Immemorial nobility
Encyclopedia
Immemorial nobility is nobility
that is established as existing since before normal records of noble title. In its restrictive meaning, it refers to noble families whose origins can be tracked back to the fall of the Roman Empire circa 490. In its more inclusive, and more generally accepted, meaning, it refers to those possessors of feudal nobility that can trace their unbroken possession of rights to time immemorial
.
In many kingdom
s, the oldest houses are considered primus inter pares
, enjoying this rank not by a known royal charter
but by uncontested exercise of the privileges of aristocracy
since time immemorial
, making it unnecessary to establish the circumstances of the original grant.
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
that is established as existing since before normal records of noble title. In its restrictive meaning, it refers to noble families whose origins can be tracked back to the fall of the Roman Empire circa 490. In its more inclusive, and more generally accepted, meaning, it refers to those possessors of feudal nobility that can trace their unbroken possession of rights to time immemorial
Time immemorial
Time immemorial is a phrase meaning time extending beyond the reach of memory, record, or tradition, indefinitely ancient, "ancient beyond memory or record"...
.
In many kingdom
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
s, the oldest houses are considered primus inter pares
Primus inter pares
Primus inter pares is Latin phrase describing the most senior person of a group sharing the same rank or office.When not used in reference to a specific title, it may indicate that the person so described is formally equal, but looked upon as an authority of special importance by their peers...
, enjoying this rank not by a known royal charter
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
but by uncontested exercise of the privileges of aristocracy
Aristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
since time immemorial
Time immemorial
Time immemorial is a phrase meaning time extending beyond the reach of memory, record, or tradition, indefinitely ancient, "ancient beyond memory or record"...
, making it unnecessary to establish the circumstances of the original grant.
Standards by region
The year set as the limit for the earliest record preserved in order to be considered an immemorial noble depends on the traditions of the particular region.- In GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and ScandinaviaScandinaviaScandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
, where records were not kept until relatively recently, the cut-off year is 1400 AD. Nobility who can trace back their noble ancestry at least to the year 1400 are referred to as UradelUradelThe German and Scandinavian term Uradel refers to nobility who can trace back their noble ancestry at least to the year 1400 and probably originates from leadership positions during the Migration Period.-Divisions of German nobility:Uradel : Nobility that originates from leadership positions held...
. - In central Western EuropeWestern EuropeWestern Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
, this nobility consists of those families whose origins go back to the Early Middle AgesEarly Middle AgesThe Early Middle Ages was the period of European history lasting from the 5th century to approximately 1000. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire and preceded the High Middle Ages...
. They include the houses of houses of Zähringen (Baden), BigorreCounty of BigorreThe County of Bigorre was a small feudatory of the Duchy of Aquitaine in the ninth through fifteenth centuries. Its capital was Tarbes.The county was constituted out of the dowry of a Faquilène, an Aquitainian princess, for her husband Donatus Lupus I, the son of Lupus III of Gascony...
, Comminges, Carcassonne, Beziers, FicquelmontHouse of FicquelmontNine-century-old high nobility Lorrainerinct family ranking among the prominent of the Holy Roman Empire, Lorraine, Austria and Hungary, France, Russia and Belgium.-Origins:...
, FoixCounty of FoixThe County of Foix was an independent medieval fief in southern France, and later a province of France, whose territory corresponded roughly the eastern part of the modern département of Ariège ....
, ToulouseCounts of ToulouseThe first Counts of Toulouse were the administrators of the city and its environs under the Merovingians. No succession of such royal appointees is known, though a few names survive to the present...
, RouergueCounts of RouergueThis is a list of the counts of Rouergue.*Gilbert c. 790 – c. 810 or 820*Fulcoald c. 810 or 820 – c. 836 or 849*Raymond I c. 836 or 849 – 864*Fredol c...
