Courtesy title

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Polish szlachta in Gdansk, by Wilhelm August Stryowski Szlachta polska w Gdansku by Wilhelm August Stryowski.jpg
Polish szlachta in Gdańsk , by Wilhelm August Stryowski

A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but is rather used by custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility, the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title). [1] [2]

Contents

In some contexts, courtesy title is used to mean the more general concept of a title or honorific such as Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss, Madam, Sir for those who not been awarded a knighthood or a baronetcy, as well as Dr. for physicians who have not actually achieved a doctorate. [3]

Europe

In Europe, including France, many titles are not substantive titles but remain titres de courtoisie, and, as such, are adopted unilaterally. When done by a genuine member of the noblesse d'épée the custom was tolerated in French society. A common practice is title declension, when cadet males of noble families, especially landed aristocracy, may assume a lower courtesy title than that legally borne by the head of their family, even though lacking a titled seigneury themselves. [4] For example, the eldest son of the Duke of Paris (substantive title) may be called Marquis de Paris (courtesy title) and younger sons Comte N. of Paris, where N. stands for the first name. In the hereditary Napoleonic and Restoration peerage, declension was a legal right of younger sons, the derivative title being heritable by male primogeniture; King Joseph Napoleon conferred the title "Prince" on his grandchildren in the male and female line. [4]

France (Ancien Régime)

Courtesy title as principal title

During the Ancien Régime, the only substantive titles were feudal, land-based and required a royal grant or royal recognition. In order to use the title of count, one had to own a seigneurie elevated to county and to comply with the remainder of the grant. These legal prescriptions, however, came to be consistently enforced only with respect to the title of duke (duc). Most titles were self-assumed courtesy titles, even those used at the royal court and in legal documents.

Clergymen before episcopal ordination used the title of abbé, followed by the name of the principal title of their father. Members of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta used the title of chevalier in the same fashion.

Courtesy title used by sons and daughters

The heir apparent of a titled nobleman used one of the lesser titles of his father as a courtesy title. In the 17th century, the heirs of the most powerful dukes were sometimes allowed to assume the title of prince. In the 18th century, a trend was for the heir to use the title of duke. It was achieved in one of three ways: if the head of family held two dukedoms, his heir could use the junior one; the head of family could resign his French peerage to his heir, who assumed a new title of duke while the father retained his ducal title; the king could confer a brevet de duc, that is formally accord the non-hereditary style and precedence of a duke to the heir of a ducal title.

The younger sons of a noble titleholder used one of the family's lesser titles, but rarely one of duke or prince. Even in untitled families of the nobility, every son used a different territorial designation, the so-called nom de terre.

The daughters used the title of mademoiselle, followed by the name of a manor owned by their father. For example, Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier (known as La Grande Mademoiselle), was the eldest daughter of Gaston d'Orléans ( Monsieur ) and his first wife Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier. Anne Marie Louise was officially known as Mademoiselle from the time of her birth.

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom has a detailed system of courtesy titles and styles by which the eldest son, male-line grandson or great-grandson and heir of a peer may use a subsidiary title of his ancestor even though it is the ancestor who holds the title substantively. By extension, the children not only of all peers but of those who bear derivative courtesy titles as male-line descendants of a substantive peer bear specific titles (Lord/Lady) or styles (The Honourable) by courtesy. Under United Kingdom law, users of courtesy titles of nobility are held to be commoners, eligible for election to the House of Commons rather than being members of the House of Lords.

