convey an approximate rank intermediate between the highest and lowest titles of nobility. A baron is a title of honour, often hereditary, and ranked as one of the lowest titles in the nobility system. A viscount is a member of the nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, below an earl or a count (the earl's continental equivalent) and above a baron. There were multiple types of titles used by Croatian nobles that stemmed from France: some were personal ranks and others were linked to the fiefs owned, called fiefs de dignité or kraljevski posjed. Duc: possessor of a duchy (duché—a feudal property, not an independent principality) and recognition as duke by the king. Prince: possessor of a lordship styled a principality (principauté); most such titles were held by family tradition and were treated by the court as titres de courtoisie—often borne by the eldest sons of the more important duke-peers. This title of prince is not to be confused with the rank of prince, borne by the princes du sang, the princes légitimés or the princes étrangers whose high precedence derived from their kinship to actual rulers. Marquis: possessor of a marquessate (marquisat), but often assumed by a noble family as a titre de courtoisie Comte: possessor of a county (comté) or self-assumed. Vicomte: possessor of a viscounty (vicomté) or self-assumed. Baron: possessor of a barony (baronnie) or self-assumed. Symbols The Kingdom of Croatia and its nobles had many symbols, emblems and coat of arms. The seals and coats were often used as parts of clothing, shields, castles, and other objects associated with noble families. Families Dukes/Princes Domagojević Feštetić Gorjanski Kačić Karlović Lacković Novosel Mlinarić Odescalchi Bešlagić Radić Šubić Zrinski Marquesses Frankopan (Frankapan) Bombelles Bunić Sponheim Andechs Counts The seal of the Kingdom of Croatia and Dalmatia was affixed in 1527 to the Cetin Charter that confirmed the Habsburg to be the rulers of Croatia Bondić Crnković Delišimunović Drašković Erdődy Franceschi Gundulić Gučetić Gradić Janković Jelačić Kabužić Keglević Pejačević Pucić (de Zagorie) Sorkočević Barons Banffy Cseszneky Gutmann Knežević Majstorović Mandić Nikolić Rubido Ružić Turković Vranyczany-Dobrinović See also List of noble families of Croatia in alphabetical order Twelve noble tribes of Croatia Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg) Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia History of Croatia Pacta conventa (Croatia) Crown of Zvonimir Bans of Croatia Timeline of Croatian history References Works cited Buric, Bozidar Domagoj (2011) Croatian Kings: a film