The viscount is ... The origin of the title

The medieval noble hierarchy remains complex and confusing for many of our contemporaries. This is not surprising, since even among the contemporaries of the aristocratic nobility, there were often disagreements about the importance and solidity of each title. So, the viscount is an aristocratic title, which is often found in historical magazines and films. About its origin and history we will tell in this article.

Origin

In the era of the early Middle Ages, when the title of aristocrats were not clearly spelled out, a nobleman's title could be taken by a man of even low background who faithfully served his master. For example, the title "count" sounds like "konté" in French.

Viscount is a person standing in his position below the count, obeying him. The viscount's title was hereditary. However, it could also be earned by people from lesser-born families, for example, the count's manors. Especially high chances were those managers who worked for childless aristocrats.

But the titles received in this way remained unchanged - the viscount, who received the noble title, could never become a count. He wore his title as a separate title and could transfer it by inheritance, like other nobles. But, to rise on the hierarchical ladder, the new noblemen should have special merits before the highest representatives of the nobility.

The new generation was christened "knights of the cloak", thus hinting at the hidden, secret procedure for obtaining the title. A born nobleman was called a knight of a sword.

The laws of heraldry

Later, any title of the European nobility began to obey the laws of heraldry. Herolds not only trumpeted into the horn and announced royal decrees - they were entrusted with the honorary procedure of classifying noble families according to their nobility and nobility. For example, the eldest son of the Count occupied a higher place in the hierarchy of nobility than the baron, but he was considerably inferior in position to the duke.

It should be noted that such a hierarchy has developed only in countries where a fairly rigid royal policy was conducted and the whole country was subordinate to a monarch. But in Germany, which for a long time was divided into many smaller kingdoms, there was no such strict procedure for titling. Each neared nobleman in these small states received the title of father, regardless of seniority and inherited property.

Aristocratic hierarchy

To avoid confusion, the list of aristocratic titles, which all European monarchies adhered to, was secretly established. The highest step was occupied by the king. After him went the dukes, marquises, counts, viscounts and barons. The consequences of this classification continued in the titles of the eldest sons of noble births, who by default received an inheritance after the death of their own parent (the so-called mayorate).

The first-born male took the title, which stood a step below his father's. For example, the sons of kings wore the title of dukes, and the viscount is the heir of the count. The eldest son of the Baron did not bear any title - in France he called himself "chevalier", in England - the lord, in Spain - "signor" and so on.

Each viscount is a nobleman endowed with all the privileges of the upper strata of society. Many of them were exempt from taxes and duties by legislative acts. On the other hand, participation in military operations and the demonstration of personal devotion opened viscount doors to the brilliant corridors of the royal courts and helped to climb up the aristocratic staircase. The greatest title to which the eminent noble could count was the Duke.

Viscounts in literature and life

Perhaps the most famous "book" viscount is the illustrious son of the Count de la Fere from the book of A. Dumas "Viscount de Bragelonne". The story of the sad love of a man to a royal favorite is one of the most dramatic lines of this many-sided novel.

Slightly less known is the secondary character of Russian literature: Viscount Montemar from the novel by A.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace".

Various viscounts flit through the pages of historical novels and in the frames of films about the distant past. But now the reader is not mistaken in the classification of titles and will be able to determine the place of the bearer of the title "viscount" in the "ladder of aristocrats".