See also

Related Research Articles

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A courtesy title is a form of address and/or reference in systems of nobility used for children, former wives and other close relatives of a peer, as well as certain officials such as some judges and members of the Scottish gentry. These styles are used "by courtesy" in the sense that persons referred to by these titles do not in law hold the substantive title. There are several different kinds of courtesy titles in the British peerage system.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaston, Duke of Orléans</span> French prince (1608–1660)

MonsieurGaston, Duke of Orléans, was the third son of King Henry IV of France and his second wife, Marie de' Medici. As a son of the king, he was born a Fils de France. He later acquired the title Duke of Orléans, by which he was generally known during his adulthood. As the eldest surviving brother of King Louis XIII, he was known at court by the traditional honorific Monsieur.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coronet</span> Small crown consisting of ornaments fixed on a metal ring

In British heraldry, a coronet is any crown whose bearer is less than sovereign or royal in rank, irrespective of the crown's appearance. In other languages, this distinction is not made, and usually the same word for crown is used irrespective of rank In this use, the English coronet is a purely technical term for all heraldic images of crowns not used by a sovereign, and implies nothing about the actual shape of the crown depicted. A Coronet is another type of crown, but is reserved for the lower ranks of nobility like Marquesses and Marchionesses, Earls and Countesses, Barons and Baronesses, and some Lords and Ladies. The specific design and attributes of the crown or coronet signifies the hierarchy and ranking of its owner.

Count of Guise and Duke of Guise were titles in the French nobility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duke of Châtellerault</span> French noble title

Duke of Châtellerault is a French noble title that has been created several times, originally in the Peerage of France in 1515. It takes its name from Châtellerault, in the Vienne region.

Infante, also anglicised as "infant" or translated as "prince", is the title and rank given in the Iberian kingdoms of Spain and Portugal to the sons and daughters (infantas) of the king, regardless of age, sometimes with the exception of the heir apparent or heir presumptive to the throne who usually bears a unique princely or ducal title. A woman married to a male infante was accorded the title of infanta if the marriage was dynastically approved, although since 1987 this is no longer automatically the case in Spain. Husbands of born infantas did not obtain the title of infante through marriage, although they were occasionally elevated to the title de gracia at the sovereign's command.

<i>Fils de France</i> Title given to male offsprings of the King of France

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Orléans</span> French noble family, a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon

The 4th House of Orléans, sometimes called the House of Bourbon-Orléans to distinguish it, is the fourth holder of a surname previously used by several branches of the Royal House of France, all descended in the legitimate male line from the dynasty's founder, Hugh Capet. The house was founded by Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, younger son of Louis XIII and younger brother of Louis XIV, the "Sun King".

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louise Marie Adélaïde de Bourbon, Duchess of Orléans</span> Mother of Louis Philippe I, King of the French

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier</span> Duchess of Orléans

Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier, Princess of Dombes and Duchess of Orléans by marriage, was a French noblewoman and one of the last members of the House of Bourbon-Montpensier. Her parents were Henri de Bourbon, Duke of Montpensier and Henriette Catherine de Joyeuse, Duchess of Joyeuse in her own right.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bourbon-Penthièvre</span> Illegitimate branch of the House of Bourbon, descending from the Capetian dynasty

The House of Bourbon-Penthièvre was an illegitimate branch of the House of Bourbon, thus descending from the Capetian dynasty. It was founded by the duc de Penthièvre (1725–1793), the only child and heir of the comte de Toulouse, the youngest illegitimate son of Louis XIV of France and the marquise de Montespan, and his wife, Marie Victoire de Noailles, the daughter of Anne Jules de Noailles, duc de Noailles.

<i>Prince du sang</i> Legitimate descendant of a sovereign

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">House of Bourbon-Montpensier</span> Semi royal family

The House of Bourbon-Montpensier or Maison de Bourbon-Montpensier was a semi royal family. The name of Bourbon comes from a marriage between Marie de Valois, comtesse de Montpensier (1375–1434) who married Jean de Bourbon - the duc de Bourbon. The second name of Montpensier, comes from the title of the family.

Under the Ancien Régime, the goods of the House of Orléans comprised two distinct parts : the apanage and the "biens patrimoniaux".

References

  1. "Courtesy Title". Collins English Dictionary . Collins. Archived from the original on 30 November 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  2. "Courtesy Title". OxfordDictionaries.com. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 25 September 2016. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  3. "ComDor Editorial Style Guide: Titles and Courtesy Titles". Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2013.
  4. 1 2 Velde, François. "Titles of Nobility". Heraldica.org. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2011.