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BARON

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 423 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BARON . This word, of uncertain origin, was introduced into See also:

England at the See also:Conquest to denote " the See also:man " (i.e. one who had done him " See also:homage ") of a See also:great See also:lord, and more especially of the See also:king. All who held " in See also:chief " (i.e. directly) of the king were alike barones regis, See also:bound to perform a stipulated service, and members, in theory at least, of his See also:council. Great nobles, whether earls or not, also spoke of their tenants as " barons," where lesser magnates spoke of their ." men " (homines). This was especially the See also:case in earldoms of a See also:palatine See also:character, such as See also:Chester, where the See also:earl's barons were a well-recognized See also:body, the Venables See also:family, " barons of Kinderton," continuing in existence down to 1679. In the See also:palatinate of See also:Durham also, the See also:bishop had his barons, among whom the Hiltons of See also:Hilton See also:Castle were usually styled " Barons of Hilton " till See also:extinct in 1746. Other families to whom the See also:title was accorded, independently of See also:peerage dignity and on somewhat uncertain grounds, were " the barons of Greystock," " the barons of See also:Stafford," and the Cornwalls, " barons of See also:Burford." Fantosme makes See also:Henry II. speak of " See also:mes baruns de Lundres "; See also:John's See also:charter granting permission to elect a See also:mayor speaks of " our barons of our See also:city of See also:London," and a London document even speaks of " the greater barons of the city." The aldermen seem to have been loosely deemed See also:equivalent to barons and were actually assessed to the See also:poll-tax as such under See also:Richard II. In See also:Ireland the palatine character of the great lordships made the title not uncommon (e.g. the barons of Galtrim, the barons of Slane, the barons of the Naas). As all those who held See also:direct of the See also:crown by military service (for those who held " by See also:serjeanty " appear to have been classed apart), from earls downwards, were alike " barons," the great difference in their position and importance must have led, from an See also:early date, to their being roughly divided into " greater " and " lesser " barons, and indeed, under Henry II., the Dialogus de Scaccario already distinguishes their holdings as " greater " or " lesser " baronies. Within a See also:century of the Conquest, as we learn from See also:Becket's case (1164), there arose the practice of sending to the greater barons a See also:special See also:summons to the council, while the lesser barons, it is stipulated in Magna Carta (1215), were to be summoned only through the sheriffs. Thus was introduced a definite distinction, which eventually had the effect of restricting to the greater barons the rights and privileges of peerage. Thus far the baron's position was connected with the See also:tenure of See also:land; in theory the barons were those who held their lands of the king; in practice, they were those who so held a large amount of land.

The great See also:

change in their status was effected when their presence in that council of the See also:realm which became the See also:House of Lords was determined by the issue of a See also:writ of summons, dependent not on the tenure of land, but only on the king's will. See also:Camden's statement that this change was made by Henry III. after " the Barons' See also:War " was See also:long and widely accepted, but it is now assigned, as by See also:Stubbs, to See also:Edward I., and the earliest writs accepted as creating hereditary baronies are those issued in his reign. It must not, however, be supposed that those who received such summons were as yet distinguished from commoners by any See also:style or title. The only possible prefix at that See also:time was See also:Dominus (lord), which was regularly used by See also:simple knights, and writs of summons were still issued to the lowest See also:order of peers as knights (chevaliers) only. The style of baron was first introduced by Richard II. in 1387, when he created John de See also:Beauchamp, by patent, Lord de Beauchamp and baron of See also:Kidderminster, to make him " unum parium et baronum regni nostri." But it was not till 1433 that the next " baron " was created, See also:Sir John See also:Cornwall being then made baron of Fanhope. In spite, however, of these innovations, the former 422 was only summoned to See also:parliament by the style of " John Beauchamp of Kidderminster," and the latter by that of " John Cornwall, See also:knight." Such creations became See also:common under Henry VI., a transition See also:period in peerage styles, but " Baron " could not evict " Sire," " See also:Chevalier " and " Dominus." See also:Patents of. creation contained the See also:formula " Lord A. (and) Baron of B.," but the grantee still styled himself " Lord " only, and it is an historically interesting fact that to this See also:day a baron is addressed in See also:correspondence, not by that style, but as " the Lord A.," although all peers under the See also:rank of See also:Duke are spoken of as " lords," while they are addressed in correspondence by their proper styles. To speak of " Baron A." or " Baron B." is an unhistorical and quite See also:recent practice. When a See also:barony, however, is vested in a See also:lady it is now the recognized See also:custom to speak of her as baroness, e.g. Baroness See also:Berkeley. The See also:solemn See also:investiture of barons created by patent was performed by the king himself, by enrobing the peer in the See also:scarlet " robe of See also:estate " during the See also:reading of the patent, and this See also:form continued till 13 Jac. I., when the lawyers declared that the delivery of the letters patent without ceremony was sufficient.

