Nobility is a government-privileged title which may be either hereditary (see hereditary titles) or for a lifetime. Hereditary titles, in a general sense are Titles positions or styles that are Hereditary and thus tend or are bound to remain in particular families Titles of nobility exist today in many countries although it is usually associated with present or former monarchies. The term originally referred to those who were "known" or "notable" and was applied to the highest social class in pre-modern societies. Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions (or stratification) between individuals or groups in Societies or Cultures. Pre-industrial society refers to specific social attributes and forms of political and cultural organization that were prevalent before the advent of the Industrial Revolution In the feudal system (in Europe and elsewhere), the nobility were generally those who held a fief, often land or office, under vassalage, i. Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period (17th century in its most classic sense refers to a Medieval Europe Political system composed Under the system of Feudalism, a fiefdom, fief, feud, feoff, or fee, often consisted of inheritable lands or revenue-producing A vassal (also called feodary or fedary) in the terminology that both preceded and accompanied the feudalism of Medieval Europe, e. , in exchange for allegiance and various, mainly military, services to the Monarch and at lower levels to another nobleman. It rapidly came to be seen as a hereditary caste, sometimes associated with a right to bear a hereditary title and, for example in pre-revolutionary France, enjoying fiscal and other privileges. Castes are Hereditary systems of occupation, Endogamy, social culture, Social class, and Political power. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Today, in most countries, "noble status" is a purely honorary dignity that confers no legal privileges; an important exception is the United Kingdom, where certain titles - titles of the peerage, until recently, guaranteed a seat in the Upper House of the UK Parliament; hence its name, House of Lords - still confer some residual privileges. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located The Peerage is a system of Titles of Nobility in the United Kingdom, part of the British honours system. An upper house is one of two chambers of a Bicameral Legislature, the other chamber being the Lower house. The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories The House of Lords is the second house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is also commonly referred to as "the Lords"

Nobility is a historical, social and often legal notion, which should not be confused with socio-economic status which is mainly statistical based on income and possessions. In Sociology or Anthropology, social status is the honor or prestige attached to one's position in Society (one's Social position) Being wealthy or influential does not automatically make one a noble, nor are all nobles wealthy and influential (aristocratic families have lost their fortunes in various ways, and the concept of the 'poor nobleman' is almost as old as nobility itself).

Countries without a feudal tradition do not have a nobility as such. Various republics, including forms of address.

Western nobility

"The Lords and Barons prove their Nobility by hanging their Banners and exposing their Coats-of-arms at the door of the Lodge of the Heralds. A coat of arms or armorial bearings (often just arms for short in European tradition is a design belonging to a particular person (or group of people A herald, or more correctly a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between Pursuivant and King of arms. —After a Miniature of the Tournaments of King René (Fifteenth Century) MSS. René of Anjou ( January 16, 1409 &ndash July 10, 1480) also known as René I of Naples and Good King René ( French A manuscript is any Document that is Written by hand as opposed to being printed or reproduced in some other way of the National Library of Paris. "

This quotation demonstrates the strong historical link between nobility and heraldry, whereby the right to bear arms was restricted by law to the upper class (a system which continues to this day in many European countries, including Britain). European nobility originated from the feudal/seignorial system that arose in Europe during the Middle Ages. Originally, knights or nobles were mounted warriors who swore allegiance to their sovereign and promised to fight for him in exchange for an allocation of land (usually together with serfs living there). Knight is the English term for a social position originating in the Middle Ages. During the time period known as the Military Revolution, nobles gradually lost their role of raising and commanding private armies, as many nations created cohesive national armies. The Military Revolution is a term used by some historians for a radical change in military strategy and tactics that is usually placed between the late Medieval era and the This was coupled with a loss of the social-economic power of the nobility, owing to the economic changes of the Renaissance and the growing economic importance of the merchant classes (or bourgeoisie), which increased still further during the Industrial Revolution. The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture manufacturing and transportation had a profound effect on the In countries where the nobility was the dominant class, the bourgeoisie gradually grew in power; a rich city merchant was more influential than a minor rural nobleman. However, in many countries at this time, the nobility retained great social and political importance; for instance, the UK's government was dominated by the nobility until the twentieth century.

