What is the origin and cultural significance of the royal titles of: Lord, Duke, Baron, Count, Earl and Sir?

Answer 1

You are asking a huge question, and for a full answer I would recommend looking it up in Burke's or Debrett's Peerage at your library. They are titles bestowed by the crown, but are not 'royal' in the sense of connoting royal status. Originally they were used by people who had received land from and owed services to the king. Duke is from the Latin 'dux', meaning leader, and was first used in Britain in the 14th century for the eldest son of Edward III. Britain today has four royal dukes (sons or grandsons of the sovereign) and about 25 non-royal dukes. The last non-royal duke was created over 100 years ago, though Churchill was offered a dukedom after WW2.

Earl is the British equivalent of the European count. A viscount is literally a vice-count (one rank below). Despite being lower than an earl, there are fewer viscounts than earls in Britain.

In German a count is a graf, and markgraf meant border count, one who had lands along a border. The English marquess (or marquis in France and Scotland) is the equivalent. The barons, in England, were early members of parliament. The earliest baronies were not hereditary but later ones were, and the sons of the first barons in parliament were allowed to come to parliament, as well. The oldest barony in Britain is from the early 13th century.

'Lord' is either a catch-all term used to describe any peer between the ranks of marquess and baron (marquess, earl, viscount and baron), *or* in Scotland, the equivalent of an English baron. Scotland has barons which are separate, and inferior to, lords (Scottish barons did not sit in parliament, while lords did).

A Sir is either a knight or a baronet, which is a hereditary title. The first baronets were created in the 17th century to raise money for the king; he sold them when parliament would not give him enough money. I think there are over 2000 knights and baronets today, though can only think of one baronetcy created since 1964 (Denis Thatcher). Among the knights, they range from the 24 Knights of the Garter (an order founded 1348) and 16 Knights of the Thistle (founded 1680s), to the more common knights bachelor and Knights of the British Empire, of which there are hundreds.

Nowadays, these titles have far less significance than they used to. They are no longer the ruling class, no longer necessarily rich, and in Britain, especially since the 1950s, the social background of new peers has been far less grand than used to be required. Since 1964 only three non-royal hereditary peerages have been created (two viscounts and an earl in the 1980s).

Answer 2

to start with, sir is a respectuous for of address derived from French "sire" or "sieur", themselves derived from "seigneur", the French for "Lord". It is used by inferiors to a superior who doesn't rate a higher honorific (such as "your highness" or "your grace"), or by equals and superiors out of courtesy. (note that at some times, and depending on who you were and who said it, "mister" was regarded as a demeaning term, if not an outright insult)

Lord is a general word for any person having aristocratic powers over a domain. A titled noble man, or simple knight, would be lord of his fief, but the abbot of an abbey having jurisdiction over lands would also act as secular lord of these lands, perceiving taxes, administrating justice etc...

Baron, derived from Old Frankish "Baro" means "free man", warrior". There is the possibility of a kinship with old English "béorn", a bear. In early feudalism , a baron was any independant warrior lord who kept domains of his own right and did not receive them from the king. The title applied to all lords with relative independance from the throne, so that the great lords who supported the king, or might cause trouble for him, were called "great barons". Later, as the great barons adopted more lofty titles like duke, baron was relegated to the lesser nobility.

a Count used to be a "comes", a companion to the king, who was given a province to administer.
An Earl is the English version of the Norse Jarl, a free lord holding a province, usually under authority of a king. now, the title is regarded equivalent to count (the wife of an earl is a Countess)

A Marquis is a count of the Marches (the border areas of a kingdom), he is basically a count, but with greater military powers, due to the increased risk of invasion and unrest.

A duke's title comes from the Latin "dux bellorum", "war leader" . These were nobles with large and rich enough domain and possessions that they could raise a whole army on their own. This wealth and military might secured them great indemendance from the authority of the king who was their theoretical liege.

Answer 3

My answer is exactly the same as Dunrobins, but let me add this to mine

You are a great person! I hope you win the lottery!

Answer 4

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