Peerage
| TITLES OF NOBILITY |
|---|
| Emperor / Empress |
| King / Queen |
| Prince / Princess |
| Grand Duke / Grand Duchess |
| Duke / Duchess |
| Earl / Countess |
| Baron / Baroness |
A Peerage is an award bestowed on members of The Royal Manticoran Navy: The Official Honor Harrington Fan Association, Inc. for exceptional service and dedication to the organization, making them a "peer," or titled noble within the context of the club. "The Peerage" refers collectively to all members who are peers.
Peerage in the Star Kingdom of Manticore
In the Honorverse canon, the Manticore Colony established in 1416 P.D. lost almost 60 percent of original colonists to a plague several decades after landing. Realizing that they would need to attract additional homesteaders, but wanting to maintain control of their colony, they adopted a new constitution, creating the Star Kingdom of Manticore in 1471 P.D.
In addition to crowning their Planetary Administrator Roger Winton as King Roger I, the surviving "First Shareholders" (who already had vast landholdings) were given patents of nobility, making them titled peers of the Star Kingdom and creating a hereditary aristocracy.[1]
Peerage as a TRMN award
TRMN policy is that no more than one percent of members may be granted peerages. This award affords the member to roleplay as a member of the nobility of Manticoran society. Peers are given privileges including a seat in the House of Lords, the right to bear a coat of arms approved by the College of Arms, and special forms of address. These rights are hereditary; any peer who dies passes the title to their eldest offspring, if the offspring is a TRMN member.
Peers are granted titles named after their "peerage lands," fictitious territories on the worlds of Manticore, Gryphon, Sphinx. Additionally, a TRMN peer's spouse and children (if they are TRMN members) are given appropriate honorifics.
Peerage titles may exist on other worlds from the Honor Harrington series of novels and related books, the most notable being the Grand Duke of New Montana, an honorary award bestowed on the author David Weber by the organization in appreciation of him creating the series.
Peerages come in several levels, based on the Manticoran Peerage System and those of other Honorverse star nations. In ascending order of precedence, the Manticoran peerages are:
- A Barony, is a peerage awarded to a Baron or Baroness. The word barony refers both to the peerage title itself and to the "land" granted to the peer.
- An Earldom is the peerage awarded to an Earl or a Countess. The land granted to an earl or countess is called a county.
- A Dukedom is the peerage awarded to a Duke or Duchess. The land granted to a duke or duchess is called a duchy.
- A Grand Dukedom is the peerage awarded to a Grand Duke or Grand Duchess. The territory associated with a Grand Duchy is an entire planet. Presently the only Grand Duchy in existence within The Royal Manticoran Navy is that of New Montana (originally Montana, but changed by the author), and it is an Honorary Peerage, as opposed to the regular peerage for active members of the organization.
David Weber modeled the SKM on historical British society, the peerage of which includes marquesses and viscounts in addition to dukes, earls and barons mentioned above. However, these two ranks are not used in the Manticoran system and thus are not utilized by TRMN. Although there was one marquess mentioned in the canon, the author considers this an oversight which he has retconned to an earl. In the earliest days of TRMN, some founding members were created viscounts, but these titles are no longer recognized in the organization.
Some foreign peerages are awarded in TRMN to members who have non-manticoran personae. The Andermani Empire has equivalent noble ranks, including freiherrs (barons), grafs (earls), and herzogs (dukes).
The Protectorate of Grayson has one level of peer, that of steadholder, which is considered equivalent rank to that of duke or duchess in the SKM, although steadholders exercise "head of state" sovereignty withing their territories, while dukes/duchesses hold their lands in fief from the crown.
Cadet peers
The heir of a peerage title (usually the eldest offspring of the title holder) is referred to as a cadet peer and is addressed as "my lord" (for males) or "my lady" (for females) and referred to in the third person as (for example) "Lord John Doe" or Lady Jane Doe."
Additional younger offspring of the title holder are referred to as, for example, "The Honorable John Doe" or "The Honorable Jane Doe" (abbrev: "Hon. John Doe"). There is no special form of address for them.
