noblility ranks need help

[ghostwolf29]

I need a good list of noble ranks. I know the king is first. but who aftwer that the queen,prince or high priest? please help a www.something would be good.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Noble ranks varied greatly from culture to culture and from era to era. You're not going to find a solid list.

This can get you by:

King - Queen
Prince - Princess
Duke - Duchess
Earl/Count - Countess
Baron - Baroness
Knight (not heriditary)

Notice that there is no female version of Earl? Earls were English and their equivalent in Europe was a Count. However the English wives to Earls thought "Countess" sounded cooler than whatever it was they were originally called, so they adopted "Countess" in England to be cool.

I'm sure someone can dig up a great link for you, but there's a lot of flexibility in the noble titles and rankings.

 

[Hand of Evil]

See http://www.hyw.com/books/history/Titles_a.htm or
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0861570.html

 

[devilbat]

I seem to remember that DMGII has a decent breakdown on the levels of nobility and dutues of each. I could be having a psychotic episode though.

 

[Tonguez]

If you want to mix it up then the Ethiopian list is

Negusa Negest Emperor lit 'King of Kings'. Empress is Itegue

Negus: King Regional ruler as appointed to the the rank of negus by Imperial decree

Ras the highest noble rank, sometimes borne by minor princes of the Solomonic blood

Bitwoded (abbreviated Bit.). Literally "beloved" by the king, the highest non-royal title ranks after ras in precedence.

Dejazmach (abbreviated Dej.) "gate keeper." is a high title which follows bitwoded in precedence. A military title.

Fitawrari (abbreviated Fit.) A military title, meaning "leader of the vanguard." This title ranked after dejazmach.

Gerazmach (abbreviated Geraz.) ranked after fitawrari and is translated literally "military commander of the left."
Kenyazmach (abbreviated Kenyaz.) is equivalent in rank to gerazmach, to which it may be considered complementary. It means "military commander of the right."

Balambaras is a lower title of nobility of ancient origin, literally "castellan" or commander of a fortress.

Ato. Traditionally 'sir' for a gentleman. Now "Mister."

Woizero (abbreviated Woiz.) Traditionally an aristocratic lady, now Mrs.

Lij. Literally "child," this is a title reserved to the children of the titled nobility

 

[jgbrowning]

If you want to mix it up then the Ethiopian list is

Cool post.

joe b.

 

[AIM-54]

Cool post.

Seconded!

For other ideas, you can do it sorta modeled on the German experience, where you had an emperor (or imperial throne which sometimes was empty), followed by kings (who often aspired to the imperial throne), then princes (who often conspired against the kings and emperors, followed by Dukes, Viscounts, and Barons, as per BG's post. Knights are not nobility, though they can make the jump.

To keep with the Germanic theme, cities and towns and their officials (elected and otherwise) often feuded with the nobility, pursuing their own interests. Medieval Germany is politically quite fascinating.

 

[Turjan]

Noble ranks varied greatly from culture to culture and from era to era. You're not going to find a solid list.

This can get you by:

King - Queen
Prince - Princess
Duke - Duchess
Earl/Count - Countess
Baron - Baroness
Knight (not heriditary)

That's about the basics. In late England, you have the Marquess between duke and earl and the viscount between earl and baron. In England, these are all seen as part of the higher nobility. But this is not really early concept, and personally I'd stick to that list.

Note that earls and barons were not part of the higher nobility in the Holy Roman Empire and the successor states (except a few ruling earls with the same rank as dukes). The title "Prince" is sometimes confusing, because it can mean the son of a king (or other higher nobles) or some noble upstart who happened to get ruler of a small territory and had to get some kind of title, which would rank somewhere between duke and earl.

If you want to use anything like this in your game, decide for a period first. In earlier times, it's much simpler, and the titles have actually some kind of meaning .

 

[Aaron L]

For a great table of ranks and peerages, see the 1E Greyhawk boxed set. Best table for that sort of thing Ive ever seen.

 

[Tzarevitch]

Try this site:

http://www.heraldica.org/topics/odegard/titlefaq.htm

It covers various european noble and royal titles and their origins.

Tzarevitch