Lit Nobility titles and naming conventions?

So in the real world, nobility titles are usually used with the first name and their actual title is usually not addressed. For example, Wilhelm II was 'Wilhelm the Second, German Emperor'. With Star Wars naming conventions, it's simply Emperor Palpatine instead of Sheev I, Galactic Emperor. The same goes with Padme, who was known as Queen Amidala instead of Padme I, Queen of Naboo. Sheev's daughter was going to be crowned Empress Pallopides instead of Empress Ederlathh, Galactic Empress.

With Leia Organa, she was known as Princess Leia the same as real life naming conventions, though it seems like she's one of the few and she was called 'Princess Organa' too, just not as much. Roan Fel was called Emperor 'Fel' instead of Roan, Marasiah assumed the title of Empress Fel and was addressed as such and so on, so forth.

I think the reason for the difference may be because with Europe, there were alot of Wilhelms, Henries etc who also happened to be Kings and/or Emperors. In the case of the SW Galaxy, while there's a ton of Sheev Palpatines running around, there's only one known Palpatine who is the Galactic Emperor. That or maybe with the life expectancy rate of the Galaxy a dynasty isn't expected to last very long, with only the Fels looking like they'll be the ones to shift that.

So what's the deal? Is there some sourcebook that I missed that explains it, or an obscure reference maybe?

 

I don't have an answer to your question, but I want the Imperials to use "Sheev the First" now instead of "The Emperor".

 

Pretty sure the first on who does gets shot.

 

Being European, I've had the habit of saying things like "Dooku, Count of Serenno" and "Leia, Princess of Alderaan," but this is my own fanon if you like. The SW franchise isn't very good with handling nobility titles and form of address, anyway. (Think of TPM, where everyone is calling Padmé -- a queen -- "Your Highness," except of course Palpatine/Ian McDiarmid, who knows better.)

 

"Your Grace" used to be more usual for monarchs, until fairly late. I remember reading that Henry VIII was the one who popularised "Your Majesty"

 

Still, it's pretty weird how "Your Highness" is used for any royalty throughout the SW movies. Even Luke called Palpatine that way in ROTJ! (And the Emperor doesn't seem to object.) Tarkin formally referred to him as "His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Palpatine" (directly addressing him as "Your Majesty") but he was formally introduced as "His Excellency, Emperor Palpatine" in Star Wars: Republic 78: Loyalties. Governor Wilek Nereus referred to the Emperor as his "Most Excellent Imperial Master Palpatine" in at least one message.

Recently, Luceno's Tarkin got it right by using "Your Majesty." Luke's use of "Your Highness" is rubbish.

 

It did get used historically by kings though:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highness

 

I stand corrected, then. I'm more savvy of the present-day decorum than of its evolution through history. (By the way, in Tarkin, Palpatine is only addressed as "Your Majesty" by his droid, 11-4D. The others call him "my lord.")

 

Is it Jello's second birthday, or something?

He wouldn't be Sheev I until there had been a Sheev II. Hence King John, Pope Francis, yada yada. You're not the first in a sequence until there is a sequence.

Something everyone forgets when it comes to Barack Obama, might I add.

Then again, ASoIaF does the whole "FIRST OF HIS NAME" thing in advance so... whatever.

 

Have we seen any use of non-english (real life) noble titles? And would people like to see any?

"Sheev the First, Only and Eternal"

 

This can never be repeated enough. I'm sick of hearing "Pope Francis the First" on TV. Oh, well... maybe practice is changing; things are just like that, they change. An interesting example is that, in French, the custom was to translate the name of a foreign monarch when the proper equivalent exists. Queen Elizabeth becomes "la reine Élisabeth," King Umberto becomes "le roi Humbert," and so on. It seems that custom has fallen into disuse, as the journalists now refer to "Felipe VI" instead of "Philippe VI" (N.B. they already did that with his father, whom they called "Juan Carlos" instead of Jean-Charles).

If you're not into that kind of things, this may seem pretty unimportant, but this change of custom may actually break sequences. If Prince William ever becomes King of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, the French will probably refer to him as "William V," which makes no sense since the historical Williams are all referred to as "Guillaume" in French.

 

This guy disagrees:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Joseph_I_of_Austria
...because he was such a great leader (ahem) that OF COURSE later monarchs would be named after him. (And NO WAY was the monarchy going to collapse soon enough so his son would be the last Emperor. More so because when he was crowned they'd just gunned down the revolution of 1848 -- they needed a statement that clearly said WE WILL ENDURE.)

Also, Edi was NOT Sheev's daughter but his grandniece or something.

 

Well there is the Archduke of Geonosis which is pretty amusing if you think about it

It is complicated when it comes to Austria anyway since they had very different Emperor titles over the centuries, which were not strictly speaking in succession to each other.

 

I meant english as in the language. Some examples of non-english (real life) noble titles: erzherzog, khan, jarl, tenno, vapaaherran, marquis, vicecomes, krahv, gōng, etc.

 

There's Khan, but it's not a nobility title, rather a military rank in the Kaleesh military. Makem Te is ruled by Caliphs and Wat Tambor had the title of Emir. Shaman is used by Nightsisters, Tusken Raiders, Ewoks, Wookiees, Tusken Raiders and god knows who else. Grand Vizier, an Ottoman title, was used for the head of the government of the Galactic Empire.

It's fair to say non-English titles are used. Their origin though? Who knows. I always figure since Tionese is basically Greek, that there's SW versions of German, French, Arabic etc, it's just that they're not very widely known.

As for the misuse of Your Highness, it's probably a case of Luke being a farmboy from Tatooine and not really knowing any other nobility besides Leia, so he probably didn't know the proper way to address Palpatine, though the form of address is usually interchangeable. I mean for the British Queen, I've heard Highness, Majesty and Excellency all used.

Not sure if the whole 'First of his name' is used outside of ASoIaF/GoT.

 

I liked the ROTJ novel's version, which had Luke address him as just "Palpatine" instead of "Your Highness" at one point - maybe symbolizing Luke's denial of Palpatine's being in any way a rightful ruler.

 

You would enjoy the Lymond Chronicles.

 

Oh I can't get through the first book, either.

I find the prose really odd.

 

We have. The Swokes Swokes have a Congress of Caliphs, something that I hope that we will not, under any circumstances, ever see the likes of again.

 

He Swokes Swokes are really cool

 

It is odd, but the important thing is that it doesn't stay odd. The rest of the book (and the series) are written much more normally.

 

Why?