Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The theoretical distinction between a marquess and other titles has, since the Middle Ages, faded into obscurity. In times past, the distinction between a count and a marquess was that the land of a marquess, called a march, was on the border of the country, while a count's land, called a county, often was not. As a result of this, a marquess ...
The ranks of the English peerage are, in descending order, duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron. While most newer English peerages descend only in the male line, many of the older ones (particularly older baronies) can descend through females.
Marquess, Margrave, or Marquis (literally "Count of a March" (=Border territory)) was the ruler of a marquessate, margraviate, or march. The female equivalent is Marchioness, Margravine, or Marquise. Grand Župan, a more influential Župan. Landgrave (literally "Land Count"), a German title, ruler of a landgraviate (large / provincial territory).
The genuine marquess as a peer, however, is always "The Most Honourable The Marquess of [X]", to differentiate a marquess by courtesy (i.e., the heir to a dukedom) from a marquess in his own right. The spelling of the title in a few older Scottish cases is "Marquis", particularly when the title was created prior to the formation of the Kingdom ...
For premium support please call: 800-290-4726 more ways to reach us
Marquess comes from the French marquis, which is a derivative of marche or march. This is a reference to the borders ('marches') between England, Scotland, and Wales, a relationship more evident in the feminine form, Marchioness. The first marquess in a peerage of the British Isles was created in 1385.
The son of the current Duke of Northumberland has the courtesy title of Earl Percy, and is addressed and referred to as "Lord Percy".. If a peer of one of the top three ranks of the peerage (a duke, a marquess or an earl) has more than one title, his eldest son – himself not a peer – may use one of his father's lesser titles "by courtesy".
A few nobles in southern Austria and northern Italy, whose suzerain was the Emperor, received from him the title of margrave, usually translated in Italian as marquis (marchese): [2] those who reigned as virtual sovereigns (Marquis of Mantua, Marquis of Montferrat, Marquis of Saluzzo, Marquis of Fosdinovo) exercised authority closer to the ...