108-558: Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey DSO (later 17th Duke of Denver ) is the fictional protagonist in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers (and their continuation by Jill Paton Walsh ). A dilettante who solves mysteries for his own amusement, Wimsey is an archetype for the British gentleman detective . He is often assisted by his valet and former batman , Mervyn Bunter ; by his good friend and later brother-in-law, police detective Charles Parker ; and, in
216-453: A copywriter ( Murder Must Advertise ). Bredon is framed for murder, leading Charles Parker to "arrest" Bredon for murder in front of numerous witnesses. To distinguish Death Bredon from Lord Peter Wimsey, Parker smuggles Wimsey out of the police station and urges him to get into the papers. Accordingly, Wimsey accompanies "a Royal personage" to a public event, leading the press to carry pictures of both "Bredon" and Wimsey. By 1935 Lord Peter
324-533: A fictional Oxford college . In How I Came to Invent the Character of Lord Peter Wimsey, Sayers wrote: Lord Peter's large income... I deliberately gave him... After all it cost me nothing and at the time I was particularly hard up and it gave me pleasure to spend his fortune for him. When I was dissatisfied with my single unfurnished room I took a luxurious flat for him in Piccadilly. When my cheap rug got
432-400: A grandeeship of Spain . The current royal duchesses are Infanta Margarita, Duchess of Soria (although she inherited the title of Duchess of Hernani from her cousin and is the second holder of the title), and Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo . In Spain all dukes hold the court rank of grandee, which has precedence over all other noble titles. The last non-royal hereditary dukedom created was
540-456: A London flat at 110A Piccadilly , W1 , while Wimsey recovered. Even much later, however, Wimsey would have relapses—especially when his actions caused a murderer to be hanged. As noted in Whose Body? , on such occasions Bunter would take care of Wimsey and tenderly put him to bed, and they would revert to being "Major Wimsey" and "Sergeant Bunter". In the reissue of The Unpleasantness at
648-561: A case of 'a high degree of gallantry just short of deserving the Victoria Cross '. In either case, being ' Mentioned in Dispatches ' was a pre-condition for the award of a DSO. A requirement that the order could be given only to someone mentioned in despatches was removed in 1943. Since 1993, reflecting the review of the British honours system which recommended removing distinctions of rank in respect of operational awards,
756-544: A few books, by Harriet Vane , who becomes his wife. Born in 1890 and ageing in real time, Wimsey is described as being of average height, with straw-coloured hair, a beaked nose, and a vaguely foolish face. Reputedly his looks are patterned after those of academic and poet Roy Ridley , whom Sayers briefly met after witnessing him read his Newdigate Prize -winning poem "Oxford" at the Encaenia ceremony in July 1913. Twice in
864-689: A fictional setting—as is the Dukedom of Denver—about 15 miles (24 km) beyond the real Denver in Norfolk, on the A10 near Downham Market . Wimsey was for a time unable to give servants any orders whatsoever, since his wartime experience made him associate the giving of an order with causing the death of the person to whom the order was given. Bunter arrived and, with the approval of the Dowager Duchess, took up his post as valet. Bunter moved Wimsey to
972-534: A fief of Denmark and Holstein being a fief of the Holy Roman Empire . Key parts of Finland were sometimes under a Duke of Finland during the Swedish reign (until 1809). Some of the provinces are still considered duchies for the purposes of heraldry. In Norway, Skule Bårdsson was first jarl in 1217, and as such got responsibility for the army, and then in 1237, as another attempt at compromise, Skule
1080-450: A gentleman's duty "to remember whom he had taken to bed" so as not to embarrass his bedmate by calling her by the wrong name. There are several references to a relationship with a famous Viennese opera singer, and Bunter—who evidently was involved with this, as with other parts of his master's life—recalls Wimsey being very angry with a French mistress who mistreated her own servant. The only one of Wimsey's earlier women to appear in person
1188-410: A great deal better if you pretend to treat it as a joke. By being, on the surface, a little ironical about Lord Peter Wimsey and his noble ancestors, she is enabled to lay on the snobbishness ('his lordship' etc.) much thicker than any overt snob would dare to do". In 1935, the British film The Silent Passenger was released, in which Lord Peter, played by well-known comic actor Peter Haddon , solved
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#17327902166761296-550: A high degree of gallantry, just short of deserving the Victoria Cross . Whilst normally given for service under fire or under conditions equivalent to service in actual combat with the enemy, a number of awards made between 1914 and 1916 were under circumstances not under fire, often to staff officers , causing resentment among front-line officers. After 1 January 1917, commanders in the field were instructed to recommend this award only for those serving under fire. From 1916, ribbon bars could be authorised for subsequent awards of
1404-665: A higher title, just below king. In the United Kingdom, the inherited position of a duke along with its dignities, privileges, and rights is a dukedom . However, the title of duke has never been associated with independent rule in the British Isles: they hold dukedoms, not duchies (excepting the Duchy of Cornwall and the Duchy of Lancaster ). Dukes in the United Kingdom are addressed as "Your Grace" and referred to as "His Grace". Currently, there are thirty-five dukedoms in
