![Earls Procession to Parliament](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Earls_Procession_to_Parliament.jpg)
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
n form ''
jarl
Jarl is a rank of the nobility in Scandinavia. In Old Norse, it meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. ''Jarl'' could also mean a sovereign prince. For example, the rulers of several of the petty k ...
'', and meant "
chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. After the
Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...
, it became the equivalent of the continental
count
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. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
(in England in the earlier period, it was more akin to a
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 ran ...
; in Scotland, it assimilated the concept of
mormaer). Alternative names for the rank equivalent to "earl" or "count" in the nobility structure are used in other countries, such as the ''
hakushaku
The was the hereditary peerage of the Empire of Japan, which existed between 1869 and 1947. They succeeded the feudal lords () and court nobles (), but were abolished with the Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitution.
Kazoku (wikt:華族, 華 ...
'' (伯爵) of the post-restoration
Japanese Imperial era
The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent forma ...
.
In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the
peerage
A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks.
Peerages include:
Australia
* Australian peers
Belgium
* Belgi ...
, ranking below a
marquess
A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...
and above a
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 ...
.
A feminine form of ''earl'' never developed; instead, ''countess'' is used.
Etymology
The term ''earl'' has been compared to the name of the
Heruli, and to runic ''
erilaz ''Erilaz'' or ''Erilaʀ'' is a Migration period Proto-Norse word attested on various Elder Futhark inscriptions, which has often been interpreted to mean " magician" or "rune master",* viz. one who is capable of writing runes to magical effect. How ...
''.
Proto-Norse ''eril'', or the later
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
, came to signify the rank of a leader.
In Anglo-Saxon Britain, the term Ealdorman was used for men who held the highest political rank below King. Over time the Danish ''eorl'' became substituted for Ealdorman, which evolved into the modern form of the name.
The
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
-derived equivalent ''count'' (from Latin ) was not introduced following the
Norman conquest of England
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...
though ''countess'' was and is used for the female title. Geoffrey Hughes writes, "It is a likely speculation that the
Norman French
Norman or Norman French (, french: Normand, Guernésiais: , Jèrriais: ) is a Romance language which can be classified as one of the Oïl languages along with French, Picard and Walloon. The name "Norman French" is sometimes used to descri ...
title 'Count' was abandoned in England in favour of the Germanic 'Earl'
precisely because of the uncomfortable
phonetic
Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...
proximity to
cunt
''Cunt'' () is a vulgar word for the vulva or vagina. It is used in a variety of ways, including as a term of disparagement. Reflecting national variations, ''cunt'' can be used as a disparaging and obscene term for a woman in the United Stat ...
".
In the other languages of Great Britain and Ireland, the term is translated as:
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
,
Irish and
Scottish Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...
,
Scots , or ,
Cornish .
History
England
Anglo-Saxon period
![Earldoms of Anglo-Saxon England](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Earldoms_of_Anglo-Saxon_England.svg)
In
Anglo-Saxon England
Anglo-Saxon England or Early Medieval England, existing from the 5th to the 11th centuries from the end of Roman Britain until the Norman conquest in 1066, consisted of various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until 927, when it was united as the Kingdom o ...
, the
ealdorman
Ealdorman (, ) was a term in Anglo-Saxon England which originally applied to a man of high status, including some of royal birth, whose authority was independent of the king. It evolved in meaning and in the eighth century was sometimes applied ...
was appointed by the
English king to be the chief officer in a
shire
Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the beginn ...
. He commanded the local
fyrd and presided with the bishop of the
shire court
A Shire court, or moot was an Anglo-Saxon legal institution, used to maintain law and order at a local level, and perform various administrative functions, including the collection of taxes for the central government.
The system originated in Wess ...
. As compensation, he received the
third penny—one-third of the profits of royal justice and one-third of the revenues from
boroughs
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
under his jurisdiction. By the late 900s, ealdormen often controlled multiple shires at once. During
Cnut
Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norwa ...
's reign (1016–1035), they became known as earls (from
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
meaning "noble"). He divided the kingdom into four earldoms:
Wessex,
East Anglia
East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...
,
Mercia
la, Merciorum regnum
, conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia
, common_name=Mercia
, status=Kingdom
, status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex ()
, life_span=527–918
, era=Heptarchy
, event_start=
, date_start=
, ye ...
