Quarters of nobility
Encyclopedia
Quarters of nobility is an expression used in the bestowal of hereditary title
s and refers to the number of generations in which noble status has been held by a family regardless of whether a title was actually in use by each person in the ancestral line in question.
For example, a person having sixteen quarterings (formally in heraldry
Seize Quartiers
) might have exclusively noble ancestry for the four previous generations (i.e., to the great-great-grandparent level): Given two parents per generation, four generations of uninterrupted nobility = 24 = 16. Alternatively, such a person might have exclusively noble ancestry for the five previous generations on one side but have a commoner
for his or her other parent, such that the latter side of that person's ancestry would "dilute" by half the nobility he or she derived from the former side: (25)/2 = 32/2 = 16.
Some orders of chivalry limit their membership to persons who can prove a certain number of quarterings (e.g., sixteen for the Order of St. John
).
Hereditary Title
Hereditary titles, in a general sense, are titles, positions or styles that are hereditary and thus tend or are bound to remain in particular families....
s and refers to the number of generations in which noble status has been held by a family regardless of whether a title was actually in use by each person in the ancestral line in question.
For example, a person having sixteen quarterings (formally in heraldry
Heraldry
Heraldry is the profession, study, or art of creating, granting, and blazoning arms and ruling on questions of rank or protocol, as exercised by an officer of arms. Heraldry comes from Anglo-Norman herald, from the Germanic compound harja-waldaz, "army commander"...
Seize Quartiers
Seize Quartiers
Seize Quartiers are literally a person's "sixteen quarters", the coat-of-arms of their sixteen great-great-grandparents, which are typically accompanied by a five generation genealogy outlining the relationship between them and their descendant...
) might have exclusively noble ancestry for the four previous generations (i.e., to the great-great-grandparent level): Given two parents per generation, four generations of uninterrupted nobility = 24 = 16. Alternatively, such a person might have exclusively noble ancestry for the five previous generations on one side but have a commoner
Commoner
In British law, a commoner is someone who is neither the Sovereign nor a peer. Therefore, any member of the Royal Family who is not a peer, such as Prince Harry of Wales or Anne, Princess Royal, is a commoner, as is any member of a peer's family, including someone who holds only a courtesy title,...
for his or her other parent, such that the latter side of that person's ancestry would "dilute" by half the nobility he or she derived from the former side: (25)/2 = 32/2 = 16.
Some orders of chivalry limit their membership to persons who can prove a certain number of quarterings (e.g., sixteen for the Order of St. John
Venerable Order of Saint John
The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America, with the world-wide mission "to prevent and relieve sickness and...
).