Armiger Law

Title

A granting of a title is the simplest way to become a noble, and also a key component of founding a noble house. Typically, a title is landed, linked inextricably to a geographical location. In addition, only titles subject to armiger law ‘in complementum’, (in its entirety), are valid titles for noble houses. This excludes most foreign titles from legally being ennobling in Palingvyre, although there are protections for for foreign nobles under specific parts of armiger law.

Titles are granted through ‘letters patent’ which are issued by the Crown and will list the individual granted the title, the collateral of title, (typically land), and the obligations of the title. It is important to distinguish between the monarch and the Crown when considering this, as the monarch can hold separate titles from the Crown. In addition, an independent title answers to the Crown, not the monarch, although this is a distinction without a difference for the vast majority of circumstances. Letters patent must be filed in a document known as the Armiger’s Roll, a comprehensive list of all nobility in Palingvyre.

The following types of title, (ordered in reverse of precedence), have been granted by the Crown and are privy to armiger law:

Iades Cardinalcey (Cardinal):

A Cardinalcey is typically a theological title granted by the Papacy, it assigns a cathedral to a citizen of the Papal State. In Palingvyre, this has the effect of assigning the freehold to the individual, as absolute ownership is retained by the Crown. A typical Cardinalcey is however, a foreign title, (only able to be held by citizens of the Papal State), and thusly a separate title was created under Palish law to apply to the Palish citizenship that would invariably be held by Palish cardinals.

An Iades Cardinalcey, (deriving from ‘in absentia in domum suam’ or ‘in absence of home’), is typically granted to mirror the granting of a traditional Cardinalcey. With both the Palish Monarch and the Pope both considering themselves supreme, there is a strange issue whereby neither wishes to be seen as being compelled by the other. As such, they typically take turns in granting their respective title first, with great contention occurring when one breaks this convention. This more often means a cardinal is not ennobled within Palingvyre, with the alternative being someone who has an Iades Cardinalcey, who can call themselves a cardinal, who are addressed as ‘Your Eminence’, but are not technically a cardinal of the Church.

An Iades Cardinalcey is the lowest ranking of all landed titles and it cannot found a noble house for a few reasons. The first is that it is a temporal title, as no cathedral is strictly speaking tied to a cardinal, (although generally cathedrals that had cardinals are favoured for new appointments). Next is that they are not hereditary, although this does not necessarily exclude a house founding. Finally, and most importantly, a cardinal, by warrant of their profession will virtually always hold a foreign title which cannot be divulged, this is disqualifying for the foundation of a noble house.

Barony (Baron/Baroness):

A Barony is the conferring of a freehold to any landed estate. This allows the grantee to receive any income that the estate may produce, but also subjects them to taxes. Any piece of land will satisfy the requisite a Barony, a particularly poignant example being Baron’s Ditch in Darrotshire, which was, (now extinct), a Barony title consisting of 5 meters of a waste ditch running along the side of the road. There used to be a requisite that a Barony consisted of more than one entitlement to land, (thus making an estate), and that a single entitlement would only make one a Baronet or Baronetess, however this notion has long been disposed of, with Baronets now extinct.

There is distinction between Barons who serve the Crown directly and Barons who are beneath liege lords, with the latter ranking below the former. In such scenarios, a Baron’s tax is paid the Lord above them. Independent Barons can style themselves as Lords, while dependant Barons, may only style themselves as Barons and are addressed as ‘Sir’, or simply ‘Baron/Baroness’ followed by the title, (for example, Emily Peel styles herself as ‘Baroness Moorhouse’ after the name of her estate). Baronies can be hereditary titles or life titles depending on the grant.

County (Earl/Count/Countess):

Counties are awarded to Earls. They can have baronies within them, and often this is a necessity for the purposes of administration. Like baronies, counties are often hereditary however they can be granted as a life title, meaning they will expire upon the death of the grantee. A county burdens its ruler with both taxation and a levy, determined by the size of the county. If they wish to, an Earl may choose to negotiate a reduction in tax in return for maintaining a professional army, this arrangement known as a ‘standing burden’. This must be decided upon the grant of ‘letters patent’, and thusly a standing burden cannot be revoked from a title while it is extant.

The rulers of independent counties are known as Earls regardless of gender, whereas dependant counties have Counts or Countesses. Both however, may style themselves as Lords, or after the title itself. Counties can be be hereditary titles or life titles depending on the grant.

