Hereditary titles, in a general sense, are titles, positions or styles that are hereditary and thus tend or are bound to remain in particular families.

Some hereditary titles are inherited only by the eldest son (see primogeniture)^[1]; others may pass to the eldest child of either gender, or to all children of a family equally (although this is rare) or can be shared and thus multiplied in the case of a title and/or divided in the case of a 'real' object. In some traditions inheritance by adoption is an alternative to inheritance by biological kinship, as in the Hindu tradition to assure there is a male heir of the same caste.^{[citation needed]}

Prominent examples of hereditary titles include:

• Hereditary monarchy - in the Commonwealth realms, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Japan, Thailand, Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tonga and Bahrain. Other national constitutions use different modes of succession to their monarchies, e.g. the election of the Pope in the Vatican City, and especially in the Orient often adding an element of selection (e.g. at a family council) among eligible relations of the monarch. Special cases are the two elective monarchies, Malaysia^[2] and the United Arab Emirates, where the constituent states of each federation are hereditary monarchies but those rulers form an electoral college which assigns the federal position of head of state to one of their number for a term (of five years).
• Titles of nobility in the United Kingdom and other countries (see peerage). In the United Kingdom, most titles of nobility (peerages and the lower title of Baronet) pass only to the eldest son (or occasionally the eldest daughter in the absence of male heirs); all other sons and daughters of peers are commoners though they may use one or more not independently heritable courtesy titles, either Lord, Lady or The Honourable depending on the rank of the peerage held by their father or mother, or another title styled like a peerage but without a seat in the Lords, usually one or two ranks below father's.^[3] In many European countries titles may be inherited by all the heirs male of a family, whose members thus all share the same title at the same time (for instance, within the szlachta nobility of Poland or in the nobilities of the successor states of the Holy Roman Empire). In the Far East the main (Chinese-induced) tradition is rather for titles to devalue as the generations succeed each other, but not to the same rank.
• Some court titles, e.g. in the United Kingdom, including Earl Marshal^[4] and Lord Great Chamberlain. Most of these are sinecures, i.e. purely ceremonial. They pass generally to the eldest son (except for that of Lord Great Chamberlain, which is split between the heads of the Cholmondeley and Willoughby families).
• Many other -especially feudal age- offices became inheritable, often connected to military (e.g. keeper of a castle; in Japan even Shogun) and/or domanial functions, which is also why some such functions became noble titles (e.g. Burgrave, Margrave)
• While the hereditary membership of a privileged class or caste may imply a title or not (sometimes confusingly called untitled nobility), it frequently forms a prerequisite for various titled positions, e.g. quarters of nobility required by a military order.^{[citation needed]}

See also[link]

• Titles
• Titles (in professional writing)
• Titles (false)
• Honorifics
• Styles
• Styles (royal and noble)
• Styles (United Kingdom)
• Monarchy
• Nobility
• Peerage (United Kingdom)
• Royal and noble ranks
• Great officers of state (United Kingdom)
• Aristocracy

Notes[link]

External links[link]

• Hereditary titles
• Hereditary Titles - A Guide
• Noble, princely, royal, and imperial titles
• British titles of nobility
• Fake titles

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2007)

Royal, noble and chivalric ranks

Emperor & Empress consort Empress & Emperor consort

Empress dowager or Empress mother

King & Queen consort or Princess consort Queen & King consort or Prince consort

Queen dowager or Queen mother Princess dowager or Princess mother

Grand Duke & Grand Duchess Grand Prince & Grand Princess

Viceroy & Vicereine

Archduke & Archduchess Infante & Infanta

Duke & Duchess Prince & Princess

Marquess & Marchioness Marquis & Marquise Margrave & Margravine

Count & Countess Earl & Countess

Viscount & Viscountess

Baron & Baroness Freiherr & Freifrau

Baronet & Baronetess Hereditary Knight, Ritter

Knight & Dame

Nobile, Edler von

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The Knight of Glin (dormant or extinct 14 September 2011), also known as the Black Knight,^[1] was a hereditary title in the FitzGerald families of County Limerick, Ireland, since the early 14th century. The family was a branch of the FitzGerald dynasty, or Geraldines, related to the Earls of Desmond (extinct), who were questionably granted extensive lands in County Limerick by the Duke of Normandy by way of conquest. The title was named after the village of Glin, near the Knight's lands. The Knight of Glin was properly addressed as "Knight" (not, as one might expect, "Sir xxxx FitzGerald").^[1]