1512-468: A hole in it, I ordered him an Aubusson carpet. When I had no money to pay my bus fare I presented him with a Daimler double-six, upholstered in a style of sober magnificence, and when I felt dull I let him drive it. I can heartily recommend this inexpensive way of furnishing to all who are discontented with their incomes. It relieves the mind and does no harm to anybody. Janet Hitchman, in the preface to Striding Folly , remarks that "Wimsey may have been
1620-632: A mystery on the boat train crossing the English Channel . Sayers disliked the film and James Brabazon describes it as an "oddity, in which Dorothy's contribution was altered out of all recognition." The novel Busman's Honeymoon was originally a stage play by Sayers and her friend Muriel St. Clare Byrne. A 1940 film of Busman's Honeymoon (US: The Haunted Honeymoon ), stars Robert Montgomery and Constance Cummings as Lord and Lady Peter and Seymour Hicks as Bunter. Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order ( DSO )
1728-439: A particularly dangerous and well-organised criminal gang. Only Wimsey's mother and sister and the loyal Bunter know that he remains alive. Emerging victorious after more than a year masquerading as "the disgruntled sacked servant Rogers", Wimsey remarks that "We shall have an awful time with the lawyers, proving that I am me." In fact, he returns smoothly to his old life, and the interlude is never referred to in later books. During
1836-483: A powerful Daimler (for example, a 12-cylinder or "double-six" 1927 Daimler four-seater); he calls these cars "Mrs Merdle" after a character in Charles Dickens 's Little Dorrit who "hated fuss". In the eleventh novel, Busman's Honeymoon , we are told he has owned nine Daimlers with this name. Lord Peter Wimsey's ancestry begins with the 12th-century knight Gerald de Wimsey, who went with King Richard
1944-530: A time when European dictators were openly committing mass murders with impunity; this seems to have reflected Sayers' own wartime feeling. The Wimsey Papers included a reference to Wimsey and Bunter setting out during the war on a secret mission of espionage in Europe, and provide the ironic epitaph Wimsey writes for himself: "Here lies an anachronism in the vague expectation of eternity". The papers also incidentally show that in addition to his thorough knowledge of
2052-426: A womanizer - though a rather gentlemanly and sensitive one. It would have been out of character for him to return Marjorie Phelps' love, and inevitable that he would break her heart - as he must have done to many other women before. But Sayers - a woman writer who had herself experienced disappointments and frustrations in relations with men - evidently decided to take revenge on her character and educate him. Sayers took
2160-701: A young woman named Barbara and became engaged to her. When the First World War broke out, he hastened to join the British Army , releasing Barbara from her engagement in case he was killed or mutilated. The girl later married another, less principled officer. Wimsey served on the Western Front from 1914 to 1918, reaching the rank of major in the Rifle Brigade . He was appointed an intelligence officer , and on one occasion he infiltrated
2268-523: Is " Sable , 3 mice courant, argent; crest, a domestic cat couched as to spring, proper ". The family motto, displayed under its coat of arms, is "As my Whimsy takes me." Lord Peter is the second of the three children of Mortimer Wimsey, 15th Duke of Denver , and Honoria Lucasta Delagardie, who lives on throughout the novels as the Dowager Duchess of Denver. She is witty and intelligent, and strongly supports her younger son, whom she plainly prefers over her less intelligent, more conventional older son Gerald ,
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#17327902166762376-553: Is a military decoration of the United Kingdom , as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth , awarded for operational gallantry for highly successful command and leadership during active operations, typically in actual combat. Since 1993 it has been awarded specifically for "highly successful command and leadership during active operations", with all ranks being eligible. It is a level 2A decoration (order) in
2484-442: Is able to bypass Sugg through his friendship with Scotland Yard detective Charles Parker , a sergeant in 1921. At the end of Whose Body? , Wimsey generously allows Sugg to take completely undeserved credit for the solution; the grateful Sugg cannot go on with his hostility to Wimsey. In later books, Sugg fades away and Wimsey's relations with the police become dominated by his amicable partnership with Parker, who eventually rises to
2592-472: Is able to turn three cartwheels in the office corridor, stopping just short of the boss's open office door ( Murder Must Advertise ). Among Lord Peter's hobbies, in addition to criminology, is collecting incunabula , books from the earliest days of printing. He is an expert on matters of food (and especially wine), male fashion, and classical music. He excels at the piano, including Bach 's works for keyboard instruments. Lord Peter likes driving fast and keeps
2700-547: Is asleep, affectionately calls him a "bloody little fool." In "The Vindictive Story of the Footsteps That Ran", the staunchly democratic Dr. Hartman invites Bunter to sit down to eat together with himself and Wimsey, at the doctor's modest apartment. Wimsey does not object, but Bunter strongly does: "If I may state my own preference, sir, it would be to wait upon you and his lordship in the usual manner". Whereupon Wimsey remarks: "Bunter likes me to know my place". At
2808-535: Is called "Lord" as he is the younger son of a duke . This is a courtesy title ; he is not a peer and has no right to sit in the House of Lords, nor does the courtesy title pass on to any offspring he may have. As a boy, Peter was, to the great distress of his father, strongly attached to an old, smelly poacher living at the edge of the family estate. In his youth, Peter was influenced by his maternal uncle, Paul Delagardie, who took it upon himself to instruct his nephew in
