Honour (feudal barony)

Honour is a term from the Anglo-Norman feudal system, which played an essential role in the 11th and 12th century, after the conquest of England, and before the advent of peerages.

After the victory of the Normans over the Anglo-Saxons ( 1066) the new King William the Conqueror rewarded his followers with estates in England, who, in order to prevent the emergence of principalities, were spread across the entire country. This possession of individual men, who, in part consisted of several hundreds of landlords, was named in reference to the reward character Honour.

A typical Honour thus consisted of goods that were spread over several Shires, was riddled with possession of other men, although commonly existed an area in which a part of the goods concentrated. Here then was the caput (Latin: main ) of the Honours with an eponymous castle as an administrative center.

Traditional Honours were:

The Honour of Huntingdon ( Henry of Scotland ( 1114-1152 ) was Earl of Northumberland and " Earl of the Honour of Huntindgon and Northampton ," which was later shortened to Earl of Huntingdon )
The Honour of Eye ( at the time of the first owner, William Malet († 1071, see House Malet ) was the Honour of Eye, the largest lordship in East Anglia)
The Honour of Clare (owned by the Clare family)
The Honour of Richmond ( in the possession of the Earl of Richmond, that the Duke of Brittany )
The Honour of Leicester (owned by the Grandmesnil family)
The Honour of Chester ( who is now connected with the Prince of Wales in the possession of the Earls of Chester, a title )