Royal and noble ranks

Traditional rank amongst European royalty, peers, andnobility is rooted in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages.Although they vary over time and between geographic re-gions (for example, one region’s prince might be equal toanother’s grand duke), the following is a reasonably com-prehensive list that provides information on both generalranks and specific differences.

1 Ranks and titles

1.1 Sovereign

Main articles: Monarch and Sovereign

• The word monarch is derived from the Greekμονάρχης, monárkhēs, “sole ruler” (from μόνος,mónos, “single” or “sole”, and ἄρχων, árkhōn,archon, “leader”, “ruler”, “chief”, the word beingthe present participle of the verb ἄρχειν, árkhein,“to rule”, “to lead”, this from the noun ὰρχή, arkhē,“beginning”, “authority”, “principle”) through theLatinized form monarcha.

• The word sovereign is derived from the Latin above.

• Autocrat is derived from the Greek αὐτοκράτωρ:αὐτός (“self”) and κρατείν (“to hold power”), andmay be translated as “one who rules by himself”.

Common titles for European and Near Eastern monarchs

Note that many titles listed may also be used by lesser no-bles – non-sovereigns – depending on the historical periodand state. The sovereign titles listed below are groupedtogether into categories roughly according to their degreeof dignity; these being: imperial, high royal, royal, others(princely, ducal, more), and religious.Imperial titles

• Emperor, from the Latin Imperator, meaning“commander” or “one who commands”. In English,the feminine form is Empress (the Latin is impera-trix). The realm of an emperor or empress is termedan Empire. Other words meaning Emperor include:

• Caesar, the appellation of Roman emper-ors derived from the Roman dictator Julius

Caesar, whose great-nephew and adopted sonGaius Julius Caesar Augustus became the firstemperor of Rome. Augustus’ four successorswere each made the adoptive son of his prede-cessor, and were therefore legally entitled touse “Caesar” as a constituent of their names;after Nero, however, the familial link of theJulio-Claudian dynasty was disrupted and useof the word Caesar continued as a title only.

• Tsar / Czar / Csar / Tzar, derived from Cae-sar, the feminine form Tsarina, primarily usedin Bulgaria, and after that in Russia and otherSlavic countries.

• Kaiser, derived from Caesar, primarily usedin Germanic countries.

• Basileus, from Mycenaean Greek meaning“chieftain”, later used for the Roman emper-ors of the Byzantine period.

• Samraat, (Sanskrit: samrāṭ or सम्राज् sam-rāj) is an Ancient Indian title sometimes trans-lated into modern English as “Emperor”. Thefeminine form is Samrãjñī.

• Chhatrapati, (Devanagari: छत्रपती) is theIndian royal title equivalent to an Emperor.The word ‘Chhatrapati’ is from Sanskritchatra (roof or umbrella) and pati (mas-ter/Owner/ruler); Chhatrapati thus indicates aperson who gives shade to his followers andprotects their success.

High royal titles

• King of Kings mostly used in Christian contexts todenote Jesus Christ or the Christian Roman emper-ors of the Late Empire and Byzantine periods.

• Shahanshah, literally “King of Kings” a cor-ruption of the Middle Persian šāhān šāh,meaning “King’s King.” Used in Persia andsurrounding countries.

• Taewang, literally “Supreme King”, a Koreantitle for the rulers of the Goguryeo Empire andlater dynasties such as the Kingdom of Joseon.

• Nəgusä Nägäst, title of the Emperors ofEthiopia, meaning “King of Kings”.

• Mansa, title of the Emperors of the Mali Em-pire, meaning King of Kings.

• Mepe-Mepeta, Georgian for “King of Kings.”

1

2 1 RANKS AND TITLES

• Khagan, derived from Khan of Khans, mean-ing king of kings in the Mongol Empire andthe Ottoman Empire.

• High king, A king who rules over lesser kings.

• Mahārāja, Sanskrit for a “great king” or “highking”.

• Padishah, Persian pād “master” and shāh“king”. Used in the Ottoman Empire.

• Anax, from Mycenaean wanax for “HighKing”. Outranked Basileus in Mycenaean us-age.

