What is a Free Baron?

Question

In a book written by my [4th] great grandfather he calls himself a "free baron" of dover?

Does anyone know what this means?

Answer 1

i tried looking it up and found nothing i dont think it is an actual peerage title. maybe it was some sort of honorary title.

Answer 2

It's word-play with the meaning of the word,baron. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Frankish baro meaning "freeman, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman."

Answer 3

I'm only guessing but could it mean that he has no allegiances with the monarchy or anyone else ?

Answer 4

It means he only owed allegiance and service to the king

Answer 5

Dover was one of the "Cinque Ports", with Hastings, Romney, Rye and one other ('cinque' = 5, in French). [I think those were the main four, but at one point, with English illogic, there were SIX!] They had all sorts of privileges in the Feudal days. They were exempt from all sorts of taxes and levies.

To be a "Free Baron of Dover", therefore, would have meant you had certain advantages over other 'barons'/Lords. Just how important they would have been even in your 4x grandfather's day is debatable. As the centralised State got more powerful, the actual rights of the Cinque Ports and "Free Towns"/"Royal Boroughs" were whittled away.

It may even have been that the use of the title of 'Baron' was symbolic. English Feudalism stopped using the title except for technicalities - you don't refer to someone as 'Baron', but as 'Lord'. Possibly, therefore, a 'Baron of Dover' might have just meant something like the old term "Alderman" - just a Town Councillor.

Check Dover and even 'Free Baron"in wikipedia, there might be something more there.