The nobility of a person might be either inherited or earned. Nobility in its most general and strict sense is an acknowledged preeminence that is hereditary: i. e. , legitimate descendants (or all male descendants, in some societies) of nobles are nobles, unless explicitly stripped of the privilege. In this respect, nobility is distinguished from the peerage: the latter can be passed to only a single member of the family. The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most Peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union in 1801 when The terms aristocrat and aristocracy are a less formal means to refer to persons belonging to this social milieu. Aristocracy is a form of Government, where rule is established through an internal struggle over who has the most status and influence over society and internal relations Those lacking a distinct title, such as junior siblings of peers (and perhaps even the children of 'self-made' VIPs) may be considered aristocrats, moving within a small social circle at the apex of a hierarchical social pyramid. A Very Important Person, or VIP is a person who is accorded special privileges due to his or her status or importance Social circles are groups of socially interconnected people A Social circle is distinguished from a Social pyramid in that there are two perspectives that can be used to describe A Social pyramid is a model of social relationships The people with whom an individual has the least amount of social intimacy are placed at the foundation of the pyramid

"Blue" blood

Blue blood is an English expression recorded since 1834 for noble birth or descent; it is a translation of the Spanish phrase sangre azul, which described the Spanish royal family and other high nobility who claimed to be of Visigothic descent, while their subjects were largely of mixed descent (Moorish, Celtic, and Germanic). Year 1834 ( MDCCCXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common A royal family is the extended family of a monarch. Generally the head of a royal family is a king or queen regnant The Visigoths (Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, or Wisi were one of two main branches of the Goths, an East There is no connection between the phrase and the actual blood color of nobility; however, in the ancient and medieval societies of Europe, much of the upper class may have had superficial veins that appeared blue through their untanned skin, in contrast with the working class of the time, mainly agricultural peasants. Is a concept in Sociology that refers to the group of people at the top of a Social hierarchy. Superficial vein is a term used to describe a Vein that is close to the surface of the body Working class is a term used in academic Sociology and in ordinary conversation to describe depending on context and speaker those employed in specific fields or types An alternative traditional explanation, argyria (a disease causing a blue-grey skin tone after digestion of silver), is considered less valid, as table silverware was not yet regularly used by much of the nobility. Argyria (ISV from Greek: ἄργυρος argyros Silver + -ia is a Condition caused by the ingestion of elemental Silver, silver (Becket (film) dramatizes the introduction of the fork at the court of King Henry II of England. Becket is a 1964 Film adaptation of the play Becket or the Honour of God by Jean Anouilh made by Hal Wallis Productions As a piece of Cutlery or Kitchenware, a fork is a tool consisting of a handle with several narrow tines (usually two three or four on one end )

Robert Lacey explains the genesis of the blue blood concept: "It was the Spaniards who gave the world the notion that an aristocrat's blood is not red but blue. The Spanish nobility started taking shape around the ninth century in classic military fashion, occupying land as warriors on horseback. They were to continue the process for more than five hundred years, clawing back sections of the peninsula from its Moorish occupiers, and a nobleman demonstrated his pedigree by holding up his sword arm to display the filigree of blue-blooded veins beneath his pale skin—proof that his birth had not been contaminated by the dark-skinned enemy. (Robert Lacey, Aristocrats. Little, Brown and Company, 1983, p. 67)