, and
Northumbria
la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum
, conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria
, common_name = Northumbria
, status = State
, status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...
. Earls were governors or
viceroy
A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning "k ...
s, ruling in the king's name, keeping the peace, dispensing justice, and raising armies. Like the earlier ealdormen, they received the third penny from their jurisdictions. There were, however, limitations on their authority. They could not mint coins or hold their own courts, and in theory, they could be removed by the king. In rank, earls were below the king and above
thegns, they were therefore the king's chief counselors in the
Witan. Earls were an "élite within an élite", numbering at most 25 men at any one time between 1000 and 1300.
When
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066.
Edward was the son of Æth ...
() came to the throne, he inherited the royal estates of
Harthacnut
Harthacnut ( da, Hardeknud; "Tough-knot"; – 8 June 1042), traditionally Hardicanute, sometimes referred to as Canute III, was King of Denmark from 1035 to 1042 and King of the English from 1040 to 1042.
Harthacnut was the son of King ...
but lacked family lands of his own. As a result, the earls collectively possessed more land than the king, especially
Earl Godwin
Godwin of Wessex ( ang, Godwine; – 15 April 1053) was an English nobleman who became one of the most powerful earls in Kingdom of England, England under the Denmark, Danish king Cnut the Great (King of England from 1016 to 1035) and his succ ...
of Wessex. In 1066, according to the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
, the Godwin family estates were valued at £7,000,
Earl Leofric of Mercia at £2,400, and
Earl Siward of Northumbria at £350. In comparison, the king's lands were valued at £5,000. This concentration of land and wealth in the hands of the earls, and one earl in particular, weakened the Crown's authority. The situation was reversed when Godwin's son
Harold
Harold may refer to:
People
* Harold (given name), including a list of persons and fictional characters with the name
* Harold (surname), surname in the English language
* András Arató, known in meme culture as "Hide the Pain Harold"
Arts a ...
became king, and he was able to restore the Crown's authority.
Post-Conquest
![Odo bayeux tapestry detail](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Odo_bayeux_tapestry_detail.jpg)
The
Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...
of 1066 introduced a new
Anglo-Norman Anglo-Norman may refer to:
*Anglo-Normans, the medieval ruling class in England following the Norman conquest of 1066
*Anglo-Norman language
**Anglo-Norman literature
*Anglo-Norman England, or Norman England, the period in English history from 1066 ...
aristocracy that gradually replaced the old Anglo-Saxon elite. In Normandy, the equivalent of an earl was a
count
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. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...
. In 1066, there were three counts in the
Duchy of Normandy:
Richard of Évreux,
Robert of Eu, and
Robert of Mortain
Robert, Count of Mortain, 2nd Earl of Cornwall (–) was a Norman nobleman and the half-brother (on their mother's side) of King William the Conqueror. He was one of the very few proven companions of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hasti ...
. In Normandy, counts were junior members of the Norman dynasty with responsibility for guarding border regions. Elsewhere in France, the definition and powers of counts varied widely. Some counts were nearly independent rulers who gave only nominal loyalty to the
King of France
France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the Kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions.
Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I () as the first ...
.
William I
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 ...
() reduced the size of earldoms; those created after 1071 had responsibility for one shire. Like Norman counts, earls became military governors assigned to vulnerable border or coastal areas. To protect the
Welsh Marches
The Welsh Marches ( cy, Y Mers) is an imprecisely defined area along the border between England and Wales in the United Kingdom. The precise meaning of the term has varied at different periods.
The English term Welsh March (in Medieval Latin ...
, the king made
Roger de Montgomery the
Earl of Shrewsbury and
Hugh d'Avranches
Hugh d'Avranches ( 1047 – 27 July 1101), nicknamed ''le Gros'' (the Large) or ''Lupus'' (the Wolf), was from 1071 the second Norman Earl of Chester and one of the great magnates of early Norman England.
Early life and career
Hugh d'Avra ...
the
Earl of Chester (see
Marcher Lord
A Marcher lord () was a noble appointed by the king of England to guard the border (known as the Welsh Marches) between England and Wales.
A Marcher lord was the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman Empire) or a marquis (in F ...