2916-523: Is described as having authored numerous books, among them the following fictitious works: Dorothy Sayers wrote 11 Wimsey novels and a number of short stories featuring Wimsey and his family. Other recurring characters include Inspector Charles Parker, the family solicitor Mr Murbles, barrister Sir Impey Biggs, journalist Salcombe Hardy, and family friend and financial whiz the Honourable Freddy Arbuthnot, who finds himself entangled in
3024-570: Is in continental Europe, acting as an unofficial attaché to the British Foreign Office (at the time of writing, British diplomacy was much concerned with the impending Italian invasion of Ethiopia ). Harriet Vane contacts him about a problem she has been asked to investigate in her college at Oxford ( Gaudy Night ). At the end of their investigation, Vane finally accepts Wimsey's proposal of marriage. The couple marry on 8 October 1935, at St Cross Church, Oxford , as depicted in
3132-478: Is invariably punctilious in using "my lord" even when they are alone, and "his lordship" in company. In a brief passage written from Bunter's point of view in Busman's Honeymoon , Bunter is seen, even in the privacy of his own mind, to think of his employer as "His Lordship". However, in the first book, Whose Body? , when Wimsey experiences a severe First World War flashback, Bunter takes care of him and, once Wimsey
3240-543: Is not in London, but learns from a reporter that she has discovered a corpse while on a walking holiday on England's south coast. Wimsey is at her hotel the next morning. He not only investigates the death and offers proposals of marriage, but also acts as Harriet's patron and protector from press and police. Despite a prickly relationship, they work together to identify the murderer. Back in London in 1932, Wimsey goes undercover as "Death Bredon" at an advertising firm, working as
3348-635: Is the artist Marjorie Phelps, who plays an important role in The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club . She has known Wimsey for years and is attracted to him, though it is not explicitly stated whether they were lovers. Wimsey likes her, respects her, and enjoys her company—but that is not enough. In Strong Poison , she is the first person other than Wimsey himself to realise that he has fallen in love with Harriet. Reviewer Barbara Stanton noted that "Dorothy Sayers had created Peter Wimsey as
Lord Peter Wimsey - Misplaced Pages Continue
3456-477: Is the territory or geopolitical entity ruled by a duke, whereas his title or area is often called a dukedom. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is a fully independent state and its head, the Grand Duke, is a sovereign monarch reigning over his Luxembourgish subjects. The Duke of Cornwall holds both the dukedom (title) and duchy (estate holdings), the latter being the source of his personal income; those living on
3564-632: The British system of military decorations . Instituted on 6 September 1886 by Queen Victoria in a royal warrant published in The London Gazette on 9 November, the first DSOs awarded were dated 25 November 1886. The order was established to reward individual instances of meritorious or distinguished service in war. It was a military order, until recently for officers only and typically awarded to officers ranked major (or equivalent) or higher, with awards to ranks below this usually for
3672-512: The Commonwealth . The following received the DSO and three bars ( i.e., were awarded the DSO four times): Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy , or of a member of royalty , or nobility . As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes , grand dukes , and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked below princes and grand dukes. The title comes from French duc , itself from
3780-603: The Duke of Spoleto and the Duke of Benevento were de facto sovereigns. In 575, when Cleph died, a period known as the Rule of the Dukes , in which the dukes governed without a king, commenced. It lasted only a decade before the disunited magnates, to defend the kingdom from external attacks, elected a new king and even diminished their own duchies to provide him with a handsome royal demesne . The Lombard kings were usually drawn from
3888-594: The House of York , which later fought for the throne with John of Gaunt's Lancastrian descendants during the Wars of the Roses . By 1483, a total of 16 ducal titles had been created: Cornwall, Lancaster, Clarence, Gloucester, York, Ireland , Hereford , Aumale , Exeter , Surrey , Norfolk , Bedford , Somerset , Buckingham , Warwick and Suffolk . Some became extinct, others had multiple creations, and some had merged with
3996-476: The Latin dux , 'leader', a term used in republican Rome to refer to a military commander without an official rank (particularly one of Germanic or Celtic origin), and later coming to mean the leading military commander of a province. In most countries, the word duchess is the female equivalent. Following the reforms of the emperor Diocletian (which separated the civilian and military administrations of
4104-622: The Peerage of England , Peerage of Scotland , Peerage of Great Britain , Peerage of Ireland and Peerage of the United Kingdom , held by thirty different people, as three people hold two dukedoms and two hold three (see List of dukes in the peerages of Britain and Ireland ). All dukedoms in the UK apart from the Duchy of Lancaster are inherited through the male line only, although dukedoms such as Marlborough and Fife (second creation) have passed through
4212-630: The Principality of Achaea , so Robert received Achaea from John in exchange for 5,000 ounces of gold and the rights to the diminished Kingdom of Albania . John took the style of Duke of Durazzo . In 1368, Durazzo fell to Karl Thopia , who was recognized by Venice as Prince of Albania . The Visigoths retained the Roman divisions of their kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula and it seems that dukes ruled over these areas. They were
