An earl is a member of the nobility. The title is Anglo-Saxon, akin to the Scandinavian form jarl, and meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. In Scandinavia, it became obsolete in the Middle Ages and was replaced with duke (hertig/hertug). In later medieval Britain, it became the equivalent of the continental count (in England in the earlier period, it was more akin to duke; in Scotland it assimilated the concept of mormaer). However, earlier in Scandinavia jarl could also mean sovereign prince. For example, the rulers of several of the petty kingdoms of Norway had in fact the title of jarl and in many cases of no lesser power than their neighbours who had the title of king. Alternative names for the "Earl/Count" rank in the nobility structure are used in other countries, such as Hakushaku during the Japanese Imperial era.
In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above viscount. There never developed a feminine form of earl; countess is used as the equivalent feminine title.
Read more about Earl: Etymology
Other articles related to "earl, earls":
... Other titles (1st Duke) Earl of Fife (1371), Earl of Buchan (1374–1406), Earl of Atholl (1403–1406) Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany (c ...
... Earl of Arundel is the oldest extant Earldom and perhaps the oldest extant title in the Peerage of England by one year 1139 Earl of Essex being the next ... Until the mid-13th century, the Earls were also frequently known as Earl of Sussex, until this title fell into disuse ... arose that the holder of Arundel Castle should automatically be Earl of Arundel, and this was formally confirmed by King Henry VI ...
... in 1362 she married Archibald the Grim, Lord of Galloway and later 3rd Earl of Douglas who claimed her estates and titles de jure uxoris (by right of marriage) ... of the Barony of Ormonde, and was created into an Earldom in 1445 for Hugh Douglas, Earl of Ormonde, third son of James Douglas, 7th Earl of Douglas ... of the Black Douglases after the Battle of Arkinholm in 1455 and the execution of the earl, his properties, like those of his brothers, was forfeit ...
... There were 100 households out of which 25.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.0% were married couples living together, 17.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.0% were non-families. 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older ...
... Other titles Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester (1616), Duke of Cornwall (1337), Duke of Rothesay etc. 1469), Duke of York (1605), Marquess of Ormond (1600), Earl of Carrick (1469), Earl of Ross (1600), Baron Renfrew (1469), Lord Ardmannoch (1600), Lord of the Isles (1540), Prince and Great ...
Famous quotes containing the word earl:
“Armies, though always the supporters and tools of absolute power for the time being, are always the destroyers of it too; by frequently changing the hands in which they think proper to lodge it.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
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—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“What did I know, what did I know
of love’s austere and lonely offices?”
—Robert Earl Hayden (1913–1980)