). Likewise, the king's half-brother
Odo of Bayeux
Odo of Bayeux (died 1097), Earl of Kent and Bishop of Bayeux, was the maternal half-brother of William the Conqueror, and was, for a time, second in power after the King of England.
Early life
Odo was the son of William the Conqueror's mother ...
was made
Earl of Kent to guard the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
. After the
Revolt of the Earls
The Revolt of the Earls in 1075 was a rebellion of three earls against William I of England (William the Conqueror). It was the last serious act of resistance against William in the Norman Conquest.
Cause
The revolt was caused by the king's refu ...
in 1075, only four earldoms remained, all held by
Anglo-Normans
The Anglo-Normans ( nrf, Anglo-Normaunds, ang, Engel-Norðmandisca) were the medieval ruling class in England, composed mainly of a combination of ethnic Normans, French, Anglo-Saxons, Flemings and Bretons, following the Norman conquest. A sm ...
: Kent, Shrewsbury, Chester, and Northumbria. This number was reduced to three after 1082 when Odo of Bayeux was arrested and deprived of Kent. At the death of
William Rufus in 1100, there were five earldoms: Chester, Shrewsbury,
Surrey
Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...
(or Warrenne),
Warwick
Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...
, and
Huntingdon
Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...
–
Northampton
Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...
. In 1122,
Henry I Henry I may refer to:
876–1366
* Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936)
* Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955)
* Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018)
* Henry I of France (1008–1060)
* Henry I the Long, Margrave of the No ...
made his
illegitimate son
Robert
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
the
Earl of Gloucester.
After the Conquest, new earldoms tended to be named for the city and castle in which they were based. However, some titles became attached to the family name rather than location. For example, the holder of the
earldom of Surrey
Earl of Surrey is a title in the Peerage of England that has been created five times. It was first created for William de Warenne, a close companion of William the Conqueror. It is currently held as a subsidiary title by the Dukes of Norfol ...
was more commonly called "Earl Warenne". The same was true of the
earldom of Buckingham
The peerage title Earl of Buckingham was created several times in the Peerage of England. It is not to be confused with the title of Earl of Buckinghamshire.
It was first created in 1097 for Walter Giffard, 1st Earl of Buckingham, Walter Giffard, ...
, whose holder was called "Earl Gifford". These earls may have preferred to be known by family names that were older and more prestigious than their newer territorial designations.
Stephen and Matilda
The number of earls rose from seven in 1135 to twenty in 1141 as King
Stephen () created twelve new earls to reward supporters during
the Anarchy
The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Normandy between 1138 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adelin, the only legiti ...
, the civil war fought with his cousin
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda ( 7 February 110210 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as ...
for the English throne. In 1138, Stephen created eight new earldoms.
Waleran de Beaumont, who was already
Count of Meulan
The county of Meulan, in Normandy, France, appeared as an entity within the region of the Vexin when the otherwise unknown Count Waleran established an independent power base on a fortified island in the River Seine, around the year 1020. Waleran' ...
in Normandy and the twin brother of the
2nd Earl of Leicester, was made
Earl of Worcester. Their younger brother
Hugh de Beaumont was made
Earl of Bedford.
Gilbert de Clare was made
Earl of Pembroke, and his nephew, also named
Gilbert de Clare, was made
Earl of Hertford.
William de Aumale was made
Earl of York and
Robert de Ferrers was made
Earl of Derby as rewards for their service during the
Battle of the Standard
The Battle of the Standard, sometimes called the Battle of Northallerton, took place on 22 August 1138 on Cowton Moor near Northallerton in Yorkshire, England. English forces under William of Aumale repelled a Scottish army led by King David ...
.
William d'Aubigny was made
Earl of Lincoln
Earl of Lincoln is a title that has been created eight times in the Peerage of England, most recently in 1572. The title was borne by the Duke of Newcastle, Dukes of Newcastle-under-Lyne from 1768 to 1988, until the dukedom became extinct.
Earl ...
, and
William de Roumare was made
Earl of Cambridge. In 1140, William de Roumare was given the earldom of Lincoln in exchange for Cambridge, and William d'Aubigny received the
Earldom of Sussex (commonly known as Arundel). The same year,
Geoffrey de Mandeville was made
Earl of Essex
Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new cre ...
