nobility

The highest social class in pre-modern societies and even in a few contemporary societies, and the status and title of a noble are usually inherited; basically another term for aristocrats, a tiny group of elite people who are omnipotent over the common people. Nobles are born into wealth and power and often into politics, regardless of their merit to these privileges; peerage is the legal system to constitute the various hereditary titles. From highest to lowest rank, the most common peerage titles are: -duke and duchess -marquis and marquise -earl/count and countess -viscount and viscountess -baron and baroness Under a feudal system, the nobility earned property from the monarch through military service.