• Nam-Lugal High kings of ancient Sumer(Mesopotamia).

• Pharaoh, “Man of the Great House (Palace)"used in Ancient Egypt to denote the Highkings of the upper and lower kingdoms of theNile river valley.

• Ard Rí, Gaelic for high king, most notablyused for high kings of Ireland and high kingsof Scotland.

• Bretwalda, high kings of Anglo-Saxon Eng-land.

• Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the official title ofthe Malaysian head of state, and means “Hewho is Made Supreme Lord” and is generallyglossed in English as “king”. The officeholderis elected from among the heads of the nineroyal states, so the officemay also be analogousto that of a high king.

Royal titles

• King, from the Germanic *kuningaz, roughly mean-ing “son of the people.” (See: Germanic king-ship) [1] The realm of a King is termed a Kingdom(sovereign kings are ranked above vassal kings)

• Rex Latin for “ruler”. Cognate with Raja, Rí,Reign, Regina, etc.

• Raja, Indian for “ruler and King.”. Cognatewith Latin Rex, Gaelic Rí, etc.

• Rana, was used to be a title for martialsovereignty of Rajput kings in India.

• Deshmukh, Indian for “ruler and king.”• Rí, Gaelic title meaning king, of which therewere several grades, the highest being Ard Rí(High king). Cognate with Indian Raja, LatinRex, and ancient Gaulish rix.

• Khan, from the Turco-Mongol word for“lord,” like Duke it was originally a militaryrank. A Khan’s realm is called a Khanate.

• Lamane, “master of the land” or “chief ownerof the soil” in old Serer language were the an-cient hereditary kings and landed gentry of theSerer people found in Senegal, the Gambia andMauritania. The Lamanes were guardians ofSerer religion and many of them have beencanonized as Holy Saints (Pangool).

• Oba, the Yoruba word for King or Ruler of akingdom or city-state. It is used across all thetraditional Yoruba lands, as well as by the Edo,throughout Nigeria, Benin, and Togo.

• Shah, Persian word for King, from Indo-European for “he who rules”

• Sultan, from Arabic and originally referringto one who had “power”, more recently usedas synonym for King.

• Malik, Arabic for King.• Tlatoani, Ruler of the atlepetl or city state inancient Mexico. Title of the Aztec Emperors.The word literally means “speaker” in Nahuatl,but may be translated into English as “king”.

• Ajaw, InMayameaning “lord”, “ruler”, “king”or “leader”. Was the title of the ruler in theClassic Maya polity. A variant being the ti-tle of K'inich Ajaw or “Great Sun King” as itwas used to refer to the founder of the Copándynasty, K'inich Yax K'uk' Mo'.

• Lakan, Filipino title (mostly on the island ofLuzon) which, together with the term Datu inthe Visayas and Mindanao, is an equivalent ofRaja and thus glossed as “king” or “sovereignprince”.

• Tuanku, literally “My Lord”, the title of thekings of the nine Royal states of Malaysia; allprinces and princesses of the Royal Familiesalso receive the appellation Tengku,

• Maad a Sinig, King of Sine, a pre-colonialkingdom of the Serer people. From the oldSerer title “Maad” (king).

• Maad Saloum, King of Saloum, a pre-colonial kingdom of the Serer people.

• Ratu, A Fijian chiefly title that is also foundin Javanese culture.

• Teigne, King of Baol, previously a pre-colonial Serer kingdom.

• Nizam, The word is derived from the Ara-bic language Nizām ,(نظام) meaning order,arrangement. Nizām-ul-mulk was a title firstused in Urdu around 1600 to mean Governorof the realm or Deputy for the Whole Empire.

• Queen, from the Germanic *kwoeniz, or *kwenon,“wife"; cognate of Greek γυνή, gynē, “woman";from PIE *gʷḗn, “woman”. The female equivalentof a King, or the consort of a King; a Queen’s realmis also a kingdom.

1.1 Sovereign 3

• Rani, Indian for Queen. See Raja, above.• Shahbanu, Persian for Empress. See Shah,above.

• Sultana, Arabic for Queen. See Sultan,above.

