Nobility is a social class normally ranked immediately under royalty and found in some societies that have a formal aristocracy. Nobility possesses more acknowledged privileges and higher social status than most other classes in society. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be largely honorary (e.g., precedence), and vary by country and era. As referred to in the Medieval chivalric motto noblesse oblige ("nobility obliges"), nobles can also carry a lifelong duty to uphold various social responsibilities, such as honorable behavior, customary service,[clarification needed] or leadership positions. Membership in the nobility, including rights and responsibilities, is typically hereditary.
Membership in the nobility has historically been granted by a monarch or government, unlike other social classes where membership is determined solely by wealth, lifestyle, or affiliation.[clarification needed] Nonetheless, acquisition of sufficient power, wealth, military prowess, or royal favour has occasionally enabled commoners to ascend into the nobility.[1]
There are often a variety of ranks within the noble class. Legal recognition of nobility has been more common in monarchies, but nobility also existed in such regimes as the Dutch Republic (1581–1795), the Republic of Genoa (1005–1815), the Republic of Venice (697–1797), and the Old Swiss Confederacy (1300–1798), and remains part of the legal social structure of some non-hereditary regimes, e.g., Channel Islands, San Marino, and the Vatican City in Europe.
Hereditary titles and styles added to names (such as "Prince" or "Lord" or "Lady"), as well as honorifics often distinguish nobles from non-nobles in conversation and written speech. In many nations most of the nobility have been un-titled, and some hereditary titles do not indicate nobility (e.g., vidame). Some countries have had non-hereditary nobility, such as the Empire of Brazil or life peers in the United Kingdom.
Loss of Republican Party discipline, the Panic of 1819, the Supreme Court case of McCulloch v. Maryland , and the Missouri Crisis of 1820 all contributed to the decline in the political consensus—leading to the end of the “Era of Good Feelings.”
