External Ornaments Duke and Peer of France and Knight of the Royal Orders

The Peerage of France () was a hereditary distinction within the

French nobility The French nobility () was an Aristocracy, aristocratic social class in France from the France in the Middle Ages, Middle Ages until its abolition on 23 June 1790 during the French Revolution. From 1808 to 1815 during the First French Empire, ...

which appeared in 1180 during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

. The prestigious title and position of Peer of France () was held by the greatest, highest-ranking members of the French nobility. French peerage thus differed from

British peerage A Peerage is a form of The Crown, crown distinction, with Peerages in the United Kingdom comprising both hereditary title, hereditary and life peer, lifetime titled appointments of various Imperial, royal and noble ranks, ranks, which form ...

(to whom the term "baronage", also employed as the title of the lowest noble rank, was applied in its generic sense), for the vast majority of French nobles, from baron to duke, were not peers. The title of ''Peer of France'' was an extraordinary honour granted only to a small number of dukes, counts, and princes of the Roman Catholic Church. It was analogous to the rank of

Grandee of Spain Grandee (; , ) is an official royal and noble ranks, aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the , though in neither country did they ha ...

in this respect. The distinction was abolished in 1789 during the French Revolution, but it reappeared in 1814 at the time of the

Bourbon Restoration Bourbon Restoration may refer to: France under the House of Bourbon: * Bourbon Restoration in France (1814, after the French revolution and Napoleonic era, until 1830; interrupted by the Hundred Days in 1815) Spain under the Spanish Bourbons: * Ab ...

, which followed the fall of the

First French Empire The First French Empire or French Empire (; ), also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from ...

, when the Chamber of Peers was given a constitutional function somewhat along British lines which lasted until the

Revolution of 1848 The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

. On 10 October 1831, by a vote of 324 against 26 of the Chamber of Deputies, hereditary peerages were abolished, but peerages for the life of the holder continued to exist until the chamber and rank were definitively abolished in 1848. Following the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

shortly before the French Revolution, some Canadian titles in the peerage of France came under the control of the British crown. All but one of these have either become extinct, or fallen into abeyance as their holders remained loyal to the French crown. The

Baron de Longueuil Baron de Longueuil () is a title of French nobility that was granted originally by King Louis XIV of France to a Norman military officer, Charles le Moyne de Longueuil. Its continuing recognition since the cession of Canada by France to Britai ...

holds the only French title of nobility that still exists today, as continued under the

monarchy of Canada The monarchy of Canada is Canada's Government#Forms, form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is one of the key components of Canadian sovereignty and sits at the core of Canadian federalism, Canada's cons ...

The words ' and '

The French word ' is equivalent to the English "

peerage A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes Life peer, non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted Imperial, royal and noble ranks, noble ranks. Peerages include: A ...

". The individual title, ' in French and "peer" in English, derives from the Latin ', "equal". The main uses of the word refer to two historical traditions in the French kingdom, before and after the

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

. The word also exists to describe an institution in the

Crusader states The Crusader states, or Outremer, were four Catholic polities established in the Levant region and southeastern Anatolia from 1098 to 1291. Following the principles of feudalism, the foundation for these polities was laid by the First Crusade ...

. Some etymologists posit that the French (and English) word ''

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

'', taken from the Latin ', also derives from the Latin '. Such a derivation would fit the early sense of "baron", as used for the whole peerage and not simply as a noble rank below the comital rank.

Under the Monarchy: feudal period and '

Medieval French kings conferred the dignity of a peerage on some of their pre-eminent

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

s, both clerical and lay. Some historians consider

Louis VII Louis VII (1120 – 18 September 1180), called the Younger or the Young () to differentiate him from his father Louis VI, was King of France from 1137 to 1180. His first marriage was to Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, one of the wealthiest and ...

(1137–1180) to have created the French system of peers. A peerage was attached to a specific territorial jurisdiction, either an

episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...

for episcopal peerages or a

fief A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

for secular ones. Peerages attached to fiefs were transmissible or inheritable with the fief, and these fiefs are often designated as ' (for duchies) or ' (for counties). The original number of peers in the Middle Ages was twelve: # Archbishop-Duke of Reims, premier peer # Bishop-Duke of Laon # Bishop-Duke of Langres # Bishop-Count of Beauvais # Bishop-Count of Châlons # Bishop-Count of Noyon #

Duke of Normandy In the Middle Ages, the duke of Normandy was the ruler of the Duchy of Normandy in north-western France. The duchy arose out of a grant of land to the Viking leader Rollo by the French king Charles the Simple in 911. In 924 and again in 933, N ...

