Baron
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Baron is a rank of
The term originates from the
Etymology
The word
Britain and Ireland
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In the
History
After the
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Initially those who held land directly from the king by
Later, the king started to create new baronies in one of two ways: by a writ of summons directing a chosen man to attend Parliament, and in an even later development by letters patent.[8] Writs of summons became the normal method in medieval times, displacing the method of feudal barony, but creation of baronies by letters patent is the sole method adopted in modern times.[8]
Since the adoption of summons by writ, baronies thus no longer relate directly to land-holding, and thus no more feudal baronies needed to be created from then on. Following the Modus Tenendi Parliamenta of 1419, the Tenures Abolition Act 1660, the Feudal Tenure Act (1662), and the Fines and Recoveries Act of 1834, titles of feudal barony became obsolete and without legal force. The Abolition Act 1660 specifically states: baronies by tenure were converted into baronies by writ. The rest ceased to exist as feudal baronies by tenure, becoming baronies in free socage, that is to say under a "free" (hereditable) contract requiring payment of monetary rents.[9]
Alfred, Lord Tennyson was the first person to become a baron, which, for him, entailed being "granted a barony and a seat in the House of Lords by the crown," because of the popularity and acclaim of his poetry.[10]
In the 20th century, Britain introduced the concept of non-hereditary life peers. All appointees to this distinction have (thus far) been at the rank of baron.[8] In accordance with the tradition applied to hereditary peers, they too are formally addressed in parliament by their peers as "The Noble Lord".[8]
In addition, baronies are often used by their holders as subsidiary titles, for example as courtesy titles for the son and heir of an Earl or higher-ranked peer.[8] The Scottish baronial title tends to be used when a landed family is not in possession of any United Kingdom peerage title of higher rank, subsequently granted, or has been created a knight of the realm.
Several members of the royal family with the style of Royal Highness are also titled Barons. For example, William, Prince of Wales is also The Baron of Renfrew and The Baron Carrickfergus. Some non-royal Barons are related to the royal family; for example,
Irish barons
The title of baron (
Coronet
A person holding a peerage in the rank of baron is entitled to a coronet bearing six silver balls (called pearls) around the rim, equally spaced and all of equal size and height. The rim itself is neither jeweled nor "chased" (which is the case for the coronets of peers of higher degree).
The actual coronet is worn only for the coronation of a new monarch, but a baron can bear his coronet of rank on his coat of arms above the shield. In heraldry, the baron's coronet is shown with four of the balls visible.
Style of address
Formally, barons are styled The Right Honourable The Lord [Barony] and barons’ wives are styled The Right Honourable The Lady [Barony]. Less formally, one refers to or addresses a baron as Lord [Barony] and his wife as Lady [Barony], and baronesses in their own right as Baroness [X] or Lady [X]. In direct address, barons and baronesses can also be referred to as My Lord, Your Lordship, or Your Ladyship or My Lady. The husband of a baroness in her own right gains no title or style from his wife.
The Right Honourable is frequently abbreviated to The Rt Hon. or Rt Hon. When referred to by the Sovereign in public instruments, The Right Honourable is changed to Our right trusty and well-beloved, with Counsellor attached if they are a
Children of barons and baronesses in their own right, whether hereditary or for life, have the style The Honourable [Forename] [Surname]. After the death of the father or mother, the child may continue to use this style.
Courtesy barons are styled Lord [Barony], and their wives Lady [Barony]; the article "The" is always absent. If the courtesy baron is not a Privy Counsellor, the style The Right Honourable will also be absent.
It is very common for the surnames of barons and baronesses to be identical to or included in the formal title of their barony. However, when addressed as a peer, the title of Lord, Lady, or Baroness is followed by the name of his or her barony, not his personal name. This is relevant when a baron or baroness's title is completely different from his or her personal surname (e.g.
The United Kingdom has a policy of including titles of nobility on passports: the title is entered into the surname field and a standard observation is recorded giving the holder's full name and title. A Baron would therefore record his surname as Lord [Barony], and the observation would note that The holder is The Right Honourable [given names] [surname] Lord [Barony]. However, if the title of an applicant's peerage is different from his surname, he can choose whether to use his surname or title in the surname field. A baroness in her own right would substitute "Baroness" for "Lord", and the wife of a Baron would similarly substitute "Lady". Titles of nobility are checked against Debrett's Peerage, Who's Who, or the London Gazette by the passport office on application.