Another theory claims -not without reason - that the "blue blooded" must ultimately have hailed from the ranks of the "blue" Ashina, the early Mediaeval ruling dynasty of the so called Göktürks ("Blue" or "Celestial" Turks) themselves connected to various people who had a seminal impact on the birth of the aristocracy -with whom they interacted- of Central and even Western Europe, as were the Huns, the Alans, the Avars or the Khazars. Ashina ( Asen, Asena, etc was a tribe and the ruling dynasty of the ancient Turks who rose to prominence in the mid- 6th century when their leader Göktürks ( Turkish: Gök Türkler) were a Turkic people of ancient Central Asia. The Huns were an early confederation of Central Asian equestrian nomads or semi-nomads with a Turkic core of aristocracy The Alans or Alani (occasionally but more rarely termed Alauni or Halani) were an Iranian nomadic group among the Sarmatian people "Kazar" redirects here for the Marvel Comics character see Ka-Zar; for the village in Azerbaijan see Xəzər. Out of these, the Iranian-speaking Alans, from 407 to 409 A. The Alans or Alani (occasionally but more rarely termed Alauni or Halani) were an Iranian nomadic group among the Sarmatian people D. together with the allied Germanic tribes like the Vandals and Suevi, swept into the Iberian peninsula. The Suebi or Suevi (from Proto-Germanic * swēbaz based on the Proto-Germanic root * swē- meaning "one's own" In response to this invasion of Roman Hispania, Honorius, the emperor in the West, enlisted the aid of the Visigoths to regain control of the territory. Honorius may refer to Honorius (emperor (Flavius Augustus Honorius western Roman emperor 395-423 Honorius of Canterbury (Saint Honorius The Alanic aristocracy in the Iberian peninsula was eventually absorbed by the ruling caste of the Visigothic royalty, yet not before passing over to it the tradition of the "blue blood" as a distinctive appanage of nobility and a relic of its Eastern "blue" Ashina heritage. The Visigoths (Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, or Wisi were one of two main branches of the Goths, an East An apanage or appanage is the grant of an estate titles offices or other things of value to the younger male children of a sovereign who under the system of Ashina ( Asen, Asena, etc was a tribe and the ruling dynasty of the ancient Turks who rose to prominence in the mid- 6th century when their leader

The same expression is encountered in several European languages:

