# Peerage

A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks.
Peerages include:

## Australia

* Australian peers

## Belgium

* Belgian nobility

## Canada

* British peerage titles granted to Canadian subjects of the Crown
* Canadian nobility in the aristocracy of France

## China

* Chinese nobility

## France

* Peerage of France
* List of French peerages
* Peerage of Jerusalem

## Japan

* Peerage of the Empire of Japan
* House of Peers (Japan)

## Portugal

* Chamber of Most Worthy Peers

## Spain

* Chamber of Peers (Spain)
* List of dukes in the peerage of Spain
* List of viscounts in the peerage of Spain
* List of barons in the peerage of Spain
* List of lords in the peerage of Spain

## United Kingdom

    Peerage (general introduction)
    Social class in the United Kingdom
    Duke § United Kingdom
    Marquess § United Kingdom
    Earl
    Viscount § United Kingdom / Viscountess
    Baron
    Victory title 👑 (peerage granted for military victories, e.g., Duke of Wellington; coronet varies by rank)
    Peer of the realm (legal term for members of the peerage with full rights)
    Lord (general title for many peers, also used informally)
    Representative peer (elected member of the Scottish [1707–1963] or Irish [1801–1922] peerage who sat in the UK House of Lords on behalf of their peerage group)
    Hereditary peer (peerage title that is passed down through inheritance; coronet depends on rank)
    Life peer (peerage title granted for lifetime service; and, the title cannot be inherited; wears a Baron’s coronet)
    Baronet (hereditary title ranking below a baron, but above a knight)
    Knight (non-hereditary honor awarded for service or merit)
    Dame (female equivalent of a Knight, awarded for distinguished service)
    Privilege of peerage (legal rights and privileges associated with being a peer, even if not sitting in Parliament)
    Courtesy title (honorific used by heirs of peers, not legally recognized)
    Esquire (once a rank below knight, now an informal designation)
    Gentleman (traditional term for men of status and refinement)
    Baronage (collective term for barons, historically linked to landownership)
    Laird (Scottish landowner, similar to an esquire or lord of the manor, but not a peer)
    Scottish clan (traditional kinship-based groups in Scotland, some led by clan chiefs)
    Scottish clan chief (leader of a Scottish clan, recognized under Scottish heraldic law)
    List of Scottish clans (directory of notable historical and modern Scottish clans)
    Peerage Bill (legislation related to the peerage, including reforms)
    British nobility (wider concept of noble ranks, including those not part of the peerage)
    Noblesse in Scotland (Scottish equivalent of nobility, often distinct from peerage)
    English heraldry (system of coats of arms and noble symbols in England)
    Territorial designation (titles associated with land, e.g., Duke of Cornwall, Earl of Wessex)
    Forms of address in the United Kingdom (proper ways to address peers and titled individuals)
    Lord § Modern usage (explanation of how "Lord" is used today, both formally and informally)
    Robes of the British peerage (ceremonial garments worn by peers at state occasions)
    Coronet (small crown worn by peers, indicating rank in the hierarchy)
    Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom → (hierarchy of ranking among nobles and officials)
    Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
    Order of precedence in Scotland
    Order of precedence in England and Wales
    Order of precedence in Northern Ireland
    Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom
    Post-nominal letters § Civil usage in the UK
    Post-nominal letters § Academic usage in the UK
    List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom)
    Nobiliary particle § United Kingdom
    College of Arms
    Herald (officer of arms responsible for heraldry and ceremonial functions)
    Garter Principal King of Arms
    King of Arms
    Lord Lyon King of Arms
    Order of the Garter
    Order of the British Empire
    Order of St Michael and St George
    List of people who have declined a British honour
    Scottish clan
    Baronage of Scotland
    Substantive title
    Peerage of England (English titles created before the 1707 Acts of Union)
    Welsh peers and baronets (holders of British peerage and baronetcy titles associated with Welsh lands or heritage)
    Peerage of Scotland (Scottish titles created before 1707; some later sat in the House of Lords, with all gaining seats from 1964 to 1999)
    List of Scottish representative peers (elected Scottish peers in the House of Lords from 1707 to 1963)
    Jacobite peerage (titles granted by exiled Stuart monarchs (1689–1766) in opposition to the British and Irish peerage systems)
    Peerage of Great Britain (titles created in the Kingdom of Great Britain between 1707 and 1800)
