Baronet

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A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. Baronets rank below barons and knights of the Garter and the Thistle, but above all other knights. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th century; however, in its current usage it was created by James I of England in 1611 as a means of raising funds for the crown. Like all British knights, baronets are addressed as "Sir" and baronetesses as "Dame". They are conventionally seen to belong to the lesser nobility, although William Thoms in 1844 wrote: The precise quality of this dignity is not yet fully determined, some holding it to be the head of the nobiles minores, while others, again, rank Baronets as the lowest of the nobiles majores, because their honour, like that of the higher nobility, is both hereditary and created by patent. Comparisons with continental titles and ranks are tenuous...

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