:''Nobleman redirects here''. Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be largely honorary (e.g. precedence), and vary from country to country and era to era. Traditionally membership in the nobility has been regulated or acknowledged by the government. There is often a variety of ranks within the noble class. Legal recognition of nobility is more common in monarchies, but nobility also existed in such republics as the Dutch Provinces, Genoa and Venice, and remains part of the legal social structure of some non-hereditary regimes, e.g. San Marino and Vatican City in Europe. Hereditary titles often distinguish nobles from non-nobles, although in many nations most of the nobility have been un-titled, and a hereditary title need not indicate nobility.

History

The term derives from Latin ''nobilis'' (well-known, famous), indicating those who were "well-known" or "notable" in society, and was applied to the highest social class in pre-modern societies. In the feudal system (in Europe and elsewhere), the nobility were generally those who held a fief, often land or office, under vassalage, i.e., in exchange for allegiance and various, mainly military, services to a suzerain, who might be a monarch or a higher-ranking nobleman. It rapidly came to be seen as a hereditary caste, sometimes associated with a right to bear a hereditary title and, for example in pre-revolutionary France, enjoying fiscal and other privileges.

While noble status formerly conferred significant privileges in most jurisdictions, by the 21st century it had become a largely honorary dignity in most societies, although a few, residual privileges may still be preserved legally (e.g. Netherlands, Spain, UK) and some Asian, Pacific and African cultures continue to attach considerable significance to formal, hereditary rank or titles. (Compare the entrenched position and leadership expectations of the nobility of the Kingdom of Tonga.)

Nobility is a historical, social and often legal notion, differing from socio-economic status (or ''class'') in that the latter is mainly based on income, possessions and/or lifestyle. Being wealthy or influential cannot, ''ipso facto'', make one noble, nor are all nobles wealthy or influential (aristocratic families have lost their fortunes in various ways, and the concept of the 'poor nobleman' is almost as old as nobility itself).

Although many societies have a privileged 'upper class' with substantial wealth and power, the status is not necessarily hereditary and does not entail a distinct legal status, nor differentiated forms of address.

Various republics, including the United States, former Iron Curtain countries, Greece, Mexico, and Austria have expressly abolished the granting and/or use of titles of nobility to or by their citizens. This is distinct from countries which have not abolished the right to inherit (formerly) noble titles, but which do not grant legal recognition or protection to them, such as Germany, and Italy, although Germany recognizes their use as legal surnames. Still other countries and authorities allow their use, but forbid attachment of any privilege thereto, e.g. Finland, France, Norway and the European Union, although French law also protects lawful titles against usurpation, while Norway allows the use of traditional titles by official members of the royal house.

Noble privileges

Nobles did not always derive their privileges from just being nobles, but usually privileges were granted with an specific title, office or estate. However, nobles were often treated better. Nobles often derived wealth from one or more estates, large or small, that might include fields, pasture, orchards, timberland, hunting grounds, streams, etc. It also included infrastructure such as castle, well and mill to which local peasants were allowed some access.

Prior to the French Revolution, European nobles typically commanded tribute in the form of entitlement to cash rents or usage taxes, labour and/or a portion of the annual crop yield from commoners or nobles of lower rank who lived or worked on the noble's manor or within his ''seigneurial'' domain. In some countries, the local lord could impose restrictions on such a commoner's movements, religion or legal undertakings. The nobles enjoyed the privilege of hunting. In France, nobles were exempt from paying the taille, the major direct tax. The peasants were not only bound to the nobility by dues and services. The nobility also had the jurisdictions of the courts and the police over them. In many parts of western Europe the right of private war long remained the privilege of every noble.

During the early Renaissance, duelling established the status of a respectable gentleman, and was an accepted manner to resolve disputes. According to Ariel Roth, during the reign of Henry IV, over 4,000 French aristocrats were killed in duels "in an eighteen-year period" whilst a twenty-year period of Louis XIII's reign saw some eight thousand pardons for "murders associated with duels".

Ennoblement

In France, a ''seigneury'' might include one or more manors surrounded by land and villages subject to the noble's prerogatives and disposition. ''Seigneuries'' could be bought, sold or mortgaged. But if erected into, e.g. a barony or countship, was legally entailed for a family, who could use it as their title (although most nobles were untitled: "seigneur of Montagne" meant ownership of the lordship but not, if one was not otherwise noble, the right to use its associated title). However, any French noble who bought a countship was allowed, ''ipso facto'', to style himself as its ''comte''.

By contrast, in the UK royal letters patent were necessary to take a noble title, which also carried a seat in the House of Lords, but came with no automatic entail nor rights to the local peasants' output.