4320-422: The 16th Duke. Gerald's snobbish wife, Helen, detests Peter. Gerald's son and heir is the devil-may-care Viscount St George. Lady Mary, the younger sister of the 16th Duke, and of Lord Peter, leans strongly to the political left. At one time she planned to elope with a radical left agitator, and though this did not come about she did scandalise Helen by marrying a policeman of working-class origins. Lord Peter Wimsey
4428-490: The 1920s, Wimsey has affairs with various women, which are the subject of much gossip in Britain and Europe. This part of his life remains hazy: it is hardly ever mentioned in the books set in the same period; most of the scant information on the subject is given in flashbacks from later times, after he meets Harriet Vane and relations with other women become a closed chapter. In Busman's Honeymoon Wimsey facetiously refers to
Lord Peter Wimsey - Misplaced Pages Continue
4536-562: The 1990s most, including Canada , Australia and New Zealand , were establishing their own honours systems and no longer recommended British honours. Recipients of the order are officially known as Companions of the Distinguished Service Order, and are entitled to use the post-nominal letters "DSO". All awards are announced in The London Gazette . From 1918 to 2017, the Distinguished Service Order
4644-517: The 19th century, the sovereign dukes of Parma and Modena in Italy, and of Anhalt , Brunswick-Lüneburg , Nassau , Saxe-Coburg-Gotha , Saxe-Meiningen and Saxe-Altenburg in Germany survived Napoleon's reorganization. Since the unification of Italy in 1870 and the end of monarchy in Germany in 1918, there have no longer been any reigning dukes in Europe; Luxembourg is ruled by a grand duke ,
4752-580: The Belgian crown), such as Count of Flanders ( King Leopold III 's so-titled brother Charles held the title when he became the realm's temporary head of state as prince-regent ) and Prince of Liège (a secularised version of the historical prince-bishopric ; e.g. King Albert II until he succeeded his older brother Baudouin I ). When the Christian Reconquista , sweeping the Moors from
4860-484: The Bellona Club (1935), the biography of Wimsey is "brought up to date" by his uncle, Paul Austin Delagardie, purportedly at the request of Sayers herself, further giving the illusion that he is a real person. At this point, Wimsey is claimed to be 45 years old and "time he was settled". The biography takes up the last eight pages of the book and concludes with the statement that Wimsey "has always had everything except
4968-568: The DSO has been open to all ranks, with the award criteria redefined as "highly successful command and leadership during active operations". At the same time, the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross was introduced as the second-highest award for gallantry. Despite some very fierce campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, the DSO has yet to be awarded to a non-commissioned rank. The DSO had also been awarded by Commonwealth countries but by
5076-592: The DSO, worn on the ribbon of the original award. In 1942, the award was extended to officers of the Merchant Navy who had performed acts of gallantry whilst under enemy attack. Prior to 1943, the DSO could be awarded to only commissioned officers of the Lieutenant-Colonel rank and above, for 'meritorious or distinguished service in wartime' under conditions of actual combat. If awarded to an officer ranking below Lieutenant-Colonel, it had to be
5184-603: The Duke and Lady Mary, to whom Parker is attracted. As a result of the slaughter of men in the First World War, there was in the UK a considerable imbalance between the sexes. It is not exactly known when Wimsey recruited Miss Climpson to run an undercover employment agency for women, a means to garner information from the otherwise inaccessible world of spinsters and widows, but it is prior to Unnatural Death (1927), in which Miss Climpson assists Wimsey's investigation of
5292-848: The Fen country in Easter 1930 (in The Nine Tailors ) Wimsey must unravel a 20-year-old case of missing jewels, an unknown corpse, a missing World War I soldier believed alive, a murderous escaped convict believed dead, and a mysterious code concerning church bells. While on a fishing holiday in Scotland later in 1930, Wimsey takes part in the investigation of the murder of an artist, related in Five Red Herrings . Despite her rejection of his marriage proposals, he continues to court Miss Vane. In Have His Carcase , in 1931, he finds Harriet
5400-682: The Lionheart on the Third Crusade and took part in the Siege of Acre . This makes the Wimseys an unusually ancient family, since "Very few English noble families go that far in the first creation; rebellions and monarchic head choppings had seen to that", as reviewer Janet Hitchman noted in the introduction to Striding Folly . The family coat of arms, first mentioned in Gaudy Night ,
5508-531: The Roman provinces), a dux became the military commander in each province. The title dux , Hellenised to doux , survived in the Eastern Roman Empire where it continued in several contexts, signifying a rank equivalent to a captain or general. Later on, in the 11th century, the title Megas Doux was introduced for the post of commander-in-chief of the entire navy. During the Middle Ages
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#17327902166765616-515: The Wimseys have three sons: Bredon Delagardie Peter Wimsey (born in October 1936 in the story "The Haunted Policeman"); Roger Wimsey (born 1938), and Paul Wimsey (born 1940). However, according to the wartime publications of The Wimsey Papers , published in The Spectator , the second son was called Paul. In The Attenbury Emeralds , Paul is again the second son and Roger is the third son. In
5724-613: The case Wimsey undertakes is just to clear his young son of the false accusation of stealing fruit from the neighbour's tree. Though Sayers lived until 1957, she never again took up the Wimsey books after this final effort. Jill Paton Walsh wrote about Wimsey's career through and beyond the Second World War. In the continuations Thrones, Dominations (1998), A Presumption of Death (2002), The Attenbury Emeralds (2010), and The Late Scholar (2014), Harriet lives with
