What is Peerage?
A '''peer''' is a member of the [[nobility]]. It is sometimes used instead of 'Lord'. In formal or old [[United Kingdom|British]] [[wikt:document|documents]], the [[House of Lords]] is called the House of Peers. ==Ranks == In the [[United Kingdom]] there are five ranks of the peerage: * [[Baron]] is the lowest. In [[Scotland]] this is called a Lord, short for ''Lord in Parliament''. * [[Viscount]] * [[Earl]] - this is an old Saxon word. In [[Continental Europe]] this rank is called 'count', the lord in charge of a [[county]]. An earl's wife is called a ''countess'' * [[Marquess]] - A special rank higher than an earl because a marquess's land was in the Marches, the [[border]] areas that must be defended. A marquess's wife is called a ''marchioness''. There were not many marquesses in Scotland, and they usually spelled the title 'marquis' like the [[France|French]] * [[Duke]] - the highest rank. Informally Barons, Viscounts, Earls and Marquesses are called lords, and instead of their name when speaking to them, the term 'my lord' is used. A Duke is never called a lord. 'Your grace' is used for a Duke. Since 2004 a list of peers has been kept by the [[Lord Chancellor]] and [[Secretary of State for Justice]]. This list, called the [http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/resources/roll-of-the-peerage Roll of Peerage] had to be kept to prove who was a peer. The list of members of the House of Lords used to be the same until the [[wikt:hereditary|hereditary]] peers were excluded. Official documents can only call someone a peer if their name is on the Peerage Roll. == Precedence == Sorting out which peer should precede (''come in front of'') in a procession or other event depends on three different things: #The rank. All dukes come before all marquesses, then earls, then viscounts and finally barons. #Country the peerage was created in. All Dukes first created by the [[King of England]] come before those created by the [[King of Scotland]]. After this come ''Dukes of [[Great Britain]]'' whose titles were created