earl
Sign in to saveEarl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of earl never developed; instead, countess is used.
Article
24 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- England
- Anglo-Saxon period
- Ealdorman
- Cnut the Great
- Edward the Confessor
- Norman Conquest
- Stephen and Matilda
- Plantagenets
- Ireland
- Scotland
- Wales
- United Kingdom
- Insignia and forms of address
- Coronet
- Forms of address
- List of earldoms
- In fiction
- References
- Notes
- Citations
- Bibliography
- Further reading
- External links
Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. In modern Britain, an earl is a member of the peerage, ranking below a marquess and above a viscount. A feminine form of earl never developed; instead, countess is used.
The title originates in the Old English word , meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form jarl. After the Norman Conquest, it became the equivalent of the continental count. In Scotland, it assimilated the concept of mormaer. Since the 1960s, earldoms have typically been created only for members of the royal family. The last non-royal earldom, Earl of Stockton, was created in 1984 for Harold Macmillan, prime minister from 1957 to 1963.