Pairie
Encyclopedia
The French word pairie is the equivalent of the English word peerage
, in the sense of an individual title carrying the rank of Pair ('peer' in English), which derives from the Latin par 'equal', and signifies the members of an exclusive body of noblemen and prelates, considered to be the highest social order -not taking in account the dynasty- and even in a sense the 'equals' (though subjects and vassals) of the Monarch as he is seen as their primus inter pares
. Peerages attached to fiefs were transmissible or inheritable with the fief, and these fiefs are often designated as pairie-duché for duchies and pairie-comté for countships.
The main uses of the word are in reference to:
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...
, in the sense of an individual title carrying the rank of Pair ('peer' in English), which derives from the Latin par 'equal', and signifies the members of an exclusive body of noblemen and prelates, considered to be the highest social order -not taking in account the dynasty- and even in a sense the 'equals' (though subjects and vassals) of the Monarch as he is seen as their 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...
. Peerages attached to fiefs were transmissible or inheritable with the fief, and these fiefs are often designated as pairie-duché for duchies and pairie-comté for countships.
The main uses of the word are in reference to:
- Peerage of FrancePeerage of FranceThe Peerage of France was a distinction within the French nobility which appeared in the Middle Ages. It was abolished in 1789 during the French Revolution, but it reappeared in 1814 at the time of the Bourbon Restoration which followed the fall of the First French Empire...
(see this article) in the Middle Ages and the Ancien Régime. Although abolished in 1789 during the French RevolutionFrench RevolutionThe French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
, it reappeared after the Revolution. In 1830, hereditary peerage was abolished, but life-time peerage continued to exist until it was definitively abolished in 1848. (Note: the French peerage was very different from the British peerage, because the vast majority of French nobles of ranks from Baron to Duke were not Peers.) - Peerage imported into the Holy LandHoly LandThe Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
during the CrusadesCrusadesThe Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
. In the kingdom of JerusalemKingdom of JerusalemThe Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Catholic kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, but its history is divided into two distinct periods....
, the only crusader state ranking as equal in title to such kingdoms as France (where most of its knights originated from) and England, there also was a peerage on the French model, using the French languageFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
.