List of TRMN Peers
| Rank | Title | Name | Date of Peerage | Planet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Duke | New Montana | David Weber | 25 May 2017 | New Montana |
| Duke | New Scania | Martin Lessem | ||
| Duke | New Ulyanovsk | Sean Niemeyer | Sphinx | |
| Duke | Karstadt Sea | Robert Jackson | Sphinx | |
| Duke | Mountain View | Robert Bulkeley | 27 May 2017 | Manticore |
| Duchess | Split Rock | Laura Lochen | 25 May 2020 | Manticore |
| Countess | Wilson | Sharon Rice-Weber | ||
| Countess | New Cumbria | Elisa Randall | ||
| Earl | Neu Odenwaldkries | James Friedline | Manticore | |
| Earl | Westmarch | John Neitz | October 2015 | Manticore |
| Countess | Fontana Flats | Chrissy Killian | ||
| Countess | Nya Östergötland | Brandi Hinson | ||
| Earl | Cumberland Moor | Peter Gordon | ||
| Earl | Mars-Evans | Daniel Walker | ||
| Countess | Miyake Jima | Jill McTavish | ||
| Earl | White Lion | William Knight | ||
| Earl | Bahia Cadiz | Kim Niemeyer | 25 May 2020 | |
| Baroness | Silver Heath | Gena Robbinson | ||
| Baron | Nový Prerov | Ivo Heger | ||
| Baron | Tesseyman | Greg Marchand | ||
| Baron | New Mimas | Timothy Zahn | ||
| Baron | Glencairn | Drew Drentlaw | ||
| Baroness | White Rose | Allison Gahrmann | ||
| Baron | New Victoria | Justin Grays | 1 November 2015 | Manticore |
| Baroness | Cape Fear | Cindy Epard | ||
| Baron | Piedmont | John Stump | ||
| Baroness | Havelok | Stephanie Taylor | ||
| Baroness | Blacksburg | Heather Selbe | ||
| Baroness | New Dover | Christa Brolley | ||
| Baron | Serpent Head Point | David Weiner | ||
| Baroness | Redstone | Heidi Nelson | ||
| Baron | Camera Stellata | Matthew Parker | ||
| Baroness | New Adelaide | Nicola Hawke | 27 May 2017 | Gryphon |
| Baroness | New Essex | Diane Bulkeley | 28 October 2017 | Manticore |
| Baron | La Mancha | Bill Lochen | 28 October 2017 | |
| Baron | Grosvenor | Wayne Bruns | 28 October 2017 | Manticore |
| Baron | Clipper Island | Mark Gledhill | 27 May 2018 | Sphinx |
| Baron | Silver Lake | Garret Bitker | 27 May 2018 | |
| Baroness | New Florence | Pamela Cole | 27 May 2018 | Manticore |
| Baron | New Caladan | Jeffrey Webb | 27 May 2018 | |
| Baron | New Halifax | Rob Marshall | 27 May 2018 | |
| Baron | McCovey Cove | Michael Garcia | 27 May 2018 | Manticore |
| Baroness | Long Beach | Cindy Van Wyhe | 27 May 2018 | Sphinx |
| Baroness | Alnwick Estates | Lauren Niemeyer | ||
| Baron | Cooper's Lake | Joseph Grieco | ||
| Baron | Eboracum | Benjamin Wagner | ||
| Baron | New Greyhawke | Doss Buckalew | ||
| Baron | Whidbey Basin | James Jones | Gryphon | |
| Baron | Glencairn | Drew Drentlaw | ||
| Baroness | New Troy | Jackie Snedden | Sphinx | |
| Baron | West Columbia | Brad Lee | ||
| Baroness | New Hastings | Cheryl Krause | ||
| Baron | Calabasas | Chris Thompson | ||
| Baron | New Ayers | Colin Lloyd | ||
| Baron | Black Thunder | Rob Folden | 5 July 2019 | |
| Baron | Grays Harbor | AJ Olsen | 5 July 2019 | Manticore |
| Baron | Sutherland | Michael Houghtaling | 5 July 2019 | Sphinx |
| Baron | New Byzantium | Dan Brandow | 25 May 2020 | Sphinx |
| Baron | Dundonald | Joseph Harney | 25 May 2020 | Manticore |
| Baron | New Williamsburg | Mike Romero | 25 May 2020 | Manticore |
| Baron | Jutland | John Stout | 25 May 2020 | |
| Steadholder | Pittman | Martyn Griffiths | Grayson | |
| Steadholder | Henesy | Tom Saidak | Grayson | |
| Steadholder | Maelstromm | David Melsome | Grayson | |
| Steadholder | Fitzgerald | Philip Clayton | Grayson | |
| Steadholder | Chẽrnakova | Kathy Rau | 25 May 2020 | Grayson |
| Baroness (Andermani) |
Neu Sachsen | Laura Lüschen | ||
| Baron (Andermani) |
Baudenvost | Philip Wohlrab | ||
| Senator (Havenite) |
Duquesne Tower | James Sena | Haven |
See Also
- Admiralty Order 1102-14 - defining peerage awards
External Links
- The Wall of Peerage Gallery of peers' coats of arms at the TRMN website.
References
- ↑ House of Steel, page 234
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