• Malika, Arabic for Queen.• Ix-ajaw, See Ajaw above, it was a title wasalso given to women, though generally prefixedwith the sign Ix (“woman”) to indicate theirgender.

• Diyan, Filipino feminine equivalent of“Datu”. See Datu

• Hara, Filipino feminine equivalent of “Raha”.See Raja, above.

Princely, ducal, and other sovereign titles

• Grand Prince

• Prince, from the Latin princeps, meaning “firstcitizen”. The feminine form is Princess. Vari-ant forms include the German Fürst and RussianTsarevich (царевич) and the feninine form Tsarevna(царевна).

• Bai, Filipino feminine equivalent of a prince.• Ginoo, Ancient Filipino equivalent to nobleman or prince (now used in the form "Gi-noóng" as the analogue to "mister").

• Morza, a Tartar title usually translated as“prince”, it ranked below aKhan. The title wasborrowed from Persian and Indian appellationMirza added to the names of certain nobles,which itself derived from Emir.

• Knyaz, a title found in most Slavic languages,denoting a ruling or noble rank. It is usuallytranslated into English as “Duke”.

• Despot, Greek for “lord, master”, initially an ap-pellation for the Byzantine emperor, later the seniorcourt title, awarded to sons and close relatives of theemperor. In the 13th-15th centuries borne by au-tonomous and independent rulers in the Balkans.

• Duke, from the Latin Dux, meaning “leader,” amilitary rank in the late Roman Empire. Variantforms include Doge, and Duce; it has also beenmodified into Archduke (meaning “chief” Duke),Grand Duke (literally “large,” or “big” Duke),ViceDuke (“deputy” Duke), etc. The female equivalentis Duchess

• Emir, often rendered Amir in older English usage;from the Arabic “to command.” The female form isEmira (Amirah). Emir is the root of the Englishmilitary rank “Admiral”

• Mir, According to the book Persian Inscriptions onIndian Monuments, Mir is most probably an Ara-bized form of Pir. Pir in Old Persian and Sanskritmeans the old, the wise man, the chief and the greatleader. It was Arabized as Mir then, with Al(A)(Arabic definite article), it was pronounced as Amir.

• Bey, or Beg/Baig, Turkish for “Chieftain.”

• Begum, female royal and aristocratic titlefrom Central and South Asia.

• Beylerbey, Bey of Beys.• Atabeg, word is a compound of two Turkicwords: ata, “ancestor”, and beg.

• Beg Khan, concatenation of Baig and Khan.• Khagan Bek, title used by Khazars.

• Buumi, first in line to the throne in Serer pre-colonial kingdoms.

• Thilas, second in line to the throne in Serer pre-colonial kingdoms.

• Loul, third in line to the throne in Serer country.

• Dey, title given to the rulers of the Regency of Al-giers and Tripoli under the Ottoman Empire from1671 onwards.

• Sahib, name of Arabic origin meaning “holder,master or owner.”

• Zamindar, were considered to be equivalent tolords and barons in some cases they were seen asindependent, sovereign princes.

• Jagir, also spelled as Jageer (Devanagari: जागीर,Persian: ,جاگیر ja- meaning “place”, -gir meaning“keeping, holding”) The feudal owner/lord of the Ja-gir were called Jagirdar or Jageerdar

• Sardar, also spelled as Sirdar, Sardaar or Serdar,is a title of nobility (sir-, sar/sair- means “head orauthority” and -dār means “holder” in Sanskrit andAvestan)

Religious titles

• Pope, derived from Latin and Italian papa, the fa-miliar form of “father” (also "Supreme Pontiff ofthe Universal Church and Vicar of Christ”); oncewielding substantial secular power as the ruler of thePapal States and leader of Christendom, the Pope isalso the absolute ruler of the sovereign stateVaticanCity

• Caliph, was the ruler of the caliphate, an Islamictitle indicating the successor to Muhammad. Botha religious and a secular leader; the Ottoman sul-tans continued to use Caliph as another of their ti-tles. However, in later Ottoman times the religious

4 1 RANKS AND TITLES

function was practically exorcised by the Sheikh ül-Islam; after the establishment of the Turkish Repub-lic, a solely religious Caliphate, held by members ofthe Sultans’ family, was established for a short pe-riod of time.

