Peerage of the Realms

In Continental Europe, every rank from Baron up to Prince was part of the peerage. In England, the families of the monarch, excluding those with title in their own right, were actually commoners, thus were Princes and Princesses commoners unless created nobles in some other right.

Being a "peer" means being officially a "noble", as opposed to a commoner. In England, that meant having a seat in Parliament.

In Cormyr, the King is a highly centralized autocrat, with few to no duties divided amongst the royal family or rendered unto vassals.

The dukes vary in number, from as low as 3 to as high as 11 in recent history, but currently stand at 7.

Uniquely, Cormyr has two "arch-duke" level positions, who rule no duchy at all, but instead command the Army of the West and the Army of the East. These are usually given to close relatives of the King, preferably those who are unlikely to try to seize the throne.

Cormyr has a Parliament, consisting only of lords (no commoners). Its power is limited, especially since the reign of Azoun IV, which saw significant centralization of authority. Usually, it is limited to two choices: accepting the King's decisions, or hindering them as long as possible in the hopes he'll give up.

Like the English Parliament, Cormyr's serves as both legislative body (often enough just rubber-stamping laws written by the King's advisors) and as the jury for nobles accused of a crime.

Cormyr has several non-hereditary positions in the peerage. Specifically, the position of High Lord, long used as the ruler of Arabel, is always appointed by the King, and is never hereditary. Whereas, the position of Lord Mayor is appointed by the King, and is usually hereditary, if only in a rubber-stamp capacity; in most cases, descendants (or chosen successors) of such cities receive nigh-automatic creation. Still, technically, the positions are not hereditary either.

Impiltur's titles apply only to Impiltur, while Damara's apply to several other regions, such as parts of the Moonsea (even those without Kings).

In all regions but Impiltur, there exists the Voivode. This title is actually broader in scope than it appears. It can mean a commander of a military force, or a governor in someone's stead, among other things. Probably the best translation is "chief", but . In some regions, Voivode is the highest rank one is likely to encounter.

Impiltur discards the rank entirely, using a system more aligned with the peerage of other realms. However, it does in some cases use the rank of "Palatine", which is roughly equivalent to a Margraf (Marquis), but held by a knight, usually of the Order of the Sacred Shrike. It is not much used in modern days, but once was prolific, in a time when only mighty paladins could hope to hold some of the harsher lands in Impiltur.

Note: "Palatine" (English: "Paladin") is a high rank among the Order of the Sacred Shrike. It is a common misconception that all knights of the order are "paladins". Very few are, in fact, literal "paladins", no more than a few dozen at most. Originally, the order called specifically for 12 Paladins, likely based on the heritage of the Cymry.

Lesser ranks of the Order of the Sacred Shrike include: Knight Lord, Knight Captain, Knight Lieutenant, and Knight, all styled "Ser", except Knight Lords, as "Lord Ser". War-time ranks include Grand Marshal, Marshal, Commander, and Lieutenant Commander, all styled as such, or informally as "captain", all overlapping the rank of Paladin, but inferior to the council of Paladins as a whole, despite the fact that virtually all said council would be holding such titles.

Knight Aspirant is an internally-formal title used for those who are not official ranked members of the order, but recognized for their honor and ardor they have accrued in pursuit of membership. They have no official styling in the peerage, but are recognized as "aspirant" within the order.