Warranty Barony:

The eight Warranty Baronies are those that surround the Palatine County of Scottingly. They are immutable titles, meaning, unlike others that can become extinct, a Warranty Barony always persists on the death of the final heir to the title. A new grant of the title can then be made and control vests with the Crown during the interim. The reason for this is that Warranty Baronies are always life titles as decreed by the letters patent.

A grant of this title is a great honour and grants prestige beyond it’s strict rank would suggest. The Baronies are exempt from tax, but must maintain a professional army such to be able protect the Palatine County if needed. Warranty Baronies also come with an additional title of Lord Ministerial and a grant of a seat in the House of the Lords Advocate, (see below).

A Warranty Barony must be referred to as a Lord Baron or Lady Baroness, a styling which persists even in the House of the Lords Advocate.

Duchy (Duke/Duchess):

One of the most influential title to be granted is a Duchy. These will have Counts and Barons beneath them and have a large amount of freedom in how they run their domains. Duchies are subject to both taxation and must maintain a standing army. Although the mandated minimum size of this force varies between Duchies, a significant portion are actually mandated smaller numbers of troops than some of the larger Counties with standing burdens.

As such, a grant of a Duchy almost always grants wealth to the holder. It is not without risk, as titles have been revoked for mismanagement, but a Duke or Duchess will almost always have the ability to generate a profit from their lands, or find someone who can.

Duchies are always independent and a grantee me style themselves as Lord or after the title they hold. It is exceedingly rare for a Duchy to not be hereditary, but it can occur. There are currently no Life Duchies.

Imperial Grace:

The Imperial Grace is an independent title that is always held by the monarch. It grants the lands of the Corona Imperii to be run as they wish and is technically exempt from both taxation and levy, (although in practice both are exercised). It grants no styling as it is held directly by the monarch, and is an immutable hereditary title.

There are also three additional titles arising from this, a Palatine County, an Imperial Duchy, and an Imperial County. These can be seen below. These answer directly to the monarch without the need for letters patent to codify permissions or courtesies, and are not thusly considered independent.

Palatine County (Lord/Lady Palatine) - The Palatine County of Scottingly is a unique title that ranks between a Duchy and Imperial Grace in terms of precedence. Despite not being independent, a Palatine Count is styled as a Lord. It is a hereditary title which also incorporates the title of Lord Ministerial in the House of the Lords Advocate.

See also the Palatine Guard

Imperial Duchy (Imperial Duke/Duchess) - There are three Imperial Duchies in Palingvyre, one for each enclosed section of the Corona Imperii, (Meridia in the south, Callester in the east, and Greater Sepcester in the north). These Duchies are larger in geographic size than many others and the role of an Imperial Duke involves a lot of administrative work, as such, these have been historically appointed to those with a talent for organisation and logistics.

An Imperial Duchy grantee may style themselves Lord, or after their title, but can also use the suffix ‘the Duke/Duchess Imperial’ instead, if they prefer. They rank in precedence as equivalent to a normal Duchy, but there are currently no Imperial Duchies that are hereditary. An Imperial Duchy grant, may also incorporate the title of Lord Imperial in the House of the Lords Advocate.

Imperial County (Imperial Count/Countess) - Underneath the Imperial Duchies, there are Imperial Counties. Requiring less administrative ability and answerable to their Duke, these dependant titles are far more numerous.

An Imperial Count may only style themselves as ‘Count/Countess’ with either their name or title to follow. An Imperial Country may be a hereditary or life title with an even split between the two. They rank below Earls in order of precedence.

Kingdom (King/Queen):

There are two hereditary Kingdoms associated with Palingvyre, Palingvyre and Darmian, the latter representing both a geographical location and a peoples. Technically, the monarch does not hold these titles, they are retained by the Crown, however as the monarch is vested with the Crown’s power, they are able to style themselves appropriately as King or Queen. The Kingdom of Darmia also grants the style, ‘King/Queen of the Darmia’.

Noble Houses

The granting of a house in Palish culture is known as a ‘moratum’, and is a natural consequence of the innate desire that saw nobility begin in the first place, to protect ones family. In Palingvyre, the concept of a noble house originated among Darmia, a recognition of the stronger family groups. Initially, this began with recognition of inheritance of property, then to include titles, then that those who would be entitled to hold a title in the future, be recognised, and finally, the formation of noble houses as distinct titular entities.

Foundation

Founding a noble houses requires two things, a recognised hereditary title and royal assent.

The first of these is rather self-explanatory, the recognition element referring to the need for the title to be subject to armiger law, the hereditary, requiring the title to be passed on to the kin of the current holder, and the title itself existing prior to house’s formation.