In France, influential high bourgeois, most particularly the members of the parlements (courts of justice), obtained noble titles from the king. Albanian (sq ''Gjuha shqipe'' ˈɟuha ˈʃcipɛ is an Indo-European language spoken by nearly 6 million peoplewhile others claim that it derives from Daco - Bulgarian (български език IPA: ɛzˈik is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group Czech (ˈʧɛk čeština ˈʧɛʃcɪna in Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers it is the majority language in the Croatian language ( hrvatski jezik) is a South Slavic language which is used primarily in Croatia, by Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina in neighbouring Danish ( d̥ænsɡ̊ is one of the North Germanic languages (also called Scandinavian languages a sub-group of the Germanic branch of the Estonian (; ˈeːsti ˈkeːl is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1 French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname Finnish ( or suomen kieli) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland (92% As of 2006) and by ethnic Finns outside The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Hungarian ( magyar nyelv) is a Uralic language (more specifically a Ugric language) unrelated to most other languages in Europe. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Lithuanian ( lietuvių kalba) is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognised as one of the official languages of the European Union. Macedonian () is the official Language of the Republic of Macedonia and is a part of the Eastern group of South Slavic languages. Maltese (Maltese Malti is the National language of Malta, and a co-official language of the country alongside English, Norwegian ( norsk) is a North Germanic Language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language Polish ( język polski, polszczyzna) is the Official language of Poland. Portuguese ( or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain and northern Portugal. Romanian or Daco-Romanian ( dated: Rumanian or Roumanian; self designation limba română, ˈlimba roˈmɨnə is a Romance Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Serbian (sr-Cyrl српски језик sr-Latn ''srpski jezik'' is a South Slavic language, The Slovak language ( slovenčina, slovenský jazyk, not to be confused with Slovenščina) sometimes referred to as "Slovakian" Slovene or Slovenian ( slovenski jezik or slovenščina, not to be confused with Slovenčina) is a South Slavic language Swedish ( is a North Germanic language spoken by more than nine million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the Turkish ( tr Türkçe IPA) is a language spoken by over 63 million people worldwide making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. This article is for the Ancien Régime institution For the post-Revolutionary and present-day institution see French Parliament. The old nobility of military origin, the noblesse d'épée ("nobility of the sword") became increasingly irritated by this newer noblesse de robe ("nobility of the gown"). In the last years of the ancien régime, before the French Revolution, the old nobility, intent on keeping its privileges, had pushed for restrictions of certain offices and orders of chivalry to noblemen who could demonstrate that their family had enough "noble quarterings" (in French, 'quartiers de noblesse'), a reference to a noble's ability to display armorially their descents from armigerous noble forebears in each of their lines of descent to demonstrate that they were descended from old noble families, who bore arms that could be quartered with their own male line arms, and thus prove that they did not derive merely from bourgeois families recently elevated to noble rank (although historians such as William Doyle have disputed this so-called 'Aristocratic Reaction'. Ancien Régime ( pronounced: /ɑ̃sjɛ̃ ʁeʒim/ refers primarily to the aristocratic social and political system established in The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an Chivalric orders are orders of Knights that were created by European monarchs in imitation of the Military orders of the Crusades. Nobility is a government-privileged title which may be either hereditary (see Hereditary titles) or for a lifetime Armiger may also refer to the AGM Armiger anti-radiation missile Patrilineality (aka agnatic kinship) is a system in which one belongs to one's father's lineage it generally involves the Inheritance of property names or titles (W. Doyle, Essays on Eighteenth Century France, London, 1995). A noble could be asked to provide proof of noble antecedents by showing a genealogy displaying seize quartiers (sixteen quarterings) or even trente-deux quartiers (thirty-two quartering) indicating noble descent on all bloodlines back five generations (to great-great grandparents) or six generations (great-great-great grandparents), respectively. This illustrates the traditional link in many countries between heraldry and nobility; in those countries where heraldry is used, nobles have almost always been armigerous, and have used heraldry to demonstrate their ancestry and family history. Heraldry in its most general sense encompasses all matters relating to the duties and responsibilities of officers of arms. Family history is the systematic narrative and research of past events relating to a specific Family, or specific families (However, it is important to note that heraldry has never been restricted to the noble classes in most countries, and being armigerous does not necessarily demonstrate nobility. )

Nobles typically commanded resources, such as food, money, or labor, from common members or nobles of lower rank of their societies, and could exercise religious or political power over them. In British law a commoner is someone who is neither the Sovereign nor a peer. Political power ( Imperium in Latin is a type of power held by a group in a Society which allows administration of some or all of Also, typically, but not necessarily, nobles were entitled to land property, which was often reflected in the title. For example, the title Earl of Chesterfield tells about property, while the title Earl Cairns was created for a surname. Earls of Chesterfield, in the County of Derby, was a title in the Peerage of England. Earl Cairns is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1878 for the prominent lawyer and Conservative politician Hugh Cairns 1st Baron However all the above is not universal; quite often nobility was associated only with social respect and certain social privileges. An example of the latter would be early 20th-century Polish nobility (szlachta) after their political, economic, judicial and religious privileges were abolished in 1921 and they remained only landed proprietors on the same legal basis as their landed-commoner neighbours. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland Szlachta ( refers to the noble class in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (since 1569 semi-federal semi-confederal In the modern age, the notion of inherited nobility with special rights has become, in the Western World, increasingly seen as irrelevant to the modern way of life. The term modern period or modern era (sometimes also modern times) is the period of history that followed the Middle Ages between c Special rights is a political term originally used by libertarians to refer to laws granting rights to one or more groups which are not extended The term Western world, the West or the Occident ( Latin: occidens -sunset -west as distinct from the Orient) can have multiple meanings The founding fathers of the United States rejected anything that could have helped in recreating a nobility; the French Revolution abolished the nobility and its special privileges (though some nobility titles would be recreated by Napoleon I and III, they were mostly honorific). Founding Fathers are persons instrumental in the establishment of an Institution, usually a political institution especially those connected to the origination of its Ideals The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. Napoléon III, also known as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (full name Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte) (20 April 1808 9 January 1873 was the first President

