Baron is a specific title of nobility or a more generic feudal qualification.
==Western European feudal and modern titles==
*The word ''baron'' possible derives from an Old French (?) word ''baro'' ('man' in the sense of 'vassal'): ''Et quant ce virent li baron de l'ost, qui estoient herbergié d'autre part del port...'' ("And when the barons of the host [of fighting men at Constantinople] appeared, who were garrisoned in another part of the harbor...")
*In the United Kingdompeerage system, barons rank lowest, coming after viscounts. A female of baronial rank has the honorific baroness. A baron may hold a barony (plural baronies).
**William the Conqueror introduced "baron" as a rank into England to distinguish the men who had pledged their loyalty to him (see Feudalism). Previously, in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England, the king's companions held the title of earls and in Scotland, the title of ''thane''. All who held their barony "in chief of the king" (i.e. directly from William and his successors) became alike ''barones regis'' (barons of the king), bound to perform a stipulated service, and welcome to attend his council. Before long, the greatest of the nobles, especially in the marches, such as the Earl of Chester or the Durham Cathedral, might refer to their own tenants as "barons", where lesser magnates spoke simply of their "men" (''homines'').
**Initially those who held land direct of the crown by military service, from earls downwards, all alike bore the title of baron, but under Henry II of England , the ''Dialogus de Scaccario'' already distinguishes greater or lesser baronies. Within a century of the Norman Conquest, as in Thomas Becket's case (1164), there arose the practice of sending to each greater baron a special summons to the council that evolved into the House of Lords, while the lesser barons, Magna Carta (1215) stipulated, would receive summons only in general, through the sheriffs. Thus appeared a definite distinction, which eventually had the effect of restricting to the greater barons the rights and privileges of peerage.
**The King of England could create a new barony in one of two ways: by a writ of summons directing someone to Parliament, or by letters patent. Writs of summons featured in medieval times, but creation by letters patent has become the norm. Baronies thus no longer directly relate to land ownership.
Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts became the first woman created baroness in her own right in 1871, by Victoria of the United Kingdom.
**In Scotland, the rank of baron refers to the holder of a feudal barony, which does relate to the feudal jurisdiction over the territorial entity. But with the end of feudalism in Scotland, after 28 November2004 the dignity of a Scottish Baron became a purely hereditary title of honour, ranking below all baronets and above all Clan Chiefs (who are not peers of the Realm).The Scots system does not have baronies as in England, but "Lordships of Parliament". Generally, the more modern baronies pass only to male heirs. However, in the cases of Scottish Lordships of Parliament and of English barony by writ a daughter can inherit provided she has no brothers. In the English case, if there are multiple daughters, they jointly inherit the barony as coheirs, which then falls into abeyance until there is only one heir again. The Scottish equivalent of the English baron is Lord of Parliament.
**In the late twentieth century Britain introduced the concept of non-hereditary life peers. All appointees to this distinction have taken place at the rank of baron, though in principle nothing prevents the creation of a life peerage of higher rank. Baronies are often subsidiary titles, thus being used as courtesy titles by eldest sons.
**Non-Scottish barons are styled ''The Right Honourable The Lord [Barony]''. Baron's wives are titled ''The Right Honourable The Lady [Barony]''. Baronesses in their own right are either titled ''The Right Honourable The Baroness [Barony]'' or ''The Right Honourable The Lady [Barony]'', mainly based on personal preference (for an example of the former, see Margaret Thatcher). ''Right Honourable'' is frequently abbreviated to ''Rt. Hon.'' When referred to by the Sovereign in public instruments, ''The Right Honourable'' is changed to ''Our right trusty and well-beloved cousin'' (even if the said baron is not their blood cousin), with ''and counsellor'' attached if they are a Privy Counsellor.
Courtesy barons are styled simply ''Lord [Barony]'', and their wives are ''Lady [Barony]''. The style of ''Right Honourable'' is not used for them.
