The Order of Noble Titles: From Gentlemen to Dukes

hello and welcome back to the channel if you're new here hi you're very welcome this is read in the past and I'm Dr Cat in my video from last month on the allegedly traitor of Stafford I mentioned being interested in making a video that looked at the various ranks of the English aristocracy the comments beneath that video made it clear that this particular video topic was one that quite a lot of people would find useful and or interesting so here we are but before we take a look at today's topic I want to say an absolutely massive thank you to history hit for sponsoring another video on this channel history hit has hundreds of programs online over 1 000 podcast episodes on their award-winning podcast Network and 5 000 history related travel articles and what's more new content is being added all the time because they launch 19 new podcast episodes and two new programs every week while Stan Snow's history hit continues to be the world's leading History Podcast they also have four podcasts covering the Ancients Warfare gone medieval and not just the Tudors which is hosted by Susanna Lipscomb this is in addition to patented betwixture sheets and their brand new podcast American history hit which released last month history hit is like Netflix but for history considering this week's video topic I think it is somewhat fitting that I spotted the history of Westminster Abbey it was fascinating to be able to follow along on this tour one that takes us around the tombs of many of those who spent their lives at the top of the very social hierarchy that we are exploring in today's video click the link in my description box to find out more and to subscribe to history hit as an added bonus my viewers able to get 50 off your subscription for the next three months by using Code reading the past thanks again to history hit for sponsoring this video and now let's take a look at the ranks of the aristocracy in England [Music] I'm going to be working from the bottom up in terms of Precedence for no real reason it's just that you must start somewhere logically top down or bottom up and I have chosen the latter perhaps it triumphs with my perception of the Royal Court and connected aristocracy as a greasy Pole to be climbed Ascent would be the aim for many if not most but it was also all too frequently an ambition that would put a person in danger of losing absolutely everything so the lowest rank in the aristocracy was that of gentlemen or gentle woman a term that was anglo-norman in origin it was used to recognize an individual's gentle or Noble birth when that person held no title this will make their elevated birth evident when they are being introduced or introducing themselves or signing or stealing documents this gentle birth allows a person to bear arms and by this I mean specifically an achievement of arms rather than the other more Pokey sharp things however an achievement of arms May well for the fashionable Elizabethan gentleman for example also be accompanied by the wearing of literal physical arms specifically Rapier and Dagger in some cases an individual's genital status may not be immediately obvious at their birth or even in their early life their ties to the lower nobility might sit Generations back leaving them obscured or even fully forgotten in such situations an application may be put forward for a person's right to claim and bear an achievement of arms and the gentle Stakes that went along with it at some point in around the early 1570s William Shakespeare's father had applied for an achievement of arms for himself these would not be granted until 1596. the arms are described as follows gold on a bend a diagonal bar Sable black a spear of the first I.E gold sealed with Argent so with a silver tip and for his Crest a falcon his wings displayed Argent silver standing on a wreath of his colors supporting a spear of gold and steeld as afore said so I.E in silver set up on a helmet with mantles and tassels it carries a motto in old French which translates to not without right in 1602 which was the year after John Shakespeare's death the York Herald would attempt to contest the granting of his set of Arms by the god a king of arms in fact the York Herald would look to contest in total 23 sets of arms that had been granted in response the gothic of arms would produce a document that defended his earlier grants the York Herald had complained that some unworthy or even deceased people were now in possession of achievements of arms and thus Acclaim to Gentle status additionally he complained that certain achievements had been granted that two closely resembled others that were already in existence when defending the set that he had granted to John Shakespeare the god king of arms asserted that the spear made them different enough and that John's worth was assured because he quote hathborne magistracy and was just of the peace at stratford-upon-avon and that he quote married the daughter and heir of Arden and was able to maintain that estate John Shakespeare has died gentle and in possession of an achievement of arms his son William would continue to use that achievement throughout his own life while