• Saltigue, the high priests and priestesses of theSerer people. They are the diviners in Serer reli-gion.

1.2 Other sovereigns, royals, peerage, andmajor nobility

Main articles: Royal family, Peerage, Nobility andImperial immediacy

Several ranks were widely used (for more than a thou-sand years in Europe alone) for both sovereign rulers andnon-sovereigns. Additional knowledge about the territoryand historic period is required to know whether the rankholder was a sovereign or non-sovereign. However, jointprecedence among rank holders often greatly dependedon whether a rank holder was sovereign, whether of thesame rank or not. This situation was most widely ex-emplified by the Holy Roman Empire (HRE) in Europe.Almost all of the following ranks were commonly bothsovereign and non-sovereign within the HRE. Outside ofthe HRE, the most common sovereign rank of these be-low was that of Prince. Within the HRE, those holdingthe following ranks who were also sovereigns had (en-joyed) what was known as an immediate relationship withthe Emperor. Those holding non-sovereign ranks heldonly a mediate relationship (meaning that the civil hierar-chy upwards was mediated by one or more intermediariesbetween the rank holder and the Emperor).

Titles

• Archduke, ruler of an archduchy; used by the rulersof Austria; it was also used by the Habsburgs andHabsburg-Lorraines of the Holy Roman Empire,Austrian Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Em-pire for imperial family members of the dynasty,each retaining it as a subsidiary title when foundingsovereign cadet branches by acquiring thrones un-der different titles (e.g., Tuscany, Modena); it wasalso used for those ruling some Habsburg territo-ries such as those that became the modern BeNeLux(Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) nations

• Grand Prince, ruler of a grand principality; a ti-tle primarily used in the medieval Russian princi-palities; it was also used by the Romanovs of theRussian Empire for members of the imperial family,although more commonly translated into English asGrand Duke

• Duke, ruler[1] of a duchy,[2] also for junior membersof ducal and some grand ducal families

• Prince, Prinz in German; juniormembers of a royal,grand ducal, ruling ducal or princely, or mediatisedfamily. The title of Fürst was usually reserved,from the 19th century, for rulers of principalities—the smallest sovereign entities (e.g., Liechtenstein,Lippe, Schwarzburg, Waldeck-and-Pyrmont) -- andfor heads of high-ranking, noble but non-ruling fam-ilies (Bismarck, Clary und Aldringen, Dietrichstein,Henckel von Donnersmarck, Kinsky, Paar, Pless,Thun und Hohenstein, etc.). Cadets of these latterfamilies were generally not allowed to use Prinz, be-ing accorded only the style of count (Graf) or, occa-sionally, that of Fürst (Wrede, Palffy d'Erdod) eventhough it was also a ruling title. Exceptional useof Prinz was permitted for some morganatic fami-lies (e.g., Battenberg, Montenuovo) and a few others(Carolath-Beuthen, Biron von Kurland).

• In particularCrown prince, Kronprinz in Ger-man, was reserved for the heir apparent of anemperor or king

• Dauphin, title of the crown prince of the royal fam-ily of France

• Infante, title of the cadet members of the royal fam-ilies of Portugal and Spain

• Elector, Kurfürst in German, a rank for thosewho voted for the Holy Roman Emperor, usuallysovereign of a state (e.g. the Margrave of Branden-burg, an elector, called the Elector of Brandenburg)

• Marquess,Margrave, orMarquiswas the ruler ofa marquessate, margraviate, or march

• Landgrave, a German title, ruler of a landgraviate

• Count, theoretically the ruler of a county; known asan Earl in modern Britain; known as a Serdar inMontenegro and Serbia

• Viscount (vice-count), theoretically the ruler of aviscounty or viscountcy

• Freiherr, holder of an allodial barony. Freiherrcoming from the German “Free-Man”

• Baron, theoretically the ruler of a barony – somebarons in some countries may have been “freebarons” (liber baro) and as such, regarded (them-selves) as higher barons.

