thanes
Medieval Scottish lords
Thanes were Anglo-Saxon and medieval Scottish nobles who held land from the king in exchange for military service.
In Scotland, a thane administered a district called a thanage.
The word survives mainly through Shakespeare's *Macbeth*, where the title Thane of Cawdor figures prominently: The Thane of Cawdor lives, a prosperous gentleman.
Granted feudal estate
- manorLanded aristocratic residence
- demesneLord's private estate
- liegeFeudal superior or subject
- fealtyPledged devotion to authority
vassalage · homage · serfdom · overlord · lordship · steward · bailiff · tithe
Upfront professional fee
- liegemanFeudal subject owing allegiance
- loyaltyFaithful commitment to another
- devotionDeep, loyal commitment
- fidelityLoyalty or exactness
allegiance · oath · bond · duty · honor · protection · military · warrior
fief
Granted feudal estate
fealty · vassalage · homage · serfdom · overlord · lordship · steward · bailiff · tithe · peasantry
retainer
Upfront professional fee
- liegemanFeudal subject owing allegiance
- loyaltyFaithful commitment to another
- devotionDeep, loyal commitment
fidelity · allegiance · oath · bond · duty · honor · protection · military · warrior · sword
Macbeth
Ambitious thane's downfall
Gaelic · Pictish · Celtic · Cawdor · Macduff · Banquo · Scotland · kinship · tartan · Duncan
aristocracy
Rule by hereditary elite
highborn · hereditary · title · rank · lineage · bloodline · privilege · court · dignity · blueblood
- Viking AgeVikings, longships, raiders, Odin, Norse settlers
- Early MedievalCharlemagne, Carolingian Empire, Carolingians, Carolingian, Viking Age
- English historyNorman Conquest, Domesday Book, Magna Carta, King Alfred, Henry VIII
- Scottish HistoryScottish Parliament, clans, Alba, Culloden, Bannockburn
- Anglo-Saxon warfareshield wall, housecarl, huscarl, warrior, warriors
- Germanic lawAnglo-Saxon law, law codes, blood feud, ordeal, trial by combat
thaneskings
Male hereditary rulers
monarchs · sovereigns · overlords · emperors · high kings