5832-496: The case in the first of the Wimsey books, Whose Body? (1923). Sayers wrote no more Wimsey murder mysteries, and only one story involving him, after the outbreak of World War II . In The Wimsey Papers , a series of fictionalised commentaries in the form of mock letters between members of the Wimsey family published in The Spectator , there is a reference to Harriet's difficulty in continuing to write murder mysteries at
5940-515: The children at Talboys, Wimsey and Bunter have returned successfully from their secret mission in 1940, and his nephew Lord St. George is killed while serving as an RAF pilot in the Battle of Britain . Consequently, when Wimsey's brother dies of a heart attack in 1951 during a fire in Bredon Hall, Wimsey becomes — very reluctantly — the Duke of Denver. Their Graces are then drawn into a mystery at
6048-404: The classics of English literature, Wimsey is familiar — though in fundamental disagreement — with the works of Karl Marx , and well able to debate with Marxists on their home ground. The only occasion when Sayers returned to Wimsey was the 1942 short story "Talboys". The story is set in a quiet rural environment, the war at that time devastating Europe received only a single oblique reference, and
6156-401: The conclusion of Strong Poison , Inspector Parker asks "What would one naturally do if one found one's water-bottle empty?" (a point of crucial importance in solving the book's mystery). Wimsey promptly answers, "Ring the bell", whereupon Miss Murchison, the indefatigable investigator employed by Wimsey for much of this book, comments "Or, if one wasn't accustomed to be waited on, one might use
6264-478: The conscious decision to turn the tables on Wimsey and make him fall deeply in love with a woman who would make him sweat and wait very very long before she finally accepted him". In Strong Poison Lord Peter encounters Harriet Vane , a cerebral, Oxford-educated mystery writer, while she is on trial for the murder of her former lover in December 1929. He falls in love with her at first sight. He saves Harriet from
6372-584: The constituent duchies of the kingdom of Germany at the time of the extinction of the Carolingian dynasty (the death of Louis the Child in 911) and the transitional period leading to the formation of the Holy Roman Empire later in the 10th century. In Anglo-Saxon England, where the Roman political divisions were largely abandoned, the highest political rank beneath that of king was ealdorman , and
6480-480: The crown upon the holder's accession to the throne. When the Plantagenet dynasty came to an end at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485, only four ducal titles remained extant, of which two were now permanently associated with the crown. John de la Pole was Duke of Suffolk and John Howard was Duke of Norfolk (2nd creation), while the duchy of Cornwall was reserved as a title and source of income for
6588-498: The current European monarchies of Belgium, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Other historical cases occurred for example in Denmark, Finland (as a part of Sweden) and France, Portugal and some former colonial possessions such as Brazil and Haiti. In the United Kingdom, a royal duke is a duke who is a member of the British royal family , entitled to the style of " His Royal Highness ". Ducal titles which have been given within
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#17327902166766696-477: The death of the Black Prince, the duchy of Cornwall passed to his nine-year-old son, who would eventually succeed his grandfather as Richard II . The title of Duke of Lancaster was created by Edward III in 1351 for Henry of Grosmont , but became extinct upon the duke's death in 1361. The following year, Edward III bestowed the title (2nd creation) on his fourth son, John of Gaunt , who was also married to
6804-454: The ducal estates are subjects of the British sovereign and owe neither fealty nor services to the duke per se . In Scotland, the male heir apparent to the British crown is always the Duke of Rothesay as well, but this is a dukedom (title) without a duchy. Similarly, the British monarch rules and owns the Duchy of Lancaster as Duke of Lancaster , but it is held separately from the Crown, with
6912-534: The duchy of Holstein , in personal union with the Danish crown, was nonetheless always a German principality. The two duchies jointly became a member of the German Bundesland as " Schleswig-Holstein " in the 19th century. Beginning in the 11th century, Danish kings frequently awarded the title of jarl (earl) or duke of Schleswig to a younger son of the monarch. Short-lived dukedoms were created for
7020-432: The duke pool when the title was not hereditary. The dukes tried to make their own offices hereditary. Beneath them in the internal structure were the counts and gastalds , a uniquely Lombard title initially referring to judicial functions, similar to a count's, in provincial regions. The Franks employed dukes as the governors of Roman provinces, though they also led military expeditions far from their duchies. The dukes were
7128-598: The dukes, who called up the thiufae when necessary. When the Lombards entered Italy, the Latin chroniclers called their war leaders duces in the old fashion. These leaders eventually became the provincial rulers, each with a recognized seat of government. Though nominally loyal to the king, the concept of kingship was new to the Lombards and the dukes were highly independent, especially in central and southern Italy, where
7236-538: The eldest son of the sovereign, and the duchy of Lancaster was now held by the monarch. Norfolk perished alongside Richard III at Bosworth field, and the title was forfeit. It was restored to his son Thomas thirty years later by Henry VIII , as one of a number of dukes created or recreated by the Tudor dynasty over the ensuing century. England's premier ducal title, Norfolk, remains in the Howard family to this day. In
