International Nobility
Noble and cadet:
- Archduke, ruler of an archduchy; was generally only a sovereign rank when used by the rulers of Austria; it was also used by the Habsburgs of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire for members of the imperial family; it was also used for those ruling some Habsburg territories such as those that became the modern BeNeLux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg) nations.
- Grand Prince, ruler of a grand principality; a title primarily used in the medieval Russian principalities; it was also used by the Romanovs of the Russian Empire for members of the imperial family.
- Duke, ruler of a duchy,also for junior members of ducal and some grand ducal families.
- Prince, Prinz in German; junior members of a royal, ducal or princely family (the title of Fürst for heads of princely families and sometimes all members, e.g. Wrede.
- Dauphin, title of the crown prince of the royal family of France
- Infante, title of the cadet members of the royal families of Portugal and Spain.
- Elector, Kurfürst in German, a rank for those who voted for the Holy Roman Emperor, usually sovereign of a state (e.g. the Margrave of Brandenburg, an elector, called the Elector of Brandenburg)
- Marquess, Margrave, or Marquis was the ruler¹ of a marquessate, margraviate, or march.
- Landgrave, a German title, ruler of a landgraviate.
- Count, theoretically the ruler of a county; known as an Earl in modern Britain.
- Viscount (vice-count), theoretically the ruler of a viscounty or viscountcy.
- Freiherr, holder of an allodial barony – these are "higher" level of barons.
- Baron, theoretically the ruler of a barony – some barons in some countries may have been "free barons" (liber baro) and as such, regarded (themselves) as higher barons.
Aristocratic:
- Baronet is an hereditary title ranking below Baron but above Knight; this title is granted only in the British Isles.
- Dominus was the Latin title of the feudal, superior and mesne, lords, and also an ecclesiastical and academical title (equivalent of Lord)
- Vidame, a minor French aristocrat.
- Seigneur or Knight of the Manor rules a smaller local fief.
- Knight is the basic rank of the aristocratic system.
- Patrician is an Italian title of nobility ranking between that of a knight and an esquire; it was only granted in the Italian aristocratic city republics
- Fidalgo or Hidalgo is a minor Portuguese and Spanish aristocrat. (respectively; from filho d'algo = filho d'alguém = son of someone [noble])
- Nobile (aristocracy) is an Italian title of nobility for prestigious families that never received a title.
- Principalía the aristocratic class of Filipino nobles, through whom the Spanish Monarchs ruled the Philippines during the colonial period (c. 1600's to 1898)
- Jonkheer is a title for prestigious Dutch families that never received a title, so instead a new title was invented; Though these titles have no claim to a territory, city, or province in the Netherlands, they are basically claiming a good family name; A woman who holds this title is called a Jonkvrouw, though the wife of a Jonkheer is a Mevrouw or sometimes Freule, which could also be used by daughters of the same.
- Esquire is a rank of gentry originally derived from Squire and indicating the status of an attendant to a knight or an apprentice knight; it ranked below Knight but above Gentleman.
- Gentleman is the basic rank of gentry, historically primarily associated with land or manorial lords; within British Commonwealth nations it is also roughly equivalent to some lower nobility of some continental European nations.
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