also styling himself as a gentleman too this particular designation is one that appears after a man's name so properly it is William Shakespeare gentleman or William Shakespeare Gent however I do think it is somewhat confusing that when we look at the gentleman and gentle women of the privy chamber here we have people who could be and indeed frequently were individuals that occupied and held ranks and titles that far exceeded that of the actual normal gentleman or gentle woman I think perhaps these figures need to be separated off that the gentle person of the privy chamber should be viewed as a job title like manager rather than as a rank in its own right like Knight or lady because many of these individuals were also those things if I try and say that another way in the privy chamber a knight might aspire to be a gentleman or a group while in the nation as a whole a gentleman May hold hopes of getting a Knighthood occupying the middle ground between the gentleman and the Knight traditionally was the Esquire in the order of chivalry a gently born boy who aspired to a knight of his own would attend upon serve or Squire for a knight who would in turn train him up for his hoped for elevation it would at some point seemingly come to be quote commonly understood to be due by courtesy to all persons not in clerical orders or having any higher title of rank who are regarded as Gentlemen by birth position or education for those who were or are able to lay claim to this rank a contraction like Esq will usually come off their full name I am also led to believe that lawyers and public officers in the US are entitled to refer to themselves as Esquire from the earliest extent sources it seems that night was once a term for a young male frequently one who acted as a servant or attendant but by 1100 that service or attendance had taken on a military characteristic Knight was now a rank that could be achieved by a man usually of noble birth who would first paged and then squired for another night who themselves had then prepared that individual to follow on in the particular profession thus it was an apprenticeship one that made you into a mounted heavily armed fighting man who was intended to serve their king or other high-ranking Noble however from the Tudor period the Monarch began to Knight Those whom they wish to recognize for their personal Merit or whom they wish to reward for their services to the crown or indeed to the country now of course this service may have been performed on the battlefield but this was no longer a requirement the night was and is referred to as Sir followed by their full name his wife is known by the courtesy title of Lady followed by her husband's surname more recently women have been granted an equivalent Honor by the Monarch in recognition of their service in various fields they are known as Dame followed by their full name there is however a present no courtesy title that is to be given for their spouse and in line with this if someone is knighted who happens to be lied to a man there is also no perty title for their husband at the moment the baronet comes next like the Knight Hears A sir and his wife is a lady originally baronets were a gentlemen who had been summoned to the House of Lords by King Edward III and or a term that was used to refer to the heir of a baron during their father's lifetime later however the baronetage would become a separate Dignity of its own it would be one that was conferred by the Monarch by letters patent and it could then be passed down the hereditary line as I've previously mentioned the baronet and his wife were referred to as sir and Lady respectively however a woman who inherits or obtains the title in her own right is a baronetes referred to as Dame the last baronet to be created was Dennis Thatcher he was the husband of the former prime minister Margaret Thatcher he was made of baronet in 1991 and was as such the first baronet to have been created since 1964. his son Mark has now succeeded to that title I'm sure it's not going to come as any surprise that the rank above baronet is Baron I've decided to turn to De Brett's explanation of this rank firstly because I think it's clear and concise and secondly because I think that if you aren't already aware of this particular organization's website and books you may well find them interesting to peruse so on to their description quote Baron literally meant man being the king's tenant in Chief I.E a land holding nobleman in the 13th century the Barons were summoned by the Monarch by means of a royal writ to attend the council or Parliament initially the kufera of this privilege did not imply that their successes would necessarily also be summoned to subsequent parliaments but by the reign of king Edward III 1327-77 it had become usual for successors of more important Barons to receive Ritz as a matter of course in practice creating a hereditary dignity Kings did not always get on with their Barons and this is probably arguably most clearly exemplified by the case of King John and specifically the colossally bad relationship that he had with many of his Barons which would ultimately culminate in them encouraging him in the presence of lots of