Viscount
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/* Etymology */ link, italicization
[[Image:Viscount Coronet.svg|right|thumb|British Viscount [[Coronet]]]]
{{Otheruses1|a European nobility}}
A '''viscount''' (pronounced ''VY-count'', {{IPAEng|ˈvaɪkaʊnt}}) is a member of the European [[nobility]] whose comital title ranks usually, as in the [[British peerage]], above a [[baron]], below an [[earl]] (in Britain) or a [[count]] (the earl's continental equivalent).
==Etymology==
The word viscount, known to be used in English since 1387, comes from [[Old French]] ''visconte'' (modern [[French language|French]]: ''vicomte''), itself from [[Medieval Latin]] ''vicecomitem'', [[accusative case|accusative]] of ''vicecomes'', from [[Vulgar Latin|Late Latin]] ''vice-'' "deputy" + [[Latin]] ''[[comes]]'' (originally "companion; later Roman imperial courtier or trusted appointee, ultimately count).
As a rank in British [[peerage]], it was first recorded in [[1440]], when [[Baron Beaumont|John Beaumont, 1st Viscount Beaumont]], was made one by King [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]]. The word viscount corresponds in Britain to the [[Anglo-Saxon language|Anglo-Saxon]] [[sheriff|''shire reeve'']] (root of the non-nobiliary, royal-appointed office of [[sheriff]]). Thus early viscounts were originally normally given their titles by the monarch, not hereditary; but soon they too tended to establish hereditary principalities ''lato sensu''.
==Viscounts in the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth==
A viscount is said to hold a "'''viscountship'''" or "'''viscounty'''", or (more as the area of his jurisdiction) a "'''viscountcy'''". The female equivalent of a viscount is a ''viscountess''. There are approximately 270 viscountships currently extant in the peerages of the British Isles.
*In British practice, the title of a viscount may be either a place name, or a surname, or sometimes, a combination thereof. In any event, the [[style (manner of address)|style]] of a viscount is "The Viscount [X]," or "The Viscount [X] of [Y]." He is addressed as "My Lord". Examples include: The Viscount Falmouth (place name); The Viscount Hardinge (surname); The Viscount Gage of Castle Island (surname of place name); and The Viscount Combermere of Bhurtpore (placename of placename). An exception exists for Viscounts in the peerage of Scotland, who were traditionally styled "The Viscount ''of'' [X]," as in: The Viscount of Arbuthnott (surname) – very few maintain this style, instead using the more common version "The Viscount [X]"
A British viscount is addressed in speech as ''Lord [X]'', while his wife is ''Lady [X]'', and formally styles "The Viscount [X]". The children of a viscount are known as ''[[The Honourable]] [Forename] [Surname]''.
* A specifically British custom is the use of viscount as a [[courtesy title]] for the heir of an earl or marquess. The peer's [[heir apparent]] will sometimes be referred to as a viscount, if the second most senior title held by the head of the family is a viscountcy. For example, the eldest son of the [[Earl Howe]] is [[Viscount Curzon]], because this is the second most senior title held by the Earl.
:A more recent example of the above is with the [[Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex|Earl of Wessex]]' son, [[James Windsor, Viscount Severn|James]], who is styled ''Viscount Severn''.
:More often than not, the eldest son of a British duke enjoys the courtesy title of [[marquess]]; with exceptions such as the [[Duke of Norfolk|Dukedom of Norfolk]], which does not hold the secondary title of marquess, so the heir enjoys the next title down in status, which is that of an earl.
*The son of a marquess or an earl can be referred to as a viscount when the title of viscount is not the second most senior if those above it share their name with the [[substantive title]]. For example, the second most senior title of the [[Marquess of Salisbury]] is the [[Earl of Salisbury]]. The eldest son of the Marquess does not use the title Earl of Salisbury, but rather the next most senior title, [[Viscount Cranborne]]. This is because peers sign their name with the name of their title only (''e.g.'', "Salisbury") thus to prevent confusion the heir would not use the title Earl of Salisbury.