The family name "FitzGerald" comes from the (Norman) French "Fils du Gerald", i.e. "Son of Gerald".

"The coat-of-arms of the Glin family is: Ermine a saltier gules. Crest: a boar passant gules, bristled and armed or. Motto: Sahnit a Boo. The arms of the various families in Ireland are similar. The Knights of Glin bear as supporters two griffins collared and chained, and have a second crest: a castle with two towers, issuant from the sinister tower a knight in armor holding in the dexter hand a key proper. The Glin family seat is at Glin, Glin Castle, county Limerick, Ireland."^[2]

Like the Knights of Kerry, the Knights of Glin descended from one of the younger or illegitimate sons of The 1st Baron Desmond and Honora (daughter of Hugh O'Connor, of Kerry). Lord Desmond was also known as Sir John Fitz-John^[3] or Seán Mór na Sursainge, and he lived c. 1260.^[4] The last knight, Desmond FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin, died on September 14, 2011.^[5]

History[link]

This Desmond family are descended from Maurice FitzGerald, Lord of Lanstephan, a companion-in-arms of Strongbow Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, the Norman conqueror of Ireland. Went to Ireland in 1168, being sent with ten knights, twenty esquires, and one hundred archers, to assist Dermot MacMurrough, king of Leinster. He died 1 September 1177, buried in the friary of the Grey Friars of Wexford.^[2] Maurice was the second son of Gerald de Windsor, Constable of Pembroke, Wales and his wife given to him by Plantagenet Norman English King Henry II, the South Welsh Princess Nesta or Nest ferch Rhys thus descended from Howell the Good, king of the Britons who codified Welsh Law. Maurice FitzGerald's children were: Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald, justice of Ireland, who built the castle of Sligo and is ancestor of the Dukes of Leinster. William, Baron of Naas, county Kildare, and ancestor of the Viscount Gormanston. Thomas Fitzmaurice Fitzgerald married Elinor, daughter of Jordan de Marisco, and sister to Herve de Monte Marisco, constable of Ireland, and of Geoffrey de Marisco, Lord Justice of Ireland in the reign of King John. He died 1207.

John FitzGerald, 1st Baron Desmond, of Shanid, County Limerick, Lord of Connelloe and Decies, married (first) Margery, daughter and heir of Sir Thomas Fitz-Anthony, Lord of Decies and Desmond. These domains were confirmed to him by Prince Edward, the Black Prince in 1260. He married (second) Honora, daughter of Hugh O'Connor, of Kerry. By his first wife he had a son: 1. Maurice Fitz-John FitzGerald, who was Lord of Decies and Desmond, and ancestor of the FitzGeralds, Earls of Desmond, who ranked among the most powerful nobles of Ireland for more than two centuries. By his second wife he had issue: 2. Gilbert Fitz-John, ancestor of the White Knight. 3. Sir John Fitz-John, mentioned below. 4. Maurice Fitz-John, ancestor of the Knights of Kerry. 5. Thomas Fitz-John, ancestor of the Fitzgerald of the Island of Kerry.

John Fitz-Thomas FitzGerald, by virtue of his royal seigniory as a Count Palatine, created three of his sons by the second marriage, knights; and their descendants have been so styled in acts of parliament, patents under the great seal, and all legal proceedings, up to the present (1910) time. He founded the monastery of Tralee, and was buried there in 1260.