Royal assent can be rather more fickle. With a large number of titles and a relatively populous noble class, one may imagine that the granting of a moratum alongside a title, would be the routine, but this is far from the case. A moratum is further recognition from the Crown, just as when granting a title, the ability of an individual to manage their newly granted estate must be considered, when granting a moratum the character of all those who are ennobled is investigated.

This practice is generally the purview of the Lord of Armigers, who prepares a dossier on all those who would be styled within their house, and presents this to the monarch, who can then decide on a course of action. The monarch is the ultimate arbiter of the Crown and thus has the final decision on whether to grant the moratum. The letters patent will describe the title of the house which will typically match either the familial name of the individual grantee, or their highest title. In the event of the latter, the title then legally becomes the familial name of the grantee. The grantee is now the founder and head of a noble house.

House Privileges

Once a head of the house is appointed, a few subsequent actions occur. The first is that their spouse may style themselves to match the grantee, (for example the husband of a Countess may call themselves a Count). In addition, if there are any children of the grantee, they are automatically ennobled too. This means they should be afforded the same etiquette as another nobles, but also means they are expected to reciprocate.

Typically, the letters patent will also confer a lower title upon the heir apparent of the grantee, (and sometimes on their other children too), although this is often titular and dependant to the grantee. In addition, the letters will also prescribe arms to the grantee, which can then be borne by all noble members of the household. Most often the arms of the grantee’s primary title will be adopted, but the grantee is entitled to request a personal achievement should they wish too.

The grantee also gains unique privileges. Firstly, under armiger law, they are immune from disparagement within the house. This means the are entitled to take action against any person in the service of their house who publicly denounces or defames them. In order to action this, the Lord of Armigers must be petitioned, with punishment for a breach being a fine the magnitude of which is dependant on the severity of the infraction. In the most extreme cases, the Lord of Armigers may allow the head of the household to expel a member of the house, stripping them of any privileges they may have been entitled to.

In addition to the this, the head also gains the ‘right of fragmentation’, which is the right to request a dependant landed title of theirs be granted to any member of the house. While this follows a similar procedure to the granting of an individual title, the onus of determining the suitability is generally seen to fall to the head of the household when making these requests. As always, the request is made to the Lord of Armigers, alongside a one-off payment of what is known as the ‘house titles tax’, who will then receive affirmation from the monarch to allow the grant. In this case however, letters patent are not issued, instead an ‘Armiger’s note’ is made on the Armiger’s Roll, indicating the title and the grantee, as well as the grantor, which is the head of the house.

House Obligations

Privileges do not come alone with a noble house as the also have a raft of obligations. These create an incentive for the Crown to ennoble individuals, while also ensuring those same nobles do not squander their power.

Taxation

There is a one-off payment with a granting of a moratum, mainly to cover the cost of administration in registration, that can be paid as a lump sum or in regular instalments. For each noble in the house there is a nominal fee, but the increases for each individuals who bear the arms of the house, (commoners of the household are exempt from this). Houses over a particular size, or scale of holdings, are also subject to a ‘nobility estate tax’. All of these go to fund the Lord of Armigers needs after which the surplus is returned to the Crown.

Taxation can be exempt for nobles who partake in ‘reasonable service’ to the Crown. This includes the awards of any honours, participation for at least a decade in the military, (while in the military no tax is levied, but it is payable if the ten years are not completed), or work in the civil service. One may think this would therefore lead to favouritism and nepotism, and while it certainly happens, it is something of an oversimplification. Nobility often have it better than most people, but also a tendency to rest on their laurels. A Palish noble will often point to the stereotype of a power and wealth drunk Gnomic noble, or an engorged Halfling Prince, as a squandering of talent and responsibility, and the tax exemption provides a good incentive to work. As such, a culture of hard work and diligence has sprung up within many Palish noble families over the centuries.

Chivalry

The next obligation also partially motivates the prior ideal, this being that nobles must not ‘besmirch the honour of the Crown’. This obligation befalls any independent noble, and, to a lessor extent dependant nobility too. Dependent nobles are answerable to their lieges, with the incentive for the lieges being that they can and will be held responsible under this tenant for the failures of those below them. Members of noble houses however, irrespective of dependency are always answerable directly to the Crown. This does not solely extend to defaming the monarch either, the nobility too is protected by the concept of chivalry.

 A minor breach of this may be failing to follow suitable procedure when dealing with a foreign visitor and would likely result in a fine, but in serious cases, such as creating famine due to mismanagement, can lead to the titles being stripped from you or even execution. In many ways this, far more than taxation, spurs a noble to use their position well.

