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Earl (/ɜːrl,ɜːrəl/)[1] is a rank of thenobility in theUnited Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of thepeerage, ranking below amarquess and above aviscount.[2] A feminine form ofearl never developed;[note 1] instead,countess is used.
The title originates in theOld English wordeorl, meaning "a man of noble birth or rank".[3] The word is cognate with theScandinavian formjarl. After theNorman Conquest, it became the equivalent of the continentalcount. In Scotland, it assimilated the concept ofmormaer. Since the 1960s, earldoms have typically been created only for members of theroyal family. The last non-royal earldom,Earl of Stockton, was created in 1984 forHarold Macmillan, prime minister from 1957 to 1963.
Alternative names for the rank equivalent to "earl" or "count" in the nobility structure are used in other countries, such as thehakushaku (伯爵) of the post-restorationJapanese Imperial era.
In the 7th century, the commonOld English terms for nobility waseorl oreorlcund man. However, this was later replaced by the termthegn.[4] In the 11th century, under Danish influence, the Old English titleealdorman becameearl, from theOld Norse wordjarl.[5] Proto-Norseeril, or the later Old Norsejarl, came to signify the rank of a leader.[6]
TheNorman-derived equivalentcount (from Latincomes) was not introduced following theNorman Conquest of England thoughcountess was and is used for the female title. Geoffrey Hughes writes, "It is a likely speculation that theNorman French title 'Count' was abandoned in England in favour of the Germanic 'Earl' [...] precisely because of the uncomfortablephonetic proximity tocunt".[7][page needed]
In the other languages of Great Britain and Ireland, the term is translated as:Welshiarll,[8]Irish andScottish Gaeliciarla,[9][10]Scotserle,eirle orearle,[11]Cornishyurl, yarl, yerl.[12]
The office of earl evolved from the ealdorman, an office withinAnglo-Saxon government. TheEnglish king appointed the ealdorman to be the chief officer in ashire. He commanded the localfyrd and presided over theshire court alongside thebishop. As compensation, he received thethird penny: one-third of the shire court's profits and theboroughs' revenues.[13] Initially, the ealdorman governed a single shire. Starting withEdward the Elder (r. 899–924), it became customary for one ealdorman to administer three or four shires together as an ealdormanry.[14]
DuringCnut's reign (1016–1035),ealdorman changed toearl (related to Old Englisheorl and Scandinavianjarl).[5][15][note 2] Cnut's realm, theNorth Sea Empire, extended beyond England, forcing him to delegate power to earls.[18] Earls were governors orviceroys, ruling in the king's name, keeping the peace, dispensing justice, and raising armies. Like the earlier ealdormen, they received the third penny from their jurisdictions. Earls ranked abovethegns in precedence and were the chief counselors in thewitan (king's council).[19]
The office of earl was not hereditary. While sons of earls could expect to inherit their father's office, this was not automatic. Only the king could make someone an earl.[20]
Initially, Cnut kept Wessex for himself and divided the rest of England into three earldoms. He gave theearldom of East Anglia toThorkell the Tall and theearldom of Northumbria toEric.[21]Eadric Streona retained theearldom of Mercia (having been unified with western Mercia in the tenure of earldorman Ælfhere), which he had held since 1007.[22] Cnut gave Godwin theearldom of Wessex in 1018.[note 3] Eventually Godwin was also granted theearldom of Kent.[24] Thorkell vanished from the records after 1023, and Godwin became the leading earl.[23]
Earldoms were not permanent territorial divisions; kings could transfer shires from one earldom to another. The fact that there was no local government administration beyond the shire also limited the autonomy of the earls. They could not raise taxation, mint coins, issuecharters, or hold their own courts (the shire courts that earls presided over were held in the king's name).[25]
F. W. Maitland wrote, "with the estates of the earls, we find it impossible to distinguish between private property and official property". He noted the existence of "manors of the shire" and "comitalvills" that belonged to the office rather than the officeholder.[26]Stephen Baxter argued that given the evidence, it must be "assumed that the 'comital manors' in each shire could be transferred by the king from one earl to another with relative ease". However, not all scholars agree with the existence of such "comital" property.[27]