Regarding the titles of duke and prince: in Germany,a sovereign duke (Herzog) outranks a sovereign prince(Fürst). A cadet prince (Prinz) who belongs to an impe-rial or royal dynasty, however, may outrank a duke who isthe cadet of a reigning house e.g. Wurttemberg, Bavaria,Mecklenburg or Oldenburg. The children of a ruling

1.3 Minor nobility, gentry, and other aristocracy 5

grand duke might be titled duke (Mecklenburg, Olden-burg) or prince (Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Saxe-Weimar)in accordance with the customs of the dynasty.Children of ruling dukes and of ruling princes (Fürst)were, however, all titled prince (Prinz). The heir apparentto a ruling or mediatised title would usually prepend theprefix Erb- (hereditary) to his or her title, e.g. Erbherzog,Erbprinz, Erbgraf, to distinguish their status from thatof their junior siblings. Children of a mediatised Fürstwere either Prinzen or Grafen, depending upon whetherthe princely title was limited to descent by masculineprimogeniture or not. In the German non-sovereign no-bility, a duke (Herzog) still ranked higher than a prince(Fürst).

1.3 Minor nobility, gentry, and other aris-tocracy

Main articles: Aristocracy (class) and Gentry

The distinction between the ranks of the major nobility(listed above) and the minor nobility, listed here, was notalways a sharp one in all nations. But the precedence ofthe ranks of a Baronet or a Knight is quite generally ac-cepted for where this distinction exists for most nations.Here the rank of Baronet (ranking above a Knight) istaken as the highest rank among the ranks of the minornobility or gentry that are listed below.

Titles

• Baronet is a hereditary title ranking below Baronbut above Knight; this title is granted only in theBritish Isles and does not confer nobility.

• Dominus was the Latin title of the feudal, superiorand mesne, lords, and also an ecclesiastical and aca-demical title (equivalent of Lord)

• Vidame, a minor French aristocrat

• Vavasour, also a petty French feudal lord

• Seigneur or Knight of the Manor rules a smallerlocal fief

• Knight is the basic rank of the aristocratic system

• Patrician is a dignity of minor nobility or gentry(most often being hereditary) usually ranking belowKnight but above Esquire

• Fidalgo or Hidalgo is a minor Portuguese andSpanish aristocrat (respectively; from filho d'algo,lit. son of wealth, mediaeval Galician-Portuguese“algo” = wealth, riches, fortune, nowadays “algo” =something)

• Nobile (aristocracy) is an Italian title of nobility forprestigious families that never received a title

• Principalía the aristocratic class of Filipino no-bles, through whom the Spanish Monarchs ruled thePhilippines during the colonial period (c. 1600s to1898).

• Edler is a minor aristocrat in Germany and Austriaduring those countries’ respective imperial periods.

• Jonkheer is an honorific for members of nobleDutch families that never received a title; An un-titled noblewoman is styled Jonkvrouw, though thewife of a Jonkheer is a Mevrouw or, sometimes,Freule, which could also be used by daughters of thesame

• Skartabel is a minor Polish aristocrat.

• Scottish Baron is a hereditary feudal nobility dig-nity, outside the Scots peerage, recognised by LordLyon as a member of the Scots noblesse and rank-ing below a Knight but above a Scottish Laird[3][4]in the British system. However, Scottish Barons onthe European continent are considered and treatedequal to European barons.

• Laird is a Scottish hereditary feudal dignity rankingbelow a Scottish Baron but above an Esquire

• Esquire is a rank of gentry originally derived fromSquire and indicating the status of an attendantto a knight or an apprentice knight; it ranks be-low Knight (or in Scotland below Laird) but aboveGentleman[5][6]

• Junker is a noble honorific, meaning “young noble-man” or otherwise “young lord”

• Gentleman is the basic rank of gentry, histori-cally primarily associated with land or manoriallords; within British Commonwealth nations it isalso roughly equivalent to some minor nobility ofsome continental European nations[7]

• Bibi, meansMiss in Urdu and is frequently used as arespectful title for women in South Asia when addedto the given name