, Aurvergne, and BoulogneCount of BoulogneThe county of Boulogne was a historical region in the Low Countries. It consisted of a part of the present-day French département of the Pas-de-Calais , in parts of which there is still a Dutch-speaking minority....
, among others. Many of these families are branches descendant from the Dukes of VasconiaDuchy of VasconiaThe Duchy of Vasconia , or Wasconia, was originally a Frankish march formed by 602 to keep the Basques in check. It comprised the former Roman province of Novempopulania and, at least in some periods, also the lands south of the Pyrenees centred on Pamplona.In the ninth century, civil war within...
and SeptimaniaSeptimaniaSeptimania was the western region of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis that passed under the control of the Visigoths in 462, when Septimania was ceded to their king, Theodoric II. Under the Visigoths it was known as simply Gallia or Narbonensis. It corresponded roughly with the modern...
. This nobility can not be granted nor achieved. - In CataloniaCataloniaCatalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
the immemorial noble houses are those pertaining to the Bellonid DynastyBellonid DynastyThe Bellonids , sometimes called the Bellonid Dynasty, were the counts descendant of the Goth Belló who ruled in Carcassonne, Urgel, Cerdanya, Conflent, Barcelona, and numerous other Catalan and Septimanian counties and marches in the 9th century and whose most famous grandson was Wilfred the...
, whose origins go back to the counts of Gothia, a Frankish marquisate. Wilfred the HairyWilfred the HairyWilfred or Wifred, called the Hairy, was Count of Urgell , Cerdanya , Barcelona , Girona , Besalú , and Ausona ....
, son of Sunifred, Count of Barcelona and grandson of Bello of CarcassonneBello of CarcassonneBello was Count of Carcassonne from 790 until his death. He was the founder of the Bellonid Dynasty of Carcassonne and Razes which reached its apex in Wilfred the Hairy, progenitor of the House of Barcelona....
, is considered the first independent Catalan count. Other immemorial noble families are those descended from the Nou barons de la Fama; the lineages are Alemany, Anglesola, Cervelló, Cervera, Erill, Mataplana, Montcada, Pinós and Ribelles. - In SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, it refers to noble families created during the IberianIberian PeninsulaThe Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
Crusades or ReconquistaReconquistaThe Reconquista was a period of almost 800 years in the Middle Ages during which several Christian kingdoms succeeded in retaking the Muslim-controlled areas of the Iberian Peninsula broadly known as Al-Andalus...
, starting with Pelagius in the Kingdom of AsturiasKingdom of AsturiasThe Kingdom of Asturias was a Kingdom in the Iberian peninsula founded in 718 by Visigothic nobles under the leadership of Pelagius of Asturias. It was the first Christian political entity established following the collapse of the Visigothic kingdom after Islamic conquest of Hispania...
in the early eighth century and CharlemagneCharlemagneCharlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
in the Marca HispanicaMarca HispanicaThe Marca Hispanica , also known as Spanish March or March of Barcelona was a buffer zone beyond the province of Septimania, created by Charlemagne in 795 as a defensive barrier between the Umayyad Moors of Al-Andalus and the Frankish Kingdom....
in the ninth century. In particular, (by virtue of lineageKinshipKinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. And descent groups, lineages, etc. are treated in their own subsections....
) are "those for whom there is no memory of its origin and there is no knowledge of any document mentioning a royal grant, which obscurity is universally praised even more than those noblemen who know otherwise their origin." When challenged, an hidalgo de sangre may obtain a judicial sentence validating his nobility from the Royal Chancillería of ValladolidRoyal Audiencia and Chancillería of ValladolidThe Royal Audiencia and Chancellería of Valladolid was a Spanish judicial institution set up in Valladolid in 1371, with jurisdiction over all of the territories of the Crown of Castile. It was the first Spanish audiencia to be established...