, and his is the oldest surviving charter of creation. Around the same time,
Hugh Bigod was made
Earl of Norfolk.
In February 1141, Stephen was captured at the
Battle of Lincoln, and Empress Matilda elected "Lady of the English" in April. At this time, she created three earldoms for her own supporters. Her illegitimate brother
Reginald de Dunstanville
Reginald de Dunstanville (c. 1110 – 1 July 1175) (''alias'' Reginald FitzRoy, Reginald FitzHenry, Rainald, etc., ''French:'' Renaud de Donstanville or de Dénestanville) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman and an illegitimate son of King Henry I (1100 ...
was made
Earl of Cornwall.
Baldwin de Redvers was made
Earl of Devon, and
William de Mohun,
lord of Dunster, was made
Earl of Somerset
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particular ...
.
Aubrey de Vere was made
Earl of Oxford
Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, first created for Aubrey de Vere by the Empress Matilda in 1141. His family was to hold the title for more than five and a half centuries, until the death of the 20th Earl in 1703. ...
in 1142. Sometime around 1143, Matilda's constable
Patrick of Salisbury
Patrick of Salisbury, 1st Earl of Salisbury ( 11221168) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman, and the uncle of the famous William Marshal.
His parents were Walter of Salisbury and Sibyl de Chaworth. Before 1141, Patrick was constable of Salisbury, a po ...
was made
Earl of Salisbury.
During the Anarchy, earls took advantage of the power vacuum to assume Crown rights. Robert of Gloucester, Patrick of Salisbury,
Robert of Leicester, and
Henry of Northumbria all minted their own coinage. Earls and
barons had also built
adulterine castles (castles built without royal permission).
Plantagenets
![Hedingham Castle - panoramio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Hedingham_Castle_-_panoramio.jpg)
It fell to Stephen's successor
Henry II () to again curtail the power of earls. He confiscated or demolished illegal castles. He reduced the number of earldoms by allowing them to die with their holders and did not create new ones. During his reign, "the title became a mark of rank, rather than a substantive office: the real power lay with the king's sheriffs and justices."
The real power possessed by any individual earl in this period depended on the amount of land and wealth he possessed that could be translated into patronage and influence. The more land and resources concentrated in a region, the more influence an earl had. The most powerful were the earls of Chester, who by the middle of the 13th century were described as
earls palatine
In England, Wales and Ireland a county palatine or palatinate was an area ruled by a hereditary nobleman enjoying special authority and autonomy from the rest of a kingdom. The name derives from the Latin adjective ''palātīnus'', "relating t ...
. Their power derived from owning most of the land in Cheshire. As a result, the shire court and the earl's
honour court were identical, and the sheriff answered to the earl. The
Earl of Oxford
Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, first created for Aubrey de Vere by the Empress Matilda in 1141. His family was to hold the title for more than five and a half centuries, until the death of the 20th Earl in 1703. ...
, however, possessed less than an acre of land in Oxfordshire (most of his land was in Essex), and therefore possessed no power in the county.
An earldom along with its land was inherited generally according to
primogeniture
Primogeniture ( ) is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relativ ...
. If the only heirs were female, then the land would be partitioned equally between co-heirs with the eldest co-heir receiving the title. In 1204,
Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester
Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester (died circa 21 October 1204) ( Latinized to ''de Bellomonte'' ("from the beautiful mountain")) was an English nobleman, the last of the Beaumont earls of Leicester. He is sometimes known as Robert FitzPe ...
, died without children. His heirs were his sisters,
Amice
The amice is a liturgical vestment used mainly in the Roman Catholic church, Western Orthodox church,
Lutheran church, some Anglican, Armenian and Polish National Catholic churches.
Description
The amice consists of a white cloth connected to two ...
and Margaret. Amice's son,
Simon de Montfort, succeeded as Earl of Leicester, and Margaret's husband,
Saer de Quincy, was created the
Earl of Winchester
Earl of Winchester was a title that was created three times in the Peerage of England during the Middle Ages. The first was Saer de Quincy, who received the earldom in 1207/8 after his wife inherited half of the lands of the Beaumont earls of Le ...
in 1207. This was the first new hereditary earldom created since the reign of Stephen.