Scottish feudal baronies
In Scotland, the rank of baron is a rank of the ancient feudal nobility of Scotland and refers to the holder of a feudal barony, formerly a feudal superiority over a proper territorial entity erected into a free barony by a Crown Charter, this being the status of a minor baron, recognized by the crown as noble, but not a peer.
The Court of the Lord Lyon will officially recognise feudal barons or those possessing the dignity of baron who meet certain criteria,[15] and will grant them arms with a helmet befitting their degree. Scottish barons rank below Lords of Parliament and while noble have the status of minor baron, being a non-Peerage rank; as such it can be transferred by either inheritance or conveyance.
In showing that Scottish barons are titles of nobility, reference may be made, amongst others, to the Lyon Court in the Petition of Maclean of Ardgour for a Birthbrieve by Interlocutor dated 26 February 1943 which "Finds and Declares that the Minor Barons of Scotland are, and have both in this Nobiliary Court, and in the Court of Session, been recognised as 'titled' nobility, and that the estait of the Baronage (The Barones Minores) is of the ancient Feudal Nobility of Scotland".
Sir Thomas Innes of Learney, in his Scots Heraldry (2nd Ed., p. 88, note 1), states that "The Act 1672, cap 47, specially qualifies the degrees thus: Nobles (i.e. peers, the term being here used in a restricted seventeenth-century English sense), Barons (i.e. Lairds of baronial fiefs and their 'heirs', who, even if fiefless, are equivalent to heads of Continental baronial houses) and Gentlemen (apparently all other armigers)." Baronets and knights are evidently classed as 'Gentlemen' here and are of a lower degree than Barons.
The Scottish equivalent of an English baron is a Lord of Parliament.[8]
Chapeau and helm
Scottish feudal barons were entitled to a red cap of maintenance (chapeau) turned up ermine if petitioning for a grant or matriculation of a coat of arms between the 1930s and 2004. This chapeau is identical to the red cap worn by an English baron, but without the silver balls or gilt. This is sometimes depicted in armorial paintings between the shield and the helmet. Additionally, if the baron is the head of a family, he may include a chiefly coronet which is similar to a ducal coronet, but with four strawberry leaves. Because the chapeau was a relatively recent innovation, a number of ancient arms of Scottish feudal barons do not display the chapeau. Now, Scottish barons are principally recognised by the baron's helm, which in Scotland is a steel helmet with grille of three grilles, garnished in gold. Occasionally, the great tilting-helm garnished with gold is shown, or a helmet befitting a higher rank, if held.[16]
Style of address
Scottish barons style their surnames similarly to Clan Chiefs, with the name of their barony following their name, as in John Smith of Edinburgh or John Smith, Baron of Edinburgh.[17][18][19] Most formally, and in writing, they are styled as The Much Honoured Baron of Edinburgh. Their wives are styled Lady Edinburgh, or The Baroness of Edinburgh. The phrase Lady of Edinburgh is wrong if the lady in question does not hold a Scottish barony in her own right. Orally, Scottish barons may be addressed with the name of their barony, as in Edinburgh or else as Baron without anything else following, which if present would suggest a peerage barony. Informally, when referring to a Scots feudal baron in the third person, the name Baron of [X] is used or simply [X].
Scottish feudal Barons may record [surname] of [territorial designation] in the surname field of their passport, and an official observation would then note that The holder is [given names] [surname] Baron of [territorial designation]; applicants must provide evidence that the Lord Lyon has recognised their feudal barony, or else be included in Burke's Peerage.[20][21]
Continental Europe
France
During the
Emperor
In 1815, King Louis XVIII created a new peerage system and a Chamber of Peers, based on the British model. Baron-peer was the lowest title, but the heirs to pre-1789 barons could remain barons, as could the elder sons of viscount-peers and the younger sons of count-peers. This peerage system was abolished in 1848.