A list of noble titles for different European countries can be found at Royal and noble ranks. Traditional ranks among European royalty, peers, and Nobility are rooted in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. To learn how to properly address holders of these titles, see Royal and noble styles. Styles represent the fashion by which monarchs and noblemen are properly addressed

Some con artists also sell fake titles of nobility, often with impressive-looking documents to back them up. A confidence trick or confidence game (also known as a bunko, con, flim flam, gaffle, grift, scam, scheme These may be illegal, depending on local law. Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society They are more often illegal in countries that actually have nobilities:such as European monarchies. In the U. S. , such commerce would be a form of fraud, but it would only victimize the buyer of the supposed titles and would not threaten an established class of nobles with enforceable titles. In the broadest sense a fraud is a Deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual

Nobility in Eastern countries

Medieval Japan developed a feudal system similar to the European system, where land was held in exchange for military service. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. The daimyo class, or hereditary landowning nobles, had great social and political power. The ( were powerful territorial lords who ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings Like their European counterparts, they commanded private armies made up of samurai, an elite warrior class; for long periods, these held real power without a real central government and often plunged the country into a state of civil war. is the term for the military nobility of Pre-industrial Japan. According to the Random House Dictionary, the term warrior has two meanings Central government or the national government (or in Federal states the Federal government) is the Government at the level of the Nation-state Although there are differences, the daimyo class can be compared to European peers, and the samurai to European knights, but with important differences, such as the distinction between the European code of chivalry and the Japanese code of bushido. Chivalric order Chivalry is a term related to the Medieval institution of Knighthood. These feudal titles and ranks were abolished in Japan with the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and replaced by the kazoku, a five-rank peerage system after the British example which granted seats in the upper house of the Imperial Diet, but this too was abolished in 1947, following Japan's defeat in World War II. The, also known as the Meiji Ishin, Revolution, or Renewal, was a chain of events that led to enormous changes in Japan 's political and social structure The was the hereditary Peerage of the Empire of Japan that existed between 1869 and 1947 The Peerage is a system of Titles of Nobility in the United Kingdom, part of the British honours system.

Many other non-Western nations have had noble or aristocratic classes of various kinds: these are so diverse that it is somewhat misleading to try to translate them all into western feudal terminology. For the feudal hierarchy on the Indian subcontinent, see princely state. This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia For geopolitical treatments see South Asia. For other uses see Principality, Other princely states A Princely State (also called Native State or Indian State) was a

In some Islamic countries, there are no definite nobility titles, but the closest to that are given the title Syed or Sayyid. The term Muslim world (or Islamic world) has several meanings For the Lost character please see Sayid Jarrah Sayyid ( ar سيد) (plural Saadah is an Honorific title This exclusive title, given only to certain descendants, literally means, 'Sir' or 'Lord'. There are no special rights concerning the title: they are considered more religious than the general population, and many people come to them for first-hand religious questions.

In Iran, the nobility titles are Mirza, Khan, ed-Dowleh, Shahzada, etc. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. The title Mirza ( is used for a member of a Royal family or a member of the highest Aristocracy, as well as children of a Sayyida mother Ed-Dowleh is a Suffix used as part of Titles for members of royalty who were in governing positions during the Qajar Dynasty in Iran . . . Nowadays, these titles don't exist anymore, an aristocrat family can now being recognized by his family name (often derived from the post the ancestors had, considering the fact that family name in Iran only appeared in the beginning of the 20th century) . A family name or last name is a type of Surname and part of a person's name indicating the family to which the person belongs The twentieth century of the Common Era began on