heavily armed men to seal the Magna Carta and Runnymede in 1215. Barons and baronesses would be and still are addressed as Lord or lady respectively and although baronial titles had become predominantly hereditary titles by the 14th century more recently the New Creations have returned to being a life appointment new Barons and baronesses are known as life peers usually and they normally have the right to sit in the House of Lords the children of these life peers can style themselves as The Honorable but unless they are made of Baron or baroness in their own right they will not become one through their parents death the rank above Baron or baroness is Viscount or VI Countess and interestingly we know who the first person to hold this particular title in England was namely John Beaumont John had been the ward of King Henry V and by inheritance he was already a very wealthy Baron and he would also come to occupy an incredibly prominent political position too the son of Henry V King Henry VI chose to import a title from his other realm of France to honor John on the 12th of February 1440 John was made VI count Beaumont from this point on the title would then be doled out by the Monarch on fitting occasions I do also think it's interesting that this title and the two sit above it can be explained and exemplified using members of the Berlin family George Berlin started his life at court by being able to lay claim to the rank of gentlemen alone this is because at this point his father was still only a knight Sir Thomas Berlin Thomas's skill as a diplomat which potentially may have been coupled with an increased prominence even gratitude that some say came to him because of his daughter Mary's relationship with the King led to him being created by count Rochford on the 18th of June 1525. by the end of the decade in December 1529 Thomas's other daughter Anne was now the woman that the king planned to marry and make his Queen so therefore Thomas was going to be father-in-law to the king of England thus it was thought only right and proper that he be promoted further into the peerage George for his part had been knighted just a few months earlier in the Autumn of 1529. through his father's elevation on the 8th of December 1529 the title of Viscount Rochford was freed up for him to assume he would be variously known as George VI cam Rochford or George Lord Rochford or George Rochford or even simply Rochford his wife Jane was known similarly as the vi Countess lady or simply Jane Rochford George's father as I said had risen higher he was now Earl of wheelchair and also Earl of Ormond this made his wife a countess during the rest of his life and in the centuries since when we refer to Thomas after 1529 he is most commonly described as my lord of Wiltshire with the Ormond title being left off but I did say we would be using the Berlin to explore three ranks in the perish didn't I we've had VI count Earl but now what well for the next rank up we have to look to Anne Berlin because Anne would soon outrank both her brother and her father and this is before she became their Queen on the 1st September 1532 Anne was raised to the marquisite of Pembroke in her own right the Earl of Pembroke had once been a title that belonged to Henry VII's paternal great uncle Jasper Tudor and as such it made to meaningful Tudor title to give to the intended Queen it was also set down that any children born by Anne would be able to inherit this title whether they were born in wedlock or not Anne would hold this title as if she were a Marquess rather than the feminized version of March and S which was the title given in courtesy to the wife of a Marquez and controlled the lands that accompanied her new title and also all of the rents that came from them however if Anne Berlin had given birth to a son while she was Henry's wife and queen that boy as well as being his father's Heir would also have occupied a rank that sat above that of Marquess he would have been a Duke specifically Duke of Cornwall indeed when Jane Seymour's son Edward was baptized at the very same time he was proclaimed Duke of Cornwall and that title may ring bells because until last month it was the title that belonged to King Charles and it is now the title that's held by his eldest son Prince William indeed the very first Duke to exist in the English period was also named the Duke of Cornwall in 1337 King Edward III made his eldest sudden Heir who would come to be known as Ed with the black prince the Duke of Cornwall the boy was around seven when he obtained this title a title that by custom would be the one to pass on to the eldest son of the Rainy Monarch from this point onwards Edward the black prince would not however come to inherit his father's Crown because he would pre-decease him when he died in 1376. let's return to debrette's for an explanation a prince of the royal blood is usually created to Duke either shortly after coming of age or upon his marriage Prince William of Wales was created Duke of Cambridge upon his marriage in 2011. Prince Henry of Wales was created Duke of Sussex at the time of his marriage in 2018. the late Queen's youngest son Prince Edward broke with royal tradition when he