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Duke

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Duke is a usually hereditary title of nobility which sometimes referred to the male monarch of certain Continental European principalities, called duchy after his title; in other cases to a nobleman of high rank (e.g. the highest titular rank in France, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Italy (except in Naples, where the title of principe was held to be higher); or to a high rank of nobility in Slavic and central European monarchies. It has also often been borne by cadet princes of reigning dynasties, conferred as an individual title or appanage in Britain, Scandinavia, and Latin Europe, or inherited by right in some German monarchies. A woman who rules a duchy, or is the wife of a duke, is styled duchess.

Contents

History

Originally Dux (Latin for leader) was a title given in Latin to a general commanding a single military expedition and holding no other power than that which he exercised over his soldiers. The designation, first applied to barbaric tribal leaders and various military commanders, became a formal Roman title in the Roman Empire over time. Upon the separation of the civil and military functions in the fourth century the dux became commander of all the troops cantoned in a military territory, often corresponding to one or more Roman provinces; this Roman rank was below the similar Comes rei militaris (the rank of Comes, which also had various court and other civilian uses, survives in the title Count, which is lower in the feudal hierarchy). To avoid the connotations of the modern "dukes", Roman military leaders are usually called duces.

The Germanic Franks converted, under Roman influence, the Germanic concept of Herzog (literally: "war-leader", commonly translated as "duke"), the temporarily elected general for a major expedition of warfare, into military governors for units of up to a dozen counties. In the 7th century these units developed into hereditary clan-duchies of Bavarians, Thuringians, Alemanni, Franks and other Germanic tribes, which Charlemagne crushed in 788, converting the border provinces into margraviates (which however soon emerged as clan-margraviates: Saxony, Bavaria, Swabia, Lorraine...).

The dissolution tendency was counteracted by the appointment of younger sons of the monarchs (royal dukes) as military governors of the important border provinces, which however also soon developed into hereditary duchies and a source of intrigues against the monarch (see for instance: History of Schleswig-Holstein). The medieval dukes had a strong position in the realms they belonged to. Like the margraves, they were responsible for the military defence of an important region, and had strong arguments for retaining the Crown's tax incomes of their duchy to fund their military force.

In early Medieval Italy, the Dukes of Benevento and of Spoleto were independent territorial magnates in duchies originally created by the Lombards.

In the 19th century, the sovereign dukes of Parma and Modena in Italy, and of Anhalt, Brunswick-Lüneburg, Nassau (state), Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Saxe-Meiningen, and Saxe-Altenburg in Germany survived Napoleon's reorganization.

Since the unification of Italy in [1870]] and the end of monarchy in Germany in 1918, there have no longer been any reigning dukes in Europe; Luxembourg is ruled by a grand duke, a higher title, just below King.

The Black Prince was created Duke of Cornwall in 1337. He was the first proper Duke in England.

There were no Anglo-Saxon duchies in the feudal sense, only individual duces; the Middle English duke derives from the Old French duc, which in turn came from the Latin dux/ducis deriving from the verb ducere, meaning "to lead". The Genoese and Venetian elective, 'crowned republican' title "doge" is derived from the same origin.

In the late Roman Empire, dux was a military title. Latin chroniclers applied it to the leaders of Lombard warbands. When this title appeared in the Carolingian empire, stem dukes ruled over non-Frankish nations (dukes of the Alamans, of the Bavarians, of the Aquitans), while counts ruled over a region in the Frankish realm.

In the United Kingdom, the inherited position of a duke along with its dignities, privileges, and rights is a dukedom. However, the title of duke has never been associated with independent rule in the British Isles: they hold dukedoms, not duchies. Dukes in the United Kingdom are addressed as 'Your Grace' and referred to as 'His Grace'. Currently, there are twenty-seven dukedoms in the peerages of England, Scotland, Great Britain, Ireland and the United Kingdom, held by twenty-four different people (see List of Dukes in order of precedence).

