Nobility

Nobility was the highest social class in pre-modern societies. In the feudal system (in Europe and elsewhere), the noble were mostly those who got land from the monarch and had to provide services to him, mainly military service. Men of this class were called noblemen. It soon became a hereditary class, sometimes with a right to bear a hereditary title and to have financial and other privileges in the estates of the realm. 

Today, in most countries, 'noble status' means no legal privileges; an important exception is the United Kingdom, where certain titles (titles of the peerage) guaranteed until recently a seat in the Upper House of Westminster Parliament (that is why it is called House of Lords) and still provide some other, less important privileges.

 History 
Nobles were always recognized as lower families of the King/Queen.  Nobles usually rule Duchies, Counties, and principalities. Nobles were usually given a "noble house.  Nobles usually worked as advisors to the King, and land owners.  Some families did not work at all because they were quite wealthy. But not all nobles were wealthy. Some were very poor.  One of the richest claim to be noble families were the Medicis.  They ruled Tuscany, Milan and others.   The Medicis were originally common people, but they were richer than most monarchs of the time until they fell in the 1700's.  

Noble families had plenty of power depending on what land they ruled. The rich Duchy of Burgundy was a major power spot because of how big to Duchy was. Another power spot was the Duchy of Milan and the Duchy of Luxembourg. Some nobles had little to no power. Most nobles are given a title such as "lady-in-waiting," that is non hereditary.

 Famous Noble Families 

 House of Boleyn
 House of Grey
 House of Bourbon
 House of Normandy
 House of Foix
 House of Hesse
 House of Nassu

 Nobility by rank 
 Title  Male  Female Empire  Emperor  Empress Kingdom  King  Queen Grand Principality  Grand Prince  Grand Princess Principality  Prince  Princess Archduchy  Arch Duke  Arch Duchess Grand Duchy  Grand Duke  Grand Duchess Duchy  Duke  Duchess Marquisate  Marquess  Marchioness County/Earldom  Count/Earl  Countess Viscounty  Viscount  Viscountess Barony  Baron  Baroness

 Other websites 

 The German nobility
 Old Noble Family Trees
 WW-Person , an on-line database of European noble genealogy
 Paul Theroff's An Online Gotha 
 Genealogics, an extensive database of European nobles
 Worldroots, a selection of art and genealogy of European nobility
 RoyalArk- ruling houses in many non-European countries
 Web site on the Royalty, the Nobility, the History and the Patrimony 
 The Armenian nobility
 The Maltese Nobility and its ilks.
 Italian dynastic genealogies (in Italian, with an introduction in English)
 Worldwidewords
 OneTree Genealogy - European Royal and Danish-Norwegian-Swedish Nobility Lineages