Baronage
The term Baronage as used within the Imperial Nobility refers to the collective body of all Barons and Baronets swearing allegiance to a particular feudal overlord. The Baronage generally falls between the Imperial Gentry and the Imperial Peerage in precedence, although it overlaps the latter body.
Description[edit]
The body of Baronets and Barons created by a particular feudal overlord constitute the "Baronage" of that overlord's realm of authority. Baronets, and in some instances Barons, are created by both Archdukes and the Emperor within the Third Imperium.[1] There are thus a total of eight Baronages: one for each of the seven Domains associated with the Archdukes that oversee them, as well as the Imperial Baronage associated with those Barons and Baronets created directly by the Emperor as Emperor.
Baronet is a special form of Baron normally awarded by an Archduke of one of the Domains of the Imperium, though they may also be created by the Emperor directly as Emperor as an "Imperial Baronet". Baronets rank below Barons in seniority and precedence.[2] Barons can be created and assigned by either the Iridium Throne or, in some parts of the Imperium, by the Archdukes of Domains [1]. Those Barons created by an Archduke are officially ranked below those created by the Emperor, but are usually recommended for Imperial appointment[1]. They are not normally considered to be Peers in the Imperial Moot, though they may have voting rights in more regional Domain assemblies.
Local Planetary Nobility who are world-rulers are sometimes granted a Barony associated with their world if they do not possess a higher Imperial title of their own both as a courtesy and in order to give them a stake in the ruling of the Imperium, and non-ruling Local Nobility are sometimes granted a Baronetcy in order to grant them some measure of off-world prestige. Senior Imperial Admirals and Generals are also often granted the honor title of Baron without a fief or duties if they achieve their rank without having acquired any other title, whereas lower-ranking "fighting Admirals" are often made Baronets.
History & Background[edit]
Historically, the term "Baronage" arose in the Ancient Anglic dialects (or English) in the Western Eurasian region of ancient pre-Industrial Terra to refer generically to those landowners and warlords who held and owned land outright as opposed to holding it by grant from another, with the exception only of the King who by right was the overlord of all lands by definition. The term "Baron" was thus in origin not a title, but a general class descriptor of social position, regardless of the amount of land or prestige held, the holders being simply referred to as a "Hlaford" from ancient "Hlaf-weard" ("Loaf-warden", or "defender of the granary"), later worn down into the term "Lord". All "Lords" were thus members of the Baronage, great and small, holding their position by land-tenure. Certain positions of authority (such as "Earl" or "Comes" (Count) - the title for the Governorship of a Royal City - and his lieutenant, steward, and overseer of judicial affairs, the "Vice-Comes", or "Viscount" (called a "Sheriff" or "Shire-reeve" - from a "Reeve" or local official - in some localities) were Royal appointments that one need be a member of the Baronage in order to qualify for, but were otherwise non-hereditary, and not necessarily life-appointments. As time wore on, ambitious members of the baronage were able to effectively secure hereditary appointments to these positions for their heirs, and thus effectively created new "titles" of nobility that were ranked above mere members of the baronage without such distinctions.
As the aristocratic social structure evolved, bodies of nobility were able to demand certain rights and privileges be respected by the king, including the approval of proposed taxation and the right to give counsel on certain classes of legal decisions and war. As the nobility continued to evolve, the concept of nobility being tied exclusively to land-tenure began to change as well, as members of other social classes and backgrounds became more prominent in the social fabric and it was found desirable to have their input at various meetings of parliamentary bodies before the king. Initially as a corollary consequence of summons to such parliaments (i.e. by definition, to sit in parliament one had to be a member of the baronage - thus the "Writ of Summons" served as sufficient proof of claim), and later by direct "Letters Patent" of the sovereign, kings began to create nobles of varying ranks as they chose for their own purposes, and barony by land tenure began to fade into the background, the dignity of nobility now inhering within the individual rather than the land held.
In later times, a new social distinction among the highest levels of the ranks of the gentry, or untitled nobility, arose known as the Baronet, or "little baron". Members of the "Baronetage" were not Barons, nor were they generally considered "Peers" or proper titled nobles, but rather the highest rung of the Untitled Nobility or Gentry, essentially an "Hereditary Senior Knighthood" belonging to its own class outside the Chivalric Orders and at the same time standing above the Orders.
The term "Baronet" was revived in the Third Imperium under Emperor Artemsus upon the establishment of the Domains and the creation of the High Landed Archdukes. The Baronet title was introduced explicitly as a title (along with Knighthoods and later (in some instances) Lesser Barons) that could be granted by Domain Archdukes in order to create personal retainers for their own needs. While some consider the Baronets of the modern Imperial social structure to be included among the Untitled Nobility as "Hereditary Senior Knighthoods" for historical reasons (and thus members of the Imperial Gentry), Baronets within the Third Imperium are more properly a type of junior Baron and thus belong to the Baronages rather than independent Baronetages. Nevertheless, Barons as a whole do not belong to the Imperial Peerage, but rather only the Landed Imperial Barons are numbered among that body, with Landed Imperial Baronets being accorded voting rights within the Moot in order to represent their associated worlds as a courtesy while otherwise not officially being accounted members of the Peerage.
See also[edit]
Imperial Nobility
- The Imperial Household:
- The High Nobility (Peerage):
- 2a. Archduke / Archduchess // Kibarad (Kharhii), "Apkallu Kibrat Arban"
- 2b. Grand Duke / Grand Duchess // Saarpuhii
- 3a. Subsector Duke / Subsector Duchess // Saarpuhii
- 3b. Duke / Duchess // Saarpuhii, (Archaic: Sarriiu)
- The Peerage:
- 4a. Count / Countess or Contessa // Shakkan(a)khu, "Shak", (Archaic: Sarriiu)
- 4b. Viscount / Viscountess // Kankhu, Sarriiu, (Archaic: Shakkankhu)
- 5a. Marquis / Marchioness or Marquesa // Sarriiu, (Archaic: Kankhu)
- The Baronage:
- 6a. Baron / Baroness // Iishakku
- 6b. Baronet / Baronetess // Iishakkunek
- The Gentry: Untitled Nobility & Genteel Commoners:
- 7 . Knight / Dame // Kiduunuuzi
- 8a. Imperial Gentry: Esquire
- 8b. Imperial Gentry: Gentlebeing (Gentleman / Gentlewoman)
Third Imperium
- Government
- Imperial Government
- Imperial Leadership
- Imperial Law
- Imperial Symbols
- Demographics
References[edit]
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- Lester Smith. Milieu 0 (Imperium Games, 1996), 47, 59.
- Loren Wiseman. Nobles (Steve Jackson Games, 2004), 16.
- Andrea Vallance, Donald McKinney, Gregory P. Lee, James Kundert, Robert Eaglestone. "Nobility in the Third Imperium (Part One)." Imperiallines 7 (2015): 4-7.
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Andrea Vallance, Donald McKinney, Gregory P. Lee, James Kundert, Robert Eaglestone. "Nobility in the Third Imperium (Part One)." Imperiallines 7 (2015): 4-7.
- ↑ John Harshman, Marc Miller, Loren Wiseman. Library Data (N-Z) (Game Designers Workshop, 1982), .