Equivalents in other European languages

The second term is the female form, meaning duchess Nearly all derive either from Latin Dux or (especially within the Holy Roman Empire) from German Herzog

Germanic languages

Romance languages Slavic and Baltic languages Other linguistic families

Royal dukes

Various royal houses traditionally awarded (mainly) dukedoms to the sons and in some cases, the daughters, of their respective Sovereigns; others include at least one dukedom in a wider list of similarly granted titles, nominal dukedoms without any actual authority, often even without an estate. Such titles are still conferred on royal princes or princesses in the current European monarchies of Belgium, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Other historical cases occurred for example in Denmark, Finland (as Sweden, in personal union) and France, Portugal and some former colonial possessions such as Brazil and Haiti.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, a royal duke is a duke who is a member of the British Royal Family, entitled to the style of Royal Highness. In the United Kingdom, the current royal dukedoms are Cornwall and Rothesay (both held by the Prince of Wales), York, Edinburgh, Gloucester, and Kent. The former King Edward VIII was created Duke of Windsor after his abdication; however, given its history, that title is unlikely to be revived. With the exceptions of the dukedoms of Cornwall and Rothesay (which can only be held by the eldest son of the Sovereign), these dukedoms are hereditary according to the Letters Patent that created them, which contain the standard remainder "heirs male of his body." The British monarch also holds and is entitled to the revenues of the Duchy of Lancaster, and within the borders of Lancaster is saluted as "The Duke of Lancaster" (even if the monarch is a queen).

Other dukedoms that have often been awarded to members of the British royal family in the past include those of Albany, Cambridge, Clarence, and Cumberland. The dukedoms of Connaught, Kendal, and Sussex have also been royal dukedoms, but more briefly.

The Hanoverians occasionally combined two territorial designations into a single royal dukedom -- for example, the Duke of York and Albany. Other combinations included Cumberland and Strathearn, Clarence and St. Andrews, Kent and Strathearn, Cumberland and Teviotdale, Connaught and Strathearn, and Clarence and Avondale. The idea was often to combine an English title with a Scottish one, emphasizing the unity of the (then new) United Kingdom.

Titles potentially available for future royal dukes include Clarence, Cambridge, Connaught, Kendal, Sussex, Avondale, Strathearn, and Teviotdale. The dukedoms of Albany and Cumberland are not vacant but were suspended in 1917, as their holders were loyal to Germany during World War I; there still exist heirs to these titles who could apply for their restoration. Earl of St. Andrews is now a subsidiary title of the Duke of Kent. Connaught is an unlikely choice because of its Irish origins. There was speculation that Prince Edward would receive a dukedom such as Cambridge or Sussex upon his marriage in 1999, but instead he received the lesser title Earl of Wessex.

In the United Kingdom, there is nothing about the particular dukedom that makes it 'royal'. Rather, these peerages are called "royal dukedoms" because they are held by a member of the royal family who is entitled to the style Royal Highness. Although the term "royal duke" therefore has no official meaning per se, the category "duke of the Blood Royal" was acknowledged as a rank conferring special precedence at court in the unrevoked 20th clause of the . This decree accorded precedence to any peer related by blood to the Sovereign above all others of the same degree within the peerage. The order did not apply within Parliament, nor did it grant precedence above the Archbishop of Canterbury or other great officers of state such as is now enjoyed by royal dukes. But it placed junior dukes of the Blood Royal above the most senior non-royal duke, junior earls of the Blood Royal above the most senior non-royal earl, etc. It did not matter how distantly related to the monarch the peers might be (presumably they ranked among each other in order of succession to the Crown). Although legally "time does not run against the King", so that the 1520 order is theoretically still in effect, in fact the "Blood Royal" clause seems to have fallen into desuetude sometime in the 19th century. Thus peers of the Blood Royal who are not grandchildren of a Sovereign no longer enjoy precedence above other peers.

Under the November 20, 1917, Letters Patent of King George V, the titular dignity of Prince/Princess and the style Royal Highness are restricted to the sons of a Sovereign, the sons of a Sovereign's sons, and the eldest living son of the eldest son of a Prince of Wales. For example, when the current Duke of Gloucester and Duke of Kent are succeeded by their eldest sons, the Earl of Ulster and the Earl of St. Andrews, respectively, those peerages (or rather, the 1928 and 1934 creations of them) will cease to be royal dukedoms, instead the title holders will become ordinary Dukes. The third dukes of Gloucester and Kent will each be styled "His Grace" because as great grandsons of George V, they are not Princes and are not styled HRH. Similarly, upon the death of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught (1850-1942), the third son of Queen Victoria, his only male-line grandson, Alastair Arthur Windsor, Earl of MacDuff (1914-1943), briefly succeeded to his peerages. However, as a duke, the second Duke of Connaught, a male-line great grandson of Queen Victoria, he was simply styled "His Grace".

