Category:Nobility

Nobility is a traditional hereditary status (see hereditary titles) that exists today in many realms. The term originally referred to those who were "known" or "notable" and was applied to the highest social class in pre-modern societies. In the feudal system, the nobility were generally those who held a fief, often land and/or office, under vassalage, i.e. in exchange for allegiance and various, mainly military, services to the Monarch and at lower levels to another nobleman.

It rapidly became a hereditary caste, sometimes associated with a right to bear a hereditary title and in some cases enjoying fiscal and other privileges.

Nobility is a social and often legal notion, which should not be confused with socio-economic status which is mainly statistical based on income and possessions. Being wealthy or influential does not automatically make one a noble, nor are all nobles wealthy and influential (aristocratic families have lost their fortunes in various ways, and the concept of the 'poor nobleman' is almost as old as nobility itself).

Countries without a feudal tradition do not have a nobility as such; various republics have expressly abolished titles of nobility. Although many such societies have a privileged 'upper class' with great wealth and power, this does not entail a separate legal status, or different forms of address.

See the Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobility