The

feudal system Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structur ...

was first established in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

by the

Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily ( la, Regnum Siciliae; it, Regno di Sicilia; scn, Regnu di Sicilia) was a state that existed in the south of the Italian Peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 un ...

, who conquered the island between 1090 and 1091. The Sicilian titles were abolished after the

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

occupation of Malta. From 1530 to 1798 the island was ruled by the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

(who became known as the Knights of Malta), and from 1800 to 1964 by the British. The Knights and the British both undertook to maintain the rights and privileges of the Maltese.''Burke's Peerage'' 1949, p. 2205. In the later nineteenth century the British government gave official recognition to several noble titles that had been created by the Grand Masters of the Knights of Malta and other '' fontes honorum''. There were 29 title holders: nine marquises, ten counts and ten barons. The nobles were styled "

The Most Noble Forms of address used in the United Kingdom are given below. Terminology Abbreviations Several terms have been abbreviated in the tables below. The forms used in the table are given first, followed by alternative acceptable abbreviations in paren ...

" and took precedence among themselves according to the date of creation of their titles. In the Italian fashion, their heirs-apparent were styled ''marchesino'', ''contino'' or ''baroncino'', as appropriate. Malta became an independent state in 1964 and a republic in 1974. Titles of nobility were abolished the following year.

References

{{European nobility

History of Malta 1975 disestablishments in Europe