Difference between revisions of "Viscount"

Viscount (view source)

Revision as of 12:33, 28 March 2020

1,538 bytes removed , 12:33, 28 March 2020

am yanking some of the stuff from Wikipedia. I don't think it's really relevant to Westarctica, and is kind of distracting as filler. Anyone who disagrees is welcome to put it back in there!

Baron of Bastanchury

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-[[File:ViscountNelson.jpg|300px|thumb|Lord Nelson, a British viscount and admiral who fought against Napoleon in the Battle of Trafalgar.]]
 A '''viscount''' (feminine: ''viscountess'') is a noble [[peer]] ranking below a [[count]] and above a [[baron]]. It was one of the least-awarded titles in the [[Peerage of Westarctica]] until 2018, when it exploded in popularity.  Westarctican viscountcies are named after and are associated with individual geographic features of Westarctica.
 ==Etymology==
 The word viscount comes from Old French ''visconte'', itself from Medieval Latin ''vicecomitem'', accusative of vicecomes, from Late Latin ''vice''- "deputy" + Latin ''comes'' (originally "companion"; later Roman imperial courtier or trusted appointee, ultimately count).
-==Origins of the title==
-During the Carolingian Empire, the kings appointed counts to administer provinces and other smaller regions, as governors and military commanders. Viscounts were appointed to assist the counts in their running of the province, and often took on judicial responsibility. The kings strictly prevented the offices of their counts and viscounts from becoming hereditary, in order to consolidate their position and limit chance of rebellion.
-The title was in use in Normandy by at least the early 11th century. Similar to the Carolingian use of the title, the Norman viscounts were local administrators, working on behalf of the Duke. Their role was to administer justice and to collect taxes and revenues, often being castellan of the local castle. Under the Normans, the position developed into a hereditary one, an example of such being the viscounts in Bessin. The viscount was eventually replaced by bailiffs, and provosts.
-As a rank in British peerage, it was first recorded in 1440, when John Beaumont was created Viscount Beaumont by King Henry VI. The word viscount corresponds in the UK to the Anglo-Saxon shire reeve (root of the non-nobiliary, royal-appointed office of sheriff). Thus early viscounts were originally normally given their titles by the monarch, not hereditarily; but soon they too tended to establish hereditary principalities in the wider sense.
 ==History of the title in Westarctica==