During the reign ofEdward the Confessor (1042–1066), the earls were still royal officers governing their earldoms in the king's name. However, they were developing more autonomy and becoming a threat to royal power.[28][15] Three great aristocratic families had emerged: theGodwins of Wessex,Leofric of Mercia, andSiward of Northumbria.[18]
In theory, earls could be removed by the king. Edward deliberately broke the hereditary succession toNorthumbria when Earl Siward died in 1055. He ignored the claims of Siward's son,Waltheof, and appointedTostig Godwinson as earl.[21] The earldom of East Anglia appears to have been used as a training ground for new earls. Nevertheless, the earldoms of Wessex and Mercia were becoming hereditary.[28] For four generations, Mercia was passed from father to son:Leofwine,Leofric,Ælfgar, andEdwin.[21]
To reward Godwin for his support, Edward made his eldest son,Sweyn, an earl in 1043.[note 4]Harold, Godwin's second oldest son, was made the earl of East Anglia. In 1045, an earldom was created for Godwin's nephew,Beorn Estrithson. After Sweyn left England in disgrace in 1047, some of his estates were taken over by Harold and Beorn.Ralf of Mantes, Edward's Norman nephew, was madeearl of Hereford, a territory formerly part of Sweyn's earldom.[30]
In 1053, Harold succeeded his father, and Ælfgar, son of Earl Leofric, became earl of East Anglia. A major reshuffle occurred after both Leofric and Ralf died in 1057. Ælfgar succeeded his father in Mercia, andGyrth Godwinson took East Anglia. An earldom was created forLeofwine Godwinson out of the south-eastern shires belonging to Harold. In exchange, Harold received Ralf's earldom.[31]
In 1065, a rebellion deposed Tostig and recognisedMorcar, the brother of Earl Edwin ofMercia, as Northumbria's new earl. The king accepted this, and Tostig was expelled from England.[32]
In 1066, according to theDomesday Book, the Godwin family estates were valued at £7,000, Earl Leofric of Mercia at £2,400, and Earl Siward of Northumbria at £350. In comparison, the king's lands were valued at £5,000. This concentration of land and wealth in the hands of the earls, and one family in particular, weakened the Crown's authority. The situation was reversed whenHarold Godwinson became king, and he was able to restore the Crown's authority.[33]
TheNorman Conquest of 1066 introduced a newAnglo-Norman aristocracy that gradually replaced the old Anglo-Saxon elite.[34] InNormandy, aduchy in theKingdom of France, the equivalent of an earl was acount.[17] The definition and powers of French counts varied widely. Some counts were nearly independent rulers who gave only nominal loyalty to theKing of France. In Normandy, counts were junior members of theNorman dynasty with responsibility for guarding border regions.[35] In 1066, there were three Norman counts:Richard of Évreux,Robert of Eu, andRobert of Mortain.[36]
William the Conqueror (r. 1066–1087) reduced the size of earldoms; those created after 1071 had responsibility for one shire.[37] Like Norman counts, earls became military governors assigned to vulnerable border or coastal areas. To protect theWelsh Marches, the king madeRoger de Montgomery theearl of Shrewsbury andHugh d'Avranches theearl of Chester(seeMarcher Lord). Likewise, the king's half-brotherOdo of Bayeux was madeearl of Kent to guard theEnglish Channel.[38]
After theRevolt of the Earls in 1075, only four earldoms remained, all held by Anglo-Normans: Kent, Shrewsbury, Chester, and Northumbria. This number was reduced to three after 1082 when Odo of Bayeux was arrested and deprived of Kent.[39] At the death ofWilliam Rufus in 1100, there were five earldoms: Chester, Shrewsbury,Surrey (or Warrenne),Warwick, andHuntingdon–Northampton. In 1122,Henry I made hisillegitimate sonRobert theearl of Gloucester.[40]
After the Conquest, new earldoms tended to be named for the city and castle in which they were based. Some titles became attached to the family name rather than location. For example, the holder of theearldom of Surrey was more commonly called "Earl Warenne". The same was true of theearldom of Buckingham, whose holder was called "Earl Gifford". These earls may have preferred to be known by family names that were older and more prestigious than their newer territorial designations.[41]