    Peerage of Ireland (Irish titles created before 1920; held seats in the Irish House of Lords until 1801, with some later sitting in the UK House of Lords)
    List of Irish representative peers (elected Irish peers in the House of Lords from 1801 to 1922)
    Peerages in the United Kingdom (titles created since 1801 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland – renamed the UK of Great Britain and Northern Ireland after 1921)
    Life Peerages Act 1958 (established non-hereditary life peerages in the House of Lords)
    Appellate Jurisdiction Act 1876 (created judicial life peers for the House of Lords)
    List of spiritual peers (Bishops in the House of Lords as Lords Spiritual)
    Peerage Act 1963 (allowed hereditary peers to disclaim their titles for life; ended Scottish representative peers)
    History of the British peerage (development and evolution of the peerage system)
    Peerage of Britain and Ireland by date (chronological list of peerage creations)
    List of British Jewish nobility and gentry (Jewish peers, baronets, and gentry in the UK)
    Courtesy titles in the United Kingdom (honorific titles used by heirs of peers)
    List of courtesy titles in the peerages of Britain and Ireland (specific courtesy titles and their holders)
       Bailiwick of Jersey (seigneurs, but no peerage system)
       Bailiwick of Guernsey (seigneurs, but no peerage system)
          Alderney
          Guernsey
          Herm
          Sark
       Cornwall (Duchy of Cornwall, but no separate peerage)
       Isle of Man (Lord of Mann, no separate peerage)
          Order of precedence in the Isle of Man
    Australian peers and baronets
    Australian knights and dames
    Order of the Thistle
    Table of precedence for the Commonwealth of Australia
    Order of Australia (established February 14, 1975)
    Canadian peers and baronets
    Canadian titles debate
       Peerages in the British Columbia
          Order of precedence in British Columbia
       Peerages in the Newfoundland and Labrador
          Order of precedence in Newfoundland and Labrador
    New Zealand royal honours system
    Orders, decorations, and medals of New Zealand
    New Zealand Order of Merit (established May 30, 1996)
    New Zealand royal honours system
    Royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom
    Dukes in the United Kingdom
    List of dukes in the peerages of Britain and Ireland
    List of dukedoms in the peerages of Britain and Ireland
    Earls, Marquises and Dukes in the Baronage of Scotland § List of Marquisates and Dukedoms in the Baronage of Scotland
    Marquesses in the United Kingdom
       Britain and Ireland
          List of marquesses in the peerages of Britain and Ireland
          List of marquessates in the peerages of Britain and Ireland
       Scotland
          Earls, Marquises and Dukes in the Baronage of Scotland § List of Marquisates and Dukedoms in the Baronage of Scotland
          Category:Marquessates in the Peerage of Scotland
    List of earls in the peerages of Britain and Ireland
    List of earldoms
       Scotland
          Earls, Marquises and Dukes in the Baronage of Scotland § List of Earldoms in the Baronage of Scotland
    List of viscounts in the peerages of Britain and Ireland
    List of viscountcies in the peerages of Britain and Ireland
    List of barons in the peerages of Britain and Ireland
    List of hereditary baronies in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
    List of baronies in the Peerage of England
    List of baronies in the peerages of Britain and Ireland
    List of life peerages
    List of lordships of Parliament
    List of peers 1790–1799
    List of peerages created for women
    List of peerages inherited by women
    Standing Council of the Baronetage
       Scotland
          Baronage of Scotland
          Lords in the Baronage of Scotland
    Category:Dormant peerages
    List of extinct baronetcies
    Category:Extinct dukedoms in the Peerage of England
    Category:Extinct baronies
    Category:Extinct dukedoms
    Category:Extinct earldoms
    Category:Extinct marquessates
    Category:Extinct viscountcies
    Category:Forfeited peerages
    Category:Forfeited earldoms in the Peerage of England
    Peerage law
    Baronies created by error
    Cash-for-Honours scandal
    False titles of nobility
    Titles Deprivation Act 1917
    List of fictional nobility
    Burke's Peerage
    Burke's Landed Gentry (1833; 1st ed.) – by John Burke (1786–1848).
    The Complete Peerage (1887–1898) – In 8 Vols. by George Edward Cokayne (1825–1911).
    Noblesse Oblige (1956) – An anthology of four essays.
    Debrett's – John Debrett (1753–1822), compiler and publisher of The New Peerage in 1769.
    International Register of Arms, formerly Burke's Peerage & Gentry International Register of Arms
    The Scots Peerage
    Roll of the Peerage