the pleas of the shire from whence they assumed their title, as in ancient times there was no Count or Earl but had a county or shire for his earldom.
Roger Mortimer, Lord of Wigmore on the Welsh March, created Earl of March 2 Edw. III. 1328, was the first Earl whose dignity was not connected with a shire.
Earldoms were anciently conferred by investiture, which was accomplished by the King girding the new Earl with a sword, and in later times by additional ceremonies. After it had become the common practice to confer this and all other dignities by patent, it was still usual to complete the honour by investiture, the ceremony differing according to the nature of the dignity. But this solemnity has been dispensed with since the time of James I.
It is uncertain when the coronets of Dukes, Marquises and Earls were settled. Sir Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury, Viscount Cranbourne, and Lord High Treasurer, was the first of that degree who wore a coronet.
The golden circle of the coronet of an Earl is jewelled, from which rise eight points surmounted by as many large pearls, and between them eight strawberry leaves close to the upper rim of the circle.
MARQUISES.
Marchio was the term applied at an early period to the Baron or Earl who was custodian of the frontiers (subsequently Warden of the Marches), called by the Germans, Markgraf. The dignity of Marquis was first conferred by Richard II. on his favourite, Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford, whom he created, by charter 1 Dec. 1385, Marquis of Dublin for life, with precedence between the Dukes and Earls. He was invested by the King with a sword, and also with a coronet of gold. James III. of Scotland created his second son, at his baptism 1476, Marquis of Ormonde, with what precedence does not appear, as the dignity was superseded by that of Earl of Ross conferred upon the Marquis v four years after.
The golden circle of the coronet of a Marquis is jewelled, from which rise four strawberry leaves and four pearls alternately.
DUKES.
The earlier Kings of England being themselves Dukes of Normandy or of Aquitaine, did not confer the title of Duke upon any of their subjects until Edward III. created his son, Edward the Black Prince, Duke of Cornwall, 17 Mar. 1337, and invested him in Parliament by the sword. When his brother, John of Gaunt, was created Duke of Lancaster in 1362, he had investiture not only by the King's girding him with a sword but by putting on him a cap of fur under a coronet of gold set with precious stones. In 1572 no Dukedom existed; but the ancient Dulcedoms of Norfolk and Somerset were restored respectively to the Earl of Arundel and the Earl of Hertford in the reign of Charles II.
The coronet of a Duke, worn over the cap, is a circlet of gold enriched with jewels and set round with eight golden strawberry leaves rising from its upper rim.
SPIRITUAL PEERS.
Under the Saxon Kings, the Bishops took an important part in the great national Councils, and continued to do so after the Conquest. Under the early Norman sovereigns their estates were subject to military services, and they acquired an additional title by virtue of their baronies to be summoned to Parliament. They have continued ever since to enjoy this privilege, except during the period between 1640 and 1661, when they were excluded by an Act of the Long Parliament, repealed in the latter year.
The Archbishop of Canterbury takes ranks first after the Blood Royal, the Lord high Chancellor in the second place, and the Archbishop of York in the third.
Bishops by statute 31 Henry VIII. rank next after Viscounts.