Quite often, however, nobility came to be associated only with specific social privileges and a general expectation of deference from those of lower rank. An example of the latter would be early 20th-century Polish nobility after their political, economic, judicial and religious privileges were abolished in 1923 and they remained only landed proprietors on the same legal basis as their landed-commoner neighbours

European nobility

European nobility originated in the feudal/seignorial system that arose in Europe during the Middle Ages. Originally, knights or nobles were mounted warriors who swore allegiance to their sovereign and promised to fight for him in exchange for an allocation of land (usually together with serfs living thereon). During the time period known as the Military Revolution, nobles gradually lost their role in raising and commanding private armies, as many nations created cohesive national armies.

This was coupled with a loss of the socio-economic power of the nobility, owing to the economic changes of the Renaissance and the growing economic importance of the merchant classes (or ''bourgeoisie''), which increased still further during the Industrial Revolution. In countries where the nobility was the dominant class, the ''bourgeoisie'' gradually grew in power; a rich city merchant came to be more influential than a nobleman, and the latter sometimes sought inter-marriage with families of the former to maintain their noble lifestyles.

However, in many countries at this time, the nobility retained substantial political importance and social influence; for instance, the UK's government was dominated by the nobility until the middle of the 19th century. Thereafter the powers of the nobility were progressively reduced by legislation (see Reform of the House of Lords).

The countries with the highest proportion of nobles were probably Castile, Poland and Lithuania, each with about 10% of the total population, as compared to 0.5-2% elsewhere in Europe. In Hungary, yet another frontier region, nobles made up 5% of the population. On the frontiers of Europe, western and eastern alike, ongoing warfare against ethnic outsiders – Turks and Tatars in eastern Europe, Moors (until 1492) in Spain – gave large numbers of new men access to higher status; and the booty of conquest provided the material bases for their advancement.

Rank within the nobility

The nobility of a person might be either inherited or conferred by a ''fons honorum''. Nobility in its most general and strict sense is an acknowledged preeminence that is ''hereditary'', i.e. all legitimate, male-line descendants of noblemen are noble. In this respect, ''nobility'' has long been distinguished from noble titles, such as peerages in France and the UK, ''grandezas'' in Portugal and Spain, and some noble titles in Belgium, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Prussia and Sweden. In the Netherlands and Spain, noble titles are now equally heritable by females and males.

Aristocrat and aristocracy, in modern usage, refer informally and broadly to persons belonging to a noble's family or social milieu. Those lacking a distinct title, such as junior siblings of peers, wealthy members of the landed gentry (and perhaps even the children of 'self-made' VIPs) may be considered aristocrats, moving within a small social circle at the apex of a hierarchical social pyramid.

In France, some wealthy ''bourgeois'', most particularly the members of the various ''parlements'', were ennobled by the king, constituting the ''noblesse de robe''. The old nobility of landed or knightly origin, ''noblesse d'épée'', increasingly resented the pretensions and influence of this ''parvenu'' nobility. In the last years of the ''ancien régime'' the old nobility pushed for restrictions of certain offices and orders of chivalry to noblemen who could demonstrate that their lineage had sufficient "quarterings", i.e. noble ancestry (matrilineal as well as patrilineal), to deserve to compete as equals with nobles of medieval descent for offices and favors at court, (although historians such as William Doyle have disputed this so-called "Aristocratic Reaction". (W. Doyle, Essays on Eighteenth Century France, London, 1995)). Various court and military positions were reserved by tradition for nobles who could "prove" an ancestry of at least ''seize quartiers'' (sixteen quarterings), indicating exclusively noble descent (as displayed, ideally, in the family's coat of arms) extending back five generations (all sixteen great-great grandparents). This illustrates the traditional link in many countries between heraldry and nobility; in those countries where heraldry is used, nobles have almost always been armigerous, and have used heraldry to demonstrate their ancestry and family history. However, it is important to note that heraldry has never been restricted to the noble classes in most countries, and being armigerous does not necessarily demonstrate nobility.

An opinion of Innes of Learney makes an observation of the system in use in Scotland, differentiating it from many other European traditions, in that legal armorial bearings which are entered in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland by warrant of the Lord Lyon King of Arms are by statute "Ensigns of Nobility". However, this opinion is challenged by a scholar. Innes of Learney's perspective is, however, accepted in the Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia. In a number of recent cases in Scotland the Lord Lyon Kings of Arms has controversially granted the arms ''and allowed the chiefships'' of medieval noble families to female line descendants of lords, even when they are not of noble lineage in the male line and ''legitimate'' claimants (agnates) still exist, for example in the extraordinary case of the modern Chiefs of Clan MacLeod. This is strictly against Gaelic law and thus the true chiefships technically become defunct, even if they continue to be recognized by the Scottish government for commercial purposes (tourism, etc.). Scotland's Gaelic nobility have been disintegrating as a result for the last few decades.

