Hierarchy classification:

1. top of the aat hierarchies
2. Agents Facet
3. People (hierarchy name)
4. people (agents)
5. [people by state or condition]
6. aristocrats
7. nobles (aristocrats)
8. [nobles by gender]
9. noblewomen

Anotations

Scope note:

Refers to European noblewomen holding a barony in their own right. It may also refer to European and Japanese noblewomen who are the wives or widows of barons. In Great Britain and Japan, they occupy the lowest rank of nobility; in Continental Europe, their rank and status within the nobility vary from country to country. Refers to female holders of a barony, which is a large estate or a sizable section of a larger territory ruled by a sovereign and often originally awarded for military or other service. It may also refer to the wives or daughters of a baron.