Marquess (original) (raw)

A Marquess is a nobleman of hereditary rank in Europe and Japan. In British peerage it ranks below a Duke and above an Earl. A woman with the rank of marquess, or the wife of a marquess, is a marchioness.

The word derives from the Middle French marquis (feminine, marquise), ultimately from a Germanic word for 'border'. This spelling marquis is still also used, though marquess is now preferred.

Peerage of England

The first marquess in England was Robert de Vere, 9th Earl of Oxford, who was created Marquess of Dublin by Richard II on the 1 December 1385. On the 13 October 1386 the patent of this marquessate was recalled, Robert de Vere as was raised to Duke of Oxford. John de Beaufort, Earl of Somerset, the second legitimate son of John of Gaunt, was raised to the second marquessate as Marquess of Somerset and Marquess of Dorset on in September 1397. In 1399, he was disgraced and the king revoked his marquessate. The Commons petitioned Richard for his restoration but he himself objected stating "the name of marquess is a strange name in this realm". From that period the title appears to have been dormant till the reign of Henry VI; when it was revived in 1442.

Titles in the peerage of England, listed with the bestowing monarch and ordered by date of creation.

• Marquess of Winchester, Edward VI, October 12, 1551
• Marquess of Worcester, Charles I, November 2, 1642
• Marquess of Carmarthen, William III, April 9, 1689 (extinct 1964)
• Marquess of Normanby, William III, 1694 (extinct 1735)
• Marchioness of Pembroke, Henry VIII of England, 1532
• Marquess of Tavistock, William III, May 11, 1694
• Marquess of Hartington, William III, May 12, 1694
• Marquess of Blandford, Anne, December 14, 1702
• Marquess of Granby, Anne, March 29, 1703

(others exist in the peerages of Great Britain, Scotland, United Kingdom etc.)

Reference

• The Chronological Peerage of England, hereditarytitles.com as of March 2, 2003; [1]; omits Normanby, misspells Hartington as Martington, places Marquess of Lorn and Kintyre in peerage of England (Scotland is more probable).
• BUCKINGHAM AND NORMANBY, JOHN SHEFFIELD, 1ST DUKE OF (1648-1721), 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica; [1]; mentions Marquess of Normanby in peerage of England.