Titles and Precedence


Below is a list of the most common noble titles in use during the 14th century, in order of precedence. The numerical rank is just that, starting with the pope, who was considered the highest ranking feudal lord, down through the lowest ranking one.

Language Rank Male Female Latin Root

Latin 01 Pope Pope

German 02 Kaiser Kaisarin [wife, Caesar
never as a
ruler]

Basque 03 Erege Eregedabe Rex

Dutch 03 Kooning Kooningin None

English 03 King Queen None

French 03 Roi Reine Rex

Spanish 03 Rei Reina Rex

Spanish 03 Rey Reina Rex

Spanish 03 Rey Reina Rex

Italian 03 Re Reina Rex

Dutch 06 Prince Eveque - Princeps,
Espisopus

English 06 Prince Bishop - Princeps,
Episcopus

French 06 Prince Eveque - Princeps,
Episcopus

German 06 Furst Bischof - None, Episcopus

Basque 07 Duke Dukesa Dux

Dutch 07 Hertog Hertogin

English 07 Duke Duchess Dux

French 07 Duc Duchesse Dux

German 07 Herzog Herzogin

Spanish 07 Duc Duquessa Dux

Spanish 07 Duque Duquesa Dux

Spanish 07 Duque Duquesa Dux

Italian 07 Console - Consul

Italian 07 Doge Dogessa [wife, Dux
never regnant]

Italian 07 Duca Ducessa Dux

Italian 07 Gonfaloniere -

French 08 Dauphin Dauphine

Basque 09 Erregeseme Erregedabe [note Rex
spelling of king
& queen]

Dutch 09 Prins Prinses Princeps

English 09 Prince Princess Princeps

French 09 Prince Princesse Princeps

German 09 Furst Furstin Princeps

Spanish 09 Principe Princesa Principes

Italian 09 Principe Principessa Princeps

Basque 10 Markes Markesa

Dutch 10 Markies Markiezin

French 10 Marquis Marquise

German 10 Margraf Margrafin

Spanish 10 Marques Marquessina

Italian 10 Marchese Marchesa

French 11 Comte Comtesse Comes

Basque 11 Konde Kondesa Comes

Celtic 11 Earl Countess

Dutch 11 Graaf Gravin

English 11 Earl Countess

German 11 Graf Grafin

Spanish 11 Comte Comtessa Comes

Spanish 11 Conde Condessa Comes

Spanish 11 Conde Condessa Comes

Italian 11 Conte Contessa Comes

French 12 Captal ? Capitalis

Basque 13 Kondeorde Kondeseorde Comes

Celtic 13 Vicomte Vicomtesse Comes

Dutch 13 Burggraaf Burggravin

English 13 Viscount Viscountess Comes

French 13 Vicomte Vicomtesse Comes

German 13 Burggraf Burggrafin

Spanish 13 Vizcomte Vizcomtessa Comes

Spanish 13 Vizconde Vizcondessa Comes

Spanish 13 Vizconde Vizcondessa Comes

Italian 13 Visconte Viscontessa Comes

French 14 Prince Princesse Princeps

Italian 14 Principe Principessa Princeps

Basque 15 Baroi Baronesa

Celtic 15 Baron Baroness

English 15 Baron Baroness

French 15 Baron Baronne

German 15 Baron Baronin

Spanish 15 Baron Baronessa

Italian 15 Barone Baronessa

Dutch 16 Seigneur Dame Senior

Celtic 16 Seigneur Dame Senior

English 16 Lord Lady

French 16 Seigneur Dame Senior

German 16 Freiherr Freiherrin/Dame

Spanish 16 Senyor Senyora Senior

Spanish 16 Senor Senora Senior

Spanish 16 Senor Senora Senior

Italian 16 Signore Signora Senior

Basque 17 Jaun Eamakera

Celtic 17 Lord Lady

Dutch 17 Herr Dame

English 17 Lord Lady

French 17 Sire Dame Senior

German 17 Herr Herrin

French 18 Vidame Vidamesse ?

Dutch 19 Bewaarden Burchtuvrouw

English 19 Castellan Chatelaine

French 19 Chatelain Chatelaine

Spanish 19 Castellano Castellana

Italian 19 Castellano Castellana

Notes:

1. A "-" indicates there is no female equivalent. A "?" means we could use a little help here.

2. There is some overlap in titles, such as among the several varieties of Prince, and the repeated appearance of "Lady" and "Dame," which are essentially interchangeable, as is "Lord" for all of the titles from 16 down. The whole rank structure is very confusing: Edward III's title in the Emerald Isle was actually "Lord of Ireland," but it ranked as a Kingdom, which is what we've made it for purposes of the game. There were actual Erse titles, but no one would have used them.

3. When in doubt, use French. It was the common speech of the nobility in the Rhine Land and Dutch-speaking areas, as well as England, though Italian was classier.

4. Missing numbers in Rank are for religious types not in play (4=Cardinal, 5=Primate), but we thought we'd reserve the lines now, rather than later.

5. In several cases, titles have been indicated in languages where no one presently holds such rank, in order to allow for later creation.

Most of the titles were derived from ancient Roman titles, the barbarians having taken a liking tov them when the Roman empire fell in the fifth century.

Nobles could hold more than one title of nobility. Some held dozens. For the kings it was typical to have several dozen titles. But there were lesser aristocrats who were also abundantly titled. Such nobles were keen to show off their abundance of titles. This was most often done at tournaments, where each knight would have a servant carry his coat of arms (in the form of a banner) before him. Thus a noble with many titles would have several dozen servants, each carrying a separate coat of arms, entering the tournament grounds before him. At court, it was also customary, on formal occasions, for a court official to verbally announce each noble and all his titles. For a king, this recitation could go on for several minutes. But even minor nobles would rate as much time as it took to rattle off all their titles.


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