The Social Hierarchy and You: How to Address a Noble In this article, we will be going over how one should address various nobles, and just exactly where most nobles fit into the social food chain of the Renaissance. Social protocol was very important, so please take the time to learn how to properly speak to the various ranks of nobility at the Faire. There are a myriad of rules, exceptions to said rules, exceptions to the exceptions to the rules...but the information below has been simplified to make dealing with the upper classes as painless as possible. Well, it makes addressing them less painful. How you deal with them is up to you. So, just look below. The titles are in descending order of importance, with the most powerful rank first. In order to avoid confusion, we will be leaving out the addresses for children of titled nobility in this guide. Kings and Queens: (Queen Mary of Scotland, Queen Elizabeth of England, Queen Elizabeth of Spain) Obviously, the most powerful nobles at our Faire are the Kings and Queens. The accepted terms of address for this rank are: Your Grace, Your Royal Majesty (except in the case of Elizabeth, Queen of Spain, because she is a Queen Consort, and not born the Queen of Spain), Your Majesty, or Queen/King . One stands when a Queen/King arrives, and does not sit until told to. However, if there is a show, or if it would be disruptive, please do not stand when a Queen/King arrives. One does not touch a Queen/King without permission, and it was customary for men to remove their hats in the presence of a King/Queen. Go ahead and leave the hats on, guys. We can go without that, especially since so many people at Faire use hats to hide their modern hairstyles. Offensive speech, humour or threatening remarks will not be taken well in the presence of a King/Queen, and it would be wise to temper your behaviour. Everyone is free to behave how they wish, but do understand that threatening or inappropriate interaction will be responded to in kind. Luckily, all three of the Queens at our Faire were well known for being very fond of their subjects, and of the lower classes in general, and tended to interact with them, touch them, and so forth. Princes and Princesses: (Marguerite de Valois, Princess of France) Although women in France were not allowed to take the throne, they were still accorded the same amount of social respect as their male counterparts.... at least in title. Treat a Princess just about as respectfully as you would a Queen. After all, most Princesses end up Queens by marriage, when not by birth. Marguerite went on to become Queen of Navarre, but for our storyline purposes, she remains the unmarried Princess of France. You would refer to a Prince or Princess as: Your Highness, or Prince/Princess . Dukes, Duchesses and Archbishops: (Thomas Howard-Duke of Norfolk, Francois de Lorraine, Duc de Guise, Archbishop John Hamilton, Archbishop Overton of Coventry Litchfield) Even though Archbishops are not technically royalty, they were very important, and socially were thought to rank along the same lines as a Duke or Duchess. Dukes and Duchesses can be addressed as: Your Grace, His/Her Grace, or merely Duke of . It is interesting that there was only one Duke in England during Elizabeth's reign, and he was executed. Not only was Elizabeth rather tight with a dollar (most titles came along with lands and money to support the title, which Elizabeth rarely did), but she was also clever. Dukes and Duchesses can present problems for a monarch. Archbishops should be referred to as: Your Eminence or His Eminence. Marquises and Marchionesses: The female title in France for this rank would be Marquise, and at the moment, we have not cast any roles of this rank. Males of this rank would be called: Your Excellency, My Lord, or Lord. Females would be called: Your Ladyship, My Lady, or Lady. Earls, Counts, Countesses, Bishops and the Mayors of Capital Cities: (James Stuart-Earl of Moray, James Hepburn-Earl of Bothwell, James-Earl of Atholl, Margaret-Countess of Atholl, the Earl and Countess of Argyle, the Countess of Tyrone, the Earl and Countess of Shrewsbury, Don Giovanni Francesco Marco d' Abestanzi- Count of Pienza) While only Earls, Counts and Countesses are actual nobility; Bishops and Mayors of Capital cities were considered to be right along the same level of importance. Earls, Counts and Countesses are referred to the same as a Marquis or Marchioness would be. Males of this rank would be called: Your Excellency, My Lord, or Lord. Females would be called: Your Ladyship, My Lady, or Lady. General honorifics suffice for Bishops and Mayors (My Lord, etc.). It is important to note that Earls did not exist outside of England and Scotland, while Counts did not exist in England or Scotland. The title is exactly the same in importance, merely by different names; depending upon which country you lived in. Viscounts and Vicountesses: At this time, no one of this rank has been cast. However, they would be referred to in generally the same fashion as Earls, Counts and Countesses, save for the fact that the men would not be "Your Excellency", they would be "Your Lordship". Barons and Baronesses: (Sir William Cecil-Lord Burghley) Barons and Baronesses were considered to be the bottom rung of the nobility, until King James I/VI created the rather silly rank of "baronet". They are referred to the same as Viscounts and Vicountesses. Below the rank of Baron, we start getting into Knights, and so forth. It is important to remember that Knights are called: Sir or Master, and their ladies are usually referred to as: Lady , or Dame , but never Lady . Knights were considered to be about as important as Archdeacons and City Aldermen, and below that, Esquires, Priests, Merchants, and professionals that had graduated from University (physicians, lawyers, etc.) were on the same level socially. Below even that would be Deacons, Craftsmen, Tradesmen and Yeomen, followed in importance by Vicars, Journeymen and Husbandmen. Apprentices and Cottagers followed behind them, and ranking below that would be Chaplains, Servants and Landless Labourers. And, the only thing below those on the social scale would be vagrants.