In Germany, the constitution of the Weimar Republic in1919 ceased to accord privileges to members of dynasticand noble families. Their titles henceforth became legalparts of the family name, and traditional forms of address(e.g., “Hoheit” or "Durchlaucht") ceased to be accordedto them by governmental entities. The last title was con-ferred on 12 November 1918 to Kurt von Klefeld. Theactual rank of a title-holder in Germany depended notonly on the nominal rank of the title, but also the degreeof sovereignty exercised, the rank of the title-holder’ssuzerain, and the length of time the family possessed itsstatus within the nobility (Uradel, Briefadel, altfürstliche,neufürstliche, see: German nobility). Thus, any reigningsovereign ranks higher than any deposed or mediatized

6 4 REFERENCES

sovereign (e.g., the Fürst of Waldeck, sovereign until1918, was higher than the Duke of Arenberg, head of amediatized family, although Herzog is nominally a highertitle than Fürst). However, former holders of higher titlesin extant monarchies retained their relative rank, i.e., aqueen dowager of Belgium outranks the reigning Princeof Liechtenstein. Members of a formerly sovereign ormediatized house rank higher than the nobility. Amongthe nobility, those whose titles derive from the Holy Ro-man Empire rank higher than the holder of an equivalenttitle granted by one of the German monarchs after 1806.In Austria, nobility titles may no longer be used since1918.[8]

In Switzerland, nobility titles are prohibited and are notrecognized as part of the family name.

2 Corresponding titles betweenlanguages

Below is a comparative table of corresponding royal andnoble titles in various European countries. Quite often, aLatin 3rd declension noun formed a distinctive femininetitle by adding -issa to its base, but usually the 3rd de-clension noun was used for both male and female nobles,except for Imperator and Rex. 3rd declension nouns areitalicized in this chart. See Royal and noble styles to learnhow to address holders of these titles properly.

3 See also• Clergy, Ecclesiastical Addresses, Prince of thechurch

• Courtesy title

• False titles of nobility

• Forms of address in the United Kingdom

• Nobiliary particle

• Petty kingdom

• Royal and noble styles

4 References[1] Loss of sovereignty or fief does not necessarily lead to loss

of title. The position in the ranking table is however ac-cordingly adjusted. The occurrence of fiefs has changedfrom time to time, and from country to country. For in-stance, dukes in England rarely had a duchy to rule.

[2] A duke who is not actually or formerly sovereign, or amember of a reigning or formerly reigning dynasty, suchas British, French, Portuguese, Spanish and most Italiandukes, is a non-dynastic noble ranking above a marquis.

[3] Ruling of the Court of the Lord Lyon (26/2/1948, Vol.IV, page 26): “With regard to the words 'untitled nobility'employed in certain recent birthbrieves in relation to the(Minor) Baronage of Scotland, Finds andDeclares that the(Minor) Barons of Scotland are, and have been both in thisnobiliary Court and in the Court of Session recognised asa 'titled nobility' and that the estait of the Baronage (i.e.Barones Minores) are of the ancient Feudal Nobility ofScotland”.

[4] There are actually three Scottish dignities that are types ofa Scottish Baron; these are (in descending order of rank):Scottish feudal Earl, Scottish Feudal Lord, and Scottishfeudal Baron (the general name for the dignity listed aboveamong the ranks of aristocratic gentry).

[5] The meaning of the title Esquire became (and remains)quite diffuse, and may indicate anything from no aristo-cratic status, to some official government civil appoint-ment, or (more historically) the son of a knight or noblewho had no other title above just Gentleman.

[6] In the United States, where there is no nobility, the titleesquire is sometimes arrogated (without any governmentalauthorization) by lawyers admitted to the state bar.

[7] Larence, Sir James Henry (1827) [first published 1824].The nobility of the British Gentry or the political ranks anddignities of the British Empire compared with those on thecontinent (2nd ed.). London: T.Hookham -- Simpkin andMarshall. Retrieved 2013-01-06.

[8] “RIS Dokument”. bka.gv.at.

[9] “Prince” (Prinz in German, Prins in Swedish, Prinssi inFinnish, “Principe” in Spanish) can also be a title of ju-nior members of royal houses. In the British system, forexample, prince is not a rank of nobility but a title heldexclusively by members of the royal family.