In the modern age, inherited nobility with special rights has largely been abolished in the Western World as intrinsically discriminatory and discredited as inferior in efficiency to individual meritocracy in the allocation of societal resources.

Many nations traditionally had an untitled lower nobility (including, in continental Europe, hereditary knights) in addition to titled nobles. Examples are the ''landed gentry'' of the British Isles, the ''Junkers'' of Germany, the ''noblesse de robe'' of France, the ''hidalgos'' of Spain and the ''nobili'' of Italy.

Some con artists sell fake titles of nobility, often with impressive-looking documents to back them up. These may be illegal, depending on local law. They are more often illegal in countries that actually have nobilities, such as European monarchies. In the U.S., such commerce may constitute actionable fraud rather than criminal usurpation of an exclusive right to use of any given title by an established class.

"Blue" blood

''Blue blood'' is an English idiom recorded since 1834 for noble birth or descent; it is a translation of the Spanish phrase ''sangre azul'', which described the Spanish royal family and other high nobility who claimed to be of Visigothic descent, in contrast to the Moors. It is likely that the idiom originates from ancient and medieval societies of Europe and distinguishes an upper class (whose superficial veins appeared blue through their untanned skin) from a working class of the time. The latter consisted mainly of agricultural peasants who spent most of their time working outdoors and thus had tanned skin, through which superficial veins appear less prominently.

Robert Lacey explains the genesis of the blue blood concept:

It was the Spaniards who gave the world the notion that an aristocrat's blood is not red but blue. The Spanish nobility started taking shape around the ninth century in classic military fashion, occupying land as warriors on horseback. They were to continue the process for more than five hundred years, clawing back sections of the peninsula from its Moorish occupiers, and a nobleman demonstrated his pedigree by holding up his sword arm to display the filigree of blue-blooded veins beneath his pale skin—proof that his birth had not been contaminated by the dark-skinned enemy.

However, there has been offered another explanation for the genesis of the blue blood concept. That is the extraordinarily high incidence of hemophilia among royal families. Not only has hemophilia been called "the Royal Disease", but its origins in the family tree of Queen Victoria apparently spread throughout Europe's monarchies, such that those with the disease were overly protected, did not go out of doors much and their skin appeared bluish. As referenced above, the Spanish nobility of the time were thought to carry the hemophilia line, as Victoria's grand daughter Eugenie married King Alfonso XIII of Spain, which may contradict (or complement) the Lacey explanation.

Asian nobility

Medieval Japan developed a feudal system similar to the European system, where land was held in exchange for military service. The daimyo class, or hereditary landowning nobles, had great social and political power. Like their European counterparts, they commanded private armies made up of samurai, an elite warrior class; for long periods, these held real power without a real central government and often plunged the country into a state of civil war. Although there are differences, the daimyo class can be compared to European peers, and the samurai to European knights, but with important differences, such as the distinction between the European code of chivalry and the Japanese code of bushido. These feudal titles and ranks were abolished in Japan with the Meiji Restoration of 1868 and replaced by the kazoku, a five-rank peerage system after the British example which granted seats in the upper house of the Imperial Diet, but this too was abolished in 1947, following Japan's defeat in World War II.

Many other non-European nations have had noble or aristocratic classes of various kinds: these are so diverse that it is somewhat misleading to try to translate them all into western feudal terminology. For the feudal hierarchy on the Indian subcontinent, see princely state.

In some Islamic countries, there are no definite nobility titles (titles of hereditary rulers being distinct from those of hereditary intermediaries between monarchs and commoners). Persons who can trace legitimate descent from the Prophet (as can several present or formerly reigning dynasties, and their relatives) are widely regarded as belonging to the ancient, hereditary Islamic nobility. In some Islamic countries they inherit (through mother or father) hereditary titles, although without any other associated privilege, e.g., variations of the title Sayyid. Commonly regarded as more religious than the general population, many people turn to them for clarification or guidance in religious matters. In Iran, historical titles of the nobility include Mirza, Khan, ed-Dowleh, Shahzada, now no longer recognized. An aristocratic family is now recognized by family name (often derived from the post held by their ancestors, considering the fact that family names in Iran only appeared in the beginning of the 20th century).

In East Asia the system was often modelled on imperial China, the leading culture. There the emperors conferred degrees of nobility, which were not permanent but decreased a rank each generation. Descendants of the emperors formed the highest class of ancient Chinese nobility, status of the descendants being based upon the rank of the empress or concubine from which they descend maternally (as emperors were polygamous). Numerous titles such as ''Taizi'', and equivalents of "prince/princess" were accorded. Due to complexities in dynastic rules, rules were introduced for Imperial descendants.