The number of earls rose from seven in 1135 to twenty in 1141 as KingStephen (r. 1135–1154)created twelve new earls to reward supporters duringthe Anarchy, the civil war fought with his cousinEmpress Matilda for the English throne.[42][43] In 1138, Stephen created eight new earldoms:[44]
In 1140, Roumare was given the earldom of Lincoln in exchange for Cambridge, and William d'Aubigny received theearldom of Sussex (commonly known as Arundel). The same year,Geoffrey de Mandeville was madeearl of Essex, and his is the oldest surviving charter of creation. Around the same time,Hugh Bigod was madeearl of Norfolk.[44]
In February 1141, Stephen was captured at theBattle of Lincoln, and Empress Matilda elected "Lady of the English" in April. At this time, she created three earldoms for her own supporters. Her illegitimate brotherReginald de Dunstanville was madeearl of Cornwall.Baldwin de Redvers was madeearl of Devon, andWilliam de Mohun,lord of Dunster, was madeearl of Somerset.Aubrey de Vere was madeearl of Oxford in 1142. Sometime around 1143, Matilda's constablePatrick of Salisbury was madeearl of Salisbury.[45]
During the Anarchy, earls took advantage of the power vacuum to assume Crown rights. Robert of Gloucester, Patrick of Salisbury,Robert of Leicester, andHenry of Northumbria all minted their own coinage. Earls andbarons had also builtadulterine castles (castles built without royal permission).[46]
It fell to Stephen's successorHenry II (r. 1154–1189) to again curtail the power of earls. He confiscated or demolished illegal castles.[46] Hereduced the number of earldoms by allowing them to die with their holders and did not create new ones. During his reign, "the title became a mark of rank, rather than a substantive office: the real power lay with the king's sheriffs and justices."[42]
The real power possessed by any individual earl in this period depended on the amount of land and wealth he possessed that could be translated into patronage and influence. The more land and resources concentrated in a region, the more influence an earl had. The most powerful were the earls of Chester, whoby the middle of the 13th century were described asearls palatine. Their power derived from owning most of the land in Cheshire. As a result, the shire court and the earl'shonour court were identical, and the sheriff answered to the earl. Theearl of Oxford possessed less than an acre of land in Oxfordshire (most of his land was in Essex), and therefore possessed no power in the county.[47]
An earldom along with its land was inherited generally according toprimogeniture. If the only heirs were female, then the land would be partitioned equally between co-heirs with the eldest co-heir receiving the title. In 1204,Robert de Beaumont, 4th Earl of Leicester, died without children. His heirs were his sisters,Amice and Margaret. Amice's son,Simon de Montfort, succeeded as earl of Leicester, and Margaret's husband,Saer de Quincy, was created theearl of Winchester in 1207. This was the first new hereditary earldom created since the reign of Stephen.[48]
An earldom could be dramatically impacted upon by multiple partitions. In 1232,Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester died childless. His lands were divided between his four sisters with the title going to the eldest's son,John of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon. John died in 1237, and once again the estate had to be divided between five co-heirs (the two daughters of his eldest sister and his three surviving sisters). Before the land could be divided, KingAlexander II of Scotland claimed the earldom of Huntingdon. While the king's council dismissed this claim, the Scottish king was granted the lands attached to Huntingdon but not the title. This reduced the land available to John's co-heirs and created the possibility of an earl who was virtually landless. Earl Ranulf had been the greatest landholder in England, but after two partitions in five years, the land granted to each co-heir was small.William de Forz, husband of the senior co-heir, argued that as a county palatine the earldom of Chester should not be partitioned, but this argument was rejected by the king's court. Ultimately, the king himself gained possession of all the lands attached to the Chester earldom through a series of land exchanges with the co-heirs.[49]
