Honorific

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An honorific is a form of address used to people of high rank.

Honorifics in the SCA

The following honorifics are generally accepted throughout the SCA, though there may be some regional variations.

RANK HONORIFIC
King or Queen
  • Your Majesty
  • Your [description] Majesty
  • My Liege (if you've sworn fealty)
  • Crown Prince or Princess Your Royal Highness
    Duke or Duchess Your Grace
    Count or Countess Your Excellency
    Viscount or Viscountess Your Excellency
    Baron or Baroness Your Excellency
    Anybody else My Lord/My Lady

    Usage

    An honorific is something that is attached to the name but is not normally used elsewhere, e.g Mr, Sir, Mrs, Dr, Master. Contrast this with a title or position can appear without the person's name e.g the President, the Earl, and may be asssociated with a particular role or area, eg. the US President, Financial Director, Earl of Cornwall.

    Period usage

    Note also that medieval English kings were addressed as "Your Grace". "Your Majesty" is found in letters to King Henry VIII after about the time he broke with the Church of Rome (watch the gradual transition from "your grace" to "your highness" and "your majesty" in the letters addressed to Henry by his wives and daughters at http://englishhistory.net/tudor/letters.html). If you have examples of the use of "Your Majesty" before this time, please cite them here.