Origins and equivalencies of feudal titles
G'day
It is important to note that the strict hierarchy of feudal titles and the equivalencies between the titles of different nations, along witht eh strict forms of address, developed only gradually, and are anachronistic in most of the mediaeval period. For example, the custom of addressing the king as 'Your Majesty' or 'Your Highness' rather than as 'my lord' was introduced by Richard II in the fourteenth century. The first English dukedoms were created in the 1330s, the first English marquessates in 1385, the first English viscountcies in the 15th century, and the first baronetcies in the 17th century. For most of the mediaeval period the only English titles were earl and either thane (before 1066) or baron (after 1086).
The latin title 'dux' meant 'leader', and in the late Empire was given to the military governors of certain large areas. It was adopted under various forms in some of the barbarian kingdoms, and in the Carolingian empire it was used for the leaders of various conquered peoples who retained some automony, such as the Aquitainians, Gascons (Basques), Bretons, Burgundians, Saxons, Swabians, Bavarians, and Thuringians, and later for similar leaders of peoples such as the Normans. The English earls before the Conquest were in a similar position, being subordinate rulers of such conquered kingdoms as Mercia, Northumbria, East Anglia, Kent, and Essex, and of Wessex, the original kingdom that had conquered the rest: all of them (except Kent) territories consisting of several shires. It is because of this equivalence that the Anglo-Saxon chronicles refer to William, duke of Normandy, as 'Earl William'. The title 'duke' was not introduced into England late in the Mediaeval period, at first it was given to the king's younger brothers to give them precedence over the earls. Later it was simply a cheap reward for the kings' friends.
Marquises and margrafs were originally the rulers of borderlands. Along the eastern edge of the Empire were the March of the Billungers (later the duchy of Oldenburg), the Northern March (later the duchy of Brandenburg and the Kingdom of Prussia), the March of Lusatia, the March of Zeitz, the March of Meissen, the March Nordgau, the Eastern March (later the duchy, archduchy, and eventually empire of Austria), the Styrian March, the Carinthian Mrach, and the March of Carniola. The Kingdom of Italy (yes, there was one) had the Margravate of Verona. The Kingdom of France had a margravate of Gothia, a margravate of Septimania, and a Spanish March (later the county of Barcelona). Margraves originally had special powers for dealing with military emergencies across the borders they guarded, and were thus generally considered a cut about ordinary grafs or comtes of the interior. But it is wise not to generalise this rule. Until the Kingdom of France conquered the Languedoc in the Albigensian Crusade of 1208-1228 the marquises of Gothia and Septimania were unimportant vassals of the Comte de Toulouse. There were lords with special powers along the Welsh and Scottish borders of mediaeval England, most notably the earls of Hereford, Chester, and Northumberland, and the bishop of Durham. But they did not have a special title. The title 'Marquess' was introduced only after the effective abolition of feudal government, and as a cheap reward for the friends of the king.
The comtes and grafs of France and Germany were originally local governors appointed by the king or emperor, like the English sheriffs (originally shire-reeve, shire-geraf, ie. graf of the shire). But as feudalism developed the families that held these titles made them, their revenues, and their authority hereditary. When William of Normandy introduced feudal government into England he created a bunch of English earldoms equivalent to French comte-ships, roughly one to each shire. Thus he took the title 'earl' down a couple of notches. In Germany there were variations of the title for the feudal rules of cities (burggraf), border territories (markgraf), and interior territories (landgraf). As the authority of the Empire crumbled, especially after the Imperial defeat in the Investitures Controversy, those grafs who were not vassals of dukes (and were therefore 'princes of the Empire' started to use the titles 'prinz' and 'fürst').
Vicomtes were originally vice-counts: appointed deputies of the counts. And thus early records of Norman England use the French 'vicomte' to represent the English 'sheriff'. As the feudal system developed the title 'viscomte' was used (mostly in the South, where the custom of primogeniture was weak) by families that had inherited part of a county, or who claimed the power of a count without having a legitimate delegation from the Emperor. The title was introduced into England (in the form 'viscount') merely as a cheap way for the King to reward his favourites, giving them eminence above the other barons without rivalling the earls.
'Baron' originally meant 'man', in the sense perhaps of 'the King's man in this district' or 'working for the Man'. It originally comprehended all lords, even those with higher titles, and only gradually developed into the title of a specific rank. As it did so it subsumed such unique titles as that of the Captal de Bouche, and informally bestowed itself on families who had made themselves lords or seigneurs without any explicit appointment by the king. In Germany the equivalent was 'freiherr': a term that alluded to the old barbarian distinction between free men and thegns.
Below the peers of the realm were noble landowners without titles, the equivalent, really of what were lately called 'squires'. These often served in wars as knights banneret [ie. leading their banners (contingents) of household knights in the armies of their feudal superiors], but 'knight banneret' was never a title, and the supposed 'order of knights banneret' was 'revived' as baronets by Charles II only through an unscholarly error. In actual records of, for instance, the 13th century, knights banneret are records as, for example "munsire Johan de Eyvile" or "Sir John de Ewill".
While we are on the subject, did you know that in mediaeval England it was customary to call a parish priest (for example) 'Sir John', not 'Father John'. The title 'father' was reserved for abbots and priors. Priests with master's or doctor's degrees were addressed by their academic titles.
Regards,
Agback
