Questions tagged [nobility]
Nobility is a class of people who hold titles, generally of a hereditary nature.
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What is this coat of arms?
This is on a chair that has been in my family in Sweden for several generations, but it looks to be of British origin rather than Scandinavian.
I am still new to heraldry but the terms martlet, ...
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What materials would have been used in the ancient Mesopotamian crown?
To provide context, I'm working on a project involving artwork for the Enuma Elish, and I've gotten to a sort of crown initially on my portrayal of Absu. I know that gold was available to the ancient ...
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3answers
341 views
Has a British peer ever come to live in a typically lower class way?
Recognizing that social class in Britain does not correspond to wealth, that that peers have been gambling away fortunes since time immemorial, has a hereditary peer, a duke, marquess, or earl, ever ...
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1answer
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Why wasn't the Treaty of Waitangi framed in terms of a feudal exchange, rather than a surrender of sovereignty?
So, I've been doing a bit of reading on Wikipedia about the Treaty of Waitangi and the ensuing New Zealand Wars that resulted when members of both sides broke the terms of the treaties, and I saw that ...
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1answer
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Who was the last/is the current count of Orsay?
Alfred d'Orsay (1801-1852), comte d'Orsay, had no children so I believed that the title passed to his sister Ida d'Orsay (who is mentioned to be countess of Orsay on various websites) and then to her ...
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Under primogenture in 12th century France, if the eldest son predeceases his father, did the grandson or an younger son inherit?
Okay so I'm not sure how to word this eloquently, I'm sorry, but please bear with me. Let's say that a lord, eg. a Duke had two sons. The older one got married, had a male heir, and then died while ...
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2answers
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When was the last promotion in the British Peerage?
I suspect that I ought to say "elevation", rather than promotion, but I think that the question is clear.
According to Debrett's :
The five titles of the peerage, in descending order of ...
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2answers
153 views
How formalised were the various tiers of Russian nobility during the regency of Sophia Alekseyevna?
I'm a few chapters into Robert K Massie's biography of Peter the Great, and I was surprised to read that, in the aftermath of Peter's seizure of power from his sister and regent Sophia, when passing ...
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Did 12th century French nobles really sleep in the great hall of the castle? [closed]
I've been on so many sites and each one seems to tell a different story. Some say that nobles had their own bedrooms (evidenced by the fact that castles had bedrooms) but I have also seen people say ...
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What does a wife call her husband when addressing him in their household in 1600s England if he is a member of the peerage? [closed]
I am writing a novel that takes place in 1600s England during the time of the English Civil War, and the main characters are aristocracy with fairly vast land holdings in York.
If the husband and ...
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1answer
157 views
Is Carolyn Seymour (the actress) related to Alexander von Benckendorff (the Russian statesman)?
Browsing Wikipedia (I know) the other day, I came across the page for the British actress Carolyn Seymour. The page in question states that she was born Carolyn von Benckendorf (note that this is only ...
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How would “distraint of knighthood” law in medieval England fit with the fact that all knights must be of noble birth?
I've read recently about “distraint of knighthood” law in medieval England started by Henry III but I found it very strange indeed.
This law forced all rich people who has 40 £ or more to be knighted ...
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1answer
416 views
Until when did Castile consider all Basques to be noble?
According to J. I. Israel's Race, Class, and Politics in Colonial Mexico: 1610-1670 (pp. 112-113), Basques in the Spanish empire had a special universal claim to nobility:
Perhaps the most ...
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Why did the form Baron OF Somewhere drop out of use?
The Question
In the various British peerages - i.e. the peerages of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom - one finds titles of the form Duke of X, Marquess of X and Earl ...
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543 views
What would a 9th-century German count do if he wanted to spend some time with his wife?
Are there any records of leisure activities by married noble couples in approximately 821?
What sort of things can they both do? Did women go on hunts with men? Could there have been a theater, or a ...
