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 given to members of The Royal Manticoran Navy: The Official Honor Harrington Fan Association, Inc. for exceptional service and dedication to the organization. This award affords the member to roleplay as a member of the nobility of Manticoran society. Peers are given hereditary privileges including a seat in the House of Lords, the right to bear a coat of arms, and special forms of address.
Peers are granted titles named after their "peerage lands," fictitious territories on the worlds of Manticore, Gryphon, Sphinx (the Old Star Kingdom) as portrayed in the books by David Weber. 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, all based on the Manticoran Peerage System. In ascending order of precedence, they 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 Active Peerage for general members of the organization.
Though there was one marquis mentioned in the canon, David Weber considers this an oversight which he has retconned out of the canon, and this level of peerage has never been awarded in TRMN.
Some foreign peerages are awarded in TRMN to members who have non-manticoran personae. The Andermani have equivalent noble ranks, including freiherrs (barons), grafs (earls), and herzogs (dukes). Grayson only has steadholders, which are 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.