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====== The Peerage ======
=== The Degrees of Peerage ===
The Taceran Peerage includes five separate ranks known as the Five Degrees of the Peerage. In order of decreasing seniority they are:
  * Grand Duke
  * Duke
  * Earl
  * Viscount
  * Baron

The rank of **Grand Duke** is limited to the members of the Pentad. Only the King, the Queen, the Princes and Princesses Royal and Grand Dukes may wear the Royal Purple.

**Duke** is the second most senior rank in the peerage. The dignity is closely associated with, although not exclusive to, the Royal Family. Dukes hold Dukedoms or Duchies (the terms are used interchangeably) and the wife of a Duke is a Duchess. All Dukedoms are territorial titles; they are never taken from a family name. Only Dukes and higher, and their wives, may wear Cloth of Gold and Ermine.

**Earls** were originally Eaoldermen (Ieirll) who administered Ieirllaeth on behalf of the King of Amanesh. When Nacada, Canterus, Tacera, Stihmar and Arcimea declared their independence, the appointees changed in most cases, but the titles and the geographic boundaries of the administrative districts did  not. Ieirll became Earls and Ieirllaeth became Earldoms, but the wife of an Earl remained an Iarlles (plural: Ieirlles). The title is almost always taken from a territorial name, but exceptions exist where it is taken from a family name. Where it is territorial, the preposition 'of' is generally used, (i.e., the Earl of Dugrin) but where it is a family name, it is not (hence the Earl Gwynedd). Only Earls and above, their wives, sons and daughters, may wear Taceran Crimson and Sable.


As with Earls, the title of **Viscount** arises from the position they historically held as the deputy of an Earl overseeing a County (the largest subdivision of an Iarllaeth, or Earldom). Viscounts hold a Viscountcy and the female equivalent is a Viscountess. The title of Viscount can be territorial or taken from a family name, but whichever is the case the preposition 'of' is never used; hence it is the Viscount Exham, not the 'Viscount of Exham'. Only Viscounts and above, their wives, sons and daughters, may wear Marten.

**Baron** is the lowest rank of the peerage. They hold estates smaller than a County as direct feudatories of the King. (One who holds a comparable position within a Dukedom, Earldom or Viscountcy/County is generally called a Squire, and is technically a member of the gentry, not the Peerage, although the duties and privileges are the same.) Although in formal parlance all peers are lords, Barons are often referred to simply as 'Lords', so that historical references may equally be made to the Lord Clerthar or the Baron Clerthar. Barons hold a Barony, and the female equivalent is a Baroness. The title of Baron and Baroness is sometimes territorial, sometimes taken from the family name, and sometimes from other sources entirely, such as an appellation bestowed by the King when the Barony was created, hence Baron Thorn. Only Barons and above, their wives, sons and daughters, may wear Mink, Vair, Fitch and Cloth of Silver.