User:Octavius/Table of Ranks

Table of Grades and Dignities

All inhabitants of the Imperium shall be measured according to the following Table of Grades and Dignities, to be granted liberties as prescribed herein in accordance with service, propriety, and courtesy as recognized by the Golden Mango Throne.

	Noble Grades
	Grade	Style of Address	Peerage	Military	Civil	Entourage
The Throne	I	Your Magnificence	Kaiser
Highest Service	II	Your Serenity	Prince of Shireroth		Steward Chamberlain	1 Cpt 2 Wm 12 MAA
	III	Your Illustriousness	Duke		Minister
	IV		Count-Palatine	Frainan Streïakeï
	V				Commissioner
High Service	VI	The Admirable and Illustrious	Marquis Count	Standard Legate	Lord Lieutenant Leading Director Ambassador	1 Wm 6 MAA
	VII	The Admirable	Viscount	Tribune (Broad)	Director Chief Superintendant Distinguished Professor	1 Wm 4 MAA
	VIII			Tribune (Middle)	Senior Councilor Deputy Chief Superintendant Consul General Professor
	IX		Lord	Tribune (Narrow)	Councilor Superintendant Consul Curator Associate Professor
Upper Service	X	The Honorable		Captain Ordinate	Lead Inspector Prosecutor Circle Notary	2 MAA
	XI			Undercaptain	Senior Inspector Attaché	1 MAA
	XII				Inspector Junior Inspector Jurist Assistant Attaché
	Vulgar Grades
	Grade	Style of Address	Peerage	Military	Civil
Middle Service	A	Position	Minor Property Holders	Other Ranks	Aides, Clerks, Constables, Agents
Lower Service
	B	Good	Free Persons with no contracted service obligations or blights upon their character or record. All residents of the Imperium default towards this grade unless they have inherited higher status.
	C	Loyal	Free Persons who are under government-authorized service contract. They have the same legal rights and recourse as Grade B, but are regarded as having an inferior social standing due to being bound to and constrained by a service contract. This includes tenants on public land or titled estates, the latter of which are classified as public land under the management of the titled peer (as opposed to being under the management of an Imperial endowment or under that of the Lord Lieutenant's office).
	D	That	Persons who have been reduced to criminality, debauchery, captivity, etc. Catch-all grade for all residents of the Imperium who are found to have violated the laws, peace, and norms of the Imperium (no matter their original standing) and are obliged to submit to the justice of the Golden Mango Throne. Upon completion of their penance, their previous standing may be restored, so long as their repentance is determined to be good and genuine. This shall include those who have diminished the status of denizens generally by allowing one's own status to be diminished personally into that of servility.
	X	-	Unclassified persons, i.e. resident aliens, foreigners, etc. May be temporarily endowed with a higher courtesy status.

Rights per Grade Set

Upper Service

Those of the Upper Service are granted the following liberties:

• The right to purchase and own real estate and to retain a share of the rent and productive use of the estate (in accordance with local law). Upon death or discommendation, the surviving members of household may retain personal use of the property until their own death or departure, to which point it devolves to the lord paramount.
• An entourage of One (Grades XI-XII) or Two (Grade X) Men-At-Arms while in the Imperial Presence.

High Service

Those of the High Service are granted the following liberties:

• The right to purchase and own real estate and to retain a share of the rent and productive use of the estate (in accordance with local law). Upon death, the property shall be inherited by the new head of household. Upon discommendation, it shall be inherited by the new head of household, if one is present and of-age and of-status to inherit. Otherwise, the surviving members of household may retain personal use of the property until their own death or departure, to which point it devolves to the lord paramount. At the extinction of the household, the property devolves to the lord paramount.
• An entourage of One Watchmaster in command over Four (Grades VII-IX) or Six (Grade VI) Men-At-Arms while in the Imperial Presence.

Highest Service

Those of the Highest Service are granted the following liberties:

• The right to purchase and own real estate and to retain a share of the rent and productive use of the estate (in accordance with local law). Upon death, the property shall be inherited by the new head of household. Upon discommendation, it shall be inherited by the new head of household, if one is present and of-age and of-status to inherit. Otherwise, the surviving members of household may retain personal use of the property until their own death or departure, to which point it devolves to the lord paramount. At the extinction of the household, the property devolves to the lord paramount.
• An entourage of One Captain and Two Watchmasters in command over Twelve Men-At-Arms while in the Imperial Presence.

Entourages

The granting of entourages is restricted in the following manner:

• Prospective Men-At-Arms shall be vetted by the Chamber of the Crypteia before a household may employ them as Men-At-Arms. Only authorized Men-At-Arms may be retained by a household and counted towards an entourage.
• When in private audience, only Officers of the entourage (if granted) may continue to be in the Imperial Presence. The remaining men-at-arms shall take station outside the private chamber, interspersed with Imperial Sentinels as an honor guard.
• Entourages for the household members of the grantee, when without the presence of the grantee themselves, are limited to one Officer and a maximum of Four Men-At-Arms where applicable when in the Imperial Presence.

Relative Status within a Grade

The table is laid out to indicate that positions above and leftward are of senior status (standard before legate, peerages before military before civil ranks). Those of the same grade and rank are ordered according to length of service at that grade.

Corporate Status

Corporate bodies (associations, colleges of priests, executive agencies, universities, corporations, etc) may be elevated to a designated grade. Therein, dependent upon the endowment, the president shall be accorded courtesy dignity at that grade when active and representing that corporate body, e.g. in the Adelsraad. Retired president shall be accorded courtesy dignity two grades below the corporate body should they not have rank in and of themselves. Such courtesy dignities, by definition, are personal and cannot be inherited. Rank is restricted to those bodies with Shirerithian-only voting membership and will be removed should the voting membership of the body change to disrupt that.

Examples of a ranked corporate body include the University of Sir John Metzler III, a Grade III corporate body, and the Keepers of the Valley of Mors, a Grade VI corporate body.

Inheritance

Upon elevation to Grade XII, one is endowed with personal nobility. All immediate descendants of nobles, whether inherited or uninherited, are guaranteed admission into the Imperial Academy. Graduates of the Imperial Academy are assigned to a Grade XII position in accordance with their training, and endowed with honors therein.

Upon elevation to Grade VII, nobility is extended to one's descendents in perpetuity. Such inherited noble status shall be ranked and honored at Grade IX behind those who have demonstrated the mettle of their heart, and shall be addressed in a manner that concatenates their inherited nobility and their personal nobility, e.g. "The Admirable and Honorable".

Upon elevation to Grade V, immediate descendants shall be ranked and honored at Grade VI behind those who have demonstrated the mettle of their heart, and shall be addressed with "The Illustrious" in their concatenation, e.g. "The Illustrious and Honorable".

Peerages are inherited according to their grants and/or house rules.