NOTE: Trying to avoid overt spoilers in case there are people who haven’t read all the books. But can’t guarantee it.
NOTE: I’m uncertain about the exact difference between the terms title and rank. In some ways these seem to be used synonymously but not entirely. As far as i can tell, two titles might not be equal in rank even if they’re called the same thing.
Dune’s noble ranks and titles can be confusing, and indeed they are weird in some senses compared to real noble ranks and titles.
This is primarily in the context of Frank Herbert books, with some notes on Dune prequels etc. and Dune Encyclopedia later.
Dune has titles of Baron, Count, Duke and Emperor (ascending order of importance per current definitions), with one mention of “earldom”, implying Earl is a title as well. If i recall correctly other original books do not deviate from these, but don’t mention title of Earl at all.
There’s also Prince/Princess, used for the Emperor’s children. Should be noted that Farad’n Corrino was styled Prince but technically he probably should not be called one as Corrinos were no longer Emperors at that point. Prince doesn’t seem to have been used outside Corrinos though. It seems this is purely a title for members of a Royal family, Great Houses seem to use prefix na- to indicate heir apparent, though then again Paul is never called na-Duke whereas Feyd is a na-Baron.
Interestingly Dune’s appendix IV says the Baron Harkonnen’s official title is Siridar-Baron, meaning Planetary Governor. Perhaps this means technically Baron and Siridar-Baron are different titles. If so, the former could be a House Minor title.
Earl is a weird one. Historically, it was essentially equal rank to a Count, but Count was mostly used on continental Europe while Earl was used in England and Scotland (but female Earl was called Countess, probably because “Earless” would sound so wrong).
I do wonder if Dune doesn’t call Count’s domain county but instead refers to these as earldom while naming the rank Count. This would at least simplify the rank system by omitting what is apparently a duplicate rank.
Another possibility is that there are variations on names of ranks, though why this would be is uncertain.
I also wonder if this earldom bit something of a joke by Herbert, as Caladan might be derived from Caledonia, as the Roman Empire called Scotland and as Earls were a rank there… But this is unlikely, see “Dune Gazetteer” for well researched stuff about Dune’s astronomy and origins of names: http://www.projectrho.com/DuneGazetteer.txt. This possible if unlikely Scotland connection is amusing in light of Villeneuve’s Dune.
Dune doesn’t seem to have any clear mechanism for defining exact rankings though. It certainly doesn’t directly correlate to apparent power, as the Harkonnens are more powerful than the Atreides on paper in number of holdings and finances, yet the Harkonnens are just Barons while the Atreides are Dukes.
Baron is implied to be essentially “bought” title (not unlike it was historically in some places), as the Harkonnen fortunes are said to be what gave them their status. There’s also that major mechanism of moving between classes in faufreluches system seems to be essentially financial status, someone getting rich enough could move into nobility as a Baron perhaps.
Atreides status as Dukes may have something to do with their relation to the Imperial house but this is uncertain. The Atreides are noted as having been Dukes for 20 generations on Caladan, and lived there for 26, so they haven’t always been Dukes (unless the appendix IV of Dune is inaccurate, its given years for Shaddam are contradicting the book) though their association with the Corrinos goes back to the founding of the Imperium. Additional notes: Duke Leto is “Imperial chevalier” though what this isn’t clarified, and the Corrinos call the Atreides “Red Dukes”, think these do imply certain level of respect from the Corrinos.
Count seems to be a subservient rank to someone else. The Counts Fenring are apparently underlings of the Emperor, while the Counts Rabban serve the Harkonnen. If we take the note about “earldom” as meaning a rank of Count and consider that Paul wanted to give Gurney an earldom, he might have been giving him a title that serves him directly. There is a possibility Counts are Minor Houses who hold a noble rank, the Count Fenring seems to be doing important assignments for the Emperor but not directly ruling any one place except Caladan, perhaps as a placeholder (“Siridar-Absentia”), but it is quite plausible Fenring holdings are simply not mentioned.
I suspect Herbert picked the titles for how they sound, what kind of impression they give, more so than what they actually were historically. Baron sounds evil and unpleasant (contrast “robber baron”), while Duke is noble and honorable, and Count seems to be neutral or otherwise subservient to others.
