banneret and banret

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banneret and banret. By origin, a knight who brought his men into the field under his own banner and who ranked next to a baron. By extension, a title granted for deeds of valour in the field in the presence of the king, who shaped the pennon by cutting off its points. Edward III made John de Copeland a knight banneret for capturing the king of Scotland at Neville's Cross in 1346 and Sir Richard Croft was dubbed by Henry VII after the battle of Stoke in 1487. Though knights banneret took precedence over the new order of baronets established by James I, they died out, partly because, after the civil wars, few kings took the field in person.

J. A. Cannon