Listening to a 1950s radio show called The Strangest Secret, I sat bolted to my chair, absorbed with what I was hearing through my computer speakers. Just 37 minutes of radio made me rethink the ...
Earl Nightingale was a giant, the foremost motivational speaker of his time, until his death in 1989. His memorable wisdom -- gleaned from all-time thinkers -- just keeps on working. It's fascinating ...
An earl has the title Earl of [X] when the title originates from a placename, or Earl [X] when the title comes from a surname. In either case, he is referred to as Lord [X], and his wife as Lady [X].
This Celtic title was rendered jarl by the Norsemen, and under Alexander I (d. 1124) it began to be replaced by earl (comes) as a result of Anglo-Norman influence. In Ireland the duke of Leinster is, as earl of Kildare, premier earl as well as premier duke. An earl is addressed as “Right Honourable” and is styled “My Lord.”
Historically, an earl was the ruler of a county or earldom, but the title is now primarily ceremonial. In the U.K., there are currently around 190 earls. The Earl of Wessex is the highest-ranking earl in the peerage system. He’s also second in line to the British throne.
Known as the peerage system, this noble hierarchy consists of five ranks today: duke, marquess, earl, viscount, and baron. The title of earl — the oldest in the peerage system — dates back to the end of the early medieval period, during the reign of King Canute (or Cnut) in the 11th century.