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equivalent‘count'wasnotintroducedfollowingtheNormanConquestofEngland
though‘countess'wasandisusedforthefemaletitle.Bytheendofthereignof
WilliamItherewerenotmorethannineearlsinEngland,andby1307therewere
onlyelevenwiththetitlepassingfromfathertohiseldestson.Nonetheless,theyears
1307–1397showthemarkedgenerosityoftheEnglishmonarchsincreatingthetitle
ofearl.EdwardIIcreatedthreeearldoms,EdwardIIIeleven,andRichardIIten
duringhisreign.
Additionallyinthefourteenthcentury,awiderangeofnewaristocratictitlesflour-
ishedinEngland.In1337,Edward,theBlackPrince,theeldestsonofEdwardIII
andPhilippaofHainault,famousforhiscampaignsintheHundredYears'War,
wascreatedtheDukeofCornwall,takingprecedenceoveralltheearls.After
Edwardpredeceasedtheking,thedukedomwasrecreatedforhisson,thefutureRi-
chardII.Dukedomswerereservedformembersoftheroyalfamilyuntil1387,when
RobertdeVere,theninthEarlofOxford,favouriteofRichardII,wascreatedDuke
ofIrelandforlife.DeVerehadpreviouslybeencreatedMarquessofDublinforlife,
makinghimthefirstpersontoholdsucharankwhichwasbetweenadukeandan
earl.31Subsequentmarquisateswererarelycreated;32theMarquessofWinchester,
whosetitlewascreatedin1551,istheonlyEnglishmarquesswithoutadukedom.
Therankofviscount33wasintroducedfromEuropein1440,whenJohnBeaumont,
31
OndukesseeTheManualofRankandNobility,orKeytothePeerageContainingtheOriginand
HistoryofalltheVariousTitles,Orders,andDignities,HereditaryHonours,PeculiarPrivileges,
HeraldicDistinctions,RightsofInheritance,DegreesofPrecedence,CourtEtiquette,&c.,&c.,
oftheBritishNobility(London,1828),pp.51–64;Given-Wilson,TheEnglishNobilityinthe
LateMiddleAges,pp.48–50
32
TheoriginaltitleofmarquessderivedfromtheGermanMarkgraf,withafewequivalentsinother
languagesinuseinpartsoftheHolyRomanEmpire(suchasMarkgraafinDutch,Margravio
inItalian).TheEnglishwordderivesviatheMiddleFrenchmarquis(feminine,marquise)from
theOldFrenchMarchisfromtheMedievalLatinmarca(frontier,frontierterritory),whichin
Englishbecamemarch(pluralmarches).TheFrenchformmarquis,recordedinEnglishfrom
1300,isstillsometimesused(especiallyinScotland),thoughmarquessisnowthepreferred
Britishusage.Theywereoriginallycountswhoweregrantedextrapowersbecausetheyguarded
borderareas.Thisgavethemprecedenceoverotherearls.ThefirstmarquessinEnglandwas
RobertdeVere,theninthEarlofOxford.JohnBeaufort,thefirstEarlofSomerset,andsecond
legitimatesonofJohnofGaunt,wasraisedtothesecondmarquisateastheMarquessofDorset
inSeptember1397.TheonlywomantobecreatedamarchionessinherownrightwasLady
AnneBoleyn,whowascreatedMarchionessofPembrokeinpreparationforhermarriageto
KingHenryVIII.OED,s.v.‘marquess'.OnmarquessesseeTheManualofRankandNobility
orKeytothePeerage,pp.69–70.
33
Theword‘viscount'comesfromtheOldFrenchvisconte(themod.French:vicomte),itselffrom
theMedievalLatinvicecomitem(accusativeofvicecomes),fromtheLateLatinvice-(‘deputy'+
Latincomes,originally‘companion';latertheRomanimperial‘courtier'or‘trustedappointee',
ultimately‘Count').ItcorrespondstotheAnglo-Saxon‘shirereeve'(rootofthenon-nobiliary,
~43~