A viscount is a member of the European nobility, especially , as in the British peerage, ranking above a baron, below a (British) earl or (his continental equivalent) count.
*Originally, the word derives from the Latin ''vice comes'' an appointed deputy of a count, and ?corresponds in Britain to the Anglo-Saxonsheriff (root of the non-nobiliary, royal-appointed office of Sheriff). . Thus early viscounts were not originally normally given their titles by the monarch, nor hereditary; but soon they too tended to establish hereditary principalities lato sensu.
==in English - the Commonwealth==
A viscount is said to hold a "viscounty" or "viscountcy". The female equivalent of a viscount is a ''viscountess''.
In the pronunciation of "viscount" and French "''vicomte"'', the 's' is silent, in English pronounced like "vie-count".
*In British practice, the title of a viscount may be either a placename, or a surname, or, as is more often the case, a combination thereof. In any event, the style of a viscount is "The Viscount X," or "The Viscount X of Y." Examples include: The Viscount Falmouth (placename); The Viscount Hardinge (surname); The Viscount Gage of Castle Island (surname of placename); and The Viscount Combermere of Bhurtpore (placename of placename). An exception exists for Viscounts in the peerage of Scotland, who are styled "The Viscount ''of'' X," as in: The Viscount of Arbuthnott (surname).
Normally, a British viscount is known as ''Lord X'', while his wife is ''Lady X''. The children of a viscount are known as ''The Honourable [Forename] [Surname]''.
* A British peculiarity is the use of Viscount as a courtesy title for peers of a higher level (Earl, Marquess or Duke)
==continental forms of the title==
*The title of viscount is less common in Italy (''"visconte"''), though the noble Visconti family, rulers of Milan, offer an outstanding example.
In Italy, a younger member of a ''conte'' (count)'s family, assigned a fortified ''rocca'' on the outskirts of the territory, would be more likely to be "X, dei conti Y" ("X, of the counts of Y") than Viscount.
*In the former kingdom of Portugal a ''visconde'' ranks above a ''barão'' (baron) and below a ''conde''. The first Portuguese viscountcy, that of D. Leonel de Lima, visconde de Vila Nova de Cerveira, dates from the reign of Alfonso V of Portugal. A flood of viscountcies, some 86 new titles, was awarded in Portugal between 1848 and 1880 (Portuguese Wikipedia).
*In the kingdom of Spain the title was awarded from the reign of Philip IV of Spain (1621-65; Habsburg dynasty) until 1846.
* In various languages we need to verify wether the existing title has actually been awarded there, or is just an empty rendeing of foreign realities.
** Hungarian : ''vikomt'' and even ''vicomte'' (as in french)
==equivalent titles==
* There is no etymologically equivalent title of viscount in several languages including German : a ''Baron'' ranks below a ''Graf.''
However, in such case titles of the etymological Burgrave-family (not in countries with a viscount-form, such as Italian ''burgravio'' alongside ''visconte'') could establish themselves at exactly the same level.
** Thus in dutch, ''Burggraaf'' is the rank above Baron, below Graaf (i.e. count) in the kingdoms of the Netherlands and Belgium (here, be law, the official translation, as ''Burggraf'' in German, of the title vicomte in french, the other official language!)
* analogous uses for other cultures ?
==Reference==
*''Burke's Peerage & Baronetage,'' 1956, introduction, pp cxx-cxxviii.
PeerageViscountciesTitles
Viscount
It's not entirely true that German nobility didn't have a ''viscount''. The German equivalent of Count, ''Graf,'' was not simple -- quite possibly due to Germany's disorganization and the many different kinds of feudal rulers. The term ''Vizegraf'' was used, roughly meaning "vice" or "substitute" count, which corresponds roughly to viscount. However, it is true that viscount was not a standard German title of nobility.
To know the example you're thinking of and the place (and the approximate date of the patent or its appearance) would make this truly the exception that proves the rule. --User:Wetman 06:01, 23 May 2005 (UTC)
The page on Kakuei Tanaka links here in reference to a Japanese "viscount," but I don't see anything related here. Looking into it. User:12.214.0.127 19:49, 28 May 2005 (UTC)