[10] Does not confer nobility in the British system.

[11] Non-hereditary. Does not confer nobility in the Britishsystem. See also squire and esquire.

[12] Latin titles are for etymological comparisons. They do notaccurately reflect their medieval counterparts.

[13] The title Markýz was not used in Bohemia and thus re-ferred only to foreign nobility, while the title Markrabě(the same as the German Markgraf) is connected only toa few historical territories (including the former marcheson the borders of the Holy Roman Empire, or Moravia).

[14] Finland accorded the noble ranks of Ruhtinas, Kreivi, Va-paaherra and Aatelinen. The titles Suurherttua, Arkkihert-tua, Vaaliruhtinas, Prinssi, Markiisi, Jaarli, Varakreivi,Paroni, and Baronetti were not granted in Finland, thoughthey are used of foreign titleholders. Keisari, Kuningas,Suuriruhtinas, Prinssi, and Herttua have been used as offi-cial titles of members of the dynasties that ruled Finland,though not granted as titles of nobility. Some feudally-based privileges in landowning, connected to nobily re-lated lordship, existed into the nineteenth century; andfiefs were common in the late medieval and early moderneras. The title Ritari was not commonly used except in thecontext of knightly orders. The lowest, untitled level of

7

hereditary nobility was that of the “Aatelinen” (i.e. “no-ble”).

[15] No noble titles were granted after 1906 when the unicam-eral legislatures (Eduskunta) were established, remov-ing the constitutional status of the so-called First Estate.However, noble ranks were granted in Finland until 1917(there, the lowest, untitled level of hereditary nobility was“Aatelinen”, or “noble"; it was in essence a rank, not atitle).

[16] In central Europe, the title of Fürst or kníže (e.g. Fürstvon Liechtenstein) ranks below the title of a duke (e.g.Duke of Brunswick). The title of Vizegraf was not usedin German-speaking countries, and the titles of Ritter andEdler were not commonly used.

[17] In the German system by rank approximately equal toLandgraf and Pfalzgraf.

[18] The “vitéz” title was introduced in Hungary after 1920.In preceding ages simply meant a warrior or a courageousman.

[19] In keeping with the principle of equality among noblemen,no noble titles (with few exceptions) below that of princewere allowed in Poland. The titles in italics are simplyPolish translations of western titles which were granted tosome Polish nobles by foreign monarchs, especially afterthe partitions. Instead of hereditary titles, the Polish no-bility developed and used a set of titles based on officesheld. See "szlachta" for more info on Polish nobility.

[20] In Portugal, a baron or viscount who was a "grandee ofthe kingdom” (Portuguese: Grandes do Reino) was calleda “baron with grandness” (Portuguese: Barão com Gran-deza) or “viscount with grandness” (Portuguese: Viscondecom Grandeza); each of these grandees was ranked asequal to a count.

[21] For domestic Russian nobility, only the titles Kniaz andBoyar were used before the 18th century, when Graf wasadded.

5 External links• Hereditary titles

• Unequal and Morganatic Marriages in German Law

• Noble, Princely, Royal, and Imperial Titles

• British noble titles

• Fake titles

8 6 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

6 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

6.1 Text• Royal and noble ranks Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_and_noble_ranks?oldid=676275247 Contributors: Andres, John K,