Germany
In pre-republican Germany all the knightly families of the Holy Roman Empire (sometimes distinguished by the prefix von or zu) eventually were recognised as of baronial rank, although Ritter is the literal translation for "knight", and persons who held that title enjoyed a distinct, but lower, rank in Germany's nobility than barons (Freiherren). The wife of a Freiherr (Baron) is called a Freifrau or sometimes Baronin, his daughter Freiin or sometimes Baroness.
Families which had always held this status were called
Since 1919, hereditary titles have had no legal status in Germany. In modern, republican Germany, Freiherr and Baron remain heritable only as part of the legal surname (and may thereby be transmitted to husbands, wives and children, without implication of nobility).
In Austria, hereditary titles have been completely banned. Thus, a member of the formerly reigning House of Habsburg or members of the former nobility would in most cases simply be addressed as Herr/Frau (Habsburg) in an official/public context, for instance in the media. Still, in both countries, honorary styles like "His/Her (Imperial/Royal) Highness", "Serenity", etc. persist in social use as a form of courtesy.
In Luxembourg and Liechtenstein (where German is the official language), barons remain members of the recognized nobility, and the sovereigns retain authority to confer the title (morganatic cadets of the princely dynasty received the title Baron of Lanskron, using both Freiherr and Baron for different members of this branch.)[22]
Generally, all legitimate males of a German baronial family inherit the title Freiherr or Baron from birth, as all legitimate daughters inherit the title of Freiin or Baroness. As a result, German barons have been more numerous than those of such countries where primogeniture with respect to title inheritance prevails (or prevailed), such as France and the United Kingdom.
Italy
In Italy,
Low Countries
In the medieval era, some allodial and enfeoffed lands held by nobles were created or recognized as baronies by the Holy Roman Emperors, within whose realm most of the Low Countries lay. Subsequently, the Habsburgs continued to confer the baronial title in the Southern Netherlands, first as kings of Spain and then, again, as emperors until abolition of the Holy Roman Empire, but these had become titular elevations rather than grants of new territory.
In the Netherlands after 1815, titles of baron authorized by previous monarchs (except those of the Napoleonic Kingdom of Holland) were usually recognized by the Dutch kings. But such recognition was not automatic, having to be authenticated by the Supreme Council of Nobility and then approved by the sovereign. This ceased to be possible after the Dutch constitution was revised in 1983. More than one hundred Dutch baronial families have been recognized. The title is usually inherited by all males descended patrilineally from the original recipient of the title, although in a few noble families baron is the title of cadet family members, while in a few others it is heritable according to primogeniture.
After its secession in 1830, Belgium incorporated into its nobility all titles of baron borne by Belgian citizens which had been recognized by the Netherlands since 1815. In addition, its monarchs have since created or recognized other titles of baron, and the sovereign continues to exercise the prerogative to confer baronial and other titles of nobility. Baron is the third lowest title within the nobility system above knight (French: chevalier, Dutch: ridder) and below viscount. There are still a number of families in Belgium that bear the title of baron.
Luxembourg's monarch retains the right to confer the baronial title. Two of the grand duchy's prime ministers inherited baronial titles that were used during their tenures in office, Victor de Tornaco and Félix de Blochausen.
Nordic countries
In Norway, king
abolished the title.The present corresponding title is baron in the
In the beginning, Finnish nobles were all without honorific titulature, and known simply as lords. Since the
Russia
There were two main groups of nobility which held the baronial title. One was the
Spain
In Spain, the title follows Vizconde in the noble hierarchy, and ranks above Señor. Baronesa is the feminine form, for the wife of a baron or for a woman who has been granted the title in her own right. In general, titles of baron created before the 19th century originate from the Crown of Aragon. Barons lost territorial jurisdiction around the middle of the 19th century, and from then on the title became purely honorific. Although most barons have not held the rank of grandeza as well, the title has been conferred in conjunction with the grandeza. The sovereign continues to grant baronial titles.