Addressing British Dukes

Royal Dukes:

Belgium

In Belgium, the title of Duke of Brabant (historically the most prestigious in the Low Countries, and containing the federal capital Brussels), if still vacant, has been awarded preferentially to the eldest son and heir presumptive of the King, other male dynasts receiving various lower historical titles (much older than Belgium, and in principle never fallen to the Belgian crown), such as Count of Flanders (king Leopold III's so-titled brother held the title when he became the realm's temporary head of state as Prince-regent) and Prince of Liège (a secularised version of the historical Prince-bishopric; e.g. the present king Albert II until he succeeded his older brother Baudouin=Boudewijn I)

Denmark

Denmark's kings gave appanages in their twin-duchies of Schleswig-Holstein (now three-fourths of them is part of Germany, but then the Holstein half of it was part of HRE in personal union with Denmark proper) to younger sons and/or their male-line descendants, with a specific though not sovereign title of Duke, e.g. Duke of Gottorp, Duke of Sonderburg, Duke of Augustenborg, Duke of Franzhagen, Duke of Beck, Duke of Glucksburg, and Duke of Norburg.

Spain

Spanish infantes and infantas were usually given a dukedom upon marriage. This title is nowadays not hereditary but carries a grandeza de España. The current royal duchesses are: HRH the Duchess of Badajoz (Infanta Maria del Pilar), HRH the Duchess of Soria (Infanta Margarita) (although she inherited the title of Duchess of Hernani from her cousin and is second holder of that title), HRH the Duchess of Lugo (Infanta Elena) and HRH the Duchess of Palma de Mallorca (Infanta Cristina).

Finland and Sweden

Main article: Dukes of Swedish Provinces.
Sweden had a history of making sons of its Kings real ruling princes of vast duchies, but this ceased in 1622. Title-wise, however, all Swedish princes since 1772, and princesses since 1980, are given a dukedom for life. Currently, there is one duke and three duchesses. The territorial designations of these dukedoms refer to four of the Provinces of Sweden.

In Finland, while a nominal realm in personal union with Sweden, the ducal title herttua was equally reserved for (Swedish) princes of the blood, without actual feudal estates.

France and other former monarchies

See appanage (mainly for the French kingdom) and the list in the geographical section below, which also treats special ducal titles in orders or national significance.

For Portugal, see below

Territory of today's France

The highest precedence in the realm, attached to a feudal territory, was given to the twelve original pairies, which also had a traditional function in the royal coronation, comparable to the German imperial archoffices. Half of them were ducal: three ecclesiastical (the six prelates all ranked above the sixl secular peers of the realm) and three temporal, each time above three counts of the same social estate: The Prince-Bishops with ducal territories among them were: The secular dukes in the peerage of the realm were, again in order of precedence: Other duchies of note include: See also List of French dukedoms

Iberian pensinsula

When the Christian Reconquista, sweeping the Moors from the former caliphate of Cordoba and its taifa-remnants, transformed the territory of former Suevi and Visigothic realms into catholic feudal principalities, none of these war lords was exactly styled Duke, a few (as Portugal itself) started as Count (even if the title of Dux was sometimes added), but soon all politically relevant princes were to use the royal style of King.

Portugal

This list refers only to the royal dukedoms

Spain

No duchies as true politically important principalities, but many domanial or purely titular ones Many hold the court rank of Grande, i.e. Grandee of the realm, which had precedence over all other feudatories. Titles in Spain include (very often a single inheritance includes a whole list of ducal and other titles): Some titles inherited by or conferred on historically important politicians, such as :

Colonial titles

In various Spanish-American viceroyalties (one dukedom in present Chile; in Mexico, in addition to the title Duque de Moctesuma for descendants of the deposed last Aztec ruler of that very name, three: Arion, Atrisco and Regla, all four Spanish grandees; in Panama only Duque de Veragua, also Grande de España; in Peru San Carlos and Buono, again Grandees; in several other Spanish American countries only lower titles were created) and on the Canary Islands

In other colonial empires, notably as victory titles.

Holy Roman Empire

Germany

Although the titled aristocracy of Germany no longer holds a legal rank, nearly all ducal families in West Germany continued to be treated as dynastic (i.e., "royalty") for marital and genealogical purposes after 1918. Some maintain dynastic traditions that are reflected in roles they still play in high society, philanthropy and Germany's version of local "squirearchy".

At first, the highest nobles -de facto at par with several Kings/emperors- were the Dukes of each stem duchy:

Later, the precedence shifted to the prince-electors, the first order amongst the princes of the empire, regardless of the actual title attached to the fief. This college originally included only one Duke, the Duke of Saxony. The ducal title, however, was not limited by primogeniture in the post-medieval era. All descendants in the male line, including females, shared the original title, but each male added as a suffix the name of his inherited domain to distinguish his line from that of other branches. From the 19th century, some cadets of the kingly houses of Bavaria and Wurttemberg, and all those of the grand-ducal houses of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz and Oldenburg, took the ducal prefix as their primary style instead of that of Prince (Prinz).