7344-459: The facts of life – how to conduct various love affairs and treat his lovers. Lord Peter was educated at Eton College and Balliol College, Oxford , graduating with a first -class degree in history. He was also an outstanding cricketer, whose performance was still well remembered decades later. Though not taking up an academic career, he was left with an enduring and deep love for Oxford. To his uncle's disappointment, Wimsey fell deeply in love with
7452-419: The female line for one generation under terms of a special remainder for lack of male heirs of the initial grantee. Henrietta, 2nd Duchess of Marlborough and Her Highness Princess Alexandra (HRH Princess Arthur of Connaught), 2nd Duchess of Fife were duchesses in their own right. Both were succeeded in their titles by nephews born by younger sisters of the duchesses. The word duchess is normally only used for
7560-400: The fictional Riddlesdale in North Yorkshire to assist his elder brother Gerald, who has been accused of murdering Captain Denis Cathcart, their sister's fiancé. As Gerald is the Duke of Denver, he is tried by the entire House of Lords, as required by the law at that time , to much scandal and the distress of his wife Helen. Their sister, Lady Mary, also falls under suspicion. Lord Peter clears
7668-435: The first duke's daughter. On the same day Edward III also created his second son, Lionel of Antwerp , as Duke of Clarence . All five of Edward III's surviving sons eventually became dukes. In 1385, ten years after their father's death, his heir Richard II created dukedoms for his last two uncles on the same day. Thomas of Woodstock was named Duke of Gloucester and Edmund of Langley became Duke of York , thereby founding
7776-607: The first ealdormen were referred to as duces (the plural of the original Latin dux ) in the chronicles. The title ealdorman was replaced by the Danish eorl (later earl ) over time. After the Norman conquest , their power and regional jurisdiction was limited to that of the Norman counts . Edward III of England created the first English dukedom by naming his eldest son Edward, the Black Prince , as Duke of Cornwall in 1337. Upon
7884-407: The former Caliphate of Córdoba and its taifa-remnants , transformed the territory of former Suevic and Visigothic realms into Catholic feudal principalities, none of these warlords was exactly styled duke. A few (as Portugal itself ) started as count (even if the title of dux was sometimes added), but soon all politically relevant princes were to use the royal style of king. In Portugal,
7992-424: The gallows, but she believes that gratitude is not a good foundation for marriage, and politely but firmly declines his frequent proposals. Lord Peter encourages his friend and foil, Chief Inspector Charles Parker, to propose to his sister, Lady Mary Wimsey, despite the great difference in their rank and wealth. They marry and have a son, named Charles Peter ("Peterkin"), and a daughter, Mary Lucasta ("Polly"). Visiting
8100-736: The greater Romanization of those provinces. But the titles were basically equivalent. In late Merovingian Gaul, the mayors of the palace of the Arnulfing clan began to use the title dux et princeps Francorum : 'duke and prince of the Franks'. In this title, duke implied supreme military control of the entire nation ( Francorum , the Franks) and it was thus used until the end of the Carolingian dynasty in France in 987. The stem duchies were
8208-511: The highest hereditary title (aside from titles borne by a reigning or formerly reigning dynasty) in Portugal (though now a republic), Spain, and the United Kingdom. In Sweden, members of the royal family are given a personal dukedom at birth. The Pope, as a temporal sovereign, has also, though rarely, granted the title of duke or duchess to persons for services to the Holy See . In some realms
8316-449: The highest-ranking officials in the realm, typically Frankish (whereas the counts were often Gallo-Roman), and formed the class from which the kings' generals were chosen in times of war. The dukes met with the king every May to discuss policy for the upcoming year, the so-called Mayfield . In Burgundy and Provence , the titles of patrician and prefect were commonly employed instead of duke, probably for historical reasons relating to
8424-452: The income of the duchy estates providing the sovereign's Privy Purse . The Channel Islands are two of the three remaining Crown Dependencies , the last vestiges of the lands of the Duchy of Normandy. The Islanders in their loyal toast will say "Le Roi, notre Duc" (The King, Our Duke). Though the title was apparently renounced under the Treaty of Paris in 1259, the Crown still maintains that
8532-474: The infantes or natural sons of the monarch. There are exceptions, such as António José de Ávila , who, although not having any relation to the royal family, was given the title of Duke of Ávila and Bolama in the 19th century. Spanish infantes and infantas are usually given a royal dukedom upon marriage, excepting the heir apparent who is the Prince of Asturias . Those titles are nowadays not hereditary but carry
8640-676: The islands today retain autonomy in government, they owe allegiance to The King in his role as Duke of Normandy." During the Middle Ages , after Roman power in Western Europe collapsed, the title was still employed in the Germanic kingdoms, usually to refer to the rulers of old Roman provinces. The Venetians installed a "Duke of Durazzo" (today Durrës ) during their brief rule over the city and its environs in 1205–1213. In 1332, Robert of Taranto succeeded his father, Philip . Robert's uncle, John , did not wish to do him homage for
8748-540: The most powerful landowners and, along with the bishops, elected the king, usually from their own midst. They were the military commanders and in this capacity often acted independently from the king, most notably in the latter period before the Muslim invasions. The army was structured decimally with the highest unit, the thiufa , probably corresponding to about 1,000 people from each civitas (city district). The cities were commanded by counts, who were in turn answerable to