The letters patent See also:

express the limits of See also:inheritance of the barony. The usual limit is to the grantee and heirs male of his body, occasionally, in See also:default of male issue, to a See also:collateral male relative (as in the case of Lord See also:Brougham, 186o)or (as in the case of Lord See also:Basset, 1797, and Lord See also:Burton, 1897) to the heirs-male of a daughter, and occasionally (as in the case of Lord See also:Nelson, 18o1) to the heirs-male of a See also:sister. Sometimes also (as in the case of the barony of See also:Rayleigh, 1821) the dignity is bestowed upon a lady with See also:remainder to the heirs-male of her body. The See also:coronation See also:robes of a baron are the same as those of an earl, except that he has only two rows of spots on each See also:shoulder; and, in like manner, his See also:parliamentary robes have but two See also:guards of See also:white See also:fur, with rows of See also:gold See also:lace; but in other respects they are the same as those of other peers. King See also:Charles II. granted to the barons a coronet, having six large pearls set at equal distances on the chaplet. A baron's cap is the same as a See also:viscount's. His style is " Right See also:Honourable "; and he is addressed by the king or See also:queen, " Right Trusty and Well-beloved." His See also:children are by See also:courtesy entitled to the prefix " The Honourable." Barons of the See also:Exchequer were formerly six See also:judges (a chief baron and five See also:puisne barons) to whom the See also:administration of See also:justice was committed in causes betwixt the king and his subjects relative to matters of See also:revenue. See also:Selden, in his Titles of See also:Honour, conjectures that they were originally chosen from among the barons of the See also:kingdom, and hence their name; but it would probably be more exact to say that they were See also:officers of a See also:branch of the king's See also:Curia, which was theoretically composed of his " barons." The title has become obsolete since 1875, when the See also:court of exchequer was merged in the High Court of Judicature. Barons of the Cinque Ports (originally See also:Hastings, See also:Dover, See also:Hythe, See also:Romney and See also:Sandwich) were at first the whole body of their freemen, who were so spoken of in royal charters. But the style was afterwards restricted to their mayors, jurats, and (See also:prior to 1831) members of the House of See also:Commons elected by the Cinque Ports, two for each See also:port. Their right to the title is recognized in many old statutes, but in 1606 the use of the See also:term in a See also:message from the See also:Lower House See also:drew forth a protest from the peers, that " they would never acknowledge any man that sitteth in the Lower House to the right or title of a baron of parliament " (Lords' See also:Journals). It was the See also:ancient See also:privilege of these " barons " to See also:bear a See also:canopy over the See also:sovereign at his or her coronation and retain it as their See also:perquisite.

They petitioned as " barons of the Cinque Ports " to attend the coronation of Edward VII., and a deputation was allowed to do so. Baron and Feme, in See also:

English See also:law, is a phrase used for See also:husband and wife, in relation to each other, who are accounted as one See also:person. Hence, by the old law of See also:evidence, the one party was excluded from giving evidence for or against the other in See also:civil questions, and a relic of this is still preserved in the criminal law. Baron and Feme, in See also:heraldry, is the term used when the coatsof-arms of a man and his wife are See also:borne per See also:pale in the sameescutcheon, the man's being always on the See also:dexter See also:side, and the woman's on the sinister. But in this case the woman is supposed not to be an heiress, for then her coat must be borne by the husband on an See also:escutcheon of pretence. (See HERALDRY.) The See also:foreign title of baron is occasionally borne by English subjects, but confers no See also:precedence in the See also:United Kingdom. It may be See also:Russian, e.g. Baron Dimsdale (1762); See also:German, e.g. Baron See also:Stockmar, Baron See also:Halkett (Hanoverian); See also:Austrian, e.g. Baron See also:Rothschild (1822), Baron de See also:Worms; See also:Italian, e.g. Baron See also:Heath; See also:French, e.g. Baron de Teissier ; French-See also:Canadian, e.g.