Normally one refers to or addresses Baron X as ''Lord X'' and his wife as ''Lady X''. In the case of women who hold baronies in their own right, they can be referred to as ''Baroness X'' as well as ''Lady X''. In direct address, they can also be referred to as ''My Lord'' or ''My Lady''. The husband of a Baroness in her own right does not receive a style. Children of Barons and Baronesses in their own right, whether hereditary or for life, have the style ''The Honourable [Forename] [Surname]''. After the death of the father or mother, the child may continue to use the style ''Honourable''.
* Compare baronet, not a peer but the highest echelon of gentry.
* In Germany and a few other countries of Germanic languages (or such tradition, as Finland under Sweden rule), the title ''Freiherr'' ('free Lord'; See that article) and its various variations occupy the same rank as a Baron, exclusively (as in the Holy Roman Empire) or concurrently.
* The title was quite common in most European countries, in various languages (weather Germanic, Romance language, Slavic language or other), often in a slightly modified form. The following list (originaly based on A. Krischnig on http://Heraldica.org ) includes, after the /, also female forms, and (sometimes) after a second slash the territorial resort. Notice, especially for the 'alternative' Freiherr-type titles (after a comma) that the existence of a word does not always implies the actual use : it is a mere rendering of foreign realities.
**English Baron /Baroness/ Barony
**Albanian Baron /Baroneshë
**Belorussian Baron /Baronesa
**Bulgarian Baron /Baronesa
**Catalan Baró /Baronessa
**Croatian. Serbian Barun /Barunica
**Czech Baron /Baronka, Baronesa
**Danish Baron - ?Friherre?//Baronesse
**Dutch Baron - Vrijheer/ Barones/ Baronie
**Estonian Parun /Paruniproua
**Finnish Paroni, Vapaaherra /Paronitar, Vapaaherratar
**French Baron /Baronnesse/ Baronie
**German Baron, Freiherr /Baronin, Baronesse, Freifrau, Freiin
**Greek (New) Baronos /Baroni
**Hungarian Báró, Főúr /Bárónő
**Icelandic Barón, Fríherra /Barónessa
**Irish Barún /Banbharún
**Italian Barone /Baronessa
**LATIN (feudal) Baro
**Latvian Barons /Baroniene
**Lithuanian Baronas /Baroniene
**Luxemburgish Baroun /Barounin, Baronesse
**Macedonian Baron /Baronesa
**Maltese Baruni /Barunessa
**Monegasque Barun /Barunessa
**Norwegian Baron - Friherre/Baronesse
**Polish Baron /Baronowa, Baronówna
**Portuguese Barăo /Baronesa
**Rhaeto-Romanic Barun /Barunessa
**Romanian Baron /Baroneasă
**Russian Baron /Baronessa
**Slovak Barón /Barónka
**Slovene Baron /Baronica
**Spanish Barón /Baronesa
**Swedish Baron, Friherre /Baronessa, Friherrinna
**Ukrainian Baron /Baronka, Baronesa
*It was even exported during he crusades, not only in (short-lived) crusader states founded in conquered saracen land, but even as westernized form of the autochtonous naxarar? in the (orthodox Clician)kingdom of Armenia.
==Elsewhere==
*In some ''republics'' of continental Europe, the title of "Baron" retains a purely social prestige, with no particular political privileges; it was even conferred by communist governments, e.g. in Czechoslovakia.
*In the Polynesian island monarchy of Tonga, as opposed to the situation in Europe, barons are granted this imported title (in English), and continue to hold and exercise some political power (sociology) .
* Analogous non-western titles are, more or less conventionally, rendered as Baron - this is rarely a reliable equivalency
**in Japan
==External link==
*[http://1.1911encyclopedia.org/B/BA/BARON.htm ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' 1911]: Baron
TitlesPeerageBaronies
Baron
Hello and Wikipedia:Welcome, newcomers to Wikipedia!
Here are some tips to help you get started:
* If you haven't already, please add your name to the Wikipedia:New user log to let others know a little about yourself.
* Read the Wikipedia:Tutorial, and feel free to experiment in the Wikipedia:Sandbox.
* Eventually, you might want to read the Wikipedia:Manual of Style and Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines.
* If you need Wikipedia:Help, post a question at the Wikipedia:Help desk or ask me on User talk:jrdioko.
