Peerage

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The term Peerage as used within the Imperial Nobility refers to the collective body of all Imperial Nobility holding their titles directly from the Emperor, and who are therefore considered "Peers" or "having parity with" or "being on a par with" the Emperor, thus having both the right and privilege to sit in the Imperial Moot and give him counsel. The Baronage generally falls immediately below the Imperial Peerage in precedence, although it overlaps that body in regard to those members of the Imperial Baronage who are Landed Imperial Barons.


Description[edit]

A Peer is defined in Imperial Law as a member of the Imperial Nobility, the dignity of whose title derives from its original creation or elevation by the Emperor as a member of the Imperial Baronage as a Landed Imperial Baron, or as an Imperial Noble with the rank of Marquis or higher. Baronets created by the Emperor (as opposed to an Archduke) as a Landed Imperial Baronet are also accorded voting rights in the Moot though not normally otherwise being considered Peers. Archdukes are occasionally granted the privilege of creating Barons for their own needs - such Barons rank with but behind Imperial Barons, but are not normally considered Peers. [1]

Barons and Baronets collectively belong to separate bodies refered to as Baronages based upon the Realm of the Overlord to whom their fealty is due. The Peerage and the Imperial Baronage thus partially overlap.

Peers accused of Treason may only be tried in the Imperial High Court.

History & Background[edit]

Historically, the term "Peerage" arose in regard to certain members of noble aristocracies in the Ancient Anglic dialects (or English) in the Western Eurasian region of ancient pre-Industrial Terra. As the aristocratic social structures of the era evolved, some bodies of nobility or subsets thereof 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, whether due to land-tenure, or real or perceived cultural and social power, or economic realities brought about due to changing social structures in general. As the upper-classes continued to evolve, members of other social classes and backgrounds became more prominent in the social fabric and began to rise in prominence due to changed circumstances, and in some cases it was found desirable to have their input at meetings of deliberative bodies before the king, while in others it was still considered meaningful to make a distinction between those who could stand before the king freely as compared to those who merely had social prominence.

It thus became desirable under the varying customs of differing kingdoms to establish in whom the sovereign placed special trust and confidence (or in some cases those who by right could demand such a position by prior royal agreement, often imposed by the will of a body of nobility upon the sovereign if he desired to retain their cooperation). The nobles belonging to such a body were therefore considered to be "Peers", or "having parity with", or "being on a par with" the sovereign and thus having both the right and privilege to sit in deliberation with him and "parley" with both him and one another in a "Parlement" [sic] and give the King counsel. In some traditions the particle suffix "-pair" was appended to the nobiliary title to otherwise specify or highlight the distinction.

See also[edit]

Imperial Nobility

§ == ( Please refer to the following AAB Library Data for more information: ) == §

Imperial Nobility

The Imperial Household:
The High Nobility (Peerage):
The Peerage:
The Baronage:
The Gentry: Untitled Nobility & Genteel Commoners:

Third Imperium


References & Contributors (Sources)[edit]

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.
  1. Andrea VallanceDonald McKinneyGregory P. LeeJames KundertRobert Eaglestone. "Nobility in the Third Imperium (Part One)." Imperiallines 7 (2015): 4-7.