China had a feudal system in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, but it gradually gave way to a more bureaucratic system beginning in the Qin dynasty (221 BC). This continued through the Song Dynasty. By its peak, only the Immediate family members of the Emperor were considered to be nobles.

The development however, was gradual and generally only completed in full by the Song Dynasty, in the Han Dynasty for example, even though noble titles were no longer given to those outside of the Emperor's relatives, the fact that the process of selecting officials was mostly based on a vouching system by current officials, it caused a quasi form of nobility as typically officials will jus vouch for the sons of their own sons or the sons of other officials. This process was further deepened during the Three Kingdoms Period with the introduction of the Nine-rank system. However, by the Sui Dynasty the founding of the Imperial examination system marked the beginning of a full transformation towards full bureaucracy, though the process wouldn't be truly complete until the Song Dynasty

Dynasties established by the minority non-Han rulers via conquest in later years disrupted this ancient system of social class within Han society. They compelled conformity to an ethnic policy wherein the Mongols and the Manchus were accorded higher social status than the Han majority whom they dominated.

By the time of the Qing dynasty, many titles had been obtained or degraded through abuse and perversion of the original Qin system. Titles of nobility were still granted by the emperor, but served merely as honorifics based on a loose system of favors to the Qing emperor and Manchu interests: under a centralized system, governance in the empire was the responsibility of the Confucian-educated scholar-officials and local gentry. The literati were accorded gentry status based on lineage. For male citizens, advancement in status was possible via success in the top three positions in imperial examinations.

The bestowal of titles was abolished with the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, as part of a larger effort to abolish feudal influences on Chinese society.

In tribal societies, such as the Polynesian Island states, the system of often (semi-)hereditary tribal chiefs can also be compared to a form of noble class. In Tonga, after contact with Western nations, the traditional system of chiefs developed into a Western-style monarchy with a hereditary class of "barons", even adopting that English title.

In the Philippines and other southeast Asian countries, there have been the local nobilities. The Datu is the title for tribal chief and monarchs; in some parts of the Philippines the other term for the title is Apo. Together with ''Sultan'' and ''Rajah'', they are also titles used for native royalty and are currently used in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. These titles are the equivalent of European dukes and marquesses. The word ''datu'' was derived from the Malay word: ''Dato' '' or ''Datuk'', which are royal titles of the Ethnic Malays.

Upon the Christianization of the Philippines, the datus (king) of the pre-Hispanic kingdoms retained their right to govern their territory under the Spanish Empire. King Philip II of Spain, in a law signed June 11, 1594, commanded that these nobles be given the same respect, and privileges that they had before their conversion. These nobles formed part of the exclusive, and elite ruling class, called the ''Principalía (Nobility)'', in municipalities of the Spanish Philippines.

Nobility by nation

A list of noble titles for different European countries can be found at Royal and noble ranks. To learn how to properly address holders of these titles, see Royal and noble styles.

:''For the English Wikipedia category, see :Category:Nobility by nation''

Armenian nobility

Austrian nobility

Baltic nobility related to the modern area of Estonia and Latvia

Belgian nobility

Bohemian nobility

Brazilian nobility

British nobility

* British peerage

** English peerage

*** Welsh Peers

** Scottish peerage

** Irish peerage

** Peerage of Great Britain

** Peerage of the United Kingdom

Chinese nobility

Croatian nobility

Danish nobility

Dutch nobility

Fijian nobility

Finnish nobility

French nobility

German nobility

* Graf

* Junker

Hungarian nobility

Imperial Roman titles

* Byzantine aristocracy and bureaucracy

Irish nobility

* Chiefs of the Name

Italian nobility

Japanese nobility

Korean nobility

Lithuanian nobility

Malay nobility

Malagasy nobility

Mexican nobility

Mongolian nobility

Norwegian nobility

Ottoman titles

Polish nobility

Polynesian nobility

Principalía (Philippines)

Romanian nobility

Russian nobility

* Boyars

Serbian nobility

Spanish nobility

Swedish nobility

Switzerland nobility

Thai royal and noble titles

See also

Almanach de Gotha

Aristocracy

Caste (social hierarchy of India)

Ennoblement

False titles of nobility

Gentleman

Gentry

Heraldry

King

The Military Revolution

Nobiliary particle

Patrician (ancient Rome)

Patrician (post-Roman Europe)

Peerage

''Redorer son blason''

