English feudal earldom
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An English feudal earldom is an old noble title that, along with its land, was held per baroniam, which meant the holder had to serve as one of the king's barons. Feudal earldoms are not common. Also, in a few cases, the person who holds a feudal earldom may be different from the person who holds a peerage title with the same name. A peer is always addressed as 'Lord Placename' or 'Lord Such-and-so', while those who hold a feudal earldom are addressed as 'Earl of Placename'.
History[change | change source]
In Anglo-Saxon England, there were powerful leaders called feudal earls. They had control over their own areas and could make judgments in local courts. The king gave them this authority. The earls collected money through fines and taxes, and in return, they received one-third of the money as payment. During times of war, they led the armies on behalf of the king. Some smaller regions were grouped together into larger units called earldoms. These earldoms were led by an important person called an ealdorman or earl. During the rule of Edward the Confessor, the earldoms, such as Wessex, Mercia, East Anglia, and Northumbria, were much bigger than any smaller region. They used to be separate kingdoms with their own names. The earls originally acted as governors for the king. Although the title of Earl was technically the same as a duke in other countries, the earls didn't have the same level of power and control as the dukes did.
After the Norman Conquest, William the Conqueror attempted to govern England using the traditional system. However, he eventually made changes to it according to his own preferences. The largest divisions in England called shires became more important, while earldoms disappeared. The Normans did establish new earls, such as those in Herefordshire, Shropshire, and Cheshire, but they were only connected to one shire at most. Their power and authority were limited to that of the Norman counts. There was no longer a higher level of administration beyond the shire, and shires were referred to as "counties". Earls no longer assisted in collecting taxes or making decisions in local courts, and their numbers were small.
King Stephen increased the number of earls to reward those who were loyal to him in his war with his cousin Empress Mathilda. He gave some earls the right to own royal castles or control the sheriff, and soon other earls took these rights for themselves. By the end of his rule, some earls had their own courts and made their own coins, even though the king didn't want them to. Stephen's successor, Henry II, had to reduce the power of the earls once again. He took back control of royal castles and even destroyed the castles that the earls had built for themselves. He didn't appoint new earls or create new earldoms. No earl was allowed to be independent from the king's control. The English kings realised that it was risky to give more power to an already powerful aristocracy, so sheriffs gradually took on the governing role.
The specific details about this transition are not known because some earls in less central areas, like the Scottish Marshes, Welsh Marshes, and Cornwall, kept certain powers even after other earls lost them. The weakening of central authority during the Anarchy makes it difficult to describe the change smoothly. By the 13th century, earls held a social rank just below the king and princes, but they weren't necessarily more powerful or wealthier than other nobles. The only ways to become an earl were to inherit the title or marry someone who had it, but the king had the right to prevent the title from being transferred. In the 14th century, the creation of an earl involved a special public ceremony where the king personally tied a sword belt around the new earl's waist, highlighting that the earl's rights came from the king. Earls still had influence and were seen as supporters of the king's power, known as "companions of the king". In 1327, they demonstrated their power by removing Edward II from the throne, and they would later do the same with other kings they disagreed with. However, the number of earls remained unchanged until 1337 when Edward III announced his plan to create six new earldoms.
Current status[change | change source]
Feudal earldoms in England, similar to the title of Lord of the Manor, still exist today in English law and property law as "estates in land". These earldoms are a part of England's feudal history, going back to the time when King William I ruled or even before the Norman Conquest. The authority of these feudal titles comes from the monarch.
The beginnings of these earldoms are closely connected to the British monarchy, even though they are not noble titles like the ones given in the peerage. Feudal earls are correctly called "Earl", but they are different from the earls who have the privilege to be part of the House of Lords. An English feudal earldom is special because it is the only earldom title in England that can be legally given to someone else and taken away from the previous holder's family line.
In today's time, feudal earldoms are seen as old-fashioned remnants from the past. Although they are not included in the British peerage system, they are considered titles of the gentry, which is the wealthy upper class who own land, but are below the noble class.
An important example is the feudal Earldom of Arundel, which is also known as a parliamentary earldom. This feudal title is protected by the Law of Property Act 1925 and is currently held by the Duke of Norfolk. The Duke's ancestor, William de Albini (Albany), married Adeliza, who was the widow of Henry I and the daughter of Godfrey, Duke of Lorraine. Adeliza received Arundel Castle, located in Sussex, as part of her dowry, and through this marriage, William became the Earl of Arundel in 1139. In 1580, the feudal Earldom of Arundel passed to the Howard family upon the death of Henry FitzAlan, the 18th feudal Earl of Arundel. His daughter and heiress, Mary, was the mother of Philip FitzAlan-Howard, the 19th feudal Earl. It was only in 1628, with the passing of an Act of Parliament, that Thomas FitzAlan-Howard, the 20th feudal Earl of Arundel, also became the parliamentary Earl of Arundel. The Duke's feudal Earldom is tied to property ownership. The parliamentary earldom would be inherited by the Duke's successors as specified in the Act and subsequent Acts and patents. However, if the family were to sell Arundel Castle, there would still be a feudal Earl of Arundel in addition to a parliamentary earl with the same title.[1]
List[change | change source]
 | This list is not complete; you can help by adding missing items. (May 2024) |
| Name of feudal earldom | County | Holder of the earldom | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| Earldom of Arundel | Sussex | Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk | [1][2][3] |
| Earldom of Devon (Honor of Plympton) | Devonshire | extinct | [4] |
| Earldom of East Anglia or Angles | Kevin Charles Norris | [5][6][7] | |
| Earldom of Hereford | Herefordshire | Nicolas Maurel-Lalague | [8][9][10] |
| Earldom of Mercia | Timor Charles Peltzer | [11][12] | |
| Earldom of Northumbria | Kevin Charles Norris | [13][14] | |
| Earldom of Richmond | Yorkshire | J. Eugene Ward | [11] |
See also[change | change source]
References[change | change source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "A History of Lordships of the Manor". The Manorial Society of Great Britain. Retrieved 2024-05-19.
- ↑ "Earl of Arundel's Dignity and Estate Act 1627 - Deed Poll Office (D·P·O)". Deed Poll Office. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
- ↑ Burke, John (1843). A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the British Empire. Henry Colburn.
- ↑ Cokayne, George Edward (1916). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom: Dacre to Dysart. St. Catherine Press, Limited.
- ↑ History Of The Earldom Of East Anglia.
- ↑ "Page 19730 | Issue 59572, 12 October 2010 | London Gazette | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-05-21.
- ↑ Hart, Cyril Roy (1992). The Danelaw. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-85285-044-9.
- ↑ "Page 12545 | Issue 64097, 26 June 2023 | London Gazette | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-05-21.
- ↑ Price, John (1796). An Historical Account of the City of Hereford: With Some Remarks on the River Wye, and the Natural and Artificial Beauties Contiguous to Its Banks, from Brobery to Wilton ... D. Walker.
- ↑ History Of Earldom Of Hereford.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Title Listing M - R | officialmanorialtitleregister". www.officialmanorialtitleregister.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-05-20.
- ↑ "Earldom of Mercia | officialmanorialtitleregister". www.officialmanorialtitleregister.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-06-20.
- ↑ Northumbria History Table.
- ↑ "Page 7504 | Issue 59403, 27 April 2010 | London Gazette | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-05-21.