Viscount: Difference between revisions

A '''viscount''' ({{IPAc-en|audio=En-uk-viscount.ogg|ˈ|v|aɪ|k|aʊ|n|t}} {{respell|VY|kownt}}, for male<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/viscount?showCookiePolicy=true|title=Viscount|date=n.d.|publisher=[[Collins Dictionary]]|access-date=22 September 2014}}</ref>) or '''viscountess''' ({{IPAc-en|'|v|aɪ|k|aʊ|n|t|ɪ|s}}, for female<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/viscountess?showCookiePolicy=true|title=Viscountess|date=n.d.|publisher=[[Collins Dictionary]]|access-date=22 September 2014}}</ref>) is a [[Title#Aristocratic titles|title]] used in certain [[Europe]]an countries for a [[nobility|noble]] of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a '''viscountcy'''.

In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or [[judiciary|judicial]] position,{{When|date=January 2020}} and did not develop into a [[hereditary title]] until much later.{{When|date=January 2020}}<ref name="Upshur, Terry, Holoka, Goff & Cassar" /> In the case of French viscounts, itthe title is customarysometimes to leave the titleleft untranslated as '''''vicomte''''' {{IPA-|fr|vi.kɔ̃t|}}.

The title was in use in [[Normandy]] by at least the early 11th century.<ref name="Loud">{{cite book|title=Conquerors and churchmen in Norman Italy|last=Loud|first=G. A.|year=1999|page=4|publisher=Ashgate Publishing Co.|location=Surrey, UK|isbn=9780860788034}}</ref> Similar to the Carolingian use of the title, the [[Normans|Norman]] viscounts were local administrators, working on behalf of the [[Duke of Normandy|Duke]].<ref name="Petit=Dutaillis" /> Their role was to administer justice and to collect [[tax]]es 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]].<ref name="Petit=Dutaillis">{{cite book|title=The Feudal Monarchy in France and England|last=Petit-Dutaillis|first=C.|page=162|publisher=Routledge|year=1936|location=Oxford, UK|isbn=9781136203503}}</ref> The viscount was eventually replaced by [[bailiff]]s, and [[provost (civil)|provost]]s.<ref name="Petit=Dutaillis"/>

As a rank inof the [[Peerages in the United Kingdom|British peerage]], it was first recorded in 1440, when [[John Beaumont, 1st Viscount Beaumont|John Beaumont]] was created Viscount Beaumont by King [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]].<ref name="Journals of the House of Lords">{{cite journal|title=Journals of the House of Lords|pages=512|volume=cii|year=1870|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S8I4AQAAIAAJ&q=onto+whom&pg=PA512|access-date=16 June 2014}}</ref> The word ''viscount'' corresponds in the UK to the [[Anglo-Saxon language|Anglo-Saxon]] [[sheriff|''shire reeve'']] (root of the non-nobiliary, royal-appointed office of [[sheriff]]). Thus, early viscounts were originally normally givenreceived their titles byfrom the monarch, and not hereditarily; but soon they tooeventually tended to establish hereditary principalities in the wider sense. TheyThe rank wereis a relatively late introduction to the British peeragesystem, and on the evening of the [[Coronation of Queen Victoria|her coronation]] in 1838, [[Queen Victoria]] recorded in her diary an explanation for this by then-[[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[Lord Melbourne]] explained to her why (fromhimself hera journalsviscount):

In Belgium a few families{{cn|reason=families or people?|date=July 2024}} are recognised as Viscounts:

AViscounts viscount isare the fourth rank in the [[Peerages in the United Kingdom|British peerage]] system, standing directly below an [[earl]] and above a [[baron]] ([[Lord of Parliament]] in [[Scotland]]). There are approximately 270 viscountcies currently extant in the peerages of the [[British Isles]], though most are [[Subsidiary title|secondary titles]].<ref name="The Roll of the Peerage">{{cite web|title=The Roll of the Peerage|last1=Denyer|first1=Ian|last2=Bavister|first2=Grant|publisher=[[College of Arms]]|url=http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/images/downloads/Roll%20of%20the%20Peerage.pdf|access-date=18 June 2014|orig-year=2004|year=2014|archive-date=17 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170717034647/http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/images/downloads/Roll%20of%20the%20Peerage.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In British practice, the title of a viscount may be either a place name, a surname, or a combination thereof: examples include the [[Viscount Falmouth]], the [[Viscount Hardinge]] and the [[Viscount Colville of Culross]], respectively. AnSome exception exists for Viscountsviscounts in the peerage of Scotland, who were traditionally styled "The Viscount ''of'' [X]", such as the [[Viscount of Arbuthnott]]. In practice, however, very few maintain this style, instead using the more common version "The Viscount [X]" in general parlance, for example [[Viscount of Falkland]] who is referred to as Viscount Falkland.

A specifically British custom is the use of viscount as a [[courtesy title]] for the heir of an earl or [[marquess]]. The peer's [[heir apparent]] will sometimes be referred to as a viscount, if the second most senior title held by the head of the family is a viscountcy. For example, the eldest son of the [[Earl Howe]] is [[Viscount Curzon]], because this is the second most senior title held by the Earl.<ref name="Debretts: Courtesy Titles">{{cite web|title=Courtesy Titles|url=http://www.debretts.com/forms-address/titles/courtesy-titles|date=n.d.|publisher=[[Debretts]]|access-date=18 June 2014}}</ref>

Sometimes, the son of a peer can beis referred to as a viscount even when he could use a more senior courtesy title which differs in name from the substantive title. Family tradition plays a role in this. For example, the eldest son of the [[Marquess of Londonderry]] is Viscount Castlereagh, even though the Marquess is also the Earl Vane.

