D&D General If A Nobles parents are A Duke and A Baroness and his mother dies sooner can he inherit his mothers Barony before he inherits his fathers dukedom?

[JMISBEST]

If A Nobles parents are A Duke and A Baroness and his mother dies a lot younger can he inherit his mothers Barony before he inherits his fathers dukedom?

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Yes.

 

[humble minion]

Does anyone in any of your campaigns ever play a damn peasant?!?

 

[ilgatto]

Perhaps.

 

[Umbran]

Depends on the laws of inheritance in the nation in question.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

Depends on the laws of inheritance in the nation in question.

This.

We have plenty of examples of titles merging with the Crown in English history, for example, where a younger brother is created Duke (usually Duke of York), and then inherits the throne because his brother bit the dust without legal heirs.

So...as a very general rule @JMISBEST, what would happen is, the son would assume the mother's title and become Baron <PLACE>. When his father dies (or abdicates), he will become Duke, and one of two things will happen.

1. If the Duke effectively rules in his own right (that is, he has no king/grand duke/etc. above him), then the Duchy he rules would most likely "absorb" the Baron title. The Barony formerly attached to that (now-eliminated) Baron title simply becomes another part of the land ruled by the Duchy. As mentioned, this happened repeatedly to the Duke of York title in England, merging into the King's lands.
2. If the Duke does not rule in his own right--if he is a vassal to someone of higher rank--then the two titles would most likely stay completely distinct. The son, upon inheriting the Duchy, would thus be simultaneously a Duke and a Baron, because those two titles have separate contracts with the King(/etc.) that is their liege.

More or less, if the person who has or inherits a title is, or becomes, the same as the person granting that title (e.g. the King/Queen grants the titles to Dukes, Earls, Counts, etc.), then the title is simply absorbed back into the Crown--in effect, you cannot be a vassal to yourself. But you totally can be vassal to the same monarch in more than one way.

 

[Umbran]

We have plenty of examples of titles merging with the Crown in English history, for example, where a younger brother is created Duke (usually Duke of York), and then inherits the throne because his brother bit the dust without legal heirs.

So...as a very general rule @JMISBEST, what would happen is, the son would assume the mother's title and become Baron <PLACE>. When his father dies (or abdicates), he will become Duke, and one of two things will happen.

I was thinking more simply:

1) One can imagine an inheritance system akin to our usual property inheritance - the husband inherits, rather than the child.
2) Inheritance with gender-rules, for example: in which a woman (or man, we can work this either way) might hold a title, but inheritance goes through the male line - the kid doesn't inherit, but his uncle/aunt/cousin does instead.

 

[jasper]

Is it a French Noble and English noble. THEN WAR. And he inherits an iron mask for 300 years.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Is it a French Noble and English noble.

I don't know that.

 

[Atomoctba]

1. If the Duke effectively rules in his own right (that is, he has no king/grand duke/etc. above him), then the Duchy he rules would most likely "absorb" the Baron title. The Barony formerly attached to that (now-eliminated) Baron title simply becomes another part of the land ruled by the Duchy. As mentioned, this happened repeatedly to the Duke of York title in England, merging into the King's lands.

In this case, it is also somewhat common that the merged titles can be separated again as a gift for other heirs. For example, the duke/baron knows that his old son will be duke, but he likes his second son and gives to him the baron title. This is not automatic, however. There was lots of titles in Medieval Age in what the noble was Duke of Lilliput, Count of Narnia and the Oz, Baron of the Shire, and Lord Protector of Bree. At least, it was very imposing for formal presentations or to be announced in a ball.