Duke of Aquitaine The duke of Aquitaine (, , ) was the ruler of the medieval region of Aquitaine (not to be confused with modern-day Aquitaine) under the supremacy of Frankish, English, and later French kings. As successor states of the Visigothic Kingdom ( ...

, also called Duke of Guyenne #

Duke of Burgundy Duke of Burgundy () was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by the Crown lands of France, French crown in 1477, and later by members of the House of Habsburg, including Holy Roman E ...

Count of Flanders The count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders, beginning in the 9th century. Later, the title would be held for a time, by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. During the French Revolution, in 1790, the c ...

Count of Champagne The count of Champagne was the ruler of the County of Champagne from 950 to 1316. Champagne evolved from the County of Troyes in the late eleventh century and Hugh I was the first to officially use the title count of Champagne. Count Theobal ...

Count of Toulouse The count of Toulouse (, ) was the ruler of Toulouse during the 8th to 13th centuries. Originating as vassals of the Frankish kings, the hereditary counts ruled the city of Toulouse and its surrounding county from the late 9th century until 12 ...

According to

Matthew Paris Matthew Paris, also known as Matthew of Paris (; 1200 – 1259), was an English people, English Benedictine monk, English historians in the Middle Ages, chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts, and cartographer who was based at St A ...

, the Duke of Normandy and Duke of Aquitaine ranked above the Duke of Burgundy. However, given that the first two were absorbed into the crown early in the recorded history of the peerage, the Duke of Burgundy has become the premier lay peer. In their heyday, the Dukes of Normandy were undoubtedly the mightiest vassals of the French crown. The constitution of the peerage first became important in 1202, for the court that would try

King John of England John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Empi ...

in his capacity as vassal of the French crown. Based on the principle of trial by peers, a court wishing to acquire jurisdiction over John had to include persons deemed to be of equal rank to him in his capacity as either Duke of Aquitaine or Normandy. None of the peers had been specified, but since John's trial required the presence of the peers of France, it can be said that the first two peerages identifiable in the documents would be the duchies of Aquitaine and Normandy. In 1216, Erard of Brienne claimed the County of Champagne through the right of his wife,

Philippa of Champagne Philippa of Champagne () ( – 20 December 1250) was the third daughter of Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem and Count Henry II of Champagne. She was the wife of Erard de Brienne-Ramerupt, who encouraged her in 1216 to claim the county of Champagne wh ...

. Again this required the peers of France, so the County of Champagne is also a peerage. Six of the other peers were identified in the charter — the archbishop of Reims, the bishops of Langres, Chalons, Beauvais and Noyon, and the Duke of Burgundy. The tenth peerage that could be identified in the documents is the County of Flanders, in 1224. In that year John de Nesle entered a complaint against Joan of Flanders; the countess responded that she could only be cited by a peer. The absence of the two remaining peers in the documents of this era can be explained thus: the bishop of Laon had only been recently elected at the time the other ecclesiastical peers were mentioned, in 1216, and probably not yet consecrated; the Count of Toulouse, on the other hand, is a heretic. Thus, though there had been differences in the dates of the identification of the twelve peers, they were probably instituted simultaneously and their identities were known to their contemporaries. These twelve peerages are known as the 'ancient peerage' or ', and the number twelve is sometimes said to have been chosen to mirror the twelve

paladin The Paladins, also called the Twelve Peers (), are twelve legendary knights, the foremost members of Charlemagne's court in the 8th century. They first appear in the medieval (12th century) ''chanson de geste'' cycle of the Matter of France, wh ...

s of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

in the ' (see below). Parallels may also be seen with the mythical

Knights of the Round Table The Knights of the Round Table (, , ) are the legendary knights of the fellowship of King Arthur that first appeared in the Matter of Britain literature in the mid-12th century. The Knights are a chivalric order dedicated to ensuring the peace ...