Royal and noble ranks

Lord Westover and the Nobility Oath

Cuban nobility

References

External links

The German nobility

WW-Person, an on-line database of European noble genealogy

Paul Theroff's ''An Online Gotha''

Genealogics, an extensive database of European nobles

Worldroots, a selection of art and genealogy of European nobility

RoyalArk- ruling houses in many non-European countries

The Russian Nobility Association in America

Italian dynastic genealogies (in Italian, with an introduction in English)

Worldwidewords

A Glossary of Titles in 35 Languages

Etymology OnLine

Friesian- Feudal Hierarchy (scroll down)

Heraldica.org - European Noble, Princely, Royal and Imperial Titles

Genesis of European Nobility

Category:Feudalism Category:Social classes

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Coordinates	37°46′45.48″N122°25′9.12″N
Name	Jay Electronica
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Timothy Elpadaro Thedford
Born	September 19, 1976 (age 34)
Origin	Magnolia Projects, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States
Genre	Hip hop
Label	The Dogon Society, Roc Nation
Associated acts	J Dilla, Erykah Badu, Just Blaze, Jay-Z, Mos Def, Curren$y, Nas, Lupe Fiasco, Talib Kweli, Lil B
Years active	2004 - Present }}

Jay Electronica (real name: Timothy Elpadaro Thedford) is an American hip-hop artist. He was perhaps best known for the piece of music ''Act 1: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge)'', until the release of the Just Blaze produced track "Exhibit C" in late 2009 . Announced on November 12, 2010, Jay is an official member of Jay-Z's Roc Nation.

Early career

Thedford was born on September 19, 1976, in the Magnolia Projects of New Orleans, a place where the crime rate was infamous throughout the country before 2005, when the projects were flooded during Hurricane Katrina. Thedford began rapping after hearing with his nephew Akeem Pryor and by the age of 19, Jay Electronica left New Orleans to pursue his musical career. Living a mostly nomadic lifestyle, this vagabond had found refuge in cities such as Philadelphia, Baltimore, Detroit, New York, and Atlanta. From club to club, and stage to stage, Electronica had gotten booed off and denied because of his Southern accent and slang. “In my earlier years from when I first left home, I was embarrassed from being from the South,” Thedford stated. “Not in general, but as a rapper because all of the negative things that people in the States put on the South.” Electronica’s career really took form in the city of Detroit when he linked up with Detroit native Johnnie Last, a friend he had spent a lot of time with at Darp Studios in Atlanta, GA. Electronica really started to gain a little notoriety at this time because of his work with late producer/emcee J. Dilla. Before signing to Roc Nation in 2010, Jay Electronica was a prospective signee of Bad Boy Records, a label owned by producer/rapper/entrepreneur Sean “Diddy” Combs.

Music and reception

Jay Electronica has yet to release a full-length album, but he has released two official singles to date, "Exhibit A" and "Exhibit C", which won a Sucker Free Summit Award for Instant Classic. His music so far has been made available through the internet, either through being leaked to what ''URB'' magazine describes as "obscure web forums", or through an appearing and disappearing Myspace page (currently two seem to be in existence, at /jayelect and at /jayelectronica). Erykah Badu has questioned whether he ever will release, in her words, "actual albums". From New Orleans, LA he has lived in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Denver, and Detroit, where he recorded his ''Style Wars''-era music with several J Dilla beats, meeting the producer subsequently to ask for permission to use the recordings as a demo. Detroit is where Electronica met producer/engineer Mike "Chav" Chavarria, who introduced him to both J Dilla and Mr. Porter, and who is now a regular collaborator.

Jay Electronica first gained significant attention through ''Act 1: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge)'', made available on a MySpace page in 2007. It is 9:13 continuous minutes of music, without drums, built from Jon Brion's soundtrack to the film ''Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind''. There are five segments or movements marked by changes in music and mood, raps by Electronica, and occasional snippets of sampled dialogue including scenes from ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory''. The first segment is a spoken word piece by Just Blaze and Erykah Badu describing Electronica over piano music.

The nature of the piece of music, along with the nature of its appearance, led to a slow build-up of interest in Electronica as an enigmatic figure. Songs circulating online as the ''Style Wars'' EP gained wider circulation, and other songs, such as the dream-inspired "Dimethyltryptamine", soon appeared. In January 2008, Giles Peterson's 90-minute ''Gilles Peterson Worldwide'' was devoted to the rapper. Hiphopdx.com in 2008 called him "arguably...the most talked about new emcee last year ... at times...more like a myth or urban legend than an actual rapper", and ''URB'' ran a cover story on the artist under the banner "Jay Electronica: A Spotless Mind :: An MC’s mystery revealed", which referred to his wanderings as his being "like some sort of hip-hop Jack Kerouac".