* Explore, Wikipedia:Be bold in updating pages, and, most importantly, have fun!
Good luck! User:Jrdioko
P.S. One last helpful hint. To sign your posts like I did above (on Wikipedia:Tutorial (Talk pages), for example) use the '~' symbol. To insert just your name, type ~~~ (3 tildes), or, to insert your name and timestamp, use ~~~~ (4 tildes).
== Umlauts ==
Hi, I liked your articles on Georg Ritter von Schönerer and Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg, but do you think we could do something about the lack of umlauts? "Schonerer" and "Rudiger" just don't seem to be correct. All the best, User:KF 16:50, 1 Aug 2004 (UTC)
-Sorry I took so long to make those changes you requested. Haven't checked my discussion box in awhile.
== Photo copyrights ==
Hello. I wanted to use the image of Marcel Déat that you uploaded on the French version of Wikipedia, but you didn't include any copyright information. Could you please provide? Thanks... User:Maxn 20:04, 27 Oct 2004 (UTC)
-The source I got the photo from did not give any information about the copyright, so I assume the image is in the public domain. Unfortunately, this is the case with a lot of photos on that are used on Wikipedia. I got the picture from a website. Many websites don't give information about the copyrights of photos or whether or not they're available for public use. If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.
Hi! Thanks for uploading :Image:OsaNag.jpg. I notice it currently doesn't
have an Wikipedia:Image copyright tags.
Could you add one to let us know its copyright status? (You can
use if you release it under
the GFDL, or if you
claim Wikipedia:Fair use, etc.) If you don't know
what any of this means, just let me know where you got the images
and I'll tag them for you. Thanks so much, User:Edwinstearns 16:30, 9 Dec 2004 (UTC)
==Unverified images==
Hi! Thanks for uploading the following images:
*:Image:Deat.jpg
*:Image:Doriot_3.jpg
*:Image:Doriot2.jpg
I notice it currently doesn't have an Wikipedia:Image copyright tags. Could you add one to let us know its copyright status? (You can use if you release it under the GNU Free Documentation License, if you claim Wikipedia:Fair use, etc.) If you don't know what any of this means, just ''let me know User talk:Poccil'' where you got the images and I'll tag them for you. Thanks so much. User:Poccil_(User_Talk:Poccil,_User:Poccil/Automation.js)">User:Poccil|User:Poccil (User Talk:Poccil, User:Poccil/Automation.js) 04:44, Dec 11, 2004 (UTC)
P.S. You can help tag other images at User:Yann/Untagged_Images. Thanks again.
Also :Image:Clausen.jpgUser:RedWolf 20:27, Dec 23, 2004 (UTC)
==Image source==
Thank you for uploading :Image:Antonescu3.jpg. Its copyright status is unclear, so it may have to be deleted. Please leave a note on the image page about the source of the image. Thank you. --User:Ellmist 02:10, 6 Mar 2005 (UTC)
==:Image:Antonescu3.jpg==
{| align=center border=0 cellpadding=4 cellspacing=4 style="border: 2px solid #FF5500; background-color: #F1F1DE"
|-
| Image deletion warning
| style="font-size: 80%" | The image :Image:Antonescu3.jpg has been listed at Wikipedia:Possibly unfree images. If the image's copyright status cannot be verified, it will be deleted. If you have any information on the source or licensing of this image, please go there to provide the necessary information.
|}
User:Burgundavia (User talk:Burgundavia) 05:31, May 24, 2005 (UTC)
==:Image:Antonescu5.jpg==
{| align=center border=0 cellpadding=4 cellspacing=4 style="border: 2px solid #FF5500; background-color: #F1F1DE"
|-
| Image deletion warning
| style="font-size: 80%" | The image :Image:Antonescu5.jpg has been listed at Wikipedia:Possibly unfree images. If the image's copyright status cannot be verified, it will be deleted. If you have any information on the source or licensing of this image, please go there to provide the necessary information.
|}
User:Burgundavia (User talk:Burgundavia) 05:31, May 24, 2005 (UTC)