C*******r
发帖数: 10345 | 1 看了Downton Abbey，发现对英国爵位，称号还是不很清楚，结果在网上找来个简介，
这下清楚多了。这里分享一下
After a long discussion last night in the tiny chat about aristocratic
titles, I thought it might be a good idea to have the information down
somewhere where everyone can see it and refer to it. My sources are mainly http://laura.chinet.com/html/titles01.html (which will tell you EVERYTHING that you could ever want to know) as well as three years grappling and getting on top of them for writing Regency set stories. The titles from Downton Abbey are canon correct and come from the press pack.
The Aristocracy
A hereditary peerage in the UK refers to a title passed down through the
male line. Peerages are very hierarchical, with strict orders of precedence
in place to distinguish the unmarried younger daughter of a Marquess from
the wife of a Duke's eldest son to the Earl's daughter who married a baronet
(and obviously their male equivalents).
The ranks of the peerage are as follows, from highest to lowest:
Duke & Duchess : addressed as "Duke/Duchess" or "Your Grace" and known as "
The Duke/Duchess of Title", never as "Lord/Lady Title" e.g. The Duke of
Crowborough
Marquess & Marchioness
Earl & Countess
Viscount & Viscountess
Baron & Baroness : all the above addressed as "My Lord/My Lady" and known as
"Lord/Lady Title", never as "Lord/Lady Firstname" e.g. Lord and Lady
Grantham, never Lord Robert or Lady Cora
Courtesy Titles
Only members of the peerage and their wives have real heriditary right to
their title. However, very often they are able to give their children what
is known as a "courtesy title" which marks out their close relationship to a
male title holder. These take the form of Lord or Lady Firstname Surname.
The sons of Dukes and Marquesses have courtesy titles as do the daughters of
Dukes, Marquesses and Earls. So Lord Grantham is a peer and has a title in
his own right. His daughters however only have their title as a courtesy.
When a woman with a courtesy title marries a peer, she is subsumed into his
title. So if Lady Mary had married the Duke of Crowborough, she would have
stopped being Lady Mary and would have become Mary, Duchess of Crowborough.
If a Lady marries a man with a lesser title than her father's or no title at
all, then she retains her courtesy title. Hence when Lady Rosamund Crawley
married Mr. Painswick, she remained Lady Rosamund Painswick, not Mrs.
Painswick. If Lady Edith marries Sir Anthony Strallon, instead of being
known as Lady Strallon, she will remain Lady Edith Strallon because her rank
as daughter of an Earl is higher than that of Baronet's wife. This is
because women do not have a title in their own right (at least very, very
few do). This makes it a bigger deal for a woman to marry below her rank
than for a man. The man has the power to elevate a commoner to the
aristocracy (as Robert did to Cora) or reduce a member of the aristocracy to
the middle class (as Matthew would should he marry Mary - until he inherits
of course). While the woman would retain her precendence from her father at
dinner parties as well as her title, she would in all other respects be
known by her husband's rank.
The other kind of courtesy title is the one given to the eldest sons and
heirs of peers. Very often a peer will have more than one title. The Earl of
Grantham also has the title Viscount Downton which is used by his eldest
son. This is a courtesy title because since the Viscounts Downton were
elevated to the Earldom, the title is no longer an aristocratic title in its
own right: Lord Downton cannot sit in the House of Peers; he is only
granted the title as a courtesy. When Robert met Cora, his father was still
alive so he was styled as Lord Downton. When Cora married him she became
Lady Downton. On Robert's father's death he took the higher title of Lord
Grantham and she consequently became Lady Grantham.
Note that this courtesy title only applies to the direct heir apparent, the
person who cannot be displaced from inheritance, in other words, the current
Earl's eldest son. Matthew is only the heir presumptive and can be
displaced should a closer heir be found, so he cannot take the title.
Dowagers
The word 'dowager' refers to the widow of a peer when the new title holder
has a wife. While there can never be two Lord Granthams around at the same
time, there can be (and indeed are) two Lady Granthams. Dowager is not a
title, it is simply a way of distinguishing the wife of the peer from the
widow of the previous one. When her husband died, Violet, Countess of
Grantham became known as the Dowager Countess of Grantham to avoid confusion
with the new Countess. Dowager can also be used among baronets or untitled
women to avoid confusion when their sons marry, but it is less common.
Should Matthew marry a woman without a coutesy title, and there was a new
Mrs. Crawley, Isobel could decide to style herself as the Dowager Mrs.
Crawley, but it would be rather pretentious!
Gentry and below
Baronets and untitled landowners belong to the Gentry, the class below
aristocracy. They do not have titles. Baronets are known as "Sir Firstname
Lastname" (never "Sir Lastname") and their wife is known as "Lady Lastname",
unless she has a courtesy title from her father. (See above.)