Jeff Weiss' piece for the ''L.A. Weekly'', "Jay Electronica: Much Better Than His Name Would Suggest", acknowledged that the rapper could be fairly described as "one of the most buzzed about rappers of 2008", but attempted to temper the hype somewhat, describing ''Act 1...'' as "ambitious, wildly original, if not slightly pretentious", while endorsing only to an extent the comparisons ''URB'' had made (referencing an "abstract rhyming style") to rappers like Nas and Pharoahe Monch.

According to ''URB'', ''Act II: Patents of Nobility'' will feature Nas, and will be the second of a putative trilogy. ''URB'' also reported that digital EPs with both Guilty Simpson and producer 9th Wonder were planned. His most recent music as of November 2008 is the Just Blaze-produced track "Exhibit A (Transformations)".

According to a Filter TV interview, Jay Electronica has partnered with Decon to release his debut project. It is being described as a multi-media release and footage from the project which was partially shot in Nepal and Dubai has begun to surface online. The first clip to leak is titled "Dear Moleskine" and can be found on YouTube, the track was produced by Just Blaze and the clip was directed by Jason Goldwatch from Decon. In June 2009, Decon and Jay's "The Dogon Society" released "Exhibit A" digitally. "Exhibit C" was released on iTunes December 16, 2009 and quickly shot to the top 10 of the iTunes Hip-Hop charts. The following week it was chosen by Hot 97's Dj Enuff as the Heavy Hitter pick of the week.

On February 9, 2010, it was announced Jay Electronica will appear at the 2010 Bonnaroo Music Festival.

Jay Electronica continued his scattered release practice, releasing "A Million In The Morning" on April 4, 2010. The song features a weary Electronica trying to keep himself awake to escape his nightmares.

On April 30, Jay Electronica debuted "The Ghost of Christopher Wallace" via his Twitter. The song features P Diddy and is produced by London beatsmith Quincey Tones, who is known for producing such acts as Young Jeezy and Royce da 5'9".

Couple of days before his signing to Roc Nation, his track "The Announcement" was released.

On 12 November 2010, Jay-Z announced that Jay Electronica was officially the newest member of his own 'Roc Nation' record label/management company, which boasts such acts as J. Cole, and Willow Smith.

In late 2010, he and Lucy Liu featured on The Bullitts track "Close Your Eyes". It was BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe's record of the week and will feature on The Bullits upcoming album set for release in 2011. Then in July 2011, he was featured on the track "Run & Hide", which will be on the same album.

In July 2011, Jay Electronica posted via his twitter that his debut album, "Act II: Patents Of Nobility (the turn)," was complete.

Personal life

Jay Electronica and Erykah Badu have one child together, Mars Merkaba Thedford, born on February 1, 2009. He is a member of the Five Percent Nation.

Endorsements

In December, 2010, Jay Electronica starred in a Mountain Dew commercial endorsing the brand’s cherry-flavored soft drink “Code Red.” The commercial is set in a theater located in New Orleans, Louisiana, where Jay performs a small segment of his song “The Announcement” in front of an energetic crowd. The advertisement features the tagline “Hip hop is different on the mountain.” Jay Electronica ends the commercial with the following quote: “I’m Jay Electronica. When I rhyme, the whole world disappears. Hip hop is different on my mountain.”

Discography

LPs

''Act II: Patents of Nobility (The Turn)'' (TBA)

EPs

''Style Wars EP'' (2007)

Mixtapes

''Act I: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge)'' (2007)

Singles {|class="wikitable" |- !rowspan="2"|Year !rowspan="2"|Song !colspan="3"|Chart positions !rowspan="2"|Album |- !width="40"|U.S. !width="40"|U.S. R&B; !width="40"|U.S. Rap |- | style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2"|2009 |"Exhibit A" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— |- |"Exhibit C" | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|86 | style="text-align:center;"|— |- | style="text-align:center;"|2010 |"Shiny Suit Theory" (featuring Jay-Z & The-Dream) | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|— | style="text-align:center;"|''Act II: Patents Of Nobility'' |}

Guest appearances

"Just Begun" from Reflection Eternal's "Revolutions per Minute"

"The Day" from Curren$y's "Pilot Talk"

"Live It" from Paul Wall's "Heart of a Champion"

"Prowler 2" from Ski Beatz "24 Hour Karate School"

"Higher" from Game's "The R.E.D. Album"

External links

:::::::Magnetik7::::::: (come on in, the water's fine.) - Official web site (inactive since 2005)

Jay Electronica Official News Source

Jay Electronica Fan Website(domain expired)

Jay Electronica (JayElectronica) on Twitter

''URB'' Jay Electronica cover (left) (.gif)

Giles Peterson Worldwide (.mp3, 80MB) - Lengthy interview and music

Jay Electronica video interview on redbullmusicacademy.com

Just Blaze, Jay Electronica, & Mike "Chav" Chavarria - An Interview with Jay, Chav, & Just Blaze

Exclaim! magazine interview with Jay Electronica-Exclaim!

