honour

honour, a word with various meanings all of which derive ultimately from the Latin honos or honor. This Latin word meant: (1) esteem or repute; (2) concrete marks of that esteem, such as rewards or ceremonies; and (3) public offices, as in the expression cursus honorum, the course or career of a Roman magistrate from lesser functions toward the consulate. Hence the word honour came to mean the respect, esteem, or deference paid to, or received by, a person in consideration of that individual’s character, worth, or position. The word is also commonly used to describe the dignities, distinctions, or titles granted as a mark of such esteem or as a reward for services or merit, and quite generally of the credit or renown conferred by a person or thing on the country, town, or particular society.

Various special senses of the word came to be applied based on the specific environment, although many of these fell out of use over time. Thus, “a woman’s honour” was long regarded as a reputation for chastity or marital fidelity, but by the early 20th century the very concept had become the subject of comedy, such as in Susan Glaspell’s farce A Woman’s Honor (1918). An “affair of honour” was a euphemism for a duel as well as the events leading up to it. In the Middle Ages and later, “courts of honour” were official bodies—typically military in nature—convened to consider disputes that might have given rise to a duel; these courts also settled disagreements over the marks of honour such as precedence or coats of arms. “Debts of honour” are financial obligations that cannot be legally enforced, such as gambling debts, that convention requires must be paid if the individual is to maintain his or her standing in the community. The Honours List in Great Britain is the list of new recipients of peerages, baronetcies, knighthoods, or orders, published twice annually, on the sovereign’s birthday and at the New Year. Under feudalism the word honour was also used to mean a fief or benefice, whether land, money, or a public office.

Honour is invoked in the British House of Lords when members sit to try a fellow peer on a criminal charge or at an impeachment. When addressing the question of whether the accused is guilty or not, each peer, rising in place and in turn, covers his or her heart with the right hand and returns a verdict “upon my honour.” As a title of address, “your honour” is applied to all judges in the United States and many Commonwealth countries, while in the United Kingdom the term is only used to address county court judges. In university or other examinations, those who have won particular distinction or who have undergone with success an examination of a standard higher than that required for a “pass” degree, are said to have passed “with honours” or to have matriculated with an “honours degree.” In many games of cards the ace, king, queen and knave (jack) of trumps are the “honours.”

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Funeral or military honours are rendered to a dead officer, soldier, or head of state or government. The usual features of such a burial are as follows: at every stage of transport, the body of the deceased is received with honours by troops standing at attention and saluting. During the procession to the grave site, the coffin is carried on a gun carriage and attended by an honour guard. The coffin is covered by the national flag, upon which rests the soldier’s helmet, sword, or bayonet. If the deceased had been a mounted soldier, a riderless horse follows with the boots reversed in the stirrups. In the United States, the appearance of a riderless horse in a cortege is most often associated with the funeral of a president, a tradition that dates to the death of Abraham Lincoln. Three volleys are fired over the grave after committal, and “last post” or another call is sounded on bugles or a roll on the drums is given. The national flag is then folded, and in some cases three spent shells from the rifle salute are placed inside before the flag is passed to the deceased’s next of kin.

A military force is said to be accorded the “honours of war” when, after a specially honourable defense, it has surrendered its post and is permitted by the terms of capitulation to march out with colours flying, bands playing, and under arms, while retaining possession of its field artillery and baggage. The force remains free to act as combatants for the remainder of the war, without waiting for exchange or being considered as prisoners. Usually some point is named to which the surrendering troops must be conveyed before recommencing hostilities. During the Peninsular War, at the Convention of Cintra (1808), the French army under Andoche Junot was conveyed to France by British transports before being free to rejoin the combatant troops in the peninsula. By far the most usual case of the granting of the honours of war is in connection with the surrender of a fortress. Historic examples include the surrender of Lille by Louis-François, duc de Boufflers, to Prince Eugene in 1708, that of Huningen by Gen. Joseph Barbanègre to the Austrians in 1815, and that of Belfort by Col. P. Denfert Rochereau to the Germans in 1871. During World War II, after Gen. Jean-Baptiste Molinié’s spirited defense of Lille in May–June 1940, German Gen. Kurt Waeger accorded the French defenders the honours of war.

In English law the term honour is used of a seigniory of several manors held under one baron or lord paramount. The formation of such lordships dates back to the Anglo-Saxon period, when jurisdiction was frequently given in the case of a group of estates lying close together. The system was encouraged by the Norman lords, as tending to strengthen the principles of feudal law, but the legislation of Henry II, which increased the power of the central administration, undoubtedly tended to discourage the creation of new honours. Frequently, they escheated to the crown, retaining their corporate existence and their jurisdictions. They then either remained in the possession of the king or were regranted, diminished in extent. Although an honour contained several manors, one court day was held for all.