If Dukes are related to the Imperial House and Barons are just rich, this causes some issues when you start thinking about Houses that aren’t related to the Corrinos, nor are lesser houses or simply those rich enough (nouveau riche essentially) to become a Great Houses. Which rank and title do they hold? Assuming Count is a “neutral” title rather than just a subservient one it seems to be, it would be the most typical one probably.
Richece (not to be confused with Richese the planet), the Houses Minor, further complicate the rank system. By Dune’s dictionary, Houses Minor are defined as being planet-bound entrepreneur-class. In Dune’s dinner scene, most of the guests are explicitly richece, being local manufacturers, bankers or the like (and Paul was mentioned being “surrounded by younger Arrakeen richece” at one point). Yet none of them have apparent noble titles (it would be incredibly odd not to use their titles or at very least something like “my lord” in a formal situation though i grant the dinner may have been somewhat more informal). At the same time they may have sufficient social rank to challenge an heir of a Duke to a duel.
Confusingly, the Counts Rabbans, who hold Lankiveil as “subdistrict governorship” for the House Harkonnen might be a House Minor. Or perhaps they are a House Major but one of lesser status than Harkonnen and Atreides, as Dune’s dictionary says Houses Major are “holders of planetary fiefs, interplanetary entrepreneurs”, the Rabbans could be either type without being the other.
Dune’s dictionary does say that idiomatically House means ruling clan of a planet or system, eg the Rabbans clearly count here, while the Arrakeen richece don’t. Perhaps richece covers both nobles and non-nobles. While the Rabbans have Lankiveil, they could still be planet-bound, reliant on Harkonnens for interplanetary trade (ie the Rabbans lack Guild shipping privileges for whatever reason), thus limiting them to House Minor status.
It might be that a “House Minor” is essentially a courtesy status for non-noble richece. An Arrakisian stillsuit manufacturer is richece, being a planetary entrepreneur, but they don’t seem to be a House in the idiomatic sense as the said manufacturer isn’t a ruler, ie not a House.
Incidentally, the term Great House is not defined, though from context it seems to refer to a House that is part of the Landsraad. The Rabbans might not be a Great House (as they rule under the Harkonnens) even if they count as a House Major, and the same might apply to Fenrings.
Expanded Dune also complicates the question by adding titles but without any apparent thought behind actual ranks. There’s at least Earl Vernius, Count Richese*, Archduke Ecaz* and Viscount Moritani. But the titles don’t seem to correspond to importance or closeness to the Imperial House though i grant i might not recall correctly here. It is possible Moritani’s title of Viscount (In real world a rank lower than a Count) denotes his status as a ruler of a poor quality planet Grumman is mentioned to be, nearly exhausted of resources. But this causes issues with the fact holding Arrakis fiefdom doesn’t seem to alter one’s title.
I don’t recall House Minor being mentioned or named in the Dune prequels or so except for the Rabbans, though the Ixian Ambassador Pilru might be a Minor House in service of Vernius. But the Pilrus don’t seem to hold a noble rank themselves.
*These two are also weird because those are mentioned as places in Dune, it seems odd they would be Houses too though i grant that historically noble Houses have occasionally taken name of the place they originate from, such as the House Habsburg.
Dune Encyclopedia is more realistic in some sense (though that might be just because of additional detail), but also somewhat weird about this.
It does stick to Baron-Count-Duke system (with that clearly being ascending order of importance in principle). Both Harkonnen and Atreides are noted as having held various titles over the years, though the apparent rank difference and its implications aren’t noted, nor is it really explained how come the Harkonnens have held titles of Duke at times but not anymore. In some ways it seems the title is tied to a planet or place, but at the same time this cannot be true as Arrakis doesn’t bring a title of Duke with it, nor did the Atreides exchange their title for something else.
They also have junior titles, something that seems absent from original Dune and expanded Dune but is common in real world where, say, a Duke may hold several other titles such as Earl/Count of X or Baron of Y, and their children usually hold these lower titles or at least can use of these.
It also seems Houses Minor could have noble ranks in Dune Encyclopedia and i’ve feeling i saw something about them getting sub-fiefs from Great Houses but i can’t find the particular section again right now.
No hard conclusions here, just stuff to consider when making Dune RPG campaigns and stories.
Quick note that this Dune RPG does note various titles such as Marquis and Graf but doesn’t elaborate upon their rank.
Also don’t think he (Ieyasu) was the one to scrap the shogante either thinking about it. Was a descendant. Going to have to look it up.
