It's clear to me what it means to be a king. He is (theoretically) the one guy, in a given area, who doesn't have to answer to anyone else. Most really successful kings ended up having more land than they could effectively handle. They all had friends who were looking for a share after helping out around the kingdom, so the king would start passing out land. We've all heard these titles, some of you might even have an idea as to their relative importance, but are there any rules? I guess it's time to do some research.
Common Titles of Nobility
Duke - Rules a duchy. Traditionally the highest rank of nobility below the monarch. A duchy could be independent and sovereign (ruled by a Grand Duke).
Marquess (or Marquis) - Rules a march, which is on the border of a country (uncommonly conferred in England). Similar to the German Margrave, who was a military leader (non-hereditary) on the border of a kingdom or empire (common in the Holy Roman Empire).
Count - Rules a county. This land is equivalent in size to a march, but on the interior. Confusingly, England was never split up into duchies, so a Duke's largest holding might be a county. In some countries, this was not a hereditary title and referred to a military leader. In France, the count governed a city and its immediate surroundings.
Earl - Rules an earldom (later in England, often called a shire). Previously, those of this title were chieftains in their own right in England and Scandinavia (Jarl). Those men would more properly be styled dukes.
Viscount - Rules a viscountship or viscounty. First recorded in 14th C England. These might be the vassals to a count or rule a county whose title is held by the king. A king's viscounts were non-hereditary and equivalent to a sheriff (earlier: shire-reeve).
Baron - Rules a barony. Lowest title in the peerage. Could be a direct vassal to a king or to one of the above ranks.
Baronet - Rules a baronetcy. Hereditary, but not a noble (called, sir). Many were created as a fundraising measure for the English crown.
Knight - we don't have to go through this now, do we?
The above hierarchy is based on the modern English peerage (those down through the rank of Baron count as lords). Lords could hold more than one title, though would naturally style themselves after the most impressive. Basically, the size of the holding would decrease as you go down the list. The trick is, depending on local rules, these lands could remain individual holdings or be subdivided by the landholder to create another tier of vassalage. Consequently, there might be a county or two within the confines of a duchy, and so on, making map-reading interesting.
A monarch bestowing a title did not always bestow the rights we expect in a feudal society. As mentioned above, some titles were not hereditary. In addition, some titles were granted without rights to the land generally associated (you might have a dukedom, but not a duchy). Some were originally military titles or simply conveyed the esteem in which the monarch held you. Some titles were for sale (most in essence, though some formally) to grant position in polite society. As times change, so do values.
Basically, what I've found is that my list of titles above is correct in a certain place at a certain time (and good enough for Fantasy purposes). Every country was/is different. It's a strong guideline if you want to create your own ruling elite, being a reliable list of technically, "who bows to who." It's important to remember that size does not always relate to quality in holdings, so a Baron might be richer than a Duke (especially if that Duke has vassals who take a cut), just as a Duke may be richer than his King. Holdings may also vary in size from country to country (there seems to be no real standard for that).
Much like Feudalism, titles of nobility did not originate as a whole concept. They evolved. Titles became what rulers needed them to be at the time. Some began as simple honorifics and later represented holdings, others did the reverse. This history is a dense tangle of shifting allegiances and constant power struggles that we try to piece together from diaries and ledgers. Some days I'm extremely happy to be a Fantasy writer, which means that everything is allowed, as long as you're consistent.
Note: while I use the English versions of the titles, the wiki has listings translated to a fair number of countries.
British Nobility wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_nobility
Nobility in France - http://www.heraldica.org/topics/france/noblesse.htm
various wiki articles
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