Marquess, Marquis

(Fr. Marquis, It. Marchese, Sp. Marqués, Port. Marquez, Ger. Pfalzgraf, Markgraf, Greek Mαρκεσιος)

A title of nobility originally given to commanders of frontiers or marches, hence the name.

This title, which has been adopted by nearly all the nations of modern Europe, has obtained everywhere the same rank, being placed immediately below that of Duke, and above that of Count or Earl. The same name has prevailed throughout, with only such variation as the nature of the different languages required. The French word, Marquis,  has been introduced into English usage in addition to Marquess, and of late years has almost universally prevailed; but the authority of all the old English writers is in favour of Marquess, and in so spelling it they approach more nearly to the Greek, the Italian, and the Spanish. It is evident that these words had one common origin, and it is equally clear what that origin was. Some have pretended that the word properly signifies a man skilled in the use of the horse, and derive it from Marca, an old Gaulish term for that animal; but this etymology is only mentioned to be condemned, and a short review of the circumstances in which the title rose, and of some of the authorities that bear upon the question, will place its real derivation beyond dispute.

In the later times of the old Roman Empire, the generals, who had the care of frontier provinces, were called Duces limitanei; and such continued to be their distinction under the government of the barbarous nations that succeeded to the Empire of Rome; it was then that the word comes was first employed in a sense very different from its meaning in purer Latin, and was used promiscuously with Dux, as the title of military governors; hence Comites limitanei is as commonly to be met with as  Duces limitanei. So far the barbarians did not depart from the words of the Latin language, however much they had perverted them; but they also introduced and established a word entirely their own, to express a border or frontier; this was marc, or march, and sometimes marca, when a Latin termination was convenient. From this word, in course of time, was formed another, marchio, employed first as a substantive epithet in the place of limitaneus, or as an official distinction without the addition of dux or comes; and afterwards as a separate title. 

The earliest use of this word was during the reign of Charlemagne. In relating the disposition of affairs made by that monarch for the protection of his dominions, where he was not himself present, Almonius says, “relictis Marchionibus qui fines regni tuentes, omnes, si forte ingruerent, hostium arcerent incursus.” In this instance it was only a temporary title, and, at that time, was never employed but to distinguish officers in command on the frontiers from others of the same rank elsewhere: the titles of Dux and Comes were not yet distinctly fixed, and that of Marchio could not have an earlier date.

It was not till the time of the Emperor Henry I that Marchio was conferred as a title of itself, retaining still its original signification. Crantzius says of this sovereign, that he placed a governor in Sleswich, “cui simile indidit honoris vocabulum ut Marchio diceretur.” Whether it was granted in this case as an hereditary distinction, is not known, for the Marquess and all his forces were soon after cut to pieces by an inroad of the enemy. It is, however, clear that the title began to be employed about this time, in the manner in which it has continued to be used to the present day, and was assigned its rank when the two terms of Dux and Comes came to be distinguished from each other, and bestowed as titles of nobility. Of the promiscuous use, at first, of the two last-mentioned words, history affords abundant testimony; and while this was the case, Marchio, in its original official signification, was joined indifferently with either. There is an instance in which, before this word came into use, the other two were combined to express it: in some old French annals a governor of a frontier province is styled Comes et Dux Sorabici limitis. The title Marquess having thus had, in the first use of something in common with both Duke and Earl. it naturally obtained a middle place between them, and this has been and is its rank in every country into which it has been introduced. The coronet also presents the same idea of the two other titles, having combined to form an intervening one, being decorated with leaves borrowed from the ducal coronet, and points from the earl’s. In Germany only, the name is a compound word, Margrave being formed March, a limit, and Grave, which corresponds to Count or Earl.

In other countries the progress of the title was such as that just described, and its establishment as a noble distinction of nearly the same date. In England, the marches or borders, which most required the presence of such an officer, were those of Wales, and it is in connexion with these that we most frequently meet with the first official signification of the word. At the coronation of Queen Eleanor, wife of Henry III, John Fitz-Alan, Ralfe Mortimer, John of Monmouth, and Walter of Clifford claimed a certain jus marchiæ, as Marchiones de Marchia Walliæ. At this time the title had not yet obtained its last form, nor was it so introduced till the reign of Richard II. As Walsingham plainly testifies: his words are, “creata est in hoc parliamento nova dignitas, Anglicis insueta; nempe Cornes Oxoniæ, Robertus de Vere appellatus et factus est Marchio Dublinæ in Hibernia, cæteris comitibus hoc indigne ferentibus quod viderent eum gradem celsiorem ipsis, regis munere percepisse et præcipue quia nec prudentia cæteris nec armis valentior extitisset.” By the same king, the Earl of Somerset was made Marquess of Dorset; but the title was taken away in the beginning of the reign of Henry IV. The high character and popularity of the Earl induced the Commons to petition the King and House of Lords that it might be restored to him; but he himself begged that it might not, on the grounds of its being so strange and new in this country. Doubtless, a recollection of the effect which Walsingham describes to have been produced by the elevation of the Marquess of Dublin, and perhaps the manifestation of a similar feeling in his own case, prompted him to this conduct. The nation afterwards grew more reconciled to the novelty, and the title became naturalized in England.

A Marquess is addressed Most Noble, and is called by the King, right trusty and well-beloved cousin. His eldest son ranks as an  Earl, but takes place below all Earls who are peers of the realm; and his wife below all Countesses and above Marquess’s daughters. His eldest daughter ranks as a Countess, but takes place beneath all Countesses.

A Marquess is created, like all other peers, by patent, the form of which has varied at different times, but has long been exactly similar to that of an Earl. He is admitted “per gladii cincturam et circuli aurei suo capiti positionem;” he wears, on the occasion, his surcoat and hood, and must be led by a Duke or Marquess, and his sword and cap are borne by Earls.

He takes place among other Marquesses, according to the date of his creation.

See Nobility.