Aristocracy

thumb|286x286px|The House of Lords is the upper legislature of the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom and is filled with members that are selected from the aristocracy (both hereditary titleholders and those ennobled only for their individual lives).]] Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteristics associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non

Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocrats. thumb|The Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk|6th Duke of Norfolk, a 17th-century English aristocrat and politician who held the hereditary office of [[Earl Marshal of England]] Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense economic, political, and social influence. In Western Christian countries, the aristocracy was mostly equal with magnates, also known as the titled or higher nobility, however the members of the more numerous social class, the untitled lower nobilit

name given to members of the old-established upper class in ancient Rome

a person who either possesses hereditary titles granted by a monarch or is related to such people

government of the Byzantine Empire

The dynatoi (, sing. Δυνατός, Dynatos "the powerful") was a legal term in the Byzantine Empire, denoting the senior levels of civil, military and ecclesiastic (including monastic) officialdom, who usually, but not always, also commanded considerable fortunes and landed estates. Although such positions were not usually hereditary, by the late 10th and early 11th centuries they had started to become monopolized by a limited number of families who by the mid-11th century formed a hereditary aristocracy.

in Marxism and anarchism, a segment of the working class with relatively better wages and working conditions who tend to align with the bourgeoisie to maintain capitalism

family in which several members are involved in politics

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socially privileged class in Norway