Other
Like other major Western noble titles, baron is sometimes used to render certain titles in non-Western languages with their own traditions, even though they are necessarily historically unrelated and thus hard to compare, which are considered 'equivalent' in relative rank. This is the case with China's nanjue (nan-chueh) (Chinese: 男爵), hereditary title of nobility of the fifth rank, as well as its derivatives and adaptations.
| Country or region | Equivalent to baron |
|---|---|
| China | Nánjué (男爵) |
| India | Rao
|
| Japan | danshaku (hiragana: だんしゃく, kanji: 男爵) |
| Korea | namjak (Korean: 남작, 男爵) |
| Lebanon | Reis |
| Manchu | ashan-i hafan |
| Vietnam | nam tước (Chữ Hán: 男爵) |
| Hungary | Báró |
| Székely | primor, historically used among a specific population of Hungarians in Transylvania |
| Croatia | Barun |
| Portugal | Barão (female: baronesa). |
| Romania | Baron (female: baronesă). |
| Serbia | Bojar or Boyar |
| Georgia | Tahtis Aznauri |
| Thailand | Khun
|
In some republics of continental Europe, the unofficial title of "Baron" retains a purely social prestige, with no particular political
In Armenian, the word "Baron" should not be confused with the similar word "Paron" (Armenian: Պարոն), which is a title given to ordinary men, equivalent to 'Sir' or 'Mr'.
In the Polynesian island monarchy of Tonga, as opposed to the situation in Europe, barons are granted this imported title (in English), alongside traditional chiefly styles, and continue to hold and exercise some political power.
In fiction
Barons and baronesses have appeared in various works of fiction. For examples of fictional barons and baronesses, see List of fictional nobility#Barons and baronesses.
See also
- Irish feudal barony
- List of baronies in the peerages of the British Isles
- Marcher Lord
- Honour (feudal land tenure)
- List of barons in the peerages of Britain and Ireland
- Robber baron (feudalism)
- Boyar - Slavic feudal title
References
- ISBN 9781906924119, archivedfrom the original on 17 May 2013, retrieved 7 October 2020
- ^ servos militum, qui utique stultissimi sunt, servos videlicet stultorum
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary; see also Online Etymology Dictionary Archived 27 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Sanders, I.J., Feudal Military Service in England: A Study of the Constitutional and Military Powers of the 'Barones' in Medieval England, Oxford, 1956, Part I, The "Baro" and the "Baronia"
- ^ Hallam, Elizabeth. Four Gothic Kings. p. 256.
- ^ "Théâtre de tous les peuples et nations de la terre avec leurs habits et ornemens divers, tant anciens que modernes, diligemment depeints au naturel par Luc Dheere peintre et sculpteur Gantois[manuscript]". lib.ugent.be. Archived from the original on 29 October 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
- ^ Selden, John (1672). Titles of Honor: By the Late and Famous Antiquary John Selden of Inner Temple, Esquire (Third ed.). London: Thomas Dring. p. 570.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-56619-085-5.
- ^ "1660 Abolition Act". Archived from the original on 8 July 2013. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
- ISBN 978-1-57071-720-8.
- ^ "Forms of Address – Barons and their Wives". Debrett's. Archived from the original on 7 August 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- ^ a b "British Titles – Baron". Burke's Peerage. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- ^ "Forms of Address – Baroness in Her Own Right and Life Baroness". Debrett's. Archived from the original on 29 December 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- ^ "British Titles – Lady". Burke's Peerage. Archived from the original on 11 August 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- ^ "The Court of the Lord Lyon – News". Archived from the original on 9 October 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- ^ "The Court of the Lord Lyon". Archived from the original on 12 May 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2010.
- ^ Senior-Milne, Graham (27 June 2005). "Forms of Address". The Feudal Baronies of Scotland. Archived from the original on 7 December 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
- ^ "Titles and Usages". The Convention of The Baronage of Scotland. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
- ^ "Forms of Address – Scottish Feudal Baronies". Debrett's. Archived from the original on 25 July 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
- ^ HM Passport Office (13 January 2012), "Titles included in passports" (PDF), GOV.UK, HM Government, archived (PDF) from the original on 25 June 2014, retrieved 13 March 2017
- ^ HM Passport Office (7 February 2012). "Observations in passports" (PDF). GOV.UK. HM Government. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 March 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
- ISBN 3-7980-0824-8.
Sources
- Sanders, I. J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent, 1086–1327. Clarendon Press, 1960.
- Round, J. Horace, "The House of Lords", published in: Peerage and Pedigree, Studies in Peerage Law and Family History, Vol.1, London, 1910, pp. 324–362
- Heraldica
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 421–423.
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