In 1227,
Henry III () granted his
justiciar
Justiciar is the English form of the medieval Latin term ''justiciarius'' or ''justitiarius'' ("man of justice", i.e. judge). During the Middle Ages in England, the Chief Justiciar (later known simply as the Justiciar) was roughly equivalent ...
and
chief minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
,
Hubert de Burgh, the earldom of Kent. The terms of inheritance, however, were unprecedented: the earldom was to pass to Hubert's son by his third wife
Margaret of Scotland, thereby passing over his eldest son by his first wife. It may have been thought that Margaret's royal blood made her children more worthy of inheritance.
By the 13th century earls had a social rank just below the king and princes, but were not necessarily more powerful or wealthier than other noblemen. The only way to become an earl was to inherit the title or to marry into one—and the king reserved a right to prevent the transfer of the title. By the 14th century, creating an earl included a special public ceremony where the king personally tied a sword belt around the waist of the new earl, emphasizing the fact that the earl's rights came from him.
Earls still held influence and, as "companions of the king", generally acted in support of the king's power. They showed their own power prominently in 1327 when they deposed King
Edward II
Edward II (25 April 1284 – 21 September 1327), also called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1307 until he was deposed in January 1327. The fourth son of Edward I, Edward became the heir apparent to t ...
. They would later do the same with other kings of whom they disapproved. In 1337
Edward III
Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...
declared that he intended to create six new earldoms.
An earldom became, with a few exceptions, the default rank of the peerage to which a former
prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
was elevated. However, the last prime minister to accept an earldom was
Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as "Supermac", he ...
, who became
Earl of Stockton in 1984.
Ireland
The first Irish earldom was the
Earl of Ulster
The title of Earl of Ulster has been created six times in the Peerage of Ireland and twice in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since 1928, the title has been held by the Duke of Gloucester and is used as a courtesy title by the Duke's eld ...
, granted to the Norman knight
Hugh de Lacy Hugh de Lacy may refer to:
* Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Lassy (c.1020–1085), first recorded member of the Norman noble family de Lacy
* Hugh de Lacy, Lord of Meath (died 1186), 4th Baron Lacy
* Hugh de Lacy, Abbot of Shrewsbury (died c. 1215/18)
*Hug ...
in 1205 by
John, King of England and
Lord of Ireland
The Lordship of Ireland ( ga, Tiarnas na hÉireann), sometimes referred to retroactively as Norman Ireland, was the part of Ireland ruled by the King of England (styled as "Lord of Ireland") and controlled by loyal Anglo-Norman lords between ...
. Other early earldoms were
Earl of Carrick (1315),
Earl of Kildare (1316),
Earl of Desmond
Earl of Desmond is a title in the peerage of Ireland () created four times. When the powerful Earl of Desmond took arms against Queen Elizabeth Tudor, around 1578, along with the King of Spain and the Pope, he was confiscated from his estates, s ...
(1329) and
Earl of Waterford
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Old Norse, Scandinavian form ''jarl'', and meant "Germanic ch ...
(1446, extant).
After the
Tudor reconquest of Ireland (1530s–1603), native
Irish kings
This page serves as an index of lists of kings of the Gaelic kingdoms of Ireland of the Early Medieval period.
*List of High Kings of Ireland
*Kings of Ailech
*Kings of Airgíalla
*Kings of Brega
*Kings of Breifne
*Kings of Connacht
*Kings of Dá ...
and clan chiefs were encouraged to submit to the English king (now also
King of Ireland
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
) and were, in return, granted noble titles in the
Peerage of Ireland. Notable among those who agreed to this policy of "
surrender and regrant" were
Ulick na gCeann Burke, 1st Earl of Clanricarde
Ulick na gCeann Burke, 12th Clanricarde or Mac William Uachtar, 1st Earl of Clanricarde (; ; ; ; died 1544; styled MacWilliam, and na-gCeann, meaning "of the Heads", "having made a mount of the heads of men slain in battle which he covered up w ...
,
Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Thomond,
Donald McCarthy, 1st Earl of Clancare
Donald McCarthy Mór, 1st Earl of Clancare (died 1596) was the eldest surviving son of Donald MacCormac Ladrach MacCarthy Mor. He was the last King of Desmond. He married Lady Honora FitzGerald, daughter of James FitzGerald, 13th Earl of Desmond ...
