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Hochgeboren
Hochgeboren (, "high-born"; la, illustrissimus) is a form of address for the titled members of the German and Austrian nobility, ranking just below the sovereign and mediatised dynasties. The actual address is ''"Euer" Hochgeboren''. It is the proper form of address for counts (''Grafen'') that are neither heirs to mediatised families of the Holy Roman Empire (counts of the Holy Roman Empire or ''Reichsgrafen'') nor families who have been bequeathed higher predicate by the Emperor. By courtesy, barons (''Freiherr'') belonging to old houses of the ''Uradel'' are also addressed in the same way. The correct term for immediate counts (''Reichsgrafen'') is ''Erlaucht'' ("Illustrious Highness"),"Scarcely inferior in dignity to the Austro-Hungarian princes or Fürst are the members of those Comital Houses or Grafen the chiefs of which, by a decision of the Austrian Emperor, have right to the title of "Most Illustrious Count" (Erlaucht)." Constantin von Wurzbach, ''Biographisches Lexik ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wohlgeboren
Wohlgeboren (, "well-born") was a form of address for the lowest ranks of German nobility. The Latin version of this term is "''spectabilis''". German usage The actual address was ''(Euer) Wohlgeboren'', it is the proper form of address for a ''Vogt'' or ''Büttel'' Swedish usage "Välborne" for untitled Swedish nobility and "högvälborne" for counts and barons. Higher form of address The title should not be confused with the following, in order of increasing rank: :- ''(Euer) Hochwohlgeboren'' (lit. ''highly well-born''), the form of address for German barons (''Freiherren''), nobles (''Edle'') and knights (''Ritter'') ; :- ''(Euer) Hochgeboren'' (lit. ''high-born), the proper form of address for members of the titled German nobility, ranking just below the sovereign and mediatised dynasties; :- ''Erlaucht'' (''Illustrious Highness''), the correct address for those German immediate counts ('' Reichsgrafen'') who are heirs of mediatised families of the Holy Roman Empire; :- ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hochwohlgeboren
Hochwohlgeboren (, "High Well-born"; la, magnificus) is an honorific and manner of address for members of the nobility in some parts of Europe. German This form of address originally had connections with the ability of a ''Freiherr'' (Baron) to bequeath a family coat of arms and to hold landed property as allodial instead of a fief. The actual address is ''Euer Hochwohlgeboren'' ("Your High Well-born") and is the correct form of address not only German ''Freiherren'' but also ''Ritter'' and ''Edle''. The title should not be confused with ''(Euer) Hochgeboren''. This title ranks higher than ''Hochwohlgeboren'' and is the style of mediate ''Grafen'' (''mediate Counts''; immediate counts or ''Reichsgrafen'' are entitled to the address ''Erlaucht'') and those ''Freiherren'' descending from the mediæval ''Uradel''. Another honorific title was ''(Euer) Wohlgeboren'' which ranked lower than Hochwohlgeboren and was claimed by Bourgeois notables. In the 19th century it became custo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Nobility
The German nobility (german: deutscher Adel) and royalty were status groups of the medieval society in Central Europe, which enjoyed certain privileges relative to other people under the laws and customs in the German-speaking area, until the beginning of the 20th century. Historically, German entities that recognized or conferred nobility included the Holy Roman Empire (962–1806), the German Confederation (1814–1866) and the German Empire (1871–1918). Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in the German Empire had a policy of expanding his political base by ennobling rich businessmen who had no noble ancestors. The nobility flourished during the dramatic industrialization and urbanization of Germany after 1850. Landowners modernized their estates, and oriented their business to an international market. Many younger sons were positioned in the rapidly growing national and regional bureaucracies, as well as in the military. They acquired not only the technical skills but the necessary ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Austrian Nobility
The Austrian nobility (german: österreichischer Adel) is a status group that was officially abolished in 1919 after the fall of Austria-Hungary. The nobles are still part of Austrian society today, but they no longer retain any specific privileges. Austria's system of nobility was very similar to Germany's (see German nobility), as both countries were previously part of the Holy Roman Empire (962–1806). Any noble living in the Habsburg-ruled lands, and who owed allegiance to the dynasty and therefore to the Emperor, was also considered part of the Austrian aristocracy. This applied to any member of the Bohemian, Hungarian, Polish, Croatian, and other nobilities in the Habsburg dominions. Attempting to differentiate between ethnicities can be difficult, especially for nobles during the eras of the Holy Roman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian monarchy (1867–1918). A noble from Galicia, for instance, such as the Count Jordan-Rozwadowski (see section "Noble titles" below un ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erlaucht
His/Her Illustrious Highness (abbreviation: H.Ill.H.) is the usual English-language translation for ''Erlaucht'', a style historically attributed to certain members of the European aristocracy. It is not a literal translation, as the German word for "Highness" is ''Hoheit'', a higher style that appertained to sovereign dukes and other royalty. Usage Ancient "Illustrious Highness" is used to translate the Middle High German word ''Erlaucht'' (german: erleuchtet) eventually borne by Imperial counts, similar to the later ''Durchlaucht'' ("Serene Highness") which was reserved for the ''Reichsfürsten'' (Princes of the Holy Roman Empire). Modern From the Early modern period, the style ''Erlaucht'' has been used by the members of those comital families ('' Reichsgrafen'') who, like the ''Reichsfürsten'', held the status of Imperial immediacy. They retained it even after the German Mediatisation of 1802/03, confirmed by the Bundesversammlung of the German Confederation in 1828. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 until the twelfth century, the Empire was the most powerful monarchy in Europe. Andrew Holt characterizes it as "perhaps the most powerful European state of the Middle Ages". The functioning of government depended on the harmonic cooperation (dubbed ''consensual rulership'' by Bernd Schneidmüller) between monarch and vassals but this harmony was disturbed during the Salian Dynasty, Salian period. The empire reached the apex of territorial expansion and power under the House of Hohenstaufen in the mid-thirteenth century, but overextending led to partial collapse. On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the List of Frankish kings, Frankish king Charlemagne as Carolingi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Duke