There were many other duchies, some of them insignificant Kleinstaaterei (petty states):

The Low countries (Netherlands/Belgium/Luxembourg)

Austria

Italy

The earliest territorial titles in Italy rendered as Duke were officially styled Dux in Latin, as they were appointed under Byzantine suzerainty (in the Exarchate of Ravenna), notably in chief of the essentially republican virtual Tyrhenean port cities of Amalfi, Gaeta, Naples until the Germanic takeover by the Italian kingdom of the Longobards.

More conventional feudal dukedoms include:

See also Historical states of Italy
A unique Napoleonic particularity was the creation by decree of 30 March 1806 of a number of duchés grand-fiefs. As the name suggests, these were duchies, but forming an exclusive order of 'great fiefs' (twenty among some 2200 noble title creations), a college nearly comparable in status to the original anciennes pairies in the French kingdom. Since Napoleon I wouldn't go back on the Revolution's policy of abolishing feudalism in France, but didn't want these grandees to fall under the 'majorat' system in France either, he chose to create them outside the French "metropolitan" empire, notably in the following Italian satellite states, and yet all awarded to loyal frenchmen, mainly high military officers:

In the Kingdom of Italy, in personal union with France, personally held by Napoleon I:

In the Principality of Lucca-Piombino, only Massa et Carrara: for Régnier, judge (extinguished 1962); Massa and Carrara were separated from the kingdom of Italy by article 8 of the decree of March 30, 1806 and united to the principality of Lucca-Piombino by another decree of March 30, 1806.

In the Kingdom of Naples :

In the states of Parma and Piacenza, ceded to France by the treaty of Aranjuez of 21 March 1801, shortly before both territories were united to the French Empire on 24 May 1808:

On the Baltic south coast

Elsewhere in Europe

Nordic

Greece

As the Catholic crusaders overran orthodox parts of the Byzantine empire, they installed several crusader states, some of which were of ducal rank: <- any source?? The Venetians styled their elected leaders in their main Greek community(/ies) Doge, according to model at home; Doge of Crete ->.

Byzantines had used the title Dux, still a military office for them, also territory-specifically: Dux of Dyrrhachium, Dux of Thrakesion.

Palaiologos emperors, living under much more feudalized necessities, granted fiefs to some westerners: Duke of Leucadia, Duke of Lemnos.

Sometimes in Italy and other Western countries, the later Byzantine appanages were translated as duchies: Peloponnese, Mistra, Mesembria, Selymbria and Thessalonike. However, as these had Greek holders, they were titled Archon ('magistrate') or Despotes (rather Prince of the blood).

After Greece's post-Ottoman independence as kingdom of the Hellenes, the style of Duke of Sparta was instituted as primogeniture for the royal heir, diadochos, the crown prince of Greece.

Slavic countries

Generally, confusion reigns whether to translate the usual petty ruler titles, knyaz/ knez/ ksiaze etc. as Prince (analogous to the German Fürst) or as Duke;

Post-colonial non-European states

Brazilian empire

In this former Portuguese viceroyalty, ater separation ruled by a branch of the Portuguese royal dynasty (house of Bragança), three dukedoms were created (being its highest ranks for non-members of the imperial dynasty), two of which were for illegitimate sons of the Emperor

Haiti

The royal Christophe dynasty created eight hereditary dukedoms, in rank directly below the nominal princes

Equivalents

The style Duke has, like many high nobility titles, also been used to render non-European styles that are seen, by analogy (there is no etymological or other direct link!), as roughly equivalent, especially in hierarchic aristocracies such as feudal Japan, useful as an indication of relative rank.

China

Under the Manchu (last imperial dynasty), there were ducal titles in both types of titled nobility:

Japan

Korea

Korean titles of nobilty were similar to those in China, with ranks descending by one degree with each succeeding holder of the title. Of the seven main grades Kung (rendered as Duke) was the second, only under Gun Prince, but above Champan Marquis, Poguk Count, Pansoh Viscount Chamise Baron and Chusa (somewhat similar to the British Baronet).

Vietnam

Male members of the Imperial clan received, in addition to a birth right-title by degree of parentage, one of nine senior titles of nobility, of which Quan-Cong Duke was the third, under Vuong King and Quoc-Cong Grand Duke, but above Cong Prince, Hau Marquis, Ba Count, Tu Viscount, Nam Baron and Vinh phong noble.

See also

Sources, references and external links

 

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