Phoenix-squares

Baron de Longueil (1700); Dutch, e.g. Baron See also:

Mackay (Lord Reay). (J. H. R.) The Foreign Title.—On the See also:continent of See also:Europe the title baron, though the same in its origin, has come, owing to a variety of causes, to imply a rank and status very different from its See also:con-notation in the United Kingdom, and again varies considerably in different countries. Originally baro meant no more than " man," and is so used in the Salic and other " See also:barbarian " See also:laws; e.g. Si quis mortaudit barum vel feminam, &c. (Lex See also:Aleman. tit. 76). In this way, too, it was long preserved in the sense of " husband," as in the See also:Assize of See also:Jerusalem (See also:MSS. cap. 98) : Si l'on appelle aucune See also:chose femme qui See also:aura baron, et it la vent deffendre, it la peut deffendre de son cors, &c. Gradually the word seems to have come to mean a "strong or powerful man," and thus generally " a See also:magnate." Finally, in See also:France in the 12th century the See also:general expression barones was introduced in a restricted sense, as applied properly to all lords possessing an important See also:fief, subject to the See also:rule of See also:primogeniture and thus not liable to be divided up, and held of one overlord alone.

Sometimes it included ecclesiastical lordships of the first rank. In the 13th century the See also:

Register of King See also:Philip See also:Augustus places the barones regis Francie next to the See also:dukes and See also:counts holding in chief, the title being limited to vassals of the second rank. Towards the end of the century the title had come to mean that its See also:bearer held his See also:principal fief direct from the crown, and was therefore more important than that of See also:count, since many counts were only mediate vassals. Thus the See also:kings in granting a duchy or countship as an apanage to their See also:brothers or sons used the phrase in comitatum et baroniam. From this period, how-ever, the title tends to sink in See also:comparative importance. When, in the 14th century, the feudal See also:hierarchy was completed and stereotyped, the barons are ranked not only below counts, but below viscounts, though in See also:power and possessions many barons were See also:superior to many counts. In any case, until the 17th century, the title of baron could only be borne by the holder of a territorial barony; and it was See also:Louis XIV. who first cheapened the title in France by creating numerous barons by royal letters. This entire See also:dissociation of the title from *the See also:idea of feudal rights and obligations was completed by See also:Napoleon's See also:decree of See also:March 1, 18o8, reviving the ancient titles. By this See also:instrument the title of baron was to be borne ex officio by a number of high officials, e.g. ministers, senators, councillors of See also:state, archbishops and bishops. It was given to the 37 mayors who attended the coronation, and could be claimed by any mayor who had served to the See also:emperor's See also:satisfaction for ten years, and by any member of an electoral See also:college who had attended three sessions. The title was made to descend in order of primogeniture to legitimate or adopted sons and to the nephews of bishops, the See also:sole See also:condition being that See also:proof must be presented of an actual income of 15,000 fr., of which one-third should descend with the title. The creation of barons was continued by Louis XVIII., Charles X. and Louis Philippe, and, suspended at the revolution of 1848, was revived again on a generous See also:scale by Napoleon III.

The tolerant attitude of the Third See also:

Republic towards titles, which it does not officially recognize, has increased the confusion by facilitating the See also:assumption of the title on very slender grounds of right. The result has been that in France the title of Baron, unless borne by the re-cognized representative of a historic name, not only involves no See also:political status, but confers also but very slight social distinction. The same is true, mutatis mutandis, of most other See also:European countries, and notably of See also:Italy. In See also:Austria and See also:Germany the case is somewhat different. Though in Latin documents of the See also:middle ages the term barones for liberi domini was used, it was not until the 17th century that the word Baron, perhaps under the See also:influence of the court of See also:Versailles, began to be used as the equivalent of the old German Freiherr, or See also:free lord of the See also:Empire. The style Freiherr (See also:liber dominus) implied originally a dynastic status, and many Freiherren held countships without taking the title of count. When the more important of them styled themselves counts, the Freiherren sank into an inferior class of See also:nobility. The practice of conferring the title Freiherrby imperial letters was begun in the 16th century by Charles V., was assumed on the ground of special imperial concessions by many of the princes of the Empire, and is now exercised by all the German sovereigns. Though the practice of all the children taking the title of their See also:father has tended to make that of Baron comparatively very common, and has dissociated it from all idea of territorial See also:possession, it still implies considerable social status and privilege in countries where a See also:sharp See also:line is See also:drawn between the See also:caste of " nobles " and the common See also:herd, whom no See also:wealth or intellectual See also:eminence can See also:place on the same social level with the poorest Adeliger. In See also:Japan the title baron (See also:Dan) is the lowest of the five titles of nobility introduced in 1885, on the European See also:model. It was given to the least important class of territorial nobles, but is also bestowed as a title of honour without reference to territorial possession. See du Cange, Glossarium, s.

" Baro " (ed. See also:

Niort, 1883); John Selden, Titles of Honor, p. 353 (ed. 1672); Achille See also:Luchaire, See also:Manuel See also:des institutions francaises (See also:Paris, 1892); See also:Maurice Prou, See also:art. " Baron " in La Grande Encyclopedie. (W. A.

End of Article: BARON

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