For many of our contemporaries, the medieval noble hierarchy remains complex and confusing. This is not surprising, since even among contemporaries of the noble nobility, disagreements arose often over the importance and solidity of each title. So, Viscount is an aristocratic title that is often found in historical magazines and films. We will tell about its origin and history in this article.
Origin
In the era of the early Middle Ages, when the ranks of aristocrats were not clearly spelled out, a man of even a low origin who faithfully served his master could take the noble title. For example, the title "Count" sounds in French as "Comte."
Viscount is a person standing in his position below the count, obeying him. The Viscount title was hereditary. However, immigrants from less generous families, for example, managing the estates of the count, could also deserve it. Those rulers who worked for childless aristocrats had especially high chances.
But the titles obtained in this way remained unchanged - the Viscount, who received the noble title, could never become a count. He bore his title as a separate title and could pass it by inheritance, like other nobles. But, in order to climb the hierarchical ladder, the new nobles should have had special merits before the higher representatives of the nobility.
The new generation was dubbed the “knights of the cloak”, thereby hinting at a hidden, unwritten order of obtaining the title. The native nobleman was called the sword knight.
Laws of Heraldry
Later, any title of European nobility became subject to the laws of heraldry. The heralds not only blew their horn and announced royal decrees - they were entrusted with the honorable procedure for classifying the noble families by their ancestry and nobility. For example, the eldest son of the count held a higher place in the noble hierarchy than the baron, but was significantly inferior in position to the duke.
It should be noted that such a hierarchy has developed only in countries where a rather strict royal policy was conducted and the whole country was subordinate to one monarch. But in Germany, which for a long time was divided into many small kingdoms, such a strict title procedure did not exist. Each born nobleman in these small states received the title of father, regardless of seniority and inherited property.
Aristocratic hierarchy
To avoid confusion, a list of aristocratic titles was unofficially established, which all European monarchies adhered to. The king occupied the highest step. Following him were the dukes, marquises, counts, viscounts and barons. The consequences of this classification continued in the titulation of the eldest sons of noble families, who by default received inheritance after the death of their own parent (the so-called mayorate).
The first-born male took the title, which stood one step lower than his father. For example, the sons of kings held the title of dukes, and Viscount is the heir to the count. The eldest son of the baron did not bear any title - in France he was called “Chevalier”, in England - the lord, in Spain - “Signor” and so on.
Each viscount is a nobleman endowed with all the privileges of the upper strata of society. Many of them were exempted from taxes and duties by legislative acts. On the other hand, participation in hostilities and a demonstration of personal devotion opened the viscount doors to the brilliant corridors of the royal courts and helped to climb up the aristocratic staircase. The largest title that a famous nobleman could count on is the duke.
Viscounts in literature and life
Perhaps the most famous "book" viscount is the famous illegitimate son of Count de la Fera from A. Dumas's book Viscount de Brazhelon. The story of a young man’s sad love for a royal favorite is one of the most dramatic lines of this multifaceted novel.
The minor character of Russian literature, Viscount Montemar from A.N. Tolstoy "War and Peace."
Various viscounts flash on the pages of historical novels and in frames of films about the distant past. But now the reader will not be mistaken in the classification of titles and will be able to determine the place of the holder of the title "Viscount" in the "ladder of aristocrats."