madoli
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A Baroness is the female equivelent to a Baron. So one can become a Baroness by either being married to a Baron or by having that title bestowed upon herself.
Baron is a specific title of nobility or a more generic feudal qualification. The word baron comes from French baron, itself from Frankish baro meaning "freeman, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman." Ultimately it seems to mean a burden bearer.
In the British peerage system, barons rank below viscounts, being the lowest rank in the peerage. A female of baronial rank has the honorific baroness. The order of precedence accorded peerage baronies (i.e. those by writ or patent) does not apply to the case of a Prescriptive Barony.
A baron may hold a barony (plural baronies), if the title relates originally to a Feudal Barony by tenure, or Prescriptive Barony, although such tenure is now obsolete in England and Ireland and any such titles are now held in gross, if they survive at all, as very few do, sometimes along with some vestigial manorial rights, or by grand serjeanty.
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 Earls of Chester or the Bishops of Durham, 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, the Dialogus de Scaccario already distinguishes greater (who held in baroniam by knights' service) or lesser baronies (generally smaller single manors). 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.
Later, the Sovereign 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, except in so far as a small number of vestigial "Baron" titles survive in Ireland as incorporeal hereditaments held in gross as personal rights, following the Modus Tenendi Parliamenta (1419), the Feudal Tenure Act (1662), and the Fines and Recoveries Act (1834) which enabled such titles to be dis-entailed.
In some republics of continental Europe, the title of "Baron" retains a purely social prestige, with no particular political privileges. |
LorgSkyegon
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Nowadays, there are only three ways and all are very unlikely.
1. Marry a current baron. I suggest you doll yourself up and move to Europe if you want to take this route.
2. Be born into nobility. Since you ask us this, it is already too late.
3. Be granted land and a title by a king or queen. Nowadays, this is EXTREMELY rare. Unless you do something very special for royalty, I think you can forget this option.
Baron and baroness are typically the lowest rank of European nobility, below duke/duchess, marquess/marichoness, earl/countess, and viscount/viscountess. A baron was originally insituted as a mark of a pledge to militarily defend the king. The baron was given a small amount of land of which he was in charge (typically around city or county size) and could be overruled by higher-ups. |
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