Sir Thomas Littleton - Please remove from the "British Peers & Baronets" Project

Sorry Robert, I am not pre-1500 certified. Someone else will have to do that.

Baronets as we know them were invented by James I in 1611, as a means of bringing money into the Royal coffers (they had to pay, handsomely, for the honor).

Sporadic earlier references to "baronets" may be due to confusion with "knights banneret", that is, knights who commanded a following as opposed to knights "bachelor", who were on their own unless they joined a lord's following.