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{{short description|Hereditary rank in various European peerages}}{{Redirect-several|Marchesa|Marchese|Marchioness|Marquis|Marquise|Marquesa|Marquess}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Royal and noble ranks}}

A '''marquess''' ({{IPAc-en|uk|ˈ|m|ɑːr|k|w|ɪ|s}};<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/marquis|title=English: Marquis|publisher=[[Collins Dictionary]]|date=n.d.|access-date=22 September 2014}}</ref> {{langx|fr|'''marquis'''}} {{IPA|fr|maʁki|}})<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/french-english/marquis|title=French: Marquis|publisher=[[Collins Dictionary]]|date=n.d.|access-date=22 September 2014}}</ref>{{efn|{{langx|it|marchese}}, {{langx|es|marqués}}, {{langx|pt|marquês}}.}} is a [[Nobility|nobleman]] of high hereditary rank in various European [[peerage]]s and in those of some of their former [[Colony|colonies]]. The German-language equivalent is ''[[Markgraf]]'' (margrave) and the Italian-language equivalent ''Marchese''. A woman with the rank of a marquess or the [[wife]] (or widow) of a marquess is a '''marchioness''' ({{IPAc-en|'|m|ɑːr|ʃ|ə|n|ɛ|s}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Marchioness definition and meaning {{!}} Collins English Dictionary |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/marchioness |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430025622/https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/marchioness |archive-date=30 April 2021 |access-date=2024-12-11 |website=www.collinsdictionary.com |language=en |url-status=live }}</ref>) or '''marquise''' ({{IPA|fr|maʁkiz|lang|LL-Q150 (fra)-Poslovitch-marquise.wav}}). These titles are also used to translate equivalent Asian styles, as in [[History of China#Imperial China|Imperial China]] and [[Imperial Japan]].
[[File:William Kerr, 4th Marquess of Lothian on a charger, by David Morier.jpg|thumb|1751 portrait of [[William Kerr, 4th Marquess of Lothian]]]]

==Etymology==

The word ''marquess'' entered the English language from the [[Old French]] {{lang|fro|marchis}} ("ruler of a border area") in the late 13th or early 14th century. The French word was derived from {{lang|fro|marche}} ("frontier"), itself descended from the [[Middle Latin]] {{lang|la|marca}} ("frontier"), from which the modern English word ''[[March (territory)|march]]'' also descends. The distinction between governors of frontier territories and interior territories was made as early as the founding of the [[Roman Empire]] when some provinces were set aside for administration by the senate and more unpacified or vulnerable provinces were administered by the emperor. The titles "[[duke]]" and "[[count]]" were similarly distinguished as ranks in the [[Byzantine Empire]], with {{lang|la|dux}} (literally, "leader") being used for a provincial military governor and the rank of {{lang|la|comes}} (literally "companion", that is, of the Emperor) given to the leader of an active army along the frontier.

==Belgium==
The title of marquess in Belgium predates the [[French Revolution]] and still exists today. See {{section link|Belgian nobility#Marquesses in the Belgian nobility}} and {{section link|List of noble families in Belgium#Marquesses}}.

==Spain==
In Spain, the rank of Marquess/Marchioness ({{lang|es|Marqués}}/{{lang|es|Marquesa}}) still exists. One hundred and forty-two of them are Spanish [[grandee]]s. Normally a {{lang|es|marqués}} is addressed as "[[The Most Illustrious]] Lord" ({{lang|es|Ilustrísimo Señor}}), or if he/she is a grandee as "[[The Most Excellent]] Lord" ({{lang|es|Excelentísimo Señor}}). Examples include the [[Marquess of Carpio]], [[Grandee of Spain]].

==United Kingdom==
{{Peerage |Ranks=expanded}}
{{Main article|Marquesses in the United Kingdom}}

In Great Britain, and historically in Ireland, a marquess ranks below a [[duke]] and above an [[earl]]. A woman with the rank of a marquess, or the wife of a marquess, is a '''marchioness''' {{IPAc-en|ˌ|m|ɑː|r|ʃ|ə|ˈ|n|ɛ|s}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/marchioness?showCookiePolicy=true|title=Marchioness|publisher=[[Collins Dictionary]]|date=n.d.|access-date=22 September 2014}}</ref> The dignity, rank, or position of the title is a marquisate or marquessate.