under

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

. So popular was this notion that, for a long time, people thought that peerages had originated in the reign of Charlemagne, who was considered a model king and a shining example for knighthood and nobility. The dozen ' played a role in the royal ' or

consecration Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

, during the liturgy of the

coronation A coronation ceremony marks the formal investiture of a monarch with regal power using a crown. In addition to the crowning, this ceremony may include the presentation of other items of regalia, and other rituals such as the taking of special v ...

of the king, attested to as early as 1179, symbolically upholding his crown, and each original peer had a specific role, often with an attribute. Since the peers were never twelve during the coronation in early periods, due to the fact that most lay peerages were forfeited to or merged in the crown, delegates were chosen by the king, mainly from the princes of the blood. In later periods peers also held up by poles a

baldaquin A baldachin, or baldaquin (from ), is a canopy of state typically placed over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over high altars in ca ...

cloth of honour A baldachin, or baldaquin (from ), is a canopy of state typically placed over an altar or throne. It had its beginnings as a cloth canopy, but in other cases it is a sturdy, permanent architectural feature, particularly over high altars in ca ...

over the king during much of the ceremony. This paralleled the arch-offices attached to the electorates, the even more prestigious and powerful first college in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

, the other heir of

's Frankish empire. The twelve original peers were divided in two classes, six clerical peers hierarchically above the six lay peers, which were themselves divided in two, three dukes above three counts: {, class="wikitable" , - ! Rank ! Bishops ! Lay , - , width="10%" rowspan="3" align="center" , Dukes , width="33%" align="center" ,

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

, archbishop, premier peer, anoints and crowns the king , width="33%" align="center" ,

Burgundy Burgundy ( ; ; Burgundian: ''Bregogne'') is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. ...

, premier lay peer, bears the crown and fastens the belt , - , width="33%" align="center" ,

Laon Laon () is a city in the Aisne Departments of France, department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History Early history The Ancient Diocese of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held s ...

bears the ' containing the sacred ointment , width="33%" align="center" ,

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

holds the first square banner , - , width="33%" align="center" ,

Langres Langres () is a commune in France, commune in northeastern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Departments of France, department of Haute-Marne, in the Regions of France, region of Grand Est. History As the capital ...

, the only one of the five bishops not in the Reims province, bears the sceptre , width="33%" align="center" ,

Aquitaine Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...

, also called ''Guyenne'' after its refounding, holds the second square banner , - , width="10%" rowspan="3" align="center" , Counts , width="33%" align="center" ,

Beauvais Beauvais ( , ; ) is a town and Communes of France, commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise Departments of France, département, in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, north of Paris. The Communes of France, commune o ...

bears the royal mantle , width="33%" align="center" ,

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

carries the spurs , - , width="33%" align="center" , Châlons bears the royal ring , width="33%" align="center" ,

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

carries the sword , - , width="33%" align="center" ,

Noyon Noyon (; ; , Noviomagus of the Viromandui, Veromandui, then ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, department, Northern France. Geography Noyon lies on the river Oise (river), Oise, about northeast of Paris. The ...

bears the belt , width="33%" align="center" ,

Champagne Champagne (; ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

holds the royal standard In 1204 the

Duchy of Normandy The Duchy of Normandy grew out of the 911 Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between Charles the Simple, King Charles III of West Francia and the Viking leader Rollo. The duchy was named for its inhabitants, the Normans. From 1066 until 1204, as a r ...

was absorbed by the French crown, and later in the 13th century two more of the lay peerages were absorbed by the crown (Toulouse 1271, Champagne 1284), so in 1297 three new peerages were created, the

County of Artois The County of Artois (, , ) was a historic province of the Kingdom of France, held by the Dukes of Burgundy from 1384 until 1477/82, and a state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1493 until 1659. Present-day Artois lies in northern France, near ...

, the

County of Anjou The County of Anjou (, ; ; ) was a French county that was the predecessor to the Duchy of Anjou. Its capital was Angers, and its area was roughly co-extensive with the diocese of Angers. Anjou was bordered by Brittany to the west, Maine, France, ...

and the

Duchy of Brittany The Duchy of Brittany (, ; ) was a medieval feudal state that existed between approximately 939 and 1547. Its territory covered the northwestern peninsula of France, bordered by the Bay of Biscay to the west, and the English Channel to the north. ...