The baronetcy is heritary, like the peerage. The rank below Baronets are
Knights. They are addressed in the same way as Baronets but the title is not
passed down. Men are generally knighted for one generation because they
have done something particularly remarkable for the country (or, nowadays,
given the government a lot of money [/controversial]).
Then there are the members of the landed gentry who do not have titles. They
are often very rich and influential people from old, well-established
families and there was plenty of intermarriage between the aristocracy and
gentry. Pride and Prejudice is a very good example of this. Lady Catherine
is the daughter of an Earl who married into the Gentry so she took a step
down in rank on her marriage, as did her sister Lady Anne Darcy, despite the
Darcys being one of the wealthiest though untitled families in the land.
This probably explains a lot of her snobbishness. She objects to Elizabeth
Bennet's relative poverty and insignificance but Elizabeth's father is also
of the landed gentry, the same social class of Mr. Darcy, though at the
other end of it. It is this that allows her to tell Lady Catherine that "he
is a gentleman, I am a gentleman's daughter; so far we are equal".
Both the aristocracy and the gentry make up the upper classes.
The step below the Gentry was the middle class, and it was a much bigger
step than between the aristocracy and gentry. The middle classes actually
earned their living - doctors, lawyers, business men, teachers, merchants...
Despite the upper classes looking down on the middle classes and the middle
classes considering the upper classes degenerate of morals, there had long
been a tradition byt the early 20th century of middle class men who had made
a lot of money through trade, the "nouveau riche", buying their way into
upper class society through marriage with the often impoverished aristocracy
(maintaining all those big estates was a great drain on resources). Either
they themselves married a daughter of the aristocracy (Mr. Painswick and
Lady Rosamund) or they married off their daughters - and their massive trade
-acquired dowries - to peers (Robert and Cora). | G**8
发帖数: 1209 | 2 这些头衔看Etymology很多木有什么好来源。比如Duke对应的最早的拉丁词是蛮族头领
、民兵队长的意思。
不过中国的头衔往往也不能直译。比如“司马”可以理解为避马温、马夫头子。。。
http://laura.chinet.com/html/titles01.html (which will tell you EVERYTHING that you could ever want to know) as well as three years grappling and getting on top of them for writing Regency set stories. The titles from Downton Abbey are canon correct and come from the press pack.
precedence
baronet
【在 C*******r 的大作中提到】
: 看了Downton Abbey，发现对英国爵位，称号还是不很清楚，结果在网上找来个简介，
: 这下清楚多了。这里分享一下
: After a long discussion last night in the tiny chat about aristocratic
: titles, I thought it might be a good idea to have the information down
: somewhere where everyone can see it and refer to it. My sources are mainly http://laura.chinet.com/html/titles01.html (which will tell you EVERYTHING that you could ever want to know) as well as three years grappling and getting on top of them for writing Regency set stories. The titles from Downton Abbey are canon correct and come from the press pack.
: The Aristocracy
: A hereditary peerage in the UK refers to a title passed down through the
: male line. Peerages are very hierarchical, with strict orders of precedence
: in place to distinguish the unmarried younger daughter of a Marquess from
: the wife of a Duke's eldest son to the Earl's daughter who married a baronet
| C*******r
发帖数: 10345 | 3 其实无论中外，这些贵族高官的头衔都曾是很土的意思，司马，司徒什么的都是马夫，
小队长，最后都成三公了。
【在 G**8 的大作中提到】
: 这些头衔看Etymology很多木有什么好来源。比如Duke对应的最早的拉丁词是蛮族头领
: 、民兵队长的意思。
: 不过中国的头衔往往也不能直译。比如“司马”可以理解为避马温、马夫头子。。。
:
: http://laura.chinet.com/html/titles01.html (which will tell you EVERYTHING that you could ever want to know) as well as three years grappling and getting on top of them for writing Regency set stories. The titles from Downton Abbey are canon correct and come from the press pack.
: precedence
: baronet
| r**********g
发帖数: 22734 | 4 中国头衔很有规律啊，就是内官外移。皇帝怕外官，于是总是想法设法把内府官员往外
派。
司马原来就是给王家赶马，后来放到外面成了政府官员。
皇帝自己，又得有一套，就是尚书中书，本来都是皇帝私人秘书，皇帝为了私心又放到
外庭。
到了八八这，又觉得中书是外庭了，再次罢了，搞出内阁大学士。本来这些人只能算是
皇帝的顾问，又弄成政府领袖了。
到了四爷这里又觉得内阁都见外了，整个军机处。
【在 C*******r 的大作中提到】
: 其实无论中外，这些贵族高官的头衔都曾是很土的意思，司马，司徒什么的都是马夫，
: 小队长，最后都成三公了。
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