The [[honorific]] prefix "[[The Most Honourable]]" precedes the name of a marquess or marchioness of the [[United Kingdom]].<ref name="Debrett's">{{cite web |date=n.d. |title=Marquess and Marchioness |url=http://www.debretts.com/forms-address/titles/marquess-and-marchioness |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110144107/http://www.debretts.com/forms-address/titles/marquess-and-marchioness |archive-date=10 November 2014 |access-date=22 September 2014 |publisher=Debrett's |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

In [[Great Britain]], and historically in [[Ireland]], the spelling of this title is '''marquess'''. In Scotland, the French spelling '''marquis''' is sometimes used. 

[[File:Coronet of a British Marquess.svg|thumb|right|The [[coronet]] for a marquess in the British realms]]

The theoretical distinction between a marquess and other titles has, since the [[Middle Ages]], faded into obscurity. In times past, the distinction between a [[count]] and a marquess was that the land of a marquess, called a [[march (territory)|march]], was on the border of the country, while a count's land, called a [[county]], often was not. As a result of this, a marquess was trusted to defend and fortify against potentially hostile neighbours and was thus more important and ranked higher than a count. The title is ranked below that of a [[duke]], which was often largely restricted to the royal family.

The rank of marquess was a relatively late introduction to the British peerage: no [[marcher lord]]s had the rank of marquess, though some were [[earl]]s. On the evening of the [[Coronation of Queen Victoria]] in 1838, the Prime Minister [[Lord Melbourne]] explained to her why (from her journals):
<blockquote>I spoke to [Lord Melbourne] about the numbers of Peers present at the Coronation, & he said it was quite unprecedented. I observed that there were very few Viscounts, to which he replied "There are very few [[Viscount]]s," that they were an old sort of title & not really English; that they came from Vice-Comites; that Dukes & Barons were the only real English titles; – that Marquises were likewise not English, & that people were mere made Marquises, when it was not wished that they should be made Dukes.<ref>''Queen Victoria's Journals'', Thursday 28th June 1838, Buckingham Palace, Princess Beatrice's copies, Volume:4 (1st June 1838–1st October 1838) p. 84, [http://www.queenvictoriasjournals.org/search/displayItemFromId.do?FormatType=fulltextimgsrc&QueryType=articles&ItemID=qvj02134&volumeType=PSBEA#zoomHolder online], accessed May 25, 2013</ref></blockquote>

==Analogous non-Western titles==
[[File:Pompa funebris Albert Ardux - Trazegnies.jpg|thumb|The [[Marquess of Trazegnies d'Ittre|Marquess of Trazegnies]]]]
Like other major Western noble titles, marquess (or marquis) is sometimes used to translate certain titles from non-Western languages with their own traditions, even though they are, as a rule, historically unrelated and thus hard to compare. However, they are considered "equivalent" in relative rank.