or Granada, if he can prove that it has been accepted local society and custom. In this case, the resulting legal document that verifies his nobility is called a carta ejecutoria de hidalguia (letters patent of nobilityLetters patentLetters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
). A famous, although fictional, example of an hidalgo de sangre is Don Quixote, whose nobility in the novel was described as well-known and immemorial, although it granted Don Quixote no material benefits other than paying no taxes. In contrast, "titled nobility" (which may include grandees, dukes, marquesses, counts among others) held their title because of royal privilege, of which there is a written record; therefore their nobility is not considered immemorial. - In Imperial Russia, a similar category existed, called ("ancient nobility"). It didn't have a set year, but it required tracing your lineage from RurikRurikRurik, or Riurik , was a semilegendary 9th-century Varangian who founded the Rurik dynasty which ruled Kievan Rus and later some of its successor states, most notably the Tsardom of Russia, until 1598....
of Novgorod (see Rurikids) or Gediminas of LithuaniaLithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
(see GediminidsGediminidsThe Gediminids were a dynasty of monarchs of Grand Duchy of Lithuania that reigned from the 14th to the 16th century. One branch of this dynasty, known as the Jagiellons, reigned also in Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Hungary and Kingdom of Bohemia...
). - In EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the threshold for being considered an immemorial noble would be the year 1189, the traditional time immemorialTime immemorialTime immemorial is a phrase meaning time extending beyond the reach of memory, record, or tradition, indefinitely ancient, "ancient beyond memory or record"...
. However, in the Peerage of EnglandPeerage of EnglandThe Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain....
the oldest peerage is the Baron de RosBaron de RosThe title of Baron de Ros of Helmsley is the most ancient baronial title in the Peerage of England. The title of Baron de Ros of Helmsley is the most ancient baronial title in the Peerage of England. The title of Baron de Ros of Helmsley is the most ancient baronial title in the Peerage of England....
, created by writ in 1264. - In IrelandIrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, noble families can, with few exceptions, trace their ancestry back at least to the 4th century AD, with their pedigrees extending still further back but entering the realm of mythology before that time. Most famous are the Uí NéillUí NéillThe Uí Néill are Irish and Scottish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noigiallach , an historical King of Tara who died about 405....
, descendants of Niall of the Nine HostagesNiall of the Nine HostagesNiall Noígíallach , or in English, Niall of the Nine Hostages, son of Eochaid Mugmedón, was an Irish king, the eponymous ancestor of the Uí Néill kindred who dominated Ireland from the 6th century to the 10th century...
, in the north of Ireland, and in the south the EóganachtaEóganachtaThe Eóganachta or Eoghanachta were an Irish dynasty centred around Cashel which dominated southern Ireland from the 6/7th to the 10th centuries, and following that, in a restricted form, the Kingdom of Desmond, and its offshoot Carbery, well into the 16th century...
. In Ireland the titles are the names of the septSept (social)A sept is an English word for a division of a family, especially a division of a clan. The word might have its origin from Latin saeptum "enclosure, fold", or it can be an alteration of sect.The term is found in both Ireland and Scotland...
s themselves, examples being O'Conor DonO'Conor DonThe Ó Conchubhair Donn is the hereditary Prince and Chief of the Name of the Royal Family of Connacht, the Clan Ó Conchubhair.-Overview:...
, MacDermot of CoolavinMacDermotMac Diarmata is an Irish surname, and the surname of the ruling dynasty of Moylurg, a kingdom that existed in Connacht from the 10th to 16th centuries.-Overview:...
, O'Neill of ClanaboyHugo Ricciardi O'NeillHugo Ricciardi O'Neill is the current head of the O'Neill dynasty of Clanaboy, whose family has been in Portugal since the 18th century.-Recognition:...
, O'Donnell of Tyrconnell, O'Kelly of Gallagh and Tycooly, O'Toole of Fer TireO'Toole (family)The O'Tooles of Leinster, one of the leading families of that province, are descended from Tuathal mac Augaire, King of Leinster , who belonged to the Uí Dúnlainge dynasty...