(VII) Sir John Fitz-John, Knight, was the first Knight of Glin, and had from his father the castles of Glincarbery and Beagh, county Limerick, Ireland. Children: John Fitz-John, mentioned below. Gerald Fitz-John, ancestor of the family of Clenlish and Castle Ishen, County Cork, Baronets.

VIII) Sir John Fitz-John del Glin was succeeded by his son.^[2]

"The earliest tradition I could find about Glin went back to 1569, when the [15th] knight, Thomas FitzGerald, was barbarously executed in Limerick. His mother, who was present at the execution, seized his head when he was beheaded and drank his blood. She then collected the parts of his dismembered body and put them in a linen sheet. When she set out for home with her precious burden she was followed by an immense concourse, including one hundred keening women.

Somewhere east of Foynes some soldiers tried to seize the corpse and in the fight that followed many people were slain. The body was interred in Lislaughtin Abbey in the tomb of his relative, the O'Connor Kerry."^[6]

According to another legend, in the early 16th century under Elizabeth I, England set about enforcing loyalty in the western parts of Ireland. When one of her ships came up to the Knight of Glin's castle on the Shannon Estuary, a fierce battle ensued. The ship's captain managed to capture one of the Knight's sons and sent the Knight a message that he should surrender or else the son would be put in one of the ship's cannons and fired against the castle wall. He replied that as he was virile and his wife was strong, it would be easy to produce another son.^[7]

The tradition about the siege of Glin castle differs in many respects from the facts as given by Carew in Pacata Hibernia. We do know that tradition can be a completely distorting mirror, but the popular memory of a local event such as a battle, siege or massacre would be more vivid and more lasting and in essence more trustworthy than Carew's narrative, who was prejudiced and gives a complete travesty of the facts.

The garrison of the castle, according to tradition, was divided into two sections, one of which was commanded by Donall na Searrach Culhane and the other by Tadhg Dore. Before the siege began, Carew, who had the knight's child as hostage, sent an order to the knight to surrender the castle at once or else he would blow the child out of the mouth of the cannon. The knight's answer was remembered but can only be rendered here by algebraic symbols: Gread leat. Ta X go meidhreach fos agus Y go briomhar. Is fuiriste leanbh eile do gheiniuint.

The assault on the castle then began under the command of Capt. Flower but was beaten back with slaughter by the defenders. Three brothers named Giltenan played a heroic part in repulsing the attack and slew some of the best of Flower's men. Carew called up fresh reinforcements, which he placed under the leadership of Turlough Roe MacMahon, who lived at Colmanstown castle, County Clare, almost opposite Glin. Turlough was a man of evil reputation who had already committed many dreadful crimes against his own kith and kin and against the Irish people at large. He was the father of the celebrated Maire Ruadh MacMahon. He is referred to in a poem of the time as

Traolach Ruadh an fhill agus an eithigh

do mhairbh a bhean agus a leanbh in eineacht.

The second assault also failed, but Turlough was determined to carry it through , for he hated with a hatred which evil men are known to feel towards those they have mortally injured. In the meantime the cannonading had played havoc with the defences of the castle. In the third attempt MacMahon was able to move in a large body of men who, after a gallant defence by the garrison, succeeded in capturing the castle. The Giltenans, Tadhg Dore and his brother, and Donall Culhane and two of his sons were slain in the final defence. Some of the garrison tried to escape by jumping into the water surrounding the castle, but only three men succeeded in getting away. These were Mahon Dillane, Lewy O'Connor and Donall Beag Culhane (whose father was slain in the last defence of the castle).^[8]

The "Old Castle" of Glin, the scene of the above battle, is a ruin. The tower still stands with a historic plaque in place. After the destruction of the old castle, the Knights built the "New Castle", a beautiful Georgian mansion, on the banks of the Shannon Estuary about a mile west of the old site. The last Knight lived there until his death (as well as in Dublin and London).

