User:Ltwin/Sandbox 2

Earl

Edward the Confessor
On the semi-independence of the Earldom of Northumbria in the late Anglo-Saxon period, see Warren p. 50 Earls were an "élite within an élite", numbering at most 25 men at any one time between 1000 and 1300.

Post-Conquest
Earls after the Conquest and earls palatine mentioned

Plantagenets
Not in article Hugh de Puiset, Bishop of Durham and justiciar, was made earl of Northumbria for life by Richard I. Dan Jones wrote "There had been a general decline in the state of the aristocracy during the previous two generations." He goes on to write that Edward I distrusted of nobles and he was "stingy" with earldoms. He also had Quo Warranto inquiries to uncover if barons were enjoying rights and privileges that properly belonged to the Crown. Edward II gave out new titles to his friends and favourites. "Edward II had made Gaveston earl of Cornwall, Andrew Harclay earl of Carlisle, Hugh Despenser earl of Winchester, and his half brothers earls of Norfolk and Kent; but of all these, only the earl of Norfolk lived past 1330. John of Eltham, who had been created earl of Cornwall in 1328, had died ..." Also in Dan Jones, Roger Mortimer created himself Earl of March when he ruled in the name of the young Edward III. By 1327, the number of earls had fallen to eight.