A marquess, Dutch: markies, is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife of a marquess is a marchioness or marquise. These titles are also used to translate equivalent Asian styles, as in Imperial China and Imperial Japan.
A viscount or viscountess is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status.
The Regency era of British history officially spanned the years 1811 to 1820, though the term is commonly applied to the longer period between c. 1795 and 1837. King George III succumbed to mental illness in late 1810 and, by the Regency Act 1811, his eldest son George, Prince of Wales, was appointed prince regent to discharge royal functions. When George III died in 1820, the Prince Regent succeeded him as George IV. In terms of periodisation, the longer timespan is roughly the final third of the Georgian era (1714–1837), encompassing the last 25 years or so of George III's reign, including the official Regency, and the complete reigns of both George IV and his brother William IV. It ends with the accession of Queen Victoria in June 1837 and is followed by the Victorian era (1837–1901).
Duke of Rutland is a title in the Peerage of England, named after Rutland, a county in the East Midlands of England. Earldoms named after Rutland have been created three times; the ninth earl of the third creation was made duke in 1703, in whose family's line the title continues. The heir apparent to the dukedom has the privilege of using the courtesy style/title of the Marquis/Marquess of Granby.
The Peerage of Scotland is one of the five divisions of peerages in the United Kingdom and for those peers created by the King of Scots before 1707. Following that year's Treaty of Union, the Kingdom of Scots and the Kingdom of England were combined under the name of Great Britain, and a new Peerage of Great Britain was introduced in which subsequent titles were created.
Marquess of Huntly is a title in the Peerage of Scotland that was created on 17 April 1599 for George Gordon, 6th Earl of Huntly. It is the oldest existing marquessate in Scotland, and the second-oldest in the British Isles; only the English marquessate of Winchester is older. The Marquess holds the following subsidiary titles: Lord Gordon of Strathaven and Glenlivet and Earl of Aboyne, and Baron Meldrum, of Morven in the County of Aberdeen.
A coronet is a small crown consisting of ornaments fixed on a metal ring. A coronet differs from other kinds of crowns in that most coronets do not have arches, and from a tiara in that a coronet completely encircles the head, while a tiara does not.
Sir Donough MacCarty, 1st Earl of Clancarty (1594–1665), was an Irish magnate, soldier, and politician. He succeeded as 2nd Viscount Muskerry in 1641. He rebelled against the government, demanding religious freedom as a Catholic and defending the rights of the Gaelic nobility in the Irish Catholic Confederation. Later, he supported the King against his Parliamentarian enemies during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, a part of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, also known as the British Civil War.
Charles MacCarty, Viscount Muskerry, called Cormac in Irish, commanded a royalist battalion at the Battle of the Dunes during the interregnum. He was heir apparent to Donough MacCarty, 1st Earl of Clancarty but was killed at the age of 31 at the Battle of Lowestoft, a sea-fight against the Dutch, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War, and thus never succeeded to the earldom. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.
Lieutenant-General Charles Butler, 1st Earl of Arran, de jure3rd Duke of Ormonde (1671–1758) was an Anglo-Irish peer. His uncle Richard was the 1st Earl of Arran of the first creation. The titles were re-created for Charles in 1693. His elder brother, the 2nd Duke of Ormonde, was attainted during the Jacobite rising of 1715, but in 1721 Arran was allowed to buy the estate back. At the death of the 2nd Duke, he succeeded as de jure 3rd Duke of Ormonde in the Irish peerage but did not claim the title.
The British nobility is made up of the peerage and the (landed) gentry. The nobility of its four constituent home nations has played a major role in shaping the history of the country, although now they retain only the rights to stand for election to the House of Lords, dining rights there, position in the formal order of precedence, the right to certain titles, and the right to an audience with the monarch. More than a third of British land is in the hands of aristocrats and traditional landed gentry.
Sabrina Jeffries is American author of romance novels, who also writes under the pen names Deborah Martin and Deborah Nicholas. Entertainment Weekly calls her "one of the long-reigning leading voices in historical romance."
Loretta Chase, née Loretta Lynda Chekani is an American writer of romance novels since 1987.
Gaelen Foley is an American author best known for writing romance novels set in the Regency era. She has also been self-publishing middle grade fantasy books under the pen name E.G. Foley since 2012. Her books have been in the USA Today bestseller list regularly since 2000 and the New York Times bestseller list since 2008. Gaelen's novels have been translated into 20+ foreign languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide.
Gentleman of the Bedchamber was a title in the royal household of the Kingdom of England from the 11th century, later used also in the Kingdom of Great Britain. A Lord of the Bedchamber was a courtier in the Royal Household; the term being first used in 1718. The duties of the Lords and Gentleman of the Bedchamber originally consisted of assisting the monarch with dressing, waiting on him when he ate, guarding access to his bedchamber and closet and providing companionship. Such functions became less important over time, but provided proximity to the monarch; the holders were thus trusted confidants and often extremely powerful. The offices were in the gift of The Crown and were originally sworn by Royal Warrant directed to the Lord Chamberlain.
Susan Tatum Woodhouse, known by her pseudonym Liz Carlyle, is an American writer of romance novels since 1999, primarily of historical romances.
Justin McCarthy, 1st Viscount Mountcashel, PC (Ire), was a Jacobite general in the Williamite War in Ireland and a personal friend of James II. He commanded Irish Army troops during the conflict, enjoying initial success when he seized Bandon in County Cork in 1689. However, he was defeated and captured at the Battle of Newtownbutler later in the same year. He escaped and was accused of having broken parole. After the end of the war, he led an Irish Brigade overseas for service in the French Army. He died in French exile.
Canadian peers and baronets exist in both the peerage of France recognized by the Monarch of Canada and the peerage of the United Kingdom.
Cheryl Bolen is an American author, educator and journalist. She is known for writing more than 30 historical romance and romantic suspense novels, many of them set among Regency aristocrats in early 19th century England.
Louise Allen is the pseudonym used by Melanie Hilton a British writer of romance novels since 1993, she started writing in collaboration with a friend under the pen name of Francesca Shaw. Her novels The Piratical Miss Ravenhurst in 2011 and Scandal’s Virgin in 2014 won the Love Story of the Year by the Romantic Novelists' Association.
