Explain the sinificance of the titles of Duke, Earl, Sir & Knight in the British culture?

Question

Explain the sinificance of the titles of Duke, Earl, Sir & Knight in the British culture?

Answer 1

There ranks of the British Peerage

Duke

Marquis

Earl

Viscount

Baron

The are two types of knights. One is a knighthood just for life and the other is a baronetcy which is hereditary knighthood.

Answer 2

I was trying to find that out too, because I just recently found i have Duke blood in me? Do I belong to Royalty?

Answer 3

A Duke is the highest ranking as in Edinburgh, York etc. An Earl is below a Duke. The title Sir is a knighthood and conferred on notables from every walk of life in recognition of their work in their chosen sport or charity work.

Answer 4

The question goes back to the feudal system of Medieval Europe.

How does a king stay in power? By surrounding himself with people who want him to stay in power. Feudalism was a network of allegiances between kings and his various nobles (Lords, Dukes, Earls, etc). The nobles, in turn, had knights who swore allegiance to them.

Today, the system is horribly obsolete and out of place in modern global politics, persisting solely out of inertia. So why doesn't parliament vote to abolish the nobility? Simply put, the royal family is still good at staying in power: they have friends in the House of Lords who would vote down any measure to abolish the royalty. It's the same network of allegiances kings had in the olden days, and the same way they stayed in power back then.

Answer 5

today there are meerley titles given to people who sat in the house of lords the titles are as follows:

duke- highest

marquess

earl

viscount

baron

Sir is the title given to a knight (ie Sir Paul McCartney)

a Baronet is a herieditary knighthood

Answer 6

Duke was a french title (Duc).

Earl was a Norse one (Jarl).

A knight (called "Sir" followed by his first name) originally fought in battle (on a horse).  [In those days ordinary folk were foot soldiers.]

The other kind of "Sir", a baronet (meaning small baron) was a relatively late title to be introduced.  Some say that James I/VI found it a useful revenue raising technique.

(There's nothing new about honours for sale.....)

Answer 7

They are not significant to ordinary people. Titled people do worry about the position on the ladder, I hear.