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Is there any valid basis for this claim that German Emperor Wilhelm II and the Hohenzollern family had Jewish blood? [closed]
In his book Semi-Imperator, genealogist Wilhelm Pickl von Witkenberg claimed that the Hohenzollern family had Jewish blood.
I understand this claim is highly unlikely. Nevertheless, it has aroused ...
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How were noblewomen named/titled in Medieval France, c. 11th century?
I was reading through some articles on Wikipedia and long story short I ended up reading about 11th century dukes of France. I noticed that a lot of their wives had names such as, e.g. Adelaide of ...
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Did princess Maria von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen -Belgian king Albert's mother- have a child out of wedlock?
Maria Luise von Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen in German. She was married to prince Philip of Belgium and was the mother of king Albert I.
Just one source and no other more -Wikipedia in Spanish - claims ...
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What present-day monarchs descend from Rodrigo de Borgia, a.k.a., Pope Alexander VI?
I understand all enthroned and dethroned Catholic royal families (except for the Grimaldis) and even some Protestant German royal families like Hessen, Mecklenburg and the Prussian Hohenzollern ...
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What is the oldest European royal house?
What is the oldest European royal or princely house, either enthroned or dethroned, that patrilineally survives nowadays?
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In the High Middle Ages, how did French nobility introduce each other?
Say two lord, or lord and a lady are talking. Would they start a conversation with a person whose name they don't know? And if so, how would they ask for the other's name/introduce themselves? I'm ...
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516 views
Was Erich Ludendorff any form of nobility?
Erich Ludendorff was the most powerful German general at the end of the First World War, achieving practically dictator status from 1916 on.
A very common mistake is to posthumously nobilitate Erich ...
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2answers
321 views
Did German Princes during the Protestant Reformation often live in castles?
I'm writing a short story based on Snow White. My research tells me the story took place during the late 16th century. The timeline of my story coincides with the Protestant Reformation. I am ...
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1answer
317 views
Were there records kept of French nobility before the invasion of England in 1066?
I can trace my family name (Chance) back to the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Were any records kept (do they survive?) of French nobility around or before this time? Or is it a known dead end for ...
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1answer
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How is it possible to be a baronet and not a peer?
I probably still haven't grasped what peerage really entails. Wikipedia says:
The Baronetage of Nova Scotia (a British hereditary title, but not a peerage) had been devised by King James VI of ...
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3answers
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Are there any British peers whose surname matches their title? [closed]
Is it possible for a British peer to have the same surname and title? As in William Podunk, Duke of Podunk?
I had been quite sure of the thing's impossibility till I thought of a counterexample: ...
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1answer
553 views
Hunting in Armour in Medieval Europe?
Someone has told me that all nobility, when they hunted animals, it is in armour. They are further convinced that depictions of normally clothes hunters, are either not nobles, or they are wearing ...
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4answers
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How common was marriage between nobles and peasants in the Middle Ages?
How common was it during the Middle Ages for European nobility to marry peasants or serfs? I am aware that during the era, the institution of marriage was considered a severely practical matter ...
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1answer
242 views
Why was the Titles of Nobility Amendment proposed?
Why is it that the Titles of Nobility Amendment was proposed in congress? Were there instances of Americans accepting foreign noble titles?
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At what point did noblemen stop being the backbone of the military? [closed]
During the Dark Ages one of the primary responsibilities of noblemen was to engage in warfare. It was a large part of their education, and a nobleman was expected to be able to win easily against a ...
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1answer
203 views
What rank did cadet branches hold in the peerage?
I've looked at the answers for the question "How did cadet branches start?", and based off the information in that forum, I would like to know what rank equivalent to peerage the cadet branch could ...
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Has there ever been a revolution backed by a royal or a noble against their own family?
Has there ever been a true rebel in the higher Royal or noble society who charged against a regime or a kingdom that is run by his own family, for altruistic reasons?.
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Did any English duke ever grant away an earldom he held?
The standard idea said of feudalism is that nobles have vassals, which could have vassals of their own. So that noble might have an extra title lying around and grant it to someone in exchange for ...
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Why did Baldwin of Boulogne proclaim Edessa a County, not a Kingdom?
