Nobility of the Holy Roman Empire

queen of France, spouse of Philipp V

The ministeriales (singular: ministerialis) were a legally unfree but socially elite class of knights, administrators, and officials in the High Middle Ages in the Holy Roman Empire, drawn from a mix of servile origins, free commoners, and even cadet sons of minor noble families, who served secular and ecclesiastical lords and often rose to hold hereditary land, noble titles, and political power indistinguishable from the free nobility.

English princess (1318-1355)

count of Malmedy from 1035 and Duke of Lower Lorraine from 1046

German noble and margarve (c.930–993)

Austrian military

The term edelfrei or hochfrei ("free noble" or "free knight") was originally used to designate and distinguish those Germanic noblemen from the Second Estate (see Estates of the realm social hierarchy), who were legally entitled to atonement reparation of three times their "Weregild" (Wergeld) value from a guilty person or party. Such knights were known as Edelfreie or Edelinge. This distinguished them from those other free men or free knights who came from the Third Estate social hierarchy, and whose atonement reparation value was the standard "Weregild" (Wergeld) amount set according to regi

Belgian politician