,
Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell,
Randal MacDonnell, 1st Earl of Antrim and
Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone. The earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell later rebelled against the crown and were forced to flee Ireland in 1607; their departure, along with about ninety followers, is famed in Irish history as the
Flight of the Earls, seen as the ultimate demise of native Irish monarchy.
Ireland became part of the United Kingdom in 1801, and the last Irish earldom was created in 1824. The
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
does not recognise titles of nobility.
Notable later Irish earls include Jacobite leader
Patrick Sarsfield, 1st Earl of Lucan; Postmaster General
Richard Trench, 2nd Earl of Clancarty; Prime Minister
William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne (later made a
marquess
A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...
) and the (alleged) murderer
John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan
Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (born 18 December 1934 – disappeared 8 November 1974, declared dead 3 February 2016), commonly known as Lord Lucan, was a British peer who disappeared after being suspected of murder. He was an Anglo- ...
.
Scotland
![Earl coronation robes](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Earl_coronation_robes.jpg)
The oldest earldoms in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
(with the exception of the
Earldom of Dunbar and March
The title Earl of Dunbar, also called Earl of Lothian or Earl of March, was the head of a comital lordship in south-eastern Scotland between the early 12th century and the early 15th century. The first man to use the title of Earl in this earldom ...
) originated from the office of
mormaer, such as the
Mormaer of Fife,
of Strathearn, etc.; subsequent earldoms developed by analogy. The principal distinction between earldom and mormaer is that earldoms were granted as
fief
A fief (; la, feudum) 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 Lord, overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a for ...
s of the King, while mormaers were virtually independent. The ''earl'' is thought to have been introduced by the
anglophile
An Anglophile is a person who admires or loves England, its people, its culture, its language, and/or its various accents.
Etymology
The word is derived from the Latin word ''Anglii'' and Ancient Greek word φίλος ''philos'', meaning "frien ...
king
David I. While the power attached to the office of earl was swept away in England by the Norman Conquest, in Scotland earldoms retained substantial powers, such as
regality
A regality was a territorial jurisdiction in old Scots law which might be created by the King or Queen only, by granting lands to a subject ''in liberam regalitatem'', and the tract of land over which such a right extended.
A lord of regality h ...
throughout the Middle Ages.
It is important to distinguish between the land controlled directly by the earl, in a landlord-like sense, and the region over which he could exercise his office. Scottish use of Latin terms ''provincia'' and ''comitatus'' makes the difference clear. Initially these terms were synonymous, as in England, but by the 12th century they were seen as distinct concepts, with ''comitatus'' referring to the land under direct control of the earl, and ''provincia'' referring to the province; hence, the ''comitatus'' might now only be a small region of the ''provincia''. Thus, unlike England, the term ''county'', which ultimately evolved from the Latin ''comitatus'', was not historically used for Scotland's main political subdivisions.
Sheriff
A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...
s were introduced at a similar time to earls, but unlike England, where sheriffs were officers who implemented the decisions of the shire court, in Scotland they were specifically charged with upholding the king's interests in the region, thus being more like a
coroner
A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into Manner of death, the manner or cause of death, and to investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...
. As such, a parallel system of justice arose, between that provided by magnates (represented by the earls), and that by the king (represented by sheriffs), in a similar way to England having both
Courts Baron and
Magistrate
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...
s, respectively. Inevitably, this led to a degree of
forum shopping, with the king's offering - the Sheriff - gradually winning.
As in England, as the centuries wore on, the term ''earl'' came to be disassociated from the office, and later kings started granting the title of ''earl'' without it, and gradually without even an associated ''comitatus''. By the 16th century there started to be earls of towns, of villages, and even of isolated houses; it had simply become a label for marking status, rather than an office of intrinsic power. In 1746, in the aftermath of the
Jacobite rising
, war =
, image = Prince James Francis Edward Stuart by Louis Gabriel Blanchet.jpg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = James Francis Edward Stuart, Jacobite claimant between 1701 and 1766
, active ...
, the
Heritable Jurisdictions Act brought the powers of the remaining ancient earldoms under the control of the sheriffs; ''earl'' is now simply a noble rank.
