Medieval English Nobility and Titles

 People now a days hear titles like king, queen and duke in both stories old and new and cant help but to wonder just how these titles came about and how the people who have them got them. In the modern times we have a fascination with royalty and the apparent family drama therein. We idealize them as ideals of elegance and culture and mythologize them to an extreme extent. It wasn't dissimilar in the Middle Ages either with wielding far more power and feeling all the further separated. The average American can go on a trip and see Buckingham Palace but the average serf would never get that chance. We to this day create stories of these people and in that way it was no different back then. Its important to have the context surrounding these figures to accurately digest these stories and have the context those reading the stories (likely nobles themselves) would have back then. 

The Royalty

King and Queen

(Above) A land Deed Charter from King Æthelstan in
which he describes his titles and ambitions as a ruler.(3)

The word king is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word cyning which in turn was derived from a Germanic word. The first "actual" king of England is hotly debated, though the first king to call himself the king of all of England was King Æthelstan, who referred to himself as "King of the English" on coinage and charters starting in 927(1). There are other kings who seemed to have ruled large chunks of what we now consider England but Æthelstan is generally considered the first king of "England". It should be noted that due early ties to the Roman Empire some will occasionally call early legend worthy kings of England or associated areas emperors. This seems like it was more of an honorific of an already deceased ruler, rather than a title given in life, though occasionally an example of a King of England calling himself an emperor will pop up (including Æthelstan himself at points) but this is less of an actual title and more a way to make yourself stand out. One quite interesting early surviving document was from King Æthelstan, in which he describes himself both as the King of the English as well as the King of Britain and where he describes his ambitions as a ruler. It is fascinating to me that documents that old can even survive this long. 

While the position of king was created with the express purpose of portraying authority, the title of queen has no such origin but rather was born out of needing something to called the wife of the king. This origin shows through in the word itself which is related to the word cwen which descended from the words gyne (A Greek word for wife/woman) and janis (the Sanskrit word for woman)(2). Having any reference to the wife of the king was fairly uncommon up until the Norman conquest, at least particularly due to the fact that kings often had multiple wives. The first queen to be titled was Queen Ælfthryth who was the wife of King Edgar (ruled from 959 to 975).  It is interesting to not that England is one of the few European countries whose title for their queens isn't etymologically related to the country's word for king. Another notable thing to note about the title queen is that it is often accompanied by an extra word to denote the queen's relationships to the crown. These titles include Queen Consort meaning wife of the king, Queen Regent meaning temporary ruler (usually when the king is indisposed or too young to rule), Queen Regnant meaning the ruler (the first was Queen Mary I otherwise known as Bloody Mary during the Tudor period), Dowager Queen meaning widow of the deceased king (in modern times  they will also be referred to as Queen Mother). 

The Peerage

Peerage is the word often used to describe the levels of nobility below the royal family within the British ranks of nobility. Often the members of the peerage are extended members of the royal family or far off descendants of them. This is largely due to how controversial the idea of creating new members/ranks are. The controversy stems the rest of the peerage's objections that come from a perceived loss of power and exclusivity. On the surface you would assume this would result in small petty squabbles and drama but due to the power and land these people yield, these controversies can lead to all out war or coups. Looking back it is easy to look at a viscount or other such and think "It's not like they are king or queen, What power could they possibly wield", which completely ignores the fact that especially under the feudal system who ever was in charge of the land wielded an untold amount of power especially when they pair up which other members of the peerage. That said the order of the noble ranks goes duke, marquess, earl, viscount and baron. It should noted there are also extra sub-ranks such as archduke and baronet which are not being considered. One fantastic overview on all the levels of the peerage is the video Ranks of Nobility, Explained by The Generalist Papers on YouTube.(4)

Duke

The title duke (or duchess when referring to a woman) was first introduced in 1337 when King Edward III gave the title to his son.(5) The title descends from the dux which was given to high ranking Roman commanders. The title was originally introduced to England to be given to direct male relatives of the king but was expanded in 1444 when the title was given to Humphrey Stafford who was only related to the king through his mother's side. dukes rule over Duchies which are a bit larger than counties. You would address a duke/duchess as "Your Grace" and would refer to the children of dukes/duchess as Lord/Lady. 

Marquess

The title of marquess (or marchioness when referring to a woman) was introduced in 1385 when it was given to Robert de Vere.(6) It was revoked by 1386 due to how controversial it was. It was originally created more or less as an upgrade to earl and to denote when someone's county was on the border of the country (aka the march) as those counties held special strategic advantages. The were also allowed to be in control of more than one county which was prohibited from the earls. The title of marquess stayed controversial up till 1443 when the king at the time raised his son Edmund Beaufort to inherit the title of marquess and it was finally able to stick in the peerage. You would address a marquess/marchioness as Lord/Lady and their children as Lord/Lady as well. 

Earl

The title earl (or countess when referring to a woman) has no set introduction date as it existed well before even the Norman conquest. The word originally came from the Scandinavian jarl which was changed to eorl by the Anglo-Saxons.(7) They are also sometimes referred to as counts (hence the countesses). Prior to Norman conquest they often had control of multiple counties, but after they were only allowed one each. Early earls collected tenure from their tenets as well as a thirds of the profit from courts. The title earl morphed a bit after 1328 to no longer necessarily reflect territory associations (i.e. sometimes it says "Earl so-and-so" but they are actually a viscount). You would address an earl/countess as Lord/Lady and their eldest son as Lord, the others sons as "Honorable" and all their daughters as lady. 