In 1227,Henry III (r. 1216–1272) granted hisjusticiar andchief minister,Hubert de Burgh, the earldom of Kent. The terms of inheritance were unprecedented: the earldom was to pass to Hubert's son by his third wifeMargaret of Scotland, thereby passing over his eldest son by his first wife. It may have been thought that Margaret's royal blood made her children more worthy of inheritance.[50]
By the 13th century earls had a social rank just below the king and princes, but were not necessarily more powerful or wealthier than other noblemen. The only way to become an earl was to inherit the title or to marry into one—and the king reserved a right to prevent the transfer of the title. By the 14th century, creating an earl included a special public ceremony where the king personally tied a sword belt around the waist of the new earl, emphasizing the fact that the earl's rights came from him.[citation needed]
Earls still held influence and, as "companions of the king", generally acted in support of the king's power. They showed their own power prominently in 1327 when they deposed KingEdward II. They would later do the same with other kings of whom they disapproved. In 1337Edward III declared that he intended tocreate six new earldoms.[51]
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The first Irish earldom was theEarl of Ulster, granted to the Norman knightHugh de Lacy in 1205 byJohn, King of England andLord of Ireland. Other early earldoms wereEarl of Carrick (1315),Earl of Kildare (1316),Earl of Desmond (1329) andEarl of Waterford (1446, extant).
After theTudor reconquest of Ireland (1530s–1603), nativeIrish kings and clan chiefs were encouraged to submit to the English king (now alsoKing of Ireland) and were, in return, granted noble titles in thePeerage of Ireland. Notable among those who agreed to this policy of "surrender and regrant" wereUlick na gCeann Burke, 1st Earl of Clanricarde,Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Thomond,Donald McCarthy, 1st Earl of Clancare,Rory O'Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell,Randal MacDonnell, 1st Earl of Antrim andHugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone. The earls of Tyrone and Tyrconnell later rebelled against the crown and were forced to flee Ireland in 1607; their departure, along with about ninety followers, is famed in Irish history as theFlight of the Earls, seen as the ultimate demise of native Irish monarchy.
Ireland became part of the United Kingdom in 1801, and the last Irish earldom was created in 1824. TheRepublic of Ireland does not recognize titles of nobility.[52]
Notable later Irish earls include Jacobite leaderPatrick Sarsfield, 1st Earl of Lucan; Postmaster GeneralRichard Trench, 2nd Earl of Clancarty; Prime MinisterWilliam Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne (later made amarquess); and the (alleged) murdererJohn Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan.
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The oldest earldoms inScotland (with the exception of theEarldom of Dunbar and March) originated from the office ofmormaer, such as theMormaer of Fife,of Strathearn, etc.; subsequent earldoms developed by analogy. The principal distinction between earldom and mormaer is that earldoms were granted asfiefs of the King, while mormaers were virtually independent. Theearl is thought to have been introduced by theanglophile kingDavid I. While the power attached to the office of earl was swept away in England by the Norman Conquest, in Scotland earldoms retained substantial powers, such asregality throughout the Middle Ages.
It is important to distinguish between the land controlled directly by the earl, in a landlord-like sense, and the region over which he could exercise his office. Scottish use of Latin termsprovincia andcomitatus makes the difference clear. Initially these terms were synonymous, as in England, but by the 12th century they were seen as distinct concepts, withcomitatus referring to the land under direct control of the earl, andprovincia referring to the province; hence, thecomitatus might now only be a small region of theprovincia. Thus, unlike England, the termcounty, which ultimately evolved from the Latincomitatus, was not historically used for Scotland's main political subdivisions.
