Nobility and Heraldry
As king, Christophe created an elaborate Haïtian peerage (nobility) of his own design, originally consisting of four Princes, eight Dukes, 22 Counts, 40 Barons, and 14 Knights ("chevaliers"). Christophe founded a College of Arms to provide armorial bearings for the newly ennobled.
Europeans mocked his creation, and there the term "Haitian nobility" became a synonym for any improvised aristocracy created by a new government.
Read more about this topic: Henri Christophe
Famous quotes containing the word nobility:
“The army is the true nobility of our country.”
—Napoleon Bonaparte III (1808–1873)