(19®, APDTA™, Nation19) 19® is a clothing line that is worn by J-Electronica

Sources

Category:African American rappers Category:Rappers from New Orleans, Louisiana Category:Living people Category:1976 births Category:Members of the Nation of Gods and Earths

de:Jay Electronica fr:Jay Electronica

The German nobility () was the elite hereditary ruling class or aristocratic class in the Holy Roman Empire and what is now Germany.

Principles of German nobility

In Germany, nobility and titles pertaining to it were bestowed on a person by higher sovereigns and then passed down through legitimate children of a nobleman. Alternatively, unlike men, women could legally become members of nobility by marrying a noble, although they could not pass it on. Nobility and titles (except for most reigning titles) were always inherited equally by all legitimate descendants of a nobleman.

The German nobility as a legally defined class was abolished on August 11, 1919 with the Weimar Constitution, under which all Germans were made equal before the law, and the legal rights and privileges due to nobility ceased to exist.

The German nobility continues to play an important role in the various European nations that have not abolished the nobility. Most of the European royal families are descendants of the German nobility. Most famously, the British House of Windsor is itself of German origin, being until 1917 known under its original name Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha. Close family relations also existed with the Prussian Hohenzollern family, of which the last German emperor Wilhelm II was a member, he himself being a grandson of Queen Victoria.

Most, but not all, surnames of the German nobility were preceded by or at least contained the preposition ''von'', meaning ''of'', and sometimes by ''zu'', which is usually translated as ''of'' when used alone or as ''in'', ''at'', or ''to''. The two were occasionally combined into ''von und zu'', meaning ''of and at'' approximately. In general, the "''von''" form indicates the place the family originated, while the "''zu''" form indicates that they are currently in possession of a certain place, therefore 'von und''' zu''" indicates a family still in possession of their original feudal holding or residence. Other forms also exist as combinations with the definitive article: e.g. "''von der''" or ''von dem'' → "''vom''" ("of the"), ''zu der'' → "''zur''" or ''zu dem'' → "''zum''" ("of the", "in the", "at the"). An example is Count Kasimir von der Recke.

Although nobility as a class of privileged status has been abolished in Germany, nobles were allowed to keep their titles, a provision which is still in place today. Unlike before the Weimar Constitution, however, they have become part of a person's legal surname. Accordingly, the aforementioned Count Kasimir von der Recke would today legally be called Kasimir ''Count von der Recke''.

Like nobles elsewhere, German nobles were acutely aware of and proud of their superior social position, and often had disdain for commoners. As shown in Theodor Fontane's novel ''Effi Briest'', they referred to one another as ''Geborene'', or "those who have been born", while commoners were called ''Geworfene'', corresponding roughly to "whelped", "calved", or "foaled" in English, and properly referring only to non-human birth.

Many different states within Imperial Germany had sometimes very strict laws concerning conduct, lineage, and marriage of nobles. Failure to obey these provisions often resulted in ''Adelsverlust'', or ''loss of the status of nobility''. Until about the early 19th century, for example, it was commonly forbidden for nobles to marry people "of low birth", i.e. commoners. Some states exercised the punishment of ''Adelsverlust'' also on nobles sentenced to prison or convicted of serious felonies, on persons engaging in "lowly labor", or for otherwise grave and unbecoming misconduct. This punisment only affected individuals, not a noble family in its entirety.

Although nobility in its legal significance was abolished in 1919, various different German organizations perpetuate the noble heritage to this day, and for example decide on matters of lineage as well as chronicling the history of noble families.

German noble families were almost always armigerous, entitled to bear a coat of arms.

Divisions of nobility

''Uradel'' (ancient nobility): Nobility that dates back to at least the 16th century. This contrasts with:

''Briefadel'' (patent nobility): Nobility by letters patent. The first known such document is from September 30, 1360 for Wyker Frosch in Mainz.

''Hochadel'' (high nobility): Nobility that was sovereign or had a high degree of sovereignty. This contrasts with:

''Niederer Adel'' (lower nobility): Nobility that had a lower degree of sovereignty.

Titles and ranks

Reigning titles

These titles were at one time used by various rulers. The titles Archduke, Duke, Prince, Margrave (and all other -graves), Count, Count Palatine and Lord were also used by non-sovereign members of some of these families or by noble non-reigning families.