Sheriffs were introduced at a similar time to earls, but unlike England, where sheriffs were officers who implemented the decisions of the shire court, in Scotland they were specifically charged with upholding the king's interests in the region, thus being more like acoroner. As such, a parallel system of justice arose, between that provided by magnates (represented by the earls), and that by the king (represented by sheriffs), in a similar way to England having bothCourts Baron andMagistrates, respectively. Inevitably, this led to a degree offorum shopping, with the king's offering – the Sheriff – gradually winning.
As in England, as the centuries wore on, the termearl came to be disassociated from the office, and later kings started granting the title ofearl without it, and gradually without even an associatedcomitatus. By the 16th century there started to be earls of towns, of villages, and even of isolated houses; it had simply become a label for marking status, rather than an office of intrinsic power. In 1746, in the aftermath of theJacobite rising, theHeritable Jurisdictions Act brought the powers of the remaining ancient earldoms under the control of the sheriffs;earl is now simply a noble rank.
Some of the most significant Earls (Welsh:ieirll, singulariarll) in Welsh history were those from the West of England. As Wales remained independent of any Norman jurisdiction, the more powerful Earls in England wereencouraged to invade and establish effective "buffer states" to be run asautonomous lordships. TheseMarcher Lords included the earls ofChester,Gloucester,Hereford,Pembroke andShrewsbury (see alsoEnglish Earls of March).
The first Earldoms created within Wales were theLordship of Glamorgan (a comital title) and theEarldom of Pembroke.
Tir Iarll (English:Earl's land) is an area ofGlamorgan, which has traditionally had a particular resonance inWelsh culture.[53]
An earldom became, with a few exceptions, the default rank of the peerage to which a formerprime minister was elevated. The last prime minister to accept an earldom wasHarold Macmillan, who becameearl of Stockton in 1984.
A British earl is entitled to acoronet bearing eightstrawberry leaves (four visible) and eightsilver balls (orpearls) around the rim (five visible). The actual coronet is rarely, if ever, worn except at thecoronation of a new monarch, but inheraldry an earl may bear his coronet of rank on hiscoat of arms above the shield.
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An earl has the titleEarl of [X] when the title originates from a placename, orEarl [X] when the title comes from a surname. In either case, he is referred to asLord [X], and his wife asLady [X]. A countess who holds an earldom in her own right also usesLady [X], but her husband does not have a title (unless he has one in his own right).
The eldest son of an earl, though not himself apeer, is entitled to use acourtesy title, usually the highest of his father's lesser titles (if any). For instance, prior to his father's elevation to the Dukedom of Edinburgh, the eldest son of theEarl of Wessex was styled asJames, Viscount Severn. The eldest son of the eldest son of an earl is entitled to use one of his grandfather's lesser titles, normally the second-highest of the lesser titles. Younger sons are styledThe Honourable [Forename] [Surname], and daughters,The Lady [Forename] [Surname] (Lady Diana Spencer being a well-known example).
There is no difference between the courtesy titles given to the children of earls and the children of countesses in their own right, provided the husband of the countess has a lower rank than she does. If her husband has a higher rank, their children will be given titles according to his rank.
In the peerage of Scotland, when there are no courtesy titles involved, the heir to an earldom, and indeed any level of peerage, is styledMaster of [X], and successive sons asThe Honourable [Firstname Surname].
There are many earldoms, extant, extinct, dormant, abeyant, or forfeit, in thepeerages ofEngland,Scotland,Great Britain,Ireland and theUnited Kingdom.
Earls have appeared in various works of fiction.
Godwine rose to power under King Cnut the Great (d.1035) and his immediate successors, being made earl of Wessex c.1018, and according to the twelfth-century historian Eadmer, the earl of Kent. He was step-father to King Edward the Confessor (c.1003-1066) and father to Harold Godwinesson, the last Anglo-Saxon king, killed in 1066 at Hastings by the Norman invaders. Domesday Book records that immediately before the Norman Conquest Broughton Malherbe and its estates were held by one "Ælfwine ... from Earl Godwine" (DB., Kent, 5:79).
Media related toEarls at Wikimedia Commons
