Looking for better explanation of Dukes,Earls,Counts in detail?

Question

so the more i read the more i learn about royal and noble titles so lets take this back to the times before the year 1600. In a nutshell the deffinition of a duke is pretty much just a person in charge of a certian territory also known as a duchy/dukedom but, what exactly did they consider a dukedom ? for example: did they consider the counties of england as dukedoms and then use the cities within the counties as earldoms and ect.. like say one was given the title "Duke of Essex" and he controlled that county and then they made someone the "Earl of Chelmsford" (which is the county town of essex) and the Duke of Essex was in charge of all the earl's with in his county. this was the only way i could make sense of it. I also have seen in history where some dukedoms had been earldoms which confused me even more. so if someone could explain to me what Dukes,Earls,Counts were back then, what were the requirements for a territory to become a dukedom,earldom ect...

Answer 1

There were no requirements.  It was at the King's whim.  Someone who was favored might have a very large territory, while another's would be smaller.  Someone who went from an Earl to a Duke just got a "promotion", unless they married up into it.

Answer 2

try to read on wikipedia.com or answers.com you can find interesting information in there

Answer 3

Dukes were supposed to be like generals,and counts-earls as dispatched officers from the Royal trusted retinue.Given importance,this reversed,Dukes became privy or were relatives,cadet lines of the Royal House and counts were relegated to distant and semi autonomous places from the Throne's interests.

Though all were more active politically and in many other endeavors

Answer 4

Nobility is today pretty much useless, but in times gone by it was all about how much influence you had with the monarch.  Dukes were the highest and were positions given to members of the royal family, favourites and people that control local populations in the border areas.  Such as the Welsh Marches and The Scottish Borders.  The next level down was the Marquis, which was for lesser favourites and sons of dukes.  Similarly with the next level Earls.  Then Counts, then Barons.  However Baronets were sold and was a way for the Country Gentleman to gain a name.  As for the name and the area it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.  The Dukes of Devonshire are know as the Cavendish and their Country seat is Chatsworth, which is in Yorkshire.  Many Dukes have land all over the country and the titles are merely symbolic of where the family originated from.