the fount of honour () refers to a person, who, by virtue of his or her official position, has the exclusive right of conferring legitimate titles of nobility and orders of chivalry to other persons. == origin == during the high middle ages, european knights were essentially armoured, mounted warriors; it was common practice for knights commander to confer knighthoods upon their finest soldiers, who in turn had the right to confer knighthood on others upon attaining command. for most of the middle ages, it was possible for private individuals to form orders of chivalry. the oldest existing order of chivalry, the sovereign military order of malta, was formed as a private organization which later received official sanction from church and state. the 13th century witnessed the trend of monarchs, beginning with emperor frederick ii (as king of sicily) in 1231, to reserve the right of fons honorum to themselves, gradually abrogating the right of knights to elevate their esquires to knighthood. after the end of feudalism and the rise of the nation-states, orders and knighthoods, along
Honours_systems Nobility Orders_of_knighthood Peerage