WNobility is a social class normally ranked immediately below royalty and found in some societies that have a formal aristocracy. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm that possessed more acknowledged privilege and higher social status than most other classes in society. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles or may be largely honorary, and vary by country and era. Membership in the nobility, including rights and responsibilities, is typically hereditary.
WThe aristocracy is historically associated with "hereditary" or "ruling" social class. In many states, the aristocracy included the upper class of people (aristocrats) with hereditary rank and titles. In some, such as ancient Greece, ancient Rome, or India, aristocratic status came from belonging to a military caste. It has also been common, notably in African societies, for aristocrats to belong to priestly dynasties. Aristocratic status can involve feudal or legal privileges. They are usually below only the monarch of a country or nation in its social hierarchy. In modern European societies, the aristocracy has often coincided with the nobility, a specific class that arose in the Middle Ages, but the term "aristocracy" is sometimes also applied to other elites, and is used as a more generic term when describing earlier and non-European societies. Some revolutions, such as the French Revolution, have been followed by the abolition of the aristocracy.
WGilbert de Venables, aka Gilbert the Hunter, was a Norman lord who participated in the Norman Conquest of England. He was born in Venables, Eure, presumably the son of Odo II, Count of Blois. He was also a kinsman of Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester and fought in his retinue during the Norman Conquest. His second wife was Margery, daughter of Waltheof.
WThe Dukedom of Abrantès was a title of Napoleonic nobility created in 1808 by Napoleon for Jean-Andoche Junot.
WMaria Tomásia Figueira Lima was a Brazilian aristocrat and abolitionist. She was the cofounder of the Sociedade das Senhoras Libertadoras ou Cearenses Libertadoras, a group which was the first of its kind in the country that was formed and led exclusively by women.
WGentry are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Gentry, in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to landed estates, upper levels of the clergy, and "gentle" families of long descent who in some cases never obtained the official right to bear a coat of arms. The gentry largely consisted of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate; some were gentleman farmers. In the United Kingdom, the term gentry refers to the landed gentry, the majority of the land-owning social class who were typically armigerous, but did not have a peerage. The adjective "patrician" describes in comparison other analogous traditional social elite strata based in cities, such as free cities of Italy, and the free imperial cities of Germany, Switzerland, and the Hanseatic League.
WThe Koskull family is a wealthy aristocratic family of Livonian origins, famous for their extensive lands and manors. The family are descendants of the first King of Livonia and officially established as Koskele in 1302 in Livonia. The family spread to Estonia, Courland and Poland throughout the 15th century, Sweden and Finland in the 17th century, and Prussia and Russia in the 18th century. Several branches of the family still exist today, and is believed to be related to the von der Pahlen family.
WThe landed gentry, or the gentry, is a largely historical British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. While distinct from, and socially below, the British peerage, their economic base in land was often similar, although in fact some of the landed gentry were wealthier than some peers, and many gentry were close relatives of peers and it was not uncommon for gentry to marry into peerage. It is the British element of the wider European class of gentry. With or without noble title, owning rural land estates often brought with it the legal rights of lord of the manor, and the less formal name or title of squire, in Scotland laird.
WThe Mielżyński family, is one of Poland's oldest noble families. Reference to the family's founder, Jan z Mielżyn, first appeared in the late 14th century. The family bares the arms of the house of Nowina thereby claiming ties to Stanislaus of Szczepanów. The Mielżyńskis evolved into a significant and consistent presence in Polish politics until the end of the 20th century. As Greater Poland's wealthiest family they became patrons of the arts. Their estates included over 20,000 hectares and the palaces of Pawłowice and Iwno prior to WWII.
WSir Thomas Minshull Stockdale, 2nd Baronet is an English barrister and landowner.
WA territorial lord was a ruler in the period beginning with the Early Middle Ages who, stemming from his status as being immediate (unmittelbar), held a form of authority over a territory known as Landeshoheit. This authority gave him nearly all the attributes of sovereignty. Such a lord had authority or dominion in a state or territory, but this fell short of sovereignty since as a ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, he remained subject to imperial law and supreme authority, including imperial tribunals and imperial war contributions. The territorial lord was generally a member of the high aristocracy (Hochadel) or clergy, who was the title bearer or office holder of an existing or constituent state through the custom of primogeniture or feudal law.