Wales
Some of the most significant Earls (
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
: ''ieirll'', singular ''iarll'') in Welsh history were those from the West of England. As Wales remained independent of any Norman jurisdiction, the more powerful Earls in England were
encouraged to invade and establish effective "
buffer states
A buffer state is a country geographically lying between two rival or potentially hostile great powers. Its existence can sometimes be thought to prevent conflict between them. A buffer state is sometimes a mutually agreed upon area lying between t ...
" to be run as
autonomous lordships. These
Marcher Lords
A Marcher lord () was a noble appointed by the king of England to guard the border (known as the Welsh Marches) between England and Wales.
A Marcher lord was the English equivalent of a margrave (in the Holy Roman Empire) or a marquis (in Fra ...
included the earls of
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...
,
Gloucester
Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...
,
Hereford
Hereford () is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, south-west of Worcester and north-west of Gloucester. With a population ...
,
Pembroke and
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...
(see also
English Earls of March).
The first Earldoms created within Wales were the
Lordship of Glamorgan
The Lordship of Glamorgan was one of the most powerful and wealthy of the Welsh Marcher Lordships. The seat was Cardiff Castle. It was established by the conquest of Glamorgan from its native Welsh ruler, by the Anglo-Norman nobleman Robert FitzHa ...
(a comital title) and the
Earldom of Pembroke
Earl of Pembroke is a title in the Peerage of England that was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title, which is associated with Pembroke, Pembrokeshire in West Wales, has been recreated ten times from its origin ...
.
Tir Iarll (English: ''Earl's land'') is an area of
Glamorgan
, HQ = Cardiff
, Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974)
, Origin=
, Code = GLA
, CodeName = Chapman code
, Replace =
* West Glamorgan
* Mid Glamorgan
* South Glamorgan
, Motto ...
, which has traditionally had a particular resonance in
Welsh culture
The culture of Wales (Welsh: ''Diwylliant Cymru'') is distinct, with its own language, customs, politics, festivals, music and Art. Wales is primarily represented by the symbol of the red Welsh Dragon, but other national emblems include the leek ...
.
Coronet
![Coronet of a British Earl](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Coronet_of_a_British_Earl.svg)
A British earl is entitled to a
coronet bearing eight
strawberry
The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...
leaves (four visible) and eight
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
balls (or
pearl
A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...
s) around the rim (five visible). The actual coronet is rarely, if ever, worn except at the
coronation
A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a coronation crown, crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the ...
of a new monarch, but in
heraldry
Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branch ...
an earl may bear his coronet of rank on his
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
above the shield.
Forms of address
An earl has the title ''Earl of
' when the title originates from a placename, or ''Earl
' when the title comes from a surname. In either case, he is referred to as ''
Lord
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or ar ...
', and his wife as ''
Lady
The word ''lady'' is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Inform ...
'. A countess who holds an earldom in her own right also uses ''Lady
', but her husband does not have a title (unless he has one in his own right).
The eldest son of an earl, though not himself a
peer, is entitled to use a
courtesy title
A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but rather is used through custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title).
In some co ...
, usually the highest of his father's lesser titles (if any). For instance, the eldest son of The
Earl of Wessex is styled as
James, Viscount Severn
James Alexander Philip Theo Mountbatten-Windsor, Viscount Severn (born 17 December 2007) is the younger child of Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Forfar, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Forfar. He is the youngest grandchild of Elizabeth II ...
. The eldest son of the eldest son of an earl is entitled to use one of his grandfather's lesser titles, normally the second-highest of the lesser titles. Younger sons are styled ''The Honourable''
'Forename'' 'Surname'' and daughters, ''The Lady''
'Forename'' 'Surname''(
Lady Diana Spencer
Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
being a well-known example).
There is no difference between the courtesy titles given to the children of earls and the children of countesses in their own right, provided the husband of the countess has a lower rank than she does. If her husband has a higher rank, their children will be given titles according to his rank.
In the peerage of Scotland, when there are no courtesy titles involved, the heir to an earldom, and indeed any level of peerage, is styled ''Master of
', and successive sons as ''The Honourable
irstname Surname'.
List of earldoms
In fiction
Earls have appeared in various works of fiction.
Notes
References
Works cited
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
* Morris, Marc (December 2005)
"The King's Companions" ''History Today''.
{{British royal titles
Men's social titles
Noble titles
Peerage