The 17th Knight, Gerald FitzGerald, was a Member for Limerick County in the Irish Patriot Parliament of 1689, called by James II during the Williamite war.

Under the Penal Laws of the 18th century, the Knights converted to the Church of Ireland to preserve their property. The surrounding villagers remained Roman Catholics, a division indicated today by the two churches in the village of Glin.

Following the war of independence and during the ensuing Civil War, in the early 1920s, Irish Republican Army (IRA) soldiers, from nearby North Kerry came to the 27th Knight Desmond FitzJohn Lloyd FitzGerald to tell him that no one whose title to land came from the English Crown could keep their land. The Knight immediately produced a document in Latin, supposedly from Duke of Normandy, indicating that his title did not originate from the English Crown at all.^[9] The baffled IRA men left the Knight with his properties, which he holds to this day. Another version of the incident relates how the then Knight, who was an invalid and used a wheelchair, refused to leave the mansion when ordered to do so, as the IRA intended to set it alight. He insisted on staying, they left, and the mansion still stands.^[10]

The 29th and last Knight (dormant or extinct) was Desmond FitzGerald, son of Desmond Wyndham Otho FitzGerald, 28th Knight of Glin. He had a MFA degree from Harvard University. He was married, firstly in 1966, to Louise Vava Henriette Lucie Le Bailly de La Falaise, the daughter of Count Alain de la Falaise and his wife, the former Maxime Birley. By his second, the former Olda Ann Willes, whom he married in 1970, he had three daughters:^[10] Catherine (previously married to Edward Lambton, 7th Earl of Durham, remarried in 2010 to Dominic West^[11]), Nesta and Honor. He represented the art auctioneers Christies in Ireland and was elected president of the Irish Georgian Society. Since he had no male heir, the title Knight of Glin became apparently dormant or extinct. There has been some speculation^{[by whom?]} that there is an heir male of the body needing to prove their claim to the title, surviving through the 24th Knight of Glin, Lt. Col. John Fraunceis FitzGerald's second son Edmond Urmston McLeod FitzGerald, who was born in 1817 at Glin Castle and who married Ellen Sullivan, born in Ireland, 1822, died in Ogdensburg, New York, United States, in December 1895. Children, born in Ireland: Edmond Urmston, deceased. Richard, mentioned below. John Fraunceis, living in Ogdensburgh, Margaret. Gerald, who died in Ireland.^[12]

Knights of Glin[link]

• Sir John Fitz John or Sean Mor na Sursainge,^[13] 1st Knight of Glin, c. 1260
• Thomas fitz John, 8th Knight of Glin
• Philip fitz Thomas, 9th Knight of Glin
• Thomas fitz Philip, 10th Knight of Glin
• Edmond fitz Thomas, 11th Knight of Glin
• Reverend John fitz Thomas, 12th Knight of Glin
• Thomas fitz John, 13th Knight of Glin died 1569
• Edmond fitz Thomas, 14th Knight of Glin
• Thomas FitzGerald, 15th Knight of Glin (died 1659)
• John FitzGerald, 16th Knight of Glin
• Major Gerald FitzGerald, 17th Knight of Glin (died 1689)
• Thomas FitzGerald, 18th Knight of Glin (died 1730)
• John FitzGerald, 19th Knight of Glin (died 1737) "The Dancer"
• Edmond FitzGerald, 20th Knight of Glin (died 1763)
• Richard Fitzgerald, 21st Knight of Glin (died 1775) "The Duellist"
• Thomas FitzGerald, 22nd Knight of Glin (died 1781)
• Colonel John Bateman FitzGerald, 23rd Knight of Glin (died 1803)
• Lt.-Col. John Fraunceis FitzGerald, 24th Knight of Glin (1791–1854)
• John Fraunceis Eyre FitzGerald, 25th Knight of Glin (1813–1866)
• Desmond John Edmund FitzGerald, 26th Knight of Glin (1840–1895)
• Desmond FitzJohn Lloyd FitzGerald, 27th Knight of Glin (1862–1936)
• Desmond Wyndham Otho FitzGerald, 28th Knight of Glin (1901–1949)
• Desmond John Villiers FitzGerald, 29th Knight of Glin (1937–2011)