Lord Emsworth, Mackensen, Jni, Robbot, Altenmann, Romanm, Halibutt, Kallgan, Zumbo, Kpalion, AdamJacobMuller, Piotrus, Emax,Avihu, Kevin Rector, Thorwald, Mapple, Gonzalo Diethelm, -jkb-, Joaopais, Man vyi, Kvaks, Poli, Pedro Aguiar, David de Cooman,Deacon of Pndapetzim, Stephan Leeds, Cosal, Nuno Tavares, Woohookitty, Mazca, Tabletop, RicJac, Waldir, BD2412, Choess, Le Anh-Huy, WhyBeNormal, Xerex, Bgwhite, EamonnPKeane, RussBot, Danbarnesdavies, DanMS, Stijn Calle, Countakeshi, Alex43223, Ral-lette, Baranxtu, Roitr, SmackBot, Charles, KnowledgeOfSelf, Kimon, Kintetsubuffalo, Gilliam, The Gnome, Betacommand, Bluebot,Cush, Jprg1966, Hibernian, Colonies Chris, Metallurgist, Cplakidas, Sahil.amin, Esrever, Osteck, Phuzion, Lucio Di Madaura, JoeBot,CmdrObot, Rwflammang, Pelagus~enwiki, Imladjov, Gogo Dodo, Ameliorate!, PKT, JamesAM, Suedois, Widefox, Fayenatic london,JAnDbot, Gazilion, Demophon, Magioladitis, Mclay1, TheCormac, Berig, Al-Iskandar Tzaraath, Schmloof, FlieGerFaUstMe262, Jamesy-Wamesy, R'n'B, Manu rocks, Neutron Jack, McSly, Bundesamt, HighKing, Nuvy, VolkovBot, Firstorm, Philip Trueman, TXiKiBoT,Yellow-lab, Kww, SEJustice, Mazarin07, Dirkbb, Solicitr, J.M.Domingo, TheAncientEmperor, Lastingwar, Pacemanscoop, RobertBlack-nut, Marcinjeske, Tomas e, SchreiberBike, L.smithfield, MasterOfHisOwnDomain, DumZiBoT, Jackowaco, XLinkBot, Facts707, Fact-Straight, Addbot, Paul Davidson, MissingNo38, Download, AnnaFrance, Kajaro, TriniMuñoz, Не А, Yobot, TaBOT-zerem, AnomieBOT,Cantanchorus, ArthurBot, Enok, Lele giannoni, Mttll, MerlLinkBot, Reignerok, Kevin Cousins, BlaF, DrilBot, Buddhaamaatya, Hock-eyninja101, The History Ninja, Qwertyuiop1994, NKanngaz, Tamsier, Nora lives, Fatih Demirci, AlexanderCharlote, Lotje, İki2bucuk,777sms, John of Reading, WikitanvirBot, GoingBatty, TuHan-Bot, Iñaki Salazar, Uwman84, Zoupan, ClueBot NG, Nisetpdajsankha,Widr, Swansnic, Electriccatfish2, SlaveShip, Bibliographe, Doglover0415, PhnomPencil, MusikAnimal, Davidiad, Cold Season, Aco-Car, Pskelkar74, Formidable Moi, Mogism, Isarra (HG), MajorLaky, Faizan, I am One of Many, Perjanik13, Jodosma, Dunbog, Str123,Maatyn, Samatict, Sam Sailor, SJ Defender, F.gerschler, Count robertdjacoby, Thegreatmuka, CecyWiki, Malus20o, Kariemil, Qordnlrns,Aude9331, Hyfjtc, WyattAlex, KasparBot and Anonymous: 260

6.2 Images• File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: ? Contributors: ? Originalartist: ?

• File:Princely_Hat.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Princely_Hat.svg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Con-tributors: This vector image includes elements that have been taken or adapted from this: <a href='//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Crown_of_prince_of_the_Holy_Roman_Empire.svg' class='image'><img alt='Crown of prince of the Holy Roman Empire.svg'src='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Crown_of_prince_of_the_Holy_Roman_Empire.svg/22px-Crown_of_prince_of_the_Holy_Roman_Empire.svg.png' width='22' height='20' srcset='https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Crown_of_prince_of_the_Holy_Roman_Empire.svg/32px-Crown_of_prince_of_the_Holy_Roman_Empire.svg.png 1.5x,https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/Crown_of_prince_of_the_Holy_Roman_Empire.svg/43px-Crown_of_prince_of_the_Holy_Roman_Empire.svg.png 2x' data-file-width='140' data-file-height='130' /></a> Crown of prince of the Holy RomanEmpire.svg. Original artist: Tom Lemmens

• File:Turban_helmet_Met_04.3.211.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Turban_helmet_Met_04.3.211.jpg License: CC BY 2.5 Contributors: Marie-Lan Nguyen Original artist: ?

6.3 Content license• Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0