*Sometimes the son of a peer can be referred to as a viscount even when he could use a more senior courtesy title which differs in name from the substantive title. Family tradition plays a role in this. For example, the eldest son of the [[Marquess of Londonderry]] is [[Viscount Castlereagh]], even though the Marquess is also the [[Earl Vane]]. See [[Courtesy title]]s for more information.
===Coronet===
A viscount's coronet of rank bears 16 silver balls around the rim. Like all heraldic coronets, it is mostly worn at the coronation of a sovereign, but a viscount has the right to bear his coronet of rank on his coat of arms, above the shield.
==Continental forms of the title==
*The title of viscount is less common in Italy (''"visconte"''), though the noble [[Visconti]] family, rulers of Milan, offers 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|Afonso V]]. 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|Felipe IV]] (1621-65; Habsburg dynasty) until 1846.
*In various languages we need to verify whether the existing title has actually been awarded there, or is just an empty rendering of foreign realities.
**Hungarian: ''várgróf'' or ''vikomt'' and even ''vicomte'' (as in French)
**Polish: ''Wicehrabia'' (literally vice-count)
==Equivalent western titles==
There are non-etymological equivalents to the title of Viscount (''i.e.'', 'Vice-Count') in several languages including German.
However, in such case titles of the etymological [[Burgrave]] family (not in countries with a viscount-form, such as Italian ''burgravio'' alongside ''visconte'') bearers of the title could establish themselves at the same gap, thus at generally the same level. Consequentally a ''Freiherr'' (or Baron) ranks not immediately below a ''Graf'', but below a ''Burggraf''.
Thus in [[Dutch language|Dutch]], ''Burggraaf'' is the rank above Baron, below Graaf (''i.e.'', Count) in the kingdoms of the Netherlands and of Belgium (by Belgian law, its equivalents in the other official languages are ''Burggraf'' in [[German language|German]] and ''vicomte'' in [[French language|French]]). In [[Welsh language|Welsh]] the title is rendered as [[Welsh Peers|''Isiarll'']].
==Non-western counterparts==
Like other major Western noble titles, Viscount is sometimes used to render certain titles in non-western languages with their own traditions, even though they are as a rule historically unrelated and thus hard to compare, which are considered 'equivalent' in relative rank.
This is the case with:
* the Korean ''jajak'' or [[Pansoh]]
* the Chinese ''Tzu'' or ''Zi'' (子), hereditary title of nobility of the fourth rank
* the Japanese ''Shishaku'' ({{lang|ja|子爵}}) or Shi, fourth and lowest but one of the five peerage ranks
* the Vietnamese [[Tu]]
* the Manchu ''jingkini hafan''
==See also==
*[[List of Viscountcies|List of British Viscountcies]]
*[[List of Viscountcies in Portugal]]
*[[Visconti]], the leading noble family that became ruling dukes of Milan, apparently taking its surname from a returning crusader Ottone who was created Visconte of Milan
*[[Shen Kuo]], a Chinese viscount
==Sources and references==
* [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=viscount&searchmode=none EtymologyOnLine]
* [http://4dw.net/royalark/ RoyalArk- see various non-European countries]
* [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/ WorldStatesmen- see individual countries]
*''Burke's Peerage & Baronetage,'' 1956, introduction, pp cxx-cxxviii.
[[Category:Noble titles]]
[[Category:Peerage]]
[[Category:Titles]]
[[Category:Viscountcies|*]]
[[ca:Vescomte]]
[[cs:Vikomt]]
[[da:Vicomte]]
[[de:Vicomte]]
[[es:Vizconde]]
[[fr:Vicomte]]
[[ko:자작]]
[[it:Visconte]]
[[ka:ვიკონტი]]
[[la:Vicecomes (titulus dignitatis)]]
[[lv:Vikonts]]
[[lt:Vikontas]]
[[hu:Várgróf]]
[[mk:Виконт]]
[[nl:Burggraaf]]
[[ja:子爵]]
[[no:Vicomte]]
[[nrm:Vicomte]]
[[pl:Wicehrabia]]
[[pt:Visconde]]
[[ru:Виконт]]
[[sk:Vikomt]]
[[sr:Виконт]]
[[sv:Vikomt]]
[[uk:Віконт]]
[[zh:子爵]]