See also[link]

• Irish nobility

References[link]

• ThePeerage

External links[link]

• Glin Castle hotel site
• Old Castle House

Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquis of the Gardens of Aranjuez (November 22, 1901 – July 6, 1999), commonly known as Joaquín Rodrigo, was a composer of nationalist music and a virtuoso pianist. Despite being nearly blind from an early age, he achieved great success. Rodrigo's music counts among some of the most popular of the 20th century, particularly his Concierto de Aranjuez, considered one of the pinnacles of the Spanish music and guitar concerto repertoire.

Life[link]

He was born in Sagunto, Valencia, and almost completely lost his sight at the age of three after contracting diphtheria. He began to study solfège, piano and violin at the age of eight; harmony and composition from the age of sixteen. Although distinguished by having raised the Spanish guitar to dignity as a universal concert instrument and best known for his guitar music, he never mastered the instrument himself. He wrote his compositions in Braille, which was transcribed for publication.

Rodrigo studied music under Francisco Antich in Valencia and under Paul Dukas at the École Normale de Musique in Paris. After briefly returning to Spain, he went to Paris again to study musicology, first under Maurice Emmanuel and then under André Pirro. His first published compositions^[1] date from 1940. In 1943 he received Spain's National Prize for Orchestra for Cinco piezas infantiles ("Five Children's Pieces"), based on his earlier composition of the same piece for two pianos, premiered by Ricardo Viñes. From 1947 Rodrigo was a professor of music history, holding the Manuel de Falla Chair of Music in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters, at Complutense University of Madrid.

His most famous work, Concierto de Aranjuez, was composed in 1939 in Paris, and in later life he and his wife declared that it was written as a response to the miscarriage of their first child.^[2] It is a concerto for guitar and orchestra. The central adagio movement is one of the most recognizable in 20th century classical music, featuring the interplay of guitar with English horn. This movement was later adapted by the jazz arranger Gil Evans for Miles Davis' 1960 album Sketches of Spain. The Concerto was adapted by the composer himself for Harp and Orchestra and dedicated to Nicanor Zabaleta.

The success of this concerto led to commissions from a number of prominent soloists, including Nicanor Zabaleta, for whom Rodrigo dedicated his Concierto serenata for Harp and Orchestra, Julian Lloyd Webber, for whom Rodrigo composed his Concierto como un divertimento for cello and orchestra, and James Galway, for whom Rodrigo composed his Concierto pastoral for flute and orchestra. In 1954 Rodrigo composed Fantasía para un gentilhombre at the request of Andrés Segovia. His Concierto Andaluz, for four guitars and orchestra, was commissioned by Celedonio Romero for himself and his three sons.

Monument in Aranjuez, Spain

Monument in Rosario, Argentina

None of Rodrigo's works, however, achieved the popular and critical success of the Concierto de Aranjuez and the Fantasia para un gentilhombre. These two works are very often paired in recordings.

He was awarded Spain's highest award for composition, the Premio Nacional de Música, in 1983. On 30 December 1991, Rodrigo was raised into the Spanish nobility by King Juan Carlos I with the hereditary title of Marqués de los Jardines de Aranjuez^[3][4] (English: Marquis of the Gardens of Aranjuez). He received the prestigious Prince of Asturias Award—Spain's highest civilian honor—in 1996. He was named Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government in 1998.

He married Victoria Kamhi, a Turkish-born pianist whom he had met in Paris, on 19 January 1933, in Valencia. Their daughter, Cecilia, was born 27 January 1941. Rodrigo died in 1999 in Madrid at the age of 97, and was succeeded as Marqués de los Jardines de Aranjuez by his daughter. Joaquín Rodrigo and his wife Victoria are buried at the cemetery at Aranjuez.