On occasion, the title of viscount may be the courtesy title used for the grandson of a duke, provided that he is the eldest son of the duke's eldest son. This is because the eldest son of the duke will be given the second -highest title of his father (marquess or earl), and so the third-highest is left for his eldest son. It is possible for the great-grandson of a duke to hold the courtesy title of viscount if the duke's eldest son has the courtesy title marquess and his eldest son, in turn, uses the title of earl.

A viscount's [[coronet]] of rank bears 16 silver balls around the rim. Like all heraldic coronets, it is mostly worn at the [[coronation]]Coronation of athe sovereignBritish monarch]], but a viscount has the right to bear his coronet of rank on his [[coat of arms]], above the shield. In this guise, the coronet is shown face-on, featuring 9 silver balls.<ref name="Debretts:Ceremonial Robes">{{cite web|url=http://www.debretts.com/people/essential-guide-peerage/ceremonial-robes|publisher=[[Debretts]]|date=n.d.|access-date=18 June 2014|title=Ceremonial Robes}}</ref>

The island of [[Jersey]] (a British [[Crown Dependencies|Crown Dependency]]) still retains an officer whose function is purely to administer orders of the island's judiciary, and whose position remains non-hereditary. The role of the [[Viscount of Jersey]] ([[French language|French]]: ''Vicomte de Jersey'') involves managing fines, bail monies, seizures, confiscations, evictions, service of process, arrests for non-appearance in court and other enforcement procedures, as well acting as [[coroner]] for sudden or unexpected deaths and managing [[jury selection]].<ref name="Function of the Viscount's department">{{cite web|title=Functions of the Viscount's Department|publisher=States of Jersey|url=http://www.gov.je/Government/NonexecLegal/Viscount/Pages/Functions.aspx|date=n.d.|access-date=17 June 2014}}</ref>

In France until the end of the [[Second French Empire]], the title of ''vicomte'' was below ''comte'' and above ''baron'' in precedence.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Saillens |first1=Émile |title=Facts about France: Brief Answers to Recurring Questions |date=1918 |publisher=[[Hachette (publisher)|Librairie Hachette]] |location=Paris |page=166 |url=https://wwwbooks.google.com/books/edition/Facts_about_France/zbRBAAAAYAAJ?hlid=en&gbpv=1zbRBAAAAYAAJ&dq=duc+marquis+comte+vicomte+baron&pg=PA166&printsec=frontcover |access-date=June 30, 2021}}</ref>

===GermanicWestern counterparts===

However, in such case titles of the etymological [[Burgrave]] family (not in countries with a viscount-form, such as Italian ''{{lang|it|burgravio''}} alongside ''{{lang|it|visconte''}}) bearers of the title could establish themselves at the same gap, thus at generally the same level. Consequently, a ''{{lang|de|Freiherr''}} (or Baron) ranks not immediately below a ''{{lang|de|Graf''}}, but below a ''{{lang|de|Burggraf''}}.

Thus in [[Dutch language|Dutch]], ''{{lang|nl|Burggraaf''}} is the rank above Baron, below {{lang|nl|Graaf}} (''i.e.'', Count) in the kingdoms of the Netherlands and of Belgium (by Belgian law, its equivalents in the other official languages are ''{{lang|de|Burggraf''}} in [[German language|German]] and ''{{lang|fr|vicomte''}} in [[French language|French]]). In [[Welsh language|Welsh]] the title is rendered as [[Welsh Peers|''Isiarll'']].

The Japanese cognate ''{{transliteration|ja|shishaku''}} (''{{transliteration|ja|shi''}}) ([[Japanese language|Japanese]]: {{lang|-ja|子爵}}) was the fourth of the five peerage ranks established in the [[Meiji eraperiod]] (1868–1911). The Japanese system of nobility, {{transliteration|ja|[[Kazokukazoku]]}}, which existed between 1884 and 1947, was based heavily on the British peerage. At the creation of the system, viscounts were the most numerous of all the ranks, with 324 being created compared to 11 non-imperial princes or dukes, 24 marquesses, 76 counts and 74 barons, for a total of 509 peers.<ref>Jansen, ''The Making of Modern Japan'', p. 391.</ref>{{full citation needed|date=March 2024}}

* the Chinese ''{{transliteration|zh|tzu-chueh''}} (''{{transliteration|zh|tzu''}}) or ''{{transliteration|zh|zijue''}} (''{{transliteration|zh|zi''}}) ({{zh|c=子爵}}), hereditary title of nobility first established in the [[Zhou dynasty]]

* the Korean cognate ''{{transliteration|ko|jajak''}} or Pansŏ{{transliteration|ko|pansŏ}}

* the Vietnamese cognate Tử{{lang|vi|tử}}

* the Manchu ''{{transliteration|mnc|jingkini hafan''}}

Viscounts and viscountesses have occasionally appeared in works of fiction. For examples{{Main|List of fictional viscounts and viscountesses, see [[List of fictional nobility#Viscounts and viscountesses]].}}