Wednesday 15 January 2020

Duke And Lord

Yossi gave me The Atlas Of Unusual Borders by Zoran Nikolic.

The Terran Emperor's titles are listed here. The Atlas discloses that the Queen of England's titles include not only Duke of Lancaster but also Lord of Mann and Duke of Normandy. This last title is retained in relation to two Channel Islands, Jersey and Guernsey, which were occupied by the Germans during World War II, then by SM Stirling's Draka in the Drakas! story, "The Greatest Danger" by Lee Allred.

File this post under "Obscure Connections."

2 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Of course I had heard of the Island of Man, but I had not known it was not, strictly, part of the UK, but still had a political system and administration distinct from it! And the Queen is legally known there as "Lord" of Man.

The islands of Jersey and Guernsey (along with Sark) are the last remnants of the old Duchy of Normandy once held by the Norman and Angevin kings before Philip II Augustus wrested the mainland territories from King John. There too, the people insist on calling the Queen "Duke."

The titles of the Terran Emperor are descriptive not so much of WHERE he ruled but of WHAT he did. Describing his powers, functions, responsibilities.

Ad astra! Sean

Sean M. Brooks said...

It still seems odd for a lady like Elizabeth II to be called "Lord" and "Duke," instead of "Lady" and "Duchess."

Ad astra! Sean