I'm having trouble understanding the history and etymology of various titles, such as earl, count, duke, marquis, etc. I seem to have a jumble of English and French titles in my mind.
I'm back to 1066 and the Norman conquest, and I can't tell (yet) what titles William the Conqueror bestowed upon the Norman overlords when he carved up England. Did he import the term "duke" or was it already in use in Anglo-Saxon England? Were there dukes at that time? When I read about the 1100's and 1200's, I see mostly Earls in England (and duchies seem to be in France - Kings Richard and John are Dukes of Normandy, etc.)
I guess I'm asking several questions. When did the title "duke" (from the Latin) appear in England and which dukedoms were earliest? Where does the word "earl" come from, is it Saxon? Are there counts in England or no (ever)? I know marquis is mainly in France, but Italy and Spain have cognate terms - so I'm guessing that's from days when Latin was prevelant - and that term never made it to England.
The word that the Welsh use for their highest lords is translated into English as Prince (anyone know what the etymology of Prince is?) I think I understand why, although any illumination on that point would be welcome.
As I lay awake pondering all this, I decided that it would be silly not to avail myself of the venerable expertise that is The Royal Forums. Some of you will understand what I'm trying to get at (a history of royal terminology in England, I guess) and I just know that some of you already know this, extensively.
Thanks in advance for your help. I figure I'm not the only one who could use a refresher in these matters. I also feel like I'm leaving out some titles altogether. (Squire?) I know "knight" is at the bottom of the titles, right?
The current British peerage is comprised of an amalgamation of titles that rulers gave as awards to their supporters, which became hereditary. The hereditary principle was important because, in the wake of the fall of the (Western) Roman Empire, the family unit represented a degree of stability and continuity. The form of the title in today's peerage is mostly influenced by the culture which predominated at the time the title was introduced into the peerage.
King /
Earl
Following the withdrawal of Rome from Britain and the subsequent migrations, colonization and conquest by Anglo-Saxons, forming
Englaland; the title Cyning (from proto-Germanic
kuningaz, "tribal leader") emerged as the primary ruler of the various petty kingdoms which emerged during the Early Middle Ages. Cyning emerged as King in early English.
Following Norse / Viking cultural and political influence over the British and Irish Isles during the Early Middle Ages, the title jarll (Old Norse for "leader") emerged as the most prestigious title a king bestowed on a follower. In the Welsh language, the title earl was adopted and rendered as iarll (fem: iarlles).
There is no title "count" in the English, Scottish, Irish, or British peerages. The title earl is of comital, that is equal to, count rank. The wife of an earl is known as a countess. The first recorded viscount was in the 15th century.
The Welsh were influenced from a revival in Gaelic and Norse Gaelic with many place-names originating from a Gaelic origin for tribal settlements within what would become Wales. This influence extended into language, as the Welsh adopted and adapted titles originating in Gaelic and Norse. Welsh for king is
brenin (queen: brenhines), originating from rí, both cognate with Latin
rex and Sanskrit
raja. The many earliest Welsh petty kinglets of Wales coalesced around four primary leaders just before the Norman Conquest. During this period,
ardalydd emerged as the primary title for the king's supporter. In Welsh, the Norse jarl was adapted and adopted as iarll.
In the Welsh context, an
ardalydd would emerge as more powerful then a iarll, and later ardalydd would be the Welsh translation for marquess. Ardalydd initially had the meaning of 'lord'.
Duke / Marquess
The Norman Conquest and subsequent Norman and Angevin monarchy reintroduced continental titles into the peerages. In France, count was the title for a feudal lord, but the nobility began to differentiate between "greater counts" and "lesser counts"
The greater counts began to adopt the more lofty title 'duc', itself rooted in the Latin military office of dux, of their own accord and independently from the French monarchy, claiming a degree of regional autonomy by the implication, as early as the 12th century. It would become a hallmark of the French monarchy to marry into these self-proclaimed dukedoms and unite them into the French monarchy.
Edward III created the first English ducal title, the Duke of Lancaster, in 1351. The first marquess title was the Marquess of Dublin (recognizing the frontier nature the English view of Ireland at the time.) But the title was recalled a year. The second title didnt fair better, Marquess of Dorset, recalled in 1399. It wasn't until 1442 that the title was more fully accepted.
As the title duke was introduced in England in the latter High Middle Ages, within an English context the title does not connote the authority that ducal counterparts on the continent did. That is to say the Duke of Lancaster or York never conveyed the strong sence of local particularism and native independence from the French crown, that the Dukes of Brittany or Aquitaine did.
Volatile frontiers were known as 'the march', and powerful counts there became known as marqius in French (and marquess in the emerging English language).
In the British and Irish Isles in the early High Middle Ages, the absence of a duke and marquess title left a void for those nearly autonomous communities which were more or less independent, but lacked a title to reflect their position. Scotland claimed a kingship title, yet the King of England demanded that Scotland was a vassal and a petty kingship. Welsh rulers claimed the same degree of independence, yet their territorial claims were not as extensive and was more complicated then their Scottish counterparts, and chose the title prince for their rulers. In the context of the High Middle Ages and from an English or Angivin perspective, both the native Welsh, Scottish, and Irish rulers owed fealty to the English crown.
In Wales, the four primary petty kinglets coalesced around one or two ruling families, the Aberffraw for Gwynedd and their dynastically junior agnate Dinefwr for Deheubarth. With the reorientation of the British and Irish isles towards France and the Carolinian feudal model, Welsh (and Irish and Scottish) rulers re-evaluated their own rankings as it became clear among the Welsh rulers that their brenin (king), within a Welsh context, was not as powerful as a king. France or king of England, for instance. This goes far to explain why the title of prince ranks higher in Britain, but on the continent the title of duke often ranks higher then prince.
The rulers of Gwynedd and Deheubarth choose
tywysog (leader, from 'to lead', and cognate to Gaelic taoiseach, the title of the Republic of Ireland's president). In Latin, the Welsh rulers of Gwynedd and Deheubarth rendered
tywysog as
princeps. Princeps is Latin for "first in line", for example the Roman Emperors were officially "First Citizens," thus prince. The implication was that the ruler of Gwynedd was the 'first citizen' and 'leader' of Gwynedd. ('Princep Norwalia for Prince of Gwynedd, and Princep Walia for Prince of Wales.) The Princes of Wales never created a duke title, rendered into Welsh as duc or dug. Although in the Jacobite peerage there is the Duke of Powis. The English title Duke of Monmouth (a place in Wales) was created for an English lord.
The English Crown only ever acknowledged the rulers of Gwynedd as equal in rank to sovereign, albeit subject, prince. Had Wales survived the Edwardian Conquest in the 13th century, no doubt that the native Welsh monarchy and peerage would adopt, adapt, and truncate, titles as society evolved. The Edwardian Conquest eliminated the native Welsh peerage, but some vestiges of native titles survived and were adopted into the English peerage, and became increasingly obscure.
Also, had the Norman Conquest failed, England would undoubtedly have maintained closer cultural and linguistic ties with Denmark and Germany, and titles may have been rendered closer to those languages then the Romance languages.
Welsh and English titles
Brenin / Brenhines King / Queen Post-Roman Empire
Tywysog / Tywysoges Prince / Princess Latin, post-Roman Empire
Duc / Duces Duke / Duchess (14th century)
Ardalydd / Ardalyddes Marquess / Marchioness (15th century)
Iarll / Iarlles Earl / Countess (8th century)
Isiarll / Isiarlles Viscount / Viscountess (15th century)
Barwn / Barwnes Baron / Baroness (c. 13th century)
Barwnig / Barwniges Baronet / Baronetess
