German Genealogical Terminology: Uradel, Briefadel, Hochadel, Niederer Adel

Historically there has been a lot of emphasis on nobility among genealogists, presumably due to the rules of primogeniture. And I was already vaguely aware of the many social ranks of royalty, nobility, aristocracy, gentry, etc., but today I found out that beginning around 1788 German genealogists began using terminology specifically intended to distinguish between families whose noble status originated prior to the reign of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor , in the late 14th century, who first began the practice of issuing 'letters patent' conferring nobility onto certain favored subjects -- and those which arose later on.

Uradel meaning "great nobility" is also known as "ancient nobility", and must date prior to Charles IV.

Briefadel meaning "letter nobility" refers to the later type granted by way of a legal instrument known as 'letters patent'.

Another major distinction is made between ranks of "high nobility" (Hochadel) and "lower nobility" (Niederer Adel).

In case you haven't figured it out yet, "adel" is the German word for "noble" (according to google translate, anyway).

The various ranks are further differentiated with more specific terminology:

Adlig (untitled and titled nobility). Adlig and Adel both originate from the same root linguistically, signifying 'noble' or 'nobility'. Adlig generally encompasses all types of nobility, with or without titles). I'm assuming letters patent likewise confer nobility with optional titles.

Freiherrlich (baronial)

Gräflich (comital, i.e. counts and countesses)

Fürstlich (royal, princely and ducal)

I'm not sure about counts, but royals, princes, and dukes are all considered "high nobility".

I don't remember how I stumbled on this, but googled something or other and found it somehow on Wikipedia. Uradel is a word that was completely foreign to me, so it grabbed my attention right away. And earlier I'd read Beverley Ann Bodle- Carswell 's comment informing us of the fact that not all nobles possess titles, on this discussion: https://www.geni.com/discussions/201171?msg=1326913 . I'm sure there is a lot more to learn on the subject, especially for someone like me who never thought much about these things until very recently.

I hope a few people enjoy hearing about this. Writing about a subject often helps me to understand it a little better. The full article on Wikipedia is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uradel

Wikipedia also has a good page for Charles IV, including a nice pedigree chart for his family (and I bet some here are directly descended from him or at least closely related): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_IV,_Holy_Roman_Emperor