, to compensate for the three peerages that had disappeared. Thus, beginning in 1297 the practice started of creating new peerages by

letters patent Letters patent (plurale tantum, plural form for singular and plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, President (government title), president or other head of state, generally granti ...

, specifying the fief to which the peerage was attached, and the conditions under which the fief could be transmitted (e.g. only male heirs) for princes of the blood who held an

apanage An appanage, or apanage (; ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a monarch, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture (where only the eldest inherits). It was ...

. By 1328 all apanagists would be peers. The number of lay peerages increased over time from 7 in 1297 to 26 in 1400, 21 in 1505, and 24 in 1588. By 1789, there were 43, including five held by princes of the blood (

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Condé,

Bourbon Bourbon may refer to: Food and drink * Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash * Bourbon, a beer produced by Brasseries de Bourbon * Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit * Bourbon coffee, a type of coffee ma ...

Enghien Enghien (; ; ; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1January 2006, Enghien had a total population of 11,980. The total area is , which gives a population density of 295 inhabitants per km2. ...

, and

Conti Conti is an Italian surname. Geographical distribution As of 2014, 63.5% of all known bearers of the surname ''Conti'' were residents of Italy (frequency 1:756), 11.8% of the United States (1:24,071), 9.2% of Brazil (1:17,439), 6.3% of Argentina ...

), (who was the son of a legitimized prince, the

, also a '), and 37 other lay peers, ranking from the Duchy of Uzès, created in 1572, to the

Duchy of Aubigny Duke of Aubigny () is a title that was created in the Peerage of France in 1684. It was granted by King Louis XIV of France to Louise de Kérouaille, the last mistress of King Charles II of England, and to descend to Charles's illegitimate issue ...

, created in 1787. One family could hold several peerages. The minimum age was 25. The majority of new peerages created until the fifteenth century were for royal princes, while new peerages from the sixteenth century on were increasingly created for non-royals. After 1569 no more countships were made into peers, and peerage was exclusively given to duchies ('). Occasionally the ' (') refused to register the letters of patent conferring peerage on them. Apart from the coronation of French kings, the privileges of peers were largely matters of precedence, the titles , ' and the address ', suggesting parentage to the royal family, or at least equivalence, by the King, and a '. This meant that judicial proceedings concerning the peers and their ' were exclusively under the jurisdiction of the Court of Peers. Members of the peerage had also the right to sit in a ', a formal preceding and speak before the ', and they were also given high positions at the court, and a few minor privileges such as entering the courtyards of royal castles in their carriages. While many lay peerages became extinguished over time, as explained above, the ecclesiastical peerages, on the other hand, were perpetual, and only a seventh one was created before the French Revolution, taking precedence behind the six original ones, being created in 1690 for the

Archbishop of Paris The Archdiocese of Paris (; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is one of twenty-three archdioceses in France. The original diocese is traditionally thought to have been created i ...

, after centuries as a mere suffraganage, styled as second ' for he held the Duchy of Saint-Cloud. The expression ' was also sometimes used for groups of nobles within a French fief (e.g. the Prince-Bishop of Cambrai, who held the County of Cambrai, was the overlord of its twelve '). These "peers" did not benefit from the royal privileges listed above. A fanatical defender of the privileges of the peers was the memoirist Louis de Rouvroy, Duke of Saint-Simon, who was neither very wealthy (by ducal standards), nor influential at court, but whose father had been made a peer. Louis XIV tried to promote the status in protocol of his legitimized bastards in various minor respects, and Saint-Simon devotes long chapters of his memoirs to his struggles against this.

Under the First Republic and the First Empire: the Revolutionary and Napoleonic period

The original peerage of the French realm, like other feudal titles of nobility, was abolished during the French Revolution, on the night of August 4, 1789, the Night of the Abolition of Feudalism.

, Emperor of the French from 1804, 'reinvented' the functions of the ', so to speak, as he created in 1806 the exclusive ' (in chief of politically insignificant estates in non-annexed parts of Italy) in 1806 and first recreated the honorary functions at (his own) imperial coronation, but now vested in Great Officers, not attached to fiefs. Napoleon reinstituted French noble titles in 1808 but did not create a system of peerages comparable to the United Kingdom. He did create a House of Peers on his return from Elba in 1815, but the House was not constituted before his abdication at the end of the

Hundred Days The Hundred Days ( ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition (), marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII o ...