chose the title of Earl of Wessex upon his marriage in 1999. now I don't know how true this is but it has certainly been rumored that Prince Edward was inspired by the film Shakespeare in Love when he asked for the Revival of the Earl of Wessex title for himself and the Countess of Wessex title for his new bride at the time Sophie however Prince Edward seemingly won't be just an Earl for much longer as it has been announced that he is to be granted the tutor of Edinburgh which reverted to the crown following first the death of Prince Philip and then became fully available following the a session of King Charles to the throne in addition to these so-called Royal Jukes there are also currently 24 people who hold one or more non-royal but hereditary jupitums the wife of a Duke Royal or otherwise is known as a duchess and in the case of the children of Dukes fought Royal Jukes first they may be a prince or a princess and for non-royal Dukes there will often be a number of other lesser titles that the Duke also holds that can then be used as a courtesy Title by their heirs if we take the current Duke of Norfolk he is Edward William fitzallen Howard his son and Heir is Henry Fitz Allen Howard Earl of Arundel his other sons and daughters are Lords and Ladies when referring to or speaking of a royal duke or Duchess his her or your Royal Highness will be the usual form of address in the case of a non-royal Jew called Duchess it is his her or your grace Royal Jukes and their sisters are also princes and princesses being as they are children of a reigning monarch Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was a queen regnant her husband or consort as he was not King of another realm and as a king is understood to outrank a queen was his Royal Highness Prince Philip Duke of Edinburgh their son is now his majesty King Charles III his wife and queen consort is to be styled as her majesty Queen Camilla if Queen Camilla should outlive her husband as she is not a regnant queen her place in the order of precedent will move back as the new king and queen come to the fore she will presumably be styled as Dowager queen or queen dowager if however in the Next Generation Princess Catherine as she is now styled should become Queen consort and then outlive her husband she may also choose to style herself as a dowager however Ashley will also be the mother of the air and the Future King she may prefer to and also be entitled to be referred to as Queen Catherine the Queen Mother this latter form is of course how Queen Elizabeth II's mother was known after her daughter ascended to the throne and in fact I have got a funny story the other week I was in the car with my husband and he spotted the Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother hospital and he said to me that he felt bad that the queen mother didn't get a hospital name or to herself I'll be honest I might have laughed a little bit well quite a bit when I pointed out that this name referred to just one person that mother and daughter were both called Elizabeth and that the mother's full title had been her majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother honestly the fact that Jamie wasn't aware of this is probably simply a sign that I do spend all of my time banging on about much earlier monarchs and historical periods because he definitely has retained a whole chunk of that information specifically and that's whether he wanted to or not but you know before you feel too bad for him I do now know what the offside rule is and what leg before Wicket means and I certainly didn't want to know that either so I guess it's all going to even itself out in the end so what do you think did these explanations clarify things for you did anything surprise you is there anything that's still unclear that she would likely to speak about at more length as always I'm looking forward to reading your conversations in the comments section underneath this video or you can find me Elsewhere on social media I will leave links to all the other places you can find me on the internet in my description box so do consider following me over on some or all of those so that we can continue this conversation and start some others I do hope you enjoyed this video and found it useful if you did why not share with your friends please also let me know you liked it by hitting the thumbs up please subscribe to the channel and if you think you're subscribed please just have a little check now make sure that YouTube hasn't mysteriously unsubscribed you against your will and while you're there checking subscribing Maybe re-subscribing please also hit the Bell icon that sits beside the Subscribe button and then select all in the drop down that will appear so that YouTube will tell you when I've next uploaded I hope you're going to have a great day whatever you're doing and I look forward to speaking to you all in my next video take care of yourselves but bye for now [Music]

Channel: Reading the Past

Views: 38,293

Keywords: Tudor, Jacobean, Elizabethan, Education, Literature, Culture, History, Early Modern, Renaissance

Id: aA0koztxaWc

Length: 25min 1sec (1501 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 14 2022