Kaiser(in) König(in) Kurfürst(in) Erzherzog(in) Großherzog(in) Herzog (name) Pfalzgraf/Pfalzgräfin Markgraf/Markgräfin Landgraf/Landgräfin Fürst(in) Graf#Reichsgraf, Gefürsteter Graf Burggraf/Burggräfin Altgraf/Altgräfin Freiherr/Freifrau/Freiin* HerrReichsritter*

+ Titles and territories	Title (English)	Title (German)	Territory (English)
Holy Roman Emperor	Emperor/Empress	|	Empire	Kaiserreich, Kaisertum
King	King/Queen	|	monarchy>Kingdom	Königreich
Prince-elector	Elector/Electress	|	Prince-elector>Electorate	Kurfürstentum
Archduke	Archduke/Archduchess	|	Archduchy	Erzherzogtum
Grand Duke/Grand Duchess	|	Grand Duchy	Großherzogtum
Duke	Duke/Duchess	Herzog(in) ||	Duchy	Herzogtum
Count Palatine	Count(ess) Palatine	|	County Palatine	Pfalzgrafschaft
Margrave	Margrave/Margravine	|	Margraviate, Marches>March	Markgrafschaft
Landgrave	Landgrave/Landgravine	|	Landgraviate	Landgrafschaft
Prince	Prince(ss)	|	Principality	Fürstentum
Count(ess) of the Empire	Reichsgraf*/Reichsgräfin ||	County	Grafschaft
Burgrave	Burgrave/Burgravine	|	Burgraviate	Burggrafschaft
Altgrave	Altgrave/Altgravine	|	Altgraviate	Altgrafschaft
Baron	Baron(ess)	|	Allodium>Allodial) Barony	Freiherrschaft
Lord	|	Lordship	Herrschaft
Knight	|

The prefix ''Reichs-'' indicates a title originating from the Holy Roman Empire.

''Freiin'' indicates an unmarried daughter.

Non-reigning titles

+ Titles for junior members of sovereign families and for non-sovereign families	Title (English)	Title (German)
	Kronprinz(essin)
Grand Duke/Grand Duchess	Großherzog(in)
Grand Prince	Grand Prince(ss)	Großfürst(in)
Archduke/Archduchess	Erzherzog(in)
Prince(ss)	Prinz(essin)
Duke/Duchess	Herzog(in)
Prince(ss)	Fürst(in)
Margrave/Margravine	Markgraf/Markgräfin
Landgrave/Landgravine	Landgraf/Landgräfin
Count(ess) Palatine	Pfalzgraf/Pfalzgräfin
Burgrave/Burgravine	Burggraf/Burggräfin
Altgrave/Altgravine	Altgraf/Altgräfin
Count(ess) of the Empire	Reichsgraf/Reichsgräfin
Baron	Baron(ess) of the Empire	Reichsfreiherr/Reichsfreifrau/Reichsfreiin
Count(ess)	Graf/Gräfin
Baron	Baron(ess)	Freiherr/Freifrau/Freiin
Lord / Noble Lord	Herr /Edler Herr
Knight (grouped with untitled nobles)	Ritter
Noble (Von Halffter)	Edler/Edle
Young Lord (grouped with untitled nobles)	Junker

The heirs to some nobles or sovereigns had special titles of their own prefixed by ''Erb-'', meaning ''Hereditary''. For instance, the heir to a Grand Duke is titled ''Erbgroßherzog'', meaning ''Hereditary Grand Duke''. A sovereign duke's heir might be titled ''Erbherzog'' or ''Erbprinz'' (''Hereditary Duke'', ''Hereditary Prince'') and a prince's heir might be titled ''Erbprinz'' or ''Erbgraf'' (''Hereditary Prince'', ''Hereditary Count''), also ''Erbherr''. The prefix distinguished the heir from similarly titled junior siblings.

See also

Holy Roman Empire

German Mediatisation

Feudalism

Patricianship

Ministerialis

Imperial Knight

Bibliography

Neues allgemeines deutsches Adels-Lexicon Ernst Heinrich Kneschke: Vol. I - IX (1859–1870)

Siebmachers Wappenbuch

Heinz Gollwitzer, ''Die Standesherren. Die politische und gesellschaftliche Stellung der Mediatisierten 1815-1918'', Stuttgart 1957 (Göttingen ²1964). (deals with the social and political rank of the former sovereign nobles of the Holy Roman Empire who were mediatized from 1803 to 1815).

External links

Archive for Feudalism in Saxony

Institute for German Aristocratic Research

Castles and Palaces of Germany

Category:German nobility

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