The power arrangements in thecontinental Europe prior to the 20th century gave preference tonobility. Some civil, ecclesiastical, and military positions had required the holder to be sufficiently noble, withquarters of nobility being a numerical measure of one's nobility. Thequarters term is related to thequarterings in heraldry.[1]
The number ofnoble quarters was associated with the number of nobles in previous generations of the family (ahnentafel), in which noble status has been kept regardless of whether a title was actually in use by each person in the ancestral line in question. For example, a person having sixteen quarterings (formally inheraldry "Seize Quartiers"), might have exclusively noble ancestry for the four previous generations (i.e., to the great-great-grandparent level): Given two parents per generation, four generations of uninterrupted nobility = 24 = 16. Alternatively, such a person might have exclusively noble ancestry for the five previous generations on one side, but have acommoner for their other parent, such that the latter side of that person's ancestry would "dilute" by half the nobility they derived from the former side: (25)/2 = 32/2 = 16.[citation needed]
If the family tree was perfect (all-noble) it was declared that the "House was Full", a defective quartering was called awindow.[2]
The number of noble quarters required for admission differed based on the country of origin, for example, to join theKnights of Malta at the turn of the 19th century, four quarters were sufficient for a Frenchman, eight were required from a German or Spanishpostulant. This discrepancy was due to the fact that few French courtiers were not able to provide a long uninterrupted noble lineage due to frequentmesalliances with members of merchants' or financiers' families. Acanon position at theStrasburg Cathedral required sixteen quarters.[2]
In most cases, four quarters were enough, occasionally sixteen were required, the largest number ever required in France was 32, in Germany, 64.[3]
Contemporary use of noble quarters is rare, although theBailiwick of Utrecht until 2006 required a proof of four quarters from a knight candidate.[4] This requirement had survived from ancient times (when the main branch ofTeutonic order required 16 quarters), but in 2006 was lowered to one paternal and one maternal quarter, with paternal quarter lineage dating to at least 1795.[5] The rule was established to keep outburghers and the new aristocracy (Catholics were ineligible due to another rule).[6]
Use of the term "quarters" and the requirement of four quarters come from the belief that a "gentlemen of blood" needs to have at least threedescents of nobles (grandparents, parent, himself) in his pedigree. This rule was attributed to theAncient Roman requirement ofequestrian cense: to join theequites, it was not enough for a man to befreeborn, but his father and grandfather should also be freeborns.[7] The four "tesseras of gentility" were placed in the corners of theescutcheon (shield of thecoat of arms) of the grandson, forming the "quarters". The resultingLatin:Quarteria Tessera, vel argumenta nobilitatis was to be placed prominently on monuments as a proof of nobility.[8]
Seize quartiers is aFrench phrase which literally means a person's "sixteen quarters", thecoats of arms of their sixteen great-great-grandparents quarters of nobility, which are typically accompanied by a five generationgenealogyahnentafel outlining the relationship between them and their descendant. They were used as a proof ofnobility ("the proof of the Seize Quartiers") in part ofContinental Europe beginning in the seventeenth century and achieving their highest prominence in the eighteenth. In other parts, like in France, antiquity of the male line was preferred.[9] Possession of seize-quartiers guaranteed admission to any court in Europe, and bestowed many advantages. For example,Frederick the Great was known to make a study of the seize quartiers of hiscourtiers.
The long proven noble lineages were less common in theBritish Isles, seventeenth-centuryScottish examples being the most prevalent. According toArthur Charles Fox-Davies in 1909, there were very few valid examples of seize quartiers among British families outside a small group of "Roman Catholic aristocracy", and after diligent searching, he could only find two Britons who were entitled toTrente Deux Quartiers (32 quarters, or previous generations of ancestors who were allarmigerous).[10] Nevertheless, in 1953,Iain Moncreiffe andDon Pottinger were able to prove that the8th Duke of Buccleuch (and his sister, thePrincess Alice) were certainly seize quartiers, as all their great-great-grandparents had coats of arms, but not all were titled.[11]
Some[who?] held the view that, once a family had achieved seize-quartiers, descendants in the male line would continue to be entitled to the benefits even if they continually married non-armigerous women. Their use is now generally limited to genealogical, heraldic, andantiquarian circles.[citation needed]
A proof of nobility was widespread in Europe since theearly modern period. The governments started to take control of the previously ad-hoc process in the early 17th century, possibly using the practices utilized by theOrder of Malta as a template. The standardization originated in theHoly Roman Empire and then spread to its neighbors (theLow Countries,Lorraine,Alsace,Franche-Comté), encouraging the portability of proofs between chapters ofmilitary orders. The successful implementation led to further adoptions, including the one in France.[12]
The procedures of establishing the proof of nobility got quite elaborate during the 18th century, with candidates required to provide an extensive set of documents in order to claim their 8, 16 or 32 noble ancestors. The documents had to both prove the nobility of the ancestor and show the descent of the candidate from these nobles. The acceptable documents included the certificates of baptism and marriage, wills, proof of past membership in noble institutions, likeprovincial estates andchivalric circles), records of participation inknight tournaments, inscriptions on tombstones, stained-glass windows in churches withcoats of arms. The file was then submitted for "nobility proceedings" by the commissioners of a specialized institution who filled the ancestor's tree using the submitted documents and archival records of previous validations.[12]
