It is more likely to find a good ruler by heredity than by elections (Napoléon Bonaparte).

THE FIRST TOPIC OF THE WEEKS: WHAT IS NOBILITY TODAY ? A NEW DEFINITION:
Nobility has been defined as the hereditary class of people close to the monarch benefiting in old times from several privileges such as participation to the political power, tax exemptions and other exclusive rights.

In the 18^th and 19^th centuries, nobility had to relinquish most of these privileges and in all countries, from Europe to other continents, has retained some political power in several cases, most often in an advisory function. The hereditary feature has been suppressed in most of the European countries and therefore the definition of nobility should be redefined.

Nobility has had several characteristics that are helping this definition:
1° Nobility is a favor granted by the monarch or in rare instances by the upper assembly of a republic (San Marino) or a recognition as descendant in the male line of an immemorial noble person or religious leader;
2° Nobility is not granted by the judiciary; the judiciary can only recognize a situation that has prevailed before but, in no instance, can substitute itself to the discretionary power of the monarch;
3° Nobility, in most instances, gives a new official identity to the noble, meaning that a title, a style or both, sometimes a new name have become part of the official documents pertaining to the noble person: this is the main difference with the awards of knight (chevalier) in most Orders created by the today's countries;
4° Nobility is generally a hereditary favor but not always. Nobility has started in earlier times as a personal award, the title of knight was recognized a personal merit in the Middle Age and in the 20th and 21st centuries, there is a return to nobility ad personam: the descendants in the male line of hereditary nobles are belonging to the nobility while the descendants of non hereditary nobles are not; this is essential since, f.ex. in the United Kingdom, there is a restricted definition of nobility applying only to those who belonged or are belonging to the House of Lords and to the Baronets; obviously, the descendants in the male line of hereditary Lords are belonging to nobility and not the descendants of Life Peers with the exception of their children;
5° A change of family name including f.ex. an add-on estate name held by the family for, say, more than 50 years (France) or a feudal title to a British estate is not equivalent to nobility since these do not depend on the monarch, just on the property sold;
6° Nobility shall not be abolished by a republic or a new constitution: nobility is an intangible right of ownership and may be compared to any right of tangible ownership; any renunciation to nobility shall be considered as a personal renunciation (f.ex. when acquiring U.S. citizenship, whatever the words required) that does not commit the descendants in the male line of any noble person;
7° However, as compared to tangible ownership, nobility shall not be sold: since nobility is a favor or grant of the monarch, the consent of the monarch shall be requested to transfer nobility to an outsider; no monarch, no transfer;
8° In non-European countries, nobility may be either declining, i.e. acquired for a limited number of generations in the male line (China), or recognized to all descendants in the male line of an extraordinary person (f.ex. the descendants of Prophet Muhammad, titled Sayyid, Sayed, Sidi, etc…);
9° In some instances, nobility may be transmitted in the female line (Sicily, Spain ...).

Therefore, the new definition of noble is: a) a person who has received or has been recognized a noble title, style or name by a monarch or by an executive or religious authority that has been empowered to award or recognize such title, style or name, with the general feature of a change of identity in official documents and b) any person, descended from such a person if such title, style or name was awarded or recognized hereditarily, including all the descendants, generally in the male line, who do not inherit the main title.