeers BBC series); by practising forbidden occupations (called “dérogeance”), like commerce or manual crafts or farming someone else’s land (farming your own or the King’s land was ok). Funny that medicine, glass-blowing, exploitation of mines, maritime commerce and wholesale commerce was acceptable. Also, if you were a woman and marry a commoner, your nobility is lost.
What about the titles?
To bear a title you had to be noble. And a title is a rank attached to a certain piece of land. So, there could be nobles with no titles.
Duc. A duke (from the Latin dux, “leader”) was originally the governor of a province and a military leader. He was the possessor of a “duché” (a duchy).
Comte. A count (from the Latin comes, “companion”), originally an appointee of the king governing a city and its immediate surroundings. He was the possessor of a comté (county) or a high-ranking official in the king’s immediate entourage called Counts Palatine (palace counts).
Marquis. Originally the governor of a “march”, a region at the boundaries of the kingdom in need of particular protection. He was the possessor of a marquisat (marquessate).
Vicomte. A viscount was originally the lieutenant of a count, either when the count was not at home or then the county was held by the King himself. He was the possessor of a vicomté (viscounty).
Baron. Originally a direct vassal of the king or another major feudal lord (a duke or count or so). The possessor of a baronnie (barony).
Châtelain. A castellan was the commander in charge of a castle. Few chastellanies survived with the title or “Sire” (sir).
Prince. Possessor of a principauté (principality). This title was not the same as the rank of Prince and did not give his possessor precedence at the court.
Seigneur. A lord, possessor of a lordship.
Chevalier. The equivalent of a “knighted” or a member of certain chivalric orders or the head of the King’s guardsmen. Not the same as the rank of Chevalier.
Wait. Titles and Ranks are not the same?
No, they were not. Because French people are crazy and this could not be easy at all. Let’s say that there were two kinds of “titles”: the ones linked to the fifes (the feudal real estates, meaning the duchies and counties, etc) and the personal ranks.
Fils de France/Filles de France. The sons and daughters of the King.
Petit-fils de France. The grandchildren of the King through the male line.
Prince du Sang/Princesse du Sang. A Prince/Princess of the Blood was a legitimate descendant of the King but was not part of the immediate family. Meaning that they were not Fils neither Petit-Fils de France.
Prince/Princess Légitimé. The legitimized children of the King or other males of his dynasty.
Prince Étranger. A foreign prince naturalized and recognized by the French court.
Chevalier. A rank assumed ONLY by the most noble families and the possessors of very high dignities in the court. Note that the ones with the title of Chevalier and the ones with the rank of Chevalier are addressed differently.
Écuyer. This rank (squire) was the one of the majority of nobles. It was a member of the nobility with no title.
How are they addressed?
For this section I’ll use an example name, so each way of addressing will be very clear. Let’s use the Marquis de Castelnau: Philippe-François d'Albignac.
The simpler way to address a noble is using Monsieur, Madame and Mademoiselle: here, we would address Philippe-Françoise simply as Monsieur.
But of course it cannot be that simple, you could not be sure about who and which Monsieur, Madame or Mademoiselle you’re talking about. So, there is a simple formula: Monsieur/Madame + de + last name or house = Monsieur de Albignac.
But you can also refer to someone by their title and not their last name: Monsieur/Madame + le/la + title = Monsieur le Marquis.
And you can be even more specific, since we wanna know, are we talking about the same Marquis? You’d use: Monsieur/Madame + le/la + title in full style = Monsieur le Marquis de Castelnau.
Those are the general ways, but it can be very tricky or specific according the rank and title. Here is another helping guide:
The King. Majesté, Your/His Most Christian Majesty, Your/His Majesty, Monsieur Le Roi.
The Queen. Majesté, Your/Her Most Christian Majesty, Your/Her Majesty, Madame La Reine.
The Dauphin (the eldest son of the King). Monsieur le Dauphin, His/Your Royal Highness, Monseigneur le Dauphin, His/Your Royal Highness Monseigneur le Dauphin.
The Dauphine (the Dauphin’s wife). Madame la Dauphine, Her/Your Royal Highness, Her Royal Highness Madame la Dauphine.
The Fils de France. Referred by their main title, except the Dauphin. I.e. Monsieur le Duc d’Anjou.
The Filles de France. Referred as Madame+their given name. Except the eldest daughter that was called Madame Royale until she married, and then that style is used by the next Fille de France. I.e. Madame Victoire.
The Petit-Fils/Petit-Filles de France. Addressed using their full style titles.
Prince du Sang/Princesse du Sang. Usually styled by their main ducal title, but other more precise titles were also used. It could be used: Monsieur le Prince, Madame la Princesse, Monsieur le Duc, Madame la Duchesse, and so on. In writing only the style Serene Highness was used.
Prince Légitimé/Princesse Légitimé. They took last names according to the branch of the House their father belonged and after the legitimization they were given a title. Males were given titles from their father’s lands, and therefore addressed as Monsieur and the title or last name; females were given the style of Mademoiselle de “X”.
Prince étranger. Basically addresses as Haut et puissant Prince or Your/His Highness. They are tricky to address, since they could have ANY other kind of title (literally any, from Prince to Chevalier, everything in between), then they could be called according to their first title and/or as Highness. Let’s take the example of Hercule Mériadec de Rohan, Duke of Rohan-Rohan; he could be addressed as: Monsieur le Duc de Rohan-Rohan, His Highness Hercule Mériadec de Rohan, His Highness Monsieur le Duc de Rohan-Rohan, His Highness Monsieur de Rohan, Monsieur de Rohan.
Other words to keep in mind to address nobility:
Monseigneur. Used for those of very high office and noble blood, like the Dauphin, cardinals, etc. Usually used only for adults.
Excellence. Ambassadors, foreign dignitaries.
Eminence. Mostly for cardinals, along with Monseigneur.
Monsieur le Chevalier. ONLY used when Chevalier is the rank.
Chevalier+last name. To address those who are knighted members of chivalric orders.
Sieur. Like Sir in English. Usually used for property holders that are not noble. It is used as Sieur + de + name of the land.
Gentilhomme. Used for ANY noble, from the King to the last écuyer.
I hope this works for you @meltingpenguins :D
There will be a second part on English Nobility.
This artist really needs all the support. ;)
Kieran is an aloof vampire with nobility roots. He's my type of vampire that I've worked on - some facts about them:
They are double fanged
Their pupils are in a shape of a cross
Their eyes glow
This piece was made for my uni assignment where we had to make a beastiary card, so I took it as an opportunity to draw my boy.
Feel free to support poor artist (me).
Duchess Amelia of Württemberg (1847) by Karl Joseph Stieler. Schloss Altenburg.
Dowager Empress Cixi of the Qing Dynasty sitting on an armchair (1906) by Hubert Vos. Palace Museum, Beijing.
Schloss Ahrensburg, Germany. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Holger.Ellgaard
Blicking Hall, Norfolk. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:DeFacto
Portrait of Baron Joseph Vialètes de Mortarieu (1805) by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. Norton Simon Museum.
Portrait of Charles I Louis, Elector Palatine and Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland (1637) by Anthony van Dyck. Louvre Museum.