[LoGH] On Imperial Ranks and Nobility
Lee Thompson (shadow@nwlink.com)
Tue, 26 Sep 2000 12:32:36 -0700
My research is turning towards the actual rank system that the Galactic Empire
uses for nobility.
http://saint-esprit.homepage.com/titles.htm appears to be a good initial
resource for this.
(For quick reference here is the nobility list from the site)
Emperor, Empress/Kaiser, Kaiserin
King, Queen/Kvnig, Kvnigin
Prince, Princess/F|rst, F|stin
Duke, Duchess/Herzog, Herzogin
Marquess, Marchioness/Markgraf, Markgrdfin
Earl, Countess/Graf, Grdfin
Viscount, Viscountess/Viscont, Viscontesse
Baron, Baroness/Freiherr, Freiherrin
Baronet/Baronet
Knight/Ritter
NOTE: Marquis and Marquise are French spellings.
Ok Ok, get to the point Lee!
The series uses KAISER for Emperor; but doesn't appear to use the German words
for other ranks such as Marquess, Prince and so forth. Should this be
corrected in fansubs etc?
Also LoGH does not appear to use King, VIscount or Baronet at all. The
exception is the German "Ritter", when part of a last name, indicates the
German equivalent of a baronetcy.
Obviously what we really have is a Prussian, German, Norse Myth MIX and that
makes having accurate and flowing Imperial 'continuity' difficult.
On the subject of heirs, the prefix "Erb" does not appear to be used at all in
LoGH. "Erb" in German (in this sense) means "hereditary"[. . . .] The oldest
son and heir of a Mediatized Count would be an "Erbgraf". The oldest son and
heir of a Grand Duke would be an "Erbgro_herzog". And so on. Another way of
spelling the title would be "Erb-Prinz" or "Erb-Graf", etc. The wives of these
men have equivalent feminine titles, such as"Erbprinzessin", "Erbgrdfin",
"Erbgro_herzogin", etc. The French form is "prince heredetaire", "comte
heredetaire" "grand-duc heredetaire", etc. (toss in accents as appropriate).
Here is an interesting note on the subject of Kaiser Friedrich:
Kaiser Friedrich was also King Friedrich III of Prussia; Prussia is wholly
defunct as a state since the Potsdam Conference following World War II. The
present head of the (imperial) House of Hohenzollern is Prince Georg Friedrich
(born 1976); he is the great-great-grandson of Wilhelm II through his father
and grandfather, both of whom were named Louis Ferdinand, and his
great-grandfather, Crown Prince Wilhelm. There are Hohenzollerns in the
legitimate male line senior in descent to Georg Friedrich, but they have been
denied succession rights due to unequal marriages.
Comments/Discussion, as always, are welcome.
--
Lee Thompson
shadow@nwlink.com
ICQ: 19508091
