Ceremony for conferring an Elizabethan earldom

L.C. Blackwell · Mar 14, 2009

Can anyone point me to information on the ceremonies, religious and/or secular, that would be observed if Elizabeth I decided to advance one of her favorites to an earldom?

I can't imagine that this sort of preferment would pass without some kind of public ceremony, but I haven't been able to find anything that describes the specific events, or changes that might have been made from earlier medieval ceremonies.

Thanks to anyone who can help!

ideagirl · Mar 15, 2009

L.C. Blackwell said:
Can anyone point me to information on the ceremonies, religious and/or secular, that would be observed if Elizabeth I decided to advance one of her favorites to an earldom?

I can't imagine that this sort of preferment would pass without some kind of public ceremony, but I haven't been able to find anything that describes the specific events, or changes that might have been made from earlier medieval ceremonies.

Thanks to anyone who can help!

Do some google-fu, and perhaps also call your local reference librarian, to determine whether QEI conferred an earldom on anyone during her reign. If so, do further research on those specific people--i.e., run searches on their names. There may be something somewhere describing a particular person's ceremony.

Evaine · Mar 16, 2009

I think what you're after is 'pledging fealty'.
In Medieval law, the King/Queen owned all the land in England, and the great lords, including Earls, were known as Tenants-in-Chief, to remind them that they didn't actually own their vast estates. They, in turn, could lease the land to sub-tenants.
When the monarch was crowned all the great lords, starting with the Dukes and going on down the ranks, would come up to the throne to kneel and put their hands between the hands of the monarch, to show their loyalty, and for the monarch to accept them as their tenant. Whenever a lord died and their heir took over, this was done as well, so also with the creation of a new Earl. Very solomn occasion.
I have a feeling it might still be done, but it is rather a long time since the last British Coronation.

ideagirl · Mar 16, 2009

Evaine said:
I think what you're after is 'pledging fealty'.
In Medieval law, the King/Queen owned all the land in England, and the great lords, including Earls, were known as Tenants-in-Chief, to remind them that they didn't actually own their vast estates. They, in turn, could lease the land to sub-tenants.
When the monarch was crowned all the great lords, starting with the Dukes and going on down the ranks, would come up to the throne to kneel and put their hands between the hands of the monarch, to show their loyalty, and for the monarch to accept them as their tenant. Whenever a lord died and their heir took over, this was done as well, so also with the creation of a new Earl. Very solomn occasion.
I have a feeling it might still be done, but it is rather a long time since the last British Coronation.

I don't think that's what the OP meant. He was referring, I think, to the ceremony whereby a person who was not an earl would be made an earl. I suspect that making someone an earl required a transfer of land--in the UK titles tend to run with the land, so there would be some earldom somewhere, and by giving that land to a person, the queen would make that person an earl. But the question remains, what ceremony might have been involved...

L.C. Blackwell · Mar 18, 2009

Evaine said:
Whenever a lord died and their heir took over, this was done as well, so also with the creation of a new Earl.

Thanks for the replies! I am definitely out to create a new earl, and my google-fu wasn't as effective as I would have liked. Nor did the resources of the local university library provide me with much help. I'm about to start tracking down academic experts, but that's time consuming and a bit of a nuisance, so I thought I'd try here first and see if anyone else had the answer.

pdr · Mar 20, 2009

Just a point...

did you try the book Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage 2008? You'll need to order it from the library as it's expensive - over £100s - but I think it or Burkes might mention the creation of peers.

ideagirl · Mar 21, 2009

L.C. Blackwell said:
Thanks for the replies! I am definitely out to create a new earl, and my google-fu wasn't as effective as I would have liked. Nor did the resources of the local university library provide me with much help. I'm about to start tracking down academic experts, but that's time consuming and a bit of a nuisance, so I thought I'd try here first and see if anyone else had the answer.

I don't understand why you're not finding anything. I just googled "elizabeth I made him an earl" and right on the first page there were a couple of results talking about her making Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester. Thus, you should be able to look up historical references to how she did that--whether it was a ceremony at which he was present, a signing of a document, or what.

L.C. Blackwell · Mar 21, 2009

Obviously I didn't use the right search terms--probably was too vague. Thanks for the tips! :Sun:

Ceremony for conferring an Elizabethan earldom

L.C. Blackwell

Keeper of Fort Blanket

ideagirl

Evaine

ideagirl

L.C. Blackwell

Keeper of Fort Blanket

pdr

ideagirl

L.C. Blackwell

Keeper of Fort Blanket