Viscount

The title viscount (viscountess when referring to women) was introduced to England in 1440. Prior to that point viscounts were delegates of earls and oversaw barons.(8) Interestingly enough, the viscounts as delegates of earls position was not originally heritable but as time went on it became more and more common for the position to be passed on that it was not a far leap to make it an official title and make viscounts members of the peerage. Nonetheless, titled viscounts remained relatively uncommon up till the 17th century. You would address a viscount/viscountess are Lord/Lady, the eldest son would be referred to as any other subsidy title the viscount/viscountess may hold and all other child are referred to as "Honorable".

Baron

(Above) This is part of
 the Dering Roll (a roll
 of coats of arms). This one
 is from sometime between
 1270-1280.(10)

The title baron (baroness when referring to women) was introduced in 1066 with the Norman conquest, with William the Conqueror. The word comes from the French word baron which came from the Latin word baro (meaning man/servant). Barons were those who pledged loyalty to the crown and in exchange received heritable land, or at least head tenant powers over the land. Any superior member of the peerage (or even an already existing baron) could create a baron and this created issues. This conflict only got more in the weeds with the three different types of barons (barons by tenure, barons by writ, and barons by patent). Disagreements about the exact power of each baron, whether they were even considered nobility and baron's waning power only got worse with time. This combined with other general civil unrest lead to not one but two Baron's Wars. Years later it culminated in King Edward I discontinuing the practice of naming new barons in 1267. Barons still exist in the modern and are by far the most common type of nobility currently. All members of the peerage, even the barons, have coats of arms and even old rolls of arms (documents containing all coats of arms show just how many barons there really were at that time. The Dering Roll is one of the largest surviving roll of arms and shows 324 coat of arms of barons at the time. That 324 only compromised about 1/4 of the barons at the time. Part of it is shown to the right (a higher resolution image is on the British museum's website along with many others; It is worth at least a quick glance). You would address any baron/baroness as Lord (even in the case of women) and the children would be referred to as "Honorable". 

Inheritance 

(Above) A complaint regarding inheritance
 from one Elizabeth Whitfield. (12)

One thing that I haven't widely covered so far is the laws surround inheritance of titles within Medieval England. This is at least partially because it is a complicated topic with an endless amount of politics, petty squabbles and power grabs, that seemingly every word of every law this old has been contested and given exception at least once. Nonetheless, it would be negligent to not at least explain the basic of English common law surround inheritance. English common law came into place in the Early Middle ages to replace previous patchwork codified laws. English common law is primarily what the American law system is based off of.(11)  Then oldest son got first dibs, then the next eldest son until no sons are left. After that it is split equally amongst the daughters as co-heiresses.(11) These laws favor eldest sons to the point where if the eldest son is deceased then his eldest son will inherit sooner then the younger sons of the original deceased party.(12) Like very rule there are exceptions such as entails (as mentioned in Pride and Prejudice if you are familiar) and fights and complaints about inheritance were common. In the letter above a woman named Elizabeth Whitfield who had her inheritance stolen and was seeking to have it back, after the man who threatened her and forced her to sign it away was executed (the full translation is available on the University of Nottingham's website and at the link as Document 2).(12)

Citations

(1) “British Library.” The British Library, www.bl.uk/anglo-saxons/articles/how-was-the-kingdom-of-englandformed#:~:text=The%20first%20king%20of%20England,form%20the%20kingdom%20of%20England

(2) Lewis, Jone Johnson. “The History of the Title of Queen.” ThoughtCo, Nov. 2019, www.thoughtco.com/history-of-queen-as-a-title-4119985#:~:text=In%20English%2C%20the%20word%20%E2%80%9Cqueen,the%20Sanskrit%20janis%20meaning%20woman.

(3)The British Library, www.bl.uk/anglo-saxons/articles/how-was-the-kingdom-of-england-formed#:~:text=The%20first%20king%20of%20England,form%20the%20kingdom%20of%20England

(4)The Generalist Papers. “Ranks of Nobility, Explained.” YouTube, 2 Jan. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op8fEbxgqxY.


(5)The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Duke | Title, Rank and History of Nobility.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 July 1998, www.britannica.com/topic/duke.


(6) The Editors of Encylapaedia Britannica. “Marquess | British Noble Title, Definition and History.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 July 1998, www.britannica.com/topic/marquess.

(7) The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Earl | British Nobility, Titles and Ranks.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 Nov. 2016, www.britannica.com/topic/earl-title.

(8) The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Viscount | Definition, History and Examples.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 17 July 2023, www.britannica.com/topic/viscount.

(9) The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Baron | Definition, History and Rights.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 20 July 2023, www.britannica.com/topic/baron.


(10) The British Library MS Viewer. www.bl.uk/manuscripts/Viewer.aspx?ref=add_roll_77720_f001r.

(11) Kiralfy, Albert Roland, et al. “Common Law | Definition, Origins, Development, and Examples.” Encyclopedia Britannica, 23 July 1998, www.britannica.com/topic/common-law#ref40224.

(12) The Law of Inheritance | Mapping the Medieval Countryside. inquisitionspostmortem.ac.uk/contexts/the-law-of-inheritance.

(12) Inheritance - the University of Nottingham. www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/learning/medievalwomen/theme2/inheritance.aspx.