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked below princess nobility and grand dukes. The title comes from French ''duc'', itself from the Latin ''dux'', 'leader', a term used in republican Rome to refer to a military commander without an official rank (particularly one of Germanic or Celtic origin), and later coming to mean the leading military commander of a province. In most countries, the word ''duchess'' is the female equivalent. Following the reforms of the emperor Diocletian (which separated the civilian and military administrations of the Roman provinces), a ''dux'' became the military commander in each province. The title ''dux'', Hellenised to ''doux'', survived in the Eastern Roman Empire where it continued in several contexts, signifying a rank equivalent to a captai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
German Mediatisation
German mediatisation (; german: deutsche Mediatisierung) was the major territorial restructuring that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany and the surrounding region by means of the mass mediatisation and secularisation of a large number of Imperial Estates. Most ecclesiastical principalities, free imperial cities, secular principalities, and other minor self-ruling entities of the Holy Roman Empire lost their independent status and were absorbed into the remaining states. By the end of the mediatisation process, the number of German states had been reduced from almost 300 to just 39. In the strict sense of the word, mediatisation consists in the subsumption of an immediate () state into another state, thus becoming ''mediate'' (), while generally leaving the dispossessed ruler with his private estates and a number of privileges and feudal rights, such as low justice. For convenience, historians use the term ''mediatisation'' for the entire restructuring process that to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ritter
Ritter (German for "knight") is a designation used as a title of nobility in German-speaking areas. Traditionally it denotes the second-lowest rank within the nobility, standing above "Edler" and below "Freiherr" (Baron). As with most titles and designations within the nobility in German-speaking areas, the rank was hereditary and generally was used with the nobiliary particle of von or zu before a family name. For its historical association with warfare and the landed gentry in the Middle Ages, the title of Ritter can be considered roughly equal to the titles of "Knight", but it is hereditary like the British title of "Baronet". The wife of a Ritter was called a "Frau" (in this sense "Lady") and not Ritterin. In heraldry, from the late 18th century a Ritter was often indicated by the use of a coronet with five points, although not everyone who was a Ritter and displayed arms made use of such a coronet. In the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary the title of "Ritter von" was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freiherr
(; male, abbreviated as ), (; his wife, abbreviated as , literally "free lord" or "free lady") and (, his unmarried daughters and maiden aunts) are designations used as titles of nobility in the German-speaking areas of the Holy Roman Empire and in its various successor states, including Austria, Prussia, Bavaria, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, etc. Traditionally, it denotes the titled royal and noble ranks, rank within the nobility above ' (knight) and ' (nobility without a specific title) and below ' (count, count, earl). The title superseded the earlier medieval form, '. It corresponds approximately to the English ''baron'' in rank. The Duden orthography of the German language references the French nobility title of ''Baron'', deriving from the latin-germanic combination ''liber baro'' (which also means "free lord"), as corresponding to the German "Freiherr"; and that ''Baron'' is a corresponding salutation for a ''Freiherr''.Duden; Definition of ''Baron, der'' (in German)/ref> ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Counts
Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility.L. G. Pine, Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1992. p. 73. . The etymologically related English term "county" denoted the territories associated with the countship. Definition The word ''count'' came into English from the French language, French ''comte'', itself from Latin ''comes''—in its Accusative case, accusative ''comitem''—meaning “companion”, and later “companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor”. The adjective form of the word is "Wikt:comital, comital". The Great Britain, British and Ireland, Irish equivalent is an earl (whose wife is a "countess", for lack of an English language, English term). In the late Roman Empire, the Latin title ''comes'' denoted the high rank of various courtiers and provincial officials, either milit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viscount
A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial position, and did not develop into a hereditary title until much later. In the case of French viscounts, it is customary to leave the title untranslated as vicomte . Etymology The word ''viscount'' comes from Old French (Modern French: ), itself from Medieval Latin , accusative of , from Late Latin "deputy" + Latin (originally "companion"; later Roman imperial courtier or trusted appointee, ultimately count). History During the Carolingian Empire, the kings appointed counts to administer provinces and other smaller regions, as governors and military commanders. Viscounts were appointed to assist the counts in their running of the province, and often took on judicial responsibility. The kings strictly prevented the offices of their coun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
