57-545: Several palaces are named Ducal Palace (Italian: Palazzo Ducale [paˈlattso duˈkaːle] ) because it was the seat or residence of a duke . Notable palaces with the name include: Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy , or of a member of royalty , or nobility . As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes , grand dukes , and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked below princes and grand dukes. The title comes from French duc , itself from
114-400: A grandeeship of Spain . The current royal duchesses are Infanta Margarita, Duchess of Soria (although she inherited the title of Duchess of Hernani from her cousin and is the second holder of the title), and Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo . In Spain all dukes hold the court rank of grandee, which has precedence over all other noble titles. The last non-royal hereditary dukedom created was
171-646: A distinct and even likely possibility in the future after the passage of the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 ), she cannot become Duchess of Rothesay. The eldest son of the British Sovereign, as Duke of Rothesay, had the right to vote in elections for Scottish representative peers from 1707. (The 1707 Acts of Union between the Parliament of Scotland and Parliament of England formally unified both kingdoms to create
228-521: A fief of Denmark and Holstein being a fief of the Holy Roman Empire . Key parts of Finland were sometimes under a Duke of Finland during the Swedish reign (until 1809). Some of the provinces are still considered duchies for the purposes of heraldry. In Norway, Skule Bårdsson was first jarl in 1217, and as such got responsibility for the army, and then in 1237, as another attempt at compromise, Skule
285-647: A higher title, just below king. 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 (excepting the Duchy of Cornwall and the Duchy of Lancaster ). Dukes in the United Kingdom are addressed as "Your Grace" and referred to as "His Grace". Currently, there are thirty-five dukedoms in
342-599: A rebellion. In 1540 James V of Scotland granted the Lordship to the heirs apparent to the Crown. An Act of the Parliament of Scotland passed in 1469 governs the succession to most of these titles. It provides that "the first-born Prince of the King of Scots for ever" should hold the dukedom. If the firstborn Prince dies before the King, the title is not inherited by his heir – it is only for
399-505: Is the current Duchess of Rothesay. David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay , the son of Robert III of Scotland , first held the dukedom from its creation in 1398. After his death, his brother James , later King James I, received the dukedom. Thereafter, the heir apparent to the Scottish Crown held the dukedom; an Act of the Parliament of Scotland passed in 1469 confirmed this pattern of succession. The Earldom of Carrick existed as early as
456-499: Is the main dynastic title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the Scottish and, later, British thrones. The dukedom was created in 1398 by Robert III of Scotland for his eldest son. Duke of Rothesay is the title mandated for use by the heir apparent when in Scotland , in preference to the titles Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall , which are used in the rest of
513-471: Is the territory or geopolitical entity ruled by a duke, whereas his title or area is often called a dukedom. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is a fully independent state and its head, the Grand Duke, is a sovereign monarch reigning over his Luxembourgish subjects. The Duke of Cornwall holds both the dukedom (title) and duchy (estate holdings), the latter being the source of his personal income; those living on
570-591: The Duke of Spoleto and the Duke of Benevento were de facto sovereigns. In 575, when Cleph died, a period known as the Rule of the Dukes , in which the dukes governed without a king, commenced. It lasted only a decade before the disunited magnates, to defend the kingdom from external attacks, elected a new king and even diminished their own duchies to provide him with a handsome royal demesne . The Lombard kings were usually drawn from
627-582: The House of York , which later fought for the throne with John of Gaunt's Lancastrian descendants during the Wars of the Roses . By 1483, a total of 16 ducal titles had been created: Cornwall, Lancaster, Clarence, Gloucester, York, Ireland , Hereford , Aumale , Exeter , Surrey , Norfolk , Bedford , Somerset , Buckingham , Warwick and Suffolk . Some became extinct, others had multiple creations, and some had merged with
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#1732851079388684-700: The Kingdom of Great Britain .) This right continued until 1963, when the UK Parliament abolished the election of representative peers. Holders of the Dukedom of Rothesay, with the processes by which they became dukes of Rothesay and by which they ceased to hold the title: Since 2022 William, Prince of Wales , has held the title of Duke of Rothesay, and uses it when in Scotland. He has the formal Scottish style of HRH The Prince William, Duke of Rothesay . The personal arms of
741-472: The Latin dux , 'leader', a term used in republican Rome to refer to a military commander without an official rank (particularly one of Germanic or Celtic origin), and later coming to mean the leading military commander of a province. In most countries, the word duchess is the female equivalent. Following the reforms of the emperor Diocletian (which separated the civilian and military administrations