, O'Donovan of ClancahillO'DonovanO'Donovan or Donovan is an Irish surname, as well as a hereditary Gaelic title. It is also written Dhonnabháin in certain grammatical contexts, and Donndubháin, being originally composed of the elements donn, meaning lord or dark brown, dubh, meaning dark or black, and the diminutive suffix án...
, O'Donoghue of the GlensO'Donoghue of the GlensThe O'Donoghue of the Glens , Prince of Glenflesk, is the hereditary chieftain of his sept of the Kerry Eóganacht...
, McGillycuddy of the ReeksMcGillycuddy of the ReeksThe McGillycuddy of the Reeks is one of the hereditary chiefs of the name of Ireland. The current family head is Donough McGillycuddy, who lives in Himeville, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.-Mythology:...
, O'Callaghan of Duhallow, and O'Brien of ThomondBaron InchiquinBaron Inchiquin is one of the older titles in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1543 for Murrough O'Brien, Prince of Thomond, who was descended from the great high king Brian Boru)...
. There are approximately twenty of these Irish noble familiesIrish nobilityThis article concerns the Gaelic nobility of Ireland from ancient to modern times. It only partly overlaps with Chiefs of the Name because it excludes Scotland and other discussion...
remaining, although fewer of the titles, perhaps half, have been in continuous use since the 17th century; this has caused at least one controversy, in the case of Terence Francis MacCarthyTerence Francis MacCarthyTerence Francis MacCarthy , formerly self-styled Tadhg V, The MacCarthy Mór, Prince of Desmond and Lord of Kerslawny, is a genealogist, historian, and writer. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, he is a resident of Morocco...
in 1999. A series of geneticsGeneticsGenetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
papers published in 2004-08 argue that the male-line DNA of these lineages is still traceable in their descendants living today. - In what is today ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
the ancient nobility are actually very few, although many families make claims. The only verifiable are a few Norse-Gaelic families of the Western Isles, which were not part of Scotland when they first appear. The best known are the extensive Clann SomhairleClann SomhairleClann Somhairle refers to those Scottish and Irish dynasties descending from the famous Norse-Gaelic leader Somerled, King of Mann and the Isles. Primarily they are the Clan Donald, formerly known as the Lord of the Isles, and the mainland Clan MacDougall, and all their numerous branches...
, now represented by the High Chief of Clan DonaldClan DonaldClan Donald is one of the largest Scottish clans. There are numerous branches to the clan. Several of these have chiefs recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms; these are: Clan Macdonald of Sleat, Clan Macdonald of Clanranald, Clan MacDonell of Glengarry, Clan MacDonald of Keppoch, and Clan...
.
See also
- Time immemorialTime immemorialTime immemorial is a phrase meaning time extending beyond the reach of memory, record, or tradition, indefinitely ancient, "ancient beyond memory or record"...
- UradelUradelThe German and Scandinavian term Uradel refers to nobility who can trace back their noble ancestry at least to the year 1400 and probably originates from leadership positions during the Migration Period.-Divisions of German nobility:Uradel : Nobility that originates from leadership positions held...
- Spanish nobilitySpanish nobilitySpanish nobles are persons who possess the legal status of hereditary nobility according to the laws and traditions of the Spanish monarchy. A system of titles and honours of Spain and of the former kingdoms that constitute it comprise the Spanish nobility...
- Hidalgo (Spanish nobility)Hidalgo (Spanish nobility)A hidalgo or fidalgo is a member of the Spanish and Portuguese nobility. In popular usage it has come to mean the non-titled nobility. Hidalgos were exempt from paying taxes, but did not necessarily own real property...
- Nobiliary particleNobiliary particleA nobiliary particle is used in a family name or surname in many Western cultures to signal the nobility of a family. The particle used varies depending on the country, language and period of time. This article is dedicated to explain how noble families of different countries identify themselves by...
, the right to which is related to noble status