EARL

(A.Sax. eorl; Dan. jarl), a degree of the British nobility between marque and viscount, the title of highest antiquity in England. The title was made hereditary by William the Conqueror, and for a time was used interchangeably with that of count, the correspond i title on the Continent. The wife of an earl is still called a counte . The earl was the highest in rank of the nobility until Hdward III created a duke in 1357, and Richard II a marque in 1385. The first earl of England is the Harl of Arundel. An earl’s coronet is composed of eight pearls raised upon points, with small leaves between, above the rim. See PEER.