Hosting the Crown

The final major obligation upon a noble house is the origin of why they are named such and this is that a noble house can be called upon to ‘host the Crown’ at any given point. It cannot be understated that this is quite an undertaking, as the entourage for an incumbent monarch can well exceed a hundred people. That being said, many of these are servants and thus not needing quite such regal accommodation. In practice, most noble houses simply do not have the facilities to fulfil such a request and thus the monarch typically chooses estates that are either already able to host them, or will be able to with minimal adjustment. While many noble houses exist, there is a clear distinction between those who are able to host the Crown and those who cannot, to be able to is a clear display of prestige.

It is worth noting, that while all these obligations should be adhered to in all circumstances, Palingvyre is vast. Nobles often have both the power and wealth to sweep indiscretion under the rug, not helped by the fact that, while it rare for nobility to actively work against the monarchy, the general attitude amongst themselves is that Crown tends to snoop a little too much. As such, when there is a question of indiscretion, the tendency is to err on the side of caution and keep it under wraps for now. After all, who knows when a piece of information like that might come in useful?

The Household

The household includes spouses and immediate kin. ‘Blooded’ members of the household only extend as far as one degree of separation forward from the moratum grantee. Thusly, parents, grandparents and siblings, are not blooded members of the household, but children and grandchildren are. This can lead to some odd situations, for example, where the head of a house dies with three children and is succeeded by his eldest son, any children subsequently born to the new head’s siblings, are not automatically ennobled as part of the household.

Once born into a house, there are only two ways to leave it, renunciation or expulsion. Expulsion is usually by the head of the house or the Crown, with the latter being much rarer, whereas renunciation is a ‘personal choice’. Often, to avoid embarrassment, disgraced nobles will be pressured to renounce their house, so as not to have the ignominy of a public expulsion.

There are also tithe members of the household, with two distinct categories, those of commoners to the house, who are not ennobled but are members, and house nobles, who are nobles and members, but not by blood. They are called ‘tithe members’ as their inclusion as part of the household is entirely dependant on their pay from the house, (with this pay also subject to a tax, again from the Lord of Armigers).

If the pay is without obligation, then you are a house noble as you are not mandated to do anything. Ironically, as this rate of pay can be entirely nominal, (even a sprig of barley, if regularly paid and suitably codified, is sufficient), it can often mean that commoners of the household, who are mandated to work for their pay, are often more richly rewarded by the house than the nobles. Of course, being a noble often means that you have less need of money anyway, and even if you did, there will be ample, and likely glamorous ways for you to earn any income you may desire. A tithe membership is an easy way to ensure, that more distant relations can be enshrined in the household.

Precedence

Determination of rank is highly contentious and to avoid offence there is a strict adherence to a codified order of precedence to indicate rank and importance. The easiest way for one to glean who should be considered the most important is simply to observe the order of their introduction, the sooner they are introduced, the more prestige they hold. At any formal event in which nobility is present, the order in which the parties are introduced will match the order of precedence.

In Palingvyre, the House of the Lords Advocate has its own order of precedence as detail above. In normal standing however, the order runs as follows, in the event where guests hold the same title in ranking, the first consideration is whether they hold a dependant or independent title, then any additional honours take priority, followed by seniority:

The Monarch

Allied Monarchs

The Heir Apparent

Allied Elected Head of State

Neutral or Belligerent Elected Heads of State

Foreign Princes (heirs always first)

Palish Princes/Princesses

The Lord Palatine

The Lords of Office (as ordered above)

The Lord of Armigers

Foreign Dukes or those of Equivalent Title

Palish Dukes/Duchesses (including Imperial titles)

The Lord Nobilis Judex

Warranty Barons/Baronesses

Foreign Counts or those of Equivalent Title

Palish Earls/Counts/Countesses

Imperial Counts

Foreign Barons or those of Equivalent Title

Palish Barons/Baronesses

Cardinals (by seniority)

The Lords Ministerial (but not the Lords Elected)

Members of the Orders

Foreign Elected Officials

The Lords Elected

Foreign Titles with lower standing than an equivalent Barony

Moratum Grantees (introduced collectively as by their House)

In all cases an individuals highest title takes precedence, regardless of how they choose to style themselves. Certain unique titles, such as the Lord Black are not included because of this. The Lord Black holds Black County as an Earl, and thus needs no inclusion as the Lord Black, which would rank below this.