In East Asia the system was often modelled on imperial China, the leading culture, where the emperor conferred degrees of nobility, which were not permanent but decreased a rank each generation. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National China had a feudal system in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, but the system gave way to a more bureaucratic system beginning in the Qin dynasty (221 BC). The Shang Dynasty ( Chinese: 商[[wiktionary 朝|朝]] or Yin Dynasty ( 殷[[wiktionary 代|代]] was according to traditional sources the The Zhou Dynasty ( POJ: Chiu Tiau 1122 BC to 256 BC was preceded by the Shang Dynasty and followed by the Qin Dynasty in China. Not to be confused with the Qing Dynasty, the last dynasty of China By the Qing dynasty, titles of nobility were still granted by the emperor, but served merely as honorifics: under a centralized system, governance in the empire was the responsibility of the Confucian-educated scholar-officials and local gentry. Not to be confused with Qin Dynasty, the first dynasty of Imperial China In telecommunications a centralized system is one in which most communications are routed through one or more major central hubs

In tribal societies, such as and the Polynesian Island states, the system of often (semi-)hereditary tribal chiefs can also be compared to a form of noble class; in Tonga, after Tongan contact with Western nations, the traditional system of chiefs developed into a Western-style monarchy with a hereditary class of barons, even adopting that English title. A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally consists of a Social group existing before the development of or outside of States Many anthropologists use Polynesia (from Greek: πολύς many, νῆσος island) is a Subregion of Oceania, comprising a large grouping of over A traditional tribal chief is the leader of a Tribe, or the head of a tribal form of self-government The Kingdom of Tonga is an Archipelago in the south Pacific Ocean comprising 169 islands 36 of them inhabited stretching over a distance of about 800 kilometres (500 miles

Nobility by nation

For full categorized countries, see Category:Nobility by nation; some other follow:

Italian Nobleman of the Fifteenth Century. From a Playing-card engraved on Copper about 1460 (Cabinet des Estampes, National Library of Paris).

• Abkhazian nobility
• Armenian nobility
• Austrian nobility
• Baltic nobility related to the modern area of Estonia and Latvia
• Belgian nobility
• Bohemian nobility
• British nobility
  • British peerage
    • English peerage
      • Welsh Peers
    • Scottish peerage
    • Irish peerage
    • Peerage of Great Britain
    • Peerage of the United Kingdom
• Bulgarian nobility
• Chiefs of the Name Ireland
• Chinese nobility
• Croatian nobility
• Dutch Nobility
• Fijian nobility - the Ratu
• Finnish nobility
• French nobility
• Georgian nobility
• German nobility
  • German comital titles
  • Junker
• Hungarian nobility
• Nobility of Italy
• Imperial Roman titles
  • Roman aristocracy and bureaucracy
  • Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy
• Nobility of Italy
• Japanese nobility
• Thai royal and noble titles
• Korean nobility
• Lithuanian nobility
• Malay nobility
• Maltese nobility
• Mexican nobility
• Norwegian nobility
• Persian nobility
• Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth nobility
• Portuguese nobility
• Philippines- Principalía
• Romanian nobility
• Russian nobility
  • Boyars
• Serbian nobility
• Spanish nobility
• Swedish nobility

See also

• Almanach de Gotha
• Aristocracy
• Caste (social hierarchy of India)
• Ennoblement
• Gentleman
• Gentry
• Heraldry
• Peerage
• Royal and noble ranks
• The Military Revolution
• Redorer son blason

Sources and references

• Friesian- Feudal Hierarchy (scroll down)
• Heraldica.org - European Noble, Princely, Royal, and Imperial Titles &
• A Glossary of Titles in 35 Languages
• Etymology OnLine

External links

• The German nobility
• WW-Person, an on-line database of European noble genealogy
• Paul Theroff's An Online Gotha
• Genealogics, an extensive database of European nobles
• Worldroots, a selection of art and genealogy of European nobility
• RoyalArk- ruling houses in many non-European countries
• Web site on the Royalty, the Nobility, the History and the Patrimony
• The Armenian nobility
• The Maltese Nobility and its ilks.
• The Russian Nobility Association in America
• Italian dynastic genealogies (in Italian, with an introduction in English)
• Worldwidewords
• OneTree Genealogy - European Royal and Danish-Norwegian-Swedish Nobility Lineages
• Fake titles
• Nobility News