Works[link]

Orchestral[link]

• Orchestra
  • Cinco Piezas Infantiles (1928)
  • Per la flor del Lliri Blau, symphonic poem (1934; First Prize, Círculo de Bellas Artes)
  • Soleriana (first performance by the Berlin Philharmonic, on August 22, 1953 in Berlin)
  • Pavana Real (1955)

• Symphonic Wind Ensemble
  • Adagio Para Orquesta de Instrumentos de Viento (first public performance in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1966)

Concertante[link]

• Cello
  • Concierto en modo galante (1949)
  • Concierto como un divertimento (1979–1981)

• Flute
  • Concierto pastoral (1978)

• Guitar
  • Concierto de Aranjuez (1939)
  • Fantasía para un gentilhombre (1954)
  • Concierto madrigal for two guitars (1966)
  • Concierto Andaluz for four guitars (1967)
  • Concierto para una fiesta (1982)

• Harp
  • Concierto serenata (1954)
  • Sones en la giralda (1963; written as a wedding present for the harpist Marisa Robles)

• Piano
  • Juglares (1923); first public performance: 1924, Valencia
  • Concierto heroico (1943)

• Violin
  • Canconeta for violin and string orchestra (1923)
  • Concierto de estío (1944)

Instrumental[link]

• Guitar
  • Three Spanish Pieces - Tres Piezas Españolas (Fandango, Passacaglia, Zapateado) (1954)
  • Invocación y danza (1961) — First prize, Coupe International de Guitare, awarded by Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (ORTF)
  • Elogio de la guitarra (1971)
  • Two Preludes
  • En Los Trigales
  • Tiento Antiguo
  • Sonata Giocosa
  • Toccata
  • Sonata a la Española (1963)

Vocal/Choral[link]

• Ausencias de Dulcinea (1948); First prize, Cervantes Competition
• Cuatro Madrigales Amatorios (1948)
• Tres viejos aires de danza (1994)
• Villancicos y canciones de navidad (1952); Ateneo de Madrid Prize;
• Cuatro canciones sephardies (1965);
• El Hijo Fingido, Zarzuela;
• Porque toco el pandero

Guitar and Voice[link]

• Coplas del Pastor Enamorado (1935)
• Tres Canciones Española (1951)
• Tres Villancicos (1952)
• Romance de Durante (1955)
• Folías Canarias (1958)
• Aranjuez, ma pensée (1988)

References[link]

• Donis, José Antonio (2005). The Musicologist Behind the Composer: The Impact of Historical Studies Upon the Creative Life in Joaquín Rodrigo's Guitar Compositions. M. Mus. thesis. Florida State University. http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-06302005-125300/. Retrieved 2006-07-14. 

• Kamhi de Rodrigo, Victoria; translated by Ellen Wilkerson (1992). Hand in Hand With Joaquín Rodrigo: My Life at the Maestro's Side. Pittsburgh: Latin American Literary Review Press. ISBN 0-935480-51-X. 

External links[link]

• Joaquín Rodrigo website
• Joaquín Rodrigo website (Spanish)

Articles[link]

• MUSIC; A Composer Who Found Strength in an Inner Vision (Pablo Zinger, August 1999, NY Times)

Recordings[link]

• Rodrigo interpreta a Rodrigo (ASIN B003DIQR0S)

Videos[link]

• Grandes personajes, a fondo. Vol. 7
• Television Productions Rodrigo: Pasos y huellas en la oscuridad
• The Rodrigo Collection - ASIN B00076YNI2

DVD containing: Shadows and Light documentary, Concierto de Aranjuez

• Concierto De Aranjuez: El Siglo De Joaquín Rodrigo (Diagonal TV!)
• Joaquín Rodrigo - Concierto de Aranjuez by Narciso Yepes