Viscount

A viscount is a member of the European nobility, especially, as in the British peerage, ranking above a baron, below a (British) earl or (his continental equivalent) count.

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The word viscount comes from Old French visconte (modern French: vicomte), itself from Medieval Latin vicecomitem, accusative of vicecomes, from Late Latin vice- "deputy" + Latin comes "companion, delegate of the emperor" (see count). As a rank in British peerage, first recorded in 1440, when John Beaumont, 1st Viscount Beaumont, was made one by King Henry VI. The word viscount corresponds in Britain to the Anglo-Saxon shire reeve (root of the non-nobiliary, royal-appointed office of Sheriff). Thus early viscounts were not originally normally given their titles by the monarch, nor hereditary; but soon they too tended to establish hereditary principalities lato sensu.

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Nobility: The nobility represents, or has represented, the higher stratum of a society in which social classes can be distinguished. The most distinctive feature of nobilty is that once acquired, it is passed to descendants, possibly according to some rules. The word "noble" in "nobility" also means "doing an...

Peerage: The Peerage is a system of titles of nobility which exists in the United Kingdom and is one part of the British honours system. The term can be used to refer to the entire body of titles in a collective sense, or to a specific title....

Baron: Baron is a specific title of nobility or a more generic feudal qualification. The word baron comes from French baron, itself from Frankish baro meaning "freeman, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman." Ultimately it seems to mean a burden bearer....

Viscount related Images and Photos (experimental)

Lord Viscount Nelson	Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum	Henry 3rd Viscount Palmerston	Portrait of Henry St. John Viscount Bolingbroke
An 18th Century English Aristocrat Gustavus Viscount Boyne	Portrait of the Hon William Lamb Later 2nd Viscount Melbourne as a Child