8856-556: The neighbour's tree. Peter and the accused set off to investigate and, of course, prove Bredon's innocence. Lord Peter has a noted collection of early editions of Dante : it includes, besides the famous Aldine octavo of 1502, the Naples incunabulum of 1477 sine typographo and the Florence incunabulum of 1481 printed by Niccolò di Lorenzo , which in Whose Body? Bunter bought for him at Sir Ralph Brocklebury's auction sale. Wimsey
8964-450: The novel Trent's Last Case , a book which Sayers greatly admired. Many episodes in the Wimsey books express a mild satire on the British class system , in particular in depicting the relationship between Wimsey and Bunter. The two of them seem to be the best and closest of friends, yet Sayers states in the narration of The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club that Charles Parker is "in some ways [Peter's] only intimate friend." Bunter
9072-527: The novels (in Murder Must Advertise and Busman's Honeymoon ) his looks are compared to those of the actor Ralph Lynn . Wimsey also possesses considerable intelligence and athletic ability, evidenced by his playing cricket for Oxford University while taking a First in history (referred to in Gaudy Night ). He creates a spectacularly successful publicity campaign for Whifflet cigarettes while working for Pym's Publicity Ltd, and at age 40
9180-435: The opening collection of letters and diary entries in Busman's Honeymoon . The Wimseys honeymoon at Talboys, a house in east Hertfordshire near Harriet's childhood home, which Peter has bought for her as a wedding present. There they find the body of the previous owner, and spend their honeymoon solving the case, thus having the aphoristic "Busman's Honeymoon". Over the next five years, according to Sayers' short stories,
9288-495: The rank of Commander (and becomes Wimsey's brother-in-law). Bunter, a man of many talents himself, not least photography, often proves instrumental in Wimsey's investigations. However, Wimsey is not entirely well. At the end of the investigation in Whose Body? (1923), Wimsey hallucinates that he is back in the trenches. He soon recovers his senses and goes on a long holiday. In Clouds of Witness (1926), Wimsey travels to
9396-557: The relative status of "duke" and "prince", as titles borne by the nobility rather than by members of reigning dynasties, varied—e.g., in Italy and Germany. A woman who holds in her own right the title to such duchy or dukedom, or is married to a duke, is normally styled duchess. Queen Elizabeth II , however, was known by tradition as Duke of Normandy in the Channel Islands and Duke of Lancaster in Lancashire. A duchy
9504-505: The role of a regular line officer. He was a conscientious and effective commanding officer, popular with the men under his command—an affection still retained by Wimsey's former soldiers many years after the war, as is evident from a short passage in Clouds of Witness and an extensive reminiscence in Gaudy Night . In particular, while in the army he met Sergeant Mervyn Bunter , who had previously been in domestic service . In 1918, Wimsey
9612-398: The royal family include Duke of Cornwall , Duke of Lancaster , Duke of Clarence , Duke of York , Duke of Gloucester , Duke of Bedford , Duke of Cumberland , Duke of Cambridge , Duke of Rothesay , Duke of Albany , Duke of Ross , Duke of Edinburgh , Duke of Kent , Duke of Sussex , and Duke of Connaught and Strathearn . Following his abdication in 1936 the former King Edward VIII
9720-409: The sad ghost of a wartime lover(...). Oxford, as everywhere in the country, was filled with bereaved women, but it may have been more noticeable in university towns where a whole year's intake could be wiped out in France in less than an hour." There is, however, no verifiable evidence of any such World War I lover of Sayers on whom the character of Wimsey might be based. Another theory is that Wimsey
9828-524: The same purpose in Lolland and Halland . After the accession to the throne of Christian I , a complex system of appanages were created for male-line descendants of the king, being granted non-sovereign ducal titles in both Schleswig and Holstein , e.g. Duke of Gottorp , Duke of Sønderborg, Duke of Augustenborg , Duke of Franzhagen, Duke of Beck, Duke of Glücksburg and Duke of Nordborg. This arrangement occurred in both territories despite Schleswig being
9936-541: The staff room of a German officer. Though not explicitly stated, that feat implies that Wimsey spoke a fluent and unaccented German. As noted in Have His Carcase , he communicated at that time with British Intelligence using the Playfair cipher and became proficient in its use. For reasons never clarified, after the end of his spy mission, Wimsey in the later part of the war moved from Intelligence and resumed
10044-408: The subsequent The Late Scholar , Roger is not mentioned at all. It may be presumed that Paul is named after Lord Peter's maternal uncle Paul Delagardie. "Roger" is an ancestral Wimsey name. In Sayers's final Wimsey story, the 1942 short story "Talboys", Peter and Harriet are enjoying rural domestic bliss with their three sons when Bredon, their first-born, is accused of the theft of prize peaches from
10152-591: The suspicious death of an elderly cancer patient. Wimsey's highly effective idea is that a male detective going around and asking questions is likely to arouse suspicion, while a middle-aged woman doing it would be dismissed as a gossip and people would speak openly to her. As recounted in the short story "The Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba", in December 1927 Wimsey fakes his own death, supposedly while hunting big game in Tanganyika , to penetrate and break up
