...the difference between a baron, viscount, earl, marquess, and

What's the difference between a baron, viscount, earl, marquess, and duke?

A duke is a noble person, historically of highest rank below the King or Queen, and usually controls a duchy or a Dukedom. Female equivalent is Duchess either in her own right, or wife of a Duke. Dukes were the rulers of the provinces and the superiors of the counts in the cities and later, in the feudal monarchies, the highest-ranking peers of the king. There were, however, variants of these meanings and there were even sovereign princes employing ducal titles.

A marquess is a nobleman of hereditary rank. A woman with the rank of marquess, or the wife of a marquess, is a marchioness. This term comes from Old French Marchis "frontier, frontier territory" - also seen in the Germanic word for 'border' (mark) - which in English became march. They were originally counts who were granted extra powers because they guarded border areas.

An Earl (or Jarl) was an Anglo-Saxon title meaning "chieftain" and referring especially to chieftains set to rule a territory in a king's stead. English never developed a feminine form of earl; the wife of an earl is styled countess. In Anglo-Saxon England, earls had authority over their own regions and right of judgement in provincial courts, as delegated by the king. They collected fines and taxes and in return received a "third penny", one-third of the money they collected. In wartime they led the king's armies.

A viscount is a member of the European nobility. The word viscount corresponds in Britain to the Anglo-Saxon shire reeve (root of the non-nobiliary, royal-appointed office of Sheriff). A viscount is said to hold a "viscountship" or "viscounty", or (more as the area of his jurisdiction) a "viscountcy". The female equivalent of a viscount is a viscountess.

Baron is a specific title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Frankish baro meaning "freeman, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman." The lowest rank in the peerage. A female of baronial rank has the honorific baroness. A baron may hold a barony (plural baronies), if the title relates originally to a feudal barony by tenure, although such tenure is now obsolete in England and any such titles are now held in gross, if they survive at all, as very few do, sometimes along with some vestigial manorial rights, or by grand serjeanty.

Source(s):

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080210113822AA5I8X2

http://mr_sedivy.tripod.com/engrise19.ht…