 The baron had no feudal superior but the king, and thus the king's court was the appropriate place for attendance by the barons, collectively forming the baronage.Eventually the duties of the executive office of earldom became redundant, being absorbed by the sheriff, and the title of earl became in itself a title of nobility above that of baron, yet the baronage remained the collective term for both degrees, since earls continued nonetheless to hold their lands .Possession of a barony was thus the common factor of the baronage.