(').

Chamber of Peers

The French peerage was recreated by the

Charter of 1814 The French Charter of 1814 was a constitutional text granted by King Louis XVIII of France shortly after the Bourbon Restoration, in the form of a royal charter. The Congress of Vienna demanded that Louis bring in a constitution of some form b ...

with the

, albeit on a different basis from before 1789. A new Chamber of Peers (') was created, similar to the model of the British

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. The Chamber of Peers survived the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Cha ...

of 1830, with some revisions, as the

July Monarchy The July Monarchy (), officially the ''Kingdom of France'' (), was a liberalism, liberal constitutional monarchy in France under , starting on 9 August 1830, after the revolutionary victory of the July Revolution of 1830, and ending 26 Februar ...

Charter of 1830 The Charter of 1830 () instigated the July Monarchy in France. It was considered a compromise between constitutional monarchy, constitutional monarchists and republicanism, republicans. History After three days of protests in July 1830 ...

merely revised rather than overturned the Charter of 1814. Throughout both the Restoration and July Monarchy, the Chamber met in the

Luxembourg Palace The Luxembourg Palace (, ) is at 15 Rue de Vaugirard in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was originally built (1615–1645) to the designs of the French architect Salomon de Brosse to be the royal residence of the regent Marie de' Med ...

. However, the establishment of the

French Second Republic The French Second Republic ( or ), officially the French Republic (), was the second republican government of France. It existed from 1848 until its dissolution in 1852. Following the final defeat of Napoleon, Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle ...

in the

broke cleanly with the 1814 Charter and disbanded the Chamber of Peers definitively, establishing a unicameral

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

Peerage of Jerusalem

The

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was one of the Crusader states established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost two hundred years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1 ...

, the only

crusader state The Crusader states, or Outremer, were four Catholic polities established in the Levant region and southeastern Anatolia from 1098 to 1291. Following the principles of feudalism, the foundation for these polities was laid by the First Crusade ...

equal in rank to such European kingdoms as France (the origin of most of Jerusalem's knights) and England, had a peerage modelled on the French and using the French language.

Charlemagne's twelve peers

In the medieval French ' and material associated with the

Matter of France The Matter of France (), also known as the Carolingian cycle, is a body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with the history of France, in particular involving Charlemagne and the Paladins. The cycle springs from the Old Fr ...

that tell of the exploits of

and his knights—such as ''

The Song of Roland The ''Song of Roland'' () is an 11th-century based on the deeds of the Frankish military leader Roland at the Battle of Roncevaux Pass in AD 778, during the reign of the Emperor Charlemagne. It is the oldest surviving major work of French li ...

''—the elite of the imperial army and Charlemagne's closest advisors were called "The Twelve Peers". The exact names of the peers vary from text to text. In ''The Song of Roland'' (Oxford edition), the peers are:

Roland Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was mil ...

, Olivier, Gerin, Gerier, Berengier, Oton, Samson, Engelier, Ivon, Ivoire, Anseïs, and ''Chanson de Roland'', p. 265. (Charlemagne's trusted adviser Naimes and the warrior-priest Turpin are, however, not included in the 12 peers in this text; neither is

Ganelon In the 11th century Matter of France, Ganelon (, ) is the knight who betrayed Charlemagne's army to the Saracens, leading to the 778 Battle of Roncevaux Pass. His name is said to derive from the Italian word , meaning fraud or deception.Boiardo, ...

the traitor). The number of peers is thought to parallel the

twelve apostles In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. During the life and minist ...

Coats of arms of the Twelve Peers

Notes

References

Citations

Sources

* Richard A. Jackson, "Peers of France and Princes of the Blood", ''

French Historical Studies ''French Historical Studies'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering French history. It publishes articles in English and French. The journal is published by Duke University Press on behalf of the Society for French Historical Stu ...

'', volume 7, number 1 (Spring 1971), pp. 27–46. * ', edited and translated by Ian Short, Paris: ', 1990, . {{refend Bourbon Restoration Peerage

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...