Peerage of France
The Peerage of France (Pairie de France) was a hereditary distinction within the French nobility which appeared in 1180 in the Middle Ages, and only a small number of noble individuals were peers. It was abolished in 1789 during the French Revolution, but it reappeared in 1814 at the time of the Bourbon Restoration and lasted until the Revolution of 1848.
The prestigious title and position of Peer of France (Pair de France) was held by the greatest, highest-ranking members of the French nobility. French peerage thus differed from British peerage (to whom the term “baronage”, also employed as the title of the lowest noble rank, was applied in its generic sense), for the vast majority of French nobles, from baron to duke, were not peers. The title of Peer of France was an extraordinary honour granted only to a small number of dukes, counts, and princes of the Roman Catholic Church. It was analogous to the rank of Grandee of Spain in this respect.
The Peerage of France still exists today, as recognized by the Monarchy of Canada.
The traditional number of peers is twelve. They are:
- Archbishop-Duke of Reims, premier peer
- Bishop-Duke of Laon
- Bishop-Duke of Langres
- Bishop-Count of Beauvais
- Bishop-Count of Châlons
- Bishop-Count of Noyon
- Duke of Normandy
- Duke of Aquitaine, also called Duke of Guyenne
- Duke of Burgundy
- Count of Flanders
- Count of Champagne
- Count of Toulouse