This is the case with: <!-- Titles should not be capitalized unless directly in front of a person's name.  -->
* In [[History of China#Ancient China|ancient China]], 侯 (''hóu'') a [[Zhou dynasty nobility|noble rank]] created by [[King Wu of Zhou]] for rulers of newly conquered regions, and is generally translated as marquess or marquis.<ref>{{ cite journal
| last = Pines | first=Yuri
| title= Names and Titles in Eastern Zhou Texts
| journal= T'oung Pao| year = 2020
| volume= 106 | issue=5–6
| page = 715
| publisher= Brill | doi=10.1163/15685322-10656P06
| place = Leiden
}}{{pb}}{{ cite book
| author= Li Feng | year = 2008
| title= Perceptions of Antiquity in Chinese Civilization
| editor1-last = Kuhn | editor1-first = Dieter
| editor2-last = Stahl | editor2-first = Helga
| chapter= Transmitting Antiquity: The Origin and Paradigmization of the “Five Ranks”
| page = 112
| publisher= Würzburger Sinologische Schriften
| place = Würzberg
| ref = {{sfnref|Li|2008}}
}}
</ref> In [[Imperial era of Chinese history|imperial China]], 侯 (''hóu'') is generally, but not always, a middle-to-high ranking hereditary nobility title. Its exact rank varies greatly from dynasty to dynasty, and even within a dynasty. It is often created with different sub-ranks, with {{zh|labels=no|c=列侯}} (''liè hóu'', [[Ranged Marquis]]) generally the highest.<ref>{{Cite book
|title = Dong Han Liehou juewei zhidu
|script-title=zh:东汉列侯爵位制度
|author=You Jia (尤佳)
|publisher=云南大学出版社
|year=2015|location=Kunming 
|pages=47–48, 52, 73}}</ref>
* In [[Meiji Japan]], 侯爵 (''kōshaku''), a hereditary peerage (''[[kazoku]]'') rank, was introduced in 1884, granting a hereditary seat in the upper house of the imperial diet just as a British peerage did (until the [[House of Lords Act 1999]]), with the ranks usually rendered as baron, viscount, count, marquis and duke/prince.<ref>{{cite book|title=Above the Clouds: Status Culture of the Modern Japanese Nobility|last=Lebra|first=Takie Sugiyama|pages=51|publisher=University of California Press|location=CA, US|year=1993|isbn=9780520911796}}</ref>
* In [[Korea]], the title of 현후 (縣侯; ''hyeonhu''), the meaning of which is "marquess of district", existed for the hereditary nobility in the [[Goryeo|Goryeo dynasty]]. It was equivalent to the upper fifth rank of nine bureaucratic orders, and was in the third rank of six nobility orders. In the [[Joseon|Joseon dynasty]], there was no title equivalent to marquess.
* In [[Maritime Southeast Asia]], ''[[temenggong]]'' (or ''tumenggung'') is a title used by Islamic dynasties such as [[Mataram Sultanate]] and [[Johor]] to designate a noble ruled over a frontier area or district, or to a chief of public security. Tumenggung ranks below [[Bendahara]] or vizier.
* In [[Vietnam]], ''hầu'' ({{linktext|侯}}) was a senior title of hereditary nobility, equivalent to marquis, for male members of the imperial clan, ranking under ''hoàng đế'' (皇帝; emperor), ''vương'' (王; king/prince), ''quốc công'' (國公; grand duke/duke of the nation), ''quận công'' (郡公; provincial duke) and ''công'' (公; duke, rather like a German [[Fürst]]), and above ''bá'' (伯; count), ''tử'' (子; viscount) and ''nam'' (男; baron).

==In fiction==
{{see also|List of fictional nobility#Marquesses and marchionesses}}
Marquesses and marchionesses have occasionally appeared in works of fiction.

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=28em}}
* [[County of Mark|Mark (county)]]
* [[Marquesses in the United Kingdom]]
* [[List of marquesses in the peerages of Britain and Ireland]]
* [[List of marquessates in the peerages of Britain and Ireland]]
* [[List of French marquesses]]
* [[List of marquesses in Italy]]
* [[List of marquises in Norway]]
* [[List of marquises in Portugal]]
* [[Exarch]]
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20030201155716/http://hereditarytitles.com/Page70.htm The Chronological Peerage of England, hereditarytitles.com as of 2 March 2003]; omits Normanby, misspells Hartington as Martington, places Marquess of Lorn and Kintyre in the peerage of England (Scotland is more probable).
* [http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=marquis&searchmode=none EtymologyOnLine]
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Buckingham and Normanby, John Sheffield, 1st Duke of |volume=4 |pages=727–728}} — "and in 1694 was made marquess of Normanby"

==External links==
*{{commonscat-inline|Marquesses}}
*{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Marquess |volume=17 |page=751 |short=x}}
[[Category:Marquessates| ]]
[[Category:Marquesses| ]]
[[Category:Counts| ]]
[[Category:Noble titles]]
[[Category:Peerage]]
[[Category:Men's social titles]]

[[de:Markgraf]]