10260-474: The term is not applicable to dukedoms of other nations, even where an institution similar to the peerage (e.g. Grandeeship , Imperial Diet , Hungarian House of Magnates ) existed. During the 19th century, many of the smaller German and Italian states were ruled by dukes or grand dukes. But at present, with the exception of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , there are no dukes ruling as monarchs. Duke remains
10368-425: The things he really wanted, and I suppose he is luckier than most." Wimsey begins his hobby of investigation by recovering The Attenbury Emeralds in 1921. At the beginning of Whose Body? , there appears the unpleasant Inspector Sugg, who is extremely hostile to Wimsey and tries to exclude him from the investigation (reminiscent of the relations between Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Lestrade ). However, Wimsey
10476-493: The title (as Herzog ) signified first among the Germanic monarchies . Dukes were the rulers of the provinces and the superiors of the counts in the cities and later, in the feudal monarchies , the highest-ranking peers of the king. A duke may or may not be, ipso facto , a member of the nation's peerage : in the United Kingdom and Spain all dukes are/were also peers of the realm, in France some were and some were not, while
10584-587: The title is retained: "In 1106, William's youngest son Henry I seized the Duchy of Normandy from his brother Robert; since that time, the English sovereign has always held the title Duke of Normandy ", and that "By 1205, England had lost most of its French lands, including Normandy. However, the Channel Islands, part of the lost Duchy, remained a self-governing possession of the English Crown. While
10692-512: The title of Duke of Suárez in favour of former primer minister Adolfo Suárez in 1981. Since the accession of King Felipe VI to the throne in 2014, no new noble title has been created. The Northern European duchies of Halland , Jutland , Lolland , Osilia and Reval existed in the Middle Ages. The longest-surviving duchy was Schleswig , i.e., Sonderjylland (a portion of which later became part of Germany). Its southern neighbor,
10800-401: The title of duke was granted for the first time in 1415 to infante Peter and infante Henry , the second and third sons of king John I , following their participation in the successful Conquest of Ceuta . Pedro became the first Duke of Coimbra and Henry the first Duke of Viseu . From the reign of king Manuel I , the title of Duke of Beja was given to the second son of the monarch. This
10908-403: The war, Bunter would become Wimsey's valet . Throughout the books, Bunter takes care to address Wimsey as "My Lord". Nevertheless, he is a friend as well as a servant, and Wimsey again and again expresses amazement at Bunter's high efficiency and competence in virtually every sphere of life. After the war, Wimsey was ill for many months, recovering at the family's ancestral home in Duke's Denver,
11016-405: The water from the bedroom jug." George Orwell was highly critical of this aspect of the Wimsey books: "... Even she [Sayers] is not so far removed from Peg's Paper as might appear at a casual glance. It is, after all, a very ancient trick to write novels with a lord for a hero. Where Miss Sayers has shown more astuteness than most is in perceiving that you can carry that kind of thing off
11124-571: The wife of a duke. Dukes of Lancaster are called dukes even when they are female, and by tradition the monarch of the UK, whether male or female, is known in the Channel Islands as the Duke of Normandy. Various royal houses traditionally awarded (mainly) dukedoms to the sons and in some cases, the daughters, of their respective sovereigns; others include at least one dukedom in a wider list of similarly granted titles, nominal dukedoms without any actual authority, often even without an estate. Such titles are still conferred on royal princes or princesses in
11232-584: Was awarded approximately 16,935 times, in addition to 1,910 bars. The figures to 1979 are laid out in the table below, the dates reflecting the relevant entries in the London Gazette : In addition, approximately 90 DSOs were awarded between 1980 and 2017, including awards for the Falklands and the wars in the Gulf , Iraq and Afghanistan , in addition to three bars. The above figures include awards to
11340-457: Was based, at least in part, on Eric Whelpton , who was a close friend of Sayers at Oxford. Ian Carmichael , who played the part of Wimsey in the first BBC television adaptation and studied the character and the books thoroughly, said that the character was Sayers' conception of the 'ideal man', based in part on her earlier romantic misfortunes. Another theory is that Wimsey was based, at least in part, on Philip Trent, created by E. C. Bentley in
11448-461: Was changed during the Liberal regime in the 19th century (with Queen Maria II ), when the first infante (second son of the monarch) got the title of Duke of Porto and the second infante (third son) was known as Duke of Beja. There are examples of duke as a subsidiary title, granted to the most powerful noble houses: Usually, the title of duke was granted to relatives of the royal family, such as
11556-476: Was given the title Duke of Windsor . There are also non-royal dukes in the United Kingdom. In Belgium , the title of Duke of Brabant (historically the most prestigious in the Low Countries , and containing the federal capital Brussels ) is awarded to the heir apparent of the monarch, other dynasts receiving various lower historical titles (much older than Belgium, and in principle never fallen to
11664-435: Was wounded by artillery fire near Caudry in France. He suffered a breakdown due to shell shock (which we now call post-traumatic stress disorder but which was then often thought, by those without first-hand experience of it, to be a species of malingering) and was eventually sent home. While sharing this experience, which the Dowager Duchess referred to as "a jam", Wimsey and Bunter arranged that if they were both to survive
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