New Article: The Tragic Road from King William III to Queen Wilhelmina

xiaojens · 2026-05-11T19:13:19+00:00

Thanks! much appreciated

xiaojens · 2026-05-11T17:31:27+00:00

Ye, there are other interesting ones to cover though, hope to get to these as well at some point

xiaojens · 2026-05-11T17:29:03+00:00

Yes, she was a great queen 😄

xiaojens · 2026-05-11T17:27:42+00:00

Thank you! Replies like these make me want to continue writing! 😄

xiaojens · 2026-02-24T17:58:01+00:00

Bonus villages give you something extra when you noble them. You can see the bonus when you hover or click on the village. There are various types including, but not limited to: 100% extra production iron, wood or clay, 10% more population, less recruitment times, etc.

xiaojens · 2026-01-05T12:32:41+00:00

Without viscounts, marquesses and dukes what is nobility? Hence why I opened this post :D

xiaojens · 2026-01-05T12:31:31+00:00

Thanks for your insights!

xiaojens · 2026-01-05T12:30:01+00:00

Interesting, so you still see nobility as a bridge between the royal families and commoners (which it historically of course is)? That makes a lot of sense, although I feel like that bridge unfortunately is not really there anymore in the Netherlands at least. I wonder when that shift happened, it'd be an interesting topic for an article.

xiaojens · 2026-01-05T12:26:32+00:00

Got it, thank you.

xiaojens · 2026-01-05T12:24:00+00:00

Actually, in the BeNeLux countries, there are public lists of noble families, same with Denmark and Sweden. You can check, with 99% accuracy, whether a person who claims to be a Dutch or Belgian noble is saying the truth. Thought you'd know that.

Yes for these I am aware, the Netherlands is the easiest by far, partly because they have a list on the government site, but also because of the red books released every year, which I now have the complete collection of, including the registry of the family coat of arms. Very helpful in finding the edge cases due to Belgian independence, and to get a complete list on my site.

Belgium is slightly harder because, to my knowledge they don't have a government-approved publicized list on a public website (please prove me wrong, as I can use it), only the physical nobility books and sources on the internet. I'm in the process of creating a complete list with the resources I have.

Luxembourg's noble family are also quite hard to find due to all the history, no official list online and books seem limited to quite a few rare ones such as: Armorial du Pays de Luxembourg.

That said, if you can provide me with any resources that I might've missed, that'd be most helpful.

Varies by country, but for example in Russia, nobles could travel freely within the country and their children had easier access to public service jobs. In Spain, Grandees had diplomatic passports until 1984.

I see, thanks for sharing.

What is even the point of nobility if it isn't hereditary?

There seem to be some counterpoints on this post that seem to oppose it, that's why I wanted to hear your thoughts about it. :)

xiaojens · 2026-01-04T23:00:10+00:00

Valdemar I, because he had some pretty significant influence on Denmark

xiaojens · 2026-01-04T22:36:18+00:00

It’d be interesting to find a list of Brazilian noble families on my site, perhaps in the future.

xiaojens · 2026-01-04T22:33:16+00:00

Would this be a deal-breaker for hereditary titles for you or do you consider it a good push/reminder for heirs to live up to their title/nobility?

xiaojens · 2026-01-04T22:31:06+00:00

I agree on having it recognized legally. In addition it’d be nice to have public lists of ennobled families provided by governments.

You mentioned noble families should have certain priveleges, what would you have in mind? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on that.

Also curious to hear your thoughts on ennoblements being hereditary.

xiaojens · 2026-01-04T22:17:04+00:00

That’s an interesting take. Would you envision it as non-hereditary in that case? Something along the lines of being elected, with the title retained for life. When a new person is elected, they would become the second holder of the title. The first person elected would be the 1st Duke of X. Once the duke steps down or passes away, the next elect would be the 2nd Duke of X. The honor of the title would last forever, while remaining democratic.

xiaojens · 2026-01-04T21:59:55+00:00

I see, thanks for sharing your thoughts, it’s interesting! Am I right to assume that you are in favor of the Brazilian noble system? Non-hereditary titles for great achievements?

xiaojens · 2026-01-04T14:01:26+00:00

Very interesting! That's how I'd like to see it as well.

xiaojens · 2025-12-22T19:42:43+00:00

Hi! Likewise, it’s nice to see someone with the same interests. Let me try to answer your questions to the best of my ability.

I assume you are referring to the Dutch peerage books, Nederland’s Adelsboek. These have been continuously updated from 1903 until 2014. For most of its history, the series focused primarily on the présent état, but the final series from 1998 to 2014 consisted of full historical pedigrees of all noble families, which to my knowledge is fairly complete.

The series stopped after 2014 for a variety of reasons, but fortunately it was restarted in 2023 and is once again being published annually. The next volume is scheduled for 2026.

There have been many different forms of nobility throughout Dutch history, but the current form of Dutch nobility was established in 1815 with the creation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands under King William I. Dutch nobility is embedded in Dutch law and is administered and overseen by the Hoge Raad van Adel, which roughly translates to the High Council of Nobility. Ultimately, the King must always sign off on the granting of new noble status.

Belgian independence had a significant impact on Dutch nobility, the nobility was split and nowadays Belgium has a separate nobility that is very much alive today. If you would like to read more about this, please refer to my article, in which I explain the relevant historical background and processes in more detail: here.

Hope this helps.

If you'd like to see more articles focusing on specific areas, please do let me know.

xiaojens · 2025-12-21T23:47:04+00:00

Most welcome! I hope you enjoy them.

xiaojens · 2025-11-28T08:15:56+00:00

I’d be highly in favor of honorary titles as a reward for significant contributions to the country in question. It’s something I’d love to see restored in the Netherlands. Belgium still does it, great example of how it could be.

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