[Edessa was] ruled by Thoros, who was officially a vassal of the Turks but in reality acted independently. He did not expect that situation to continue for very much longer without help, so he offered ...
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What titles did early Welsh rulers hold?
Before England created Welsh fiefs, what would the rulers of land be called in the area now called Wales? Wales existed as smaller kingdoms, ruled by kings, but were there lesser titles, such as how ...
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1answer
469 views
Comparing Percentage Of Spanish Nobility Migrating To Latin America To Percentage Of Pan-European Nobility Migrating To USA And Canada
My question is whether the percentage of nobility migrating from Spain to Latin America is higher than the percentage of nobility migrating from Pan-European nations to the USA and Canada. The time ...
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1answer
249 views
Names of articles worn by men of ~11th century European nobility
Would anyone be able to name the articles of clothing that would usually be worn by men of noble status in Europe around the 11/12th century CE? A general answer would suffice, as I realize that "...
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What did the nobles do after the French Revolution?
After the French Revolution, the privileges of the aristocracy were abolished. Some nobles were executed, others migrated, but what happened to those who stayed in France? Did they live off what ...
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Do British peers have a special way of signing their names?
This passage in wikipedia implies that they do:
Shortly before his death, Forrest was informed that the King had
approved his being raised to the British peerage as Baron Forrest of
Bunbury. He ...
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2answers
469 views
When did the nobles of Europe revert to being “ordinary” citizens? [closed]
From what I've read about citizens of the Roman republic and early empire; the privileges they enjoyed, appear to have been somewhat similar to those of later medieval nobility (separate legal status, ...
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3answers
756 views
Rulers' titles in Middle Age Italy
For centuries in the Middle Ages, in many regions of Europe there were not kings, but dukes, archdukes, etc. For instance, in Italy one had the Archduke of Tuscany and the Duke of Piedmont (until 1720)...
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What was the order of precedence for ancient China nobility ranks?
I would like to ask a question about ancient Chinese nobility. I was researching some background on Confucius, and I found a weird discrepancy on Wikipedia about his homeland, Lu. About its ruler, the ...
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2answers
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Could a nobleman / lord join the clergy in the middle ages? [closed]
First of all, perhaps my terminology is dodgy here, but by nobleman I mean A member of a noble family, of noble birth and by lord I mean a ruler -- that is, the Duke of Somewhere would be a lord; his ...
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5answers
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How were nobles 'promoted' in aristocracies?
According to this list, how were nobles promoted? For instance, Baron to Viscount, and Duke to Archduke? If ranks are hereditary, were there only a specific number of each rank given out in each ...
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Could a nobleman's land be enclosed within another noble's land?
In medieval (in the broadest sense, I'm not thinking of a specific decade) Europe, lands were split up amongst noblemen, and these noblemen had a hierarchy. Barons are lesser than earls which are ...
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1answer
231 views
Tracking down fifteenth century French and Italian coats of arms
I'm trying to track down coats of arms for the following people:
Catherine of Taranto
Tristan de Clermont
But I don't know even where to start. Any ideas, even in general of where to look for ...
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1answer
398 views
What is the difference between “seigneurie” and “manor”?
From page 170 of Samuel Clark's State and Status: The Rise of the State and Aristocratic Power in Western Europe:
In the Spanish/Austrian Low Countries a change in the ancient coat of arms of a ...
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What name is taken if a man marries into a noble house?
In regards to marrying into noble houses, if a noble man marries a noble woman from a different house, I would assume one of two things happens:
1. The woman takes the man's name and the two houses ...
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1answer
515 views
Did any commoners become prince-electors during the Holy Roman Empire?
Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire (962–1806) were elected by a set circle of prince-electors. Among them were both secular electors as well as the archbishops of Mainz, Trier, and Cologne.
In ...
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How did cadet branches start?
Apologies if the History Stackexchange is the wrong place for this question but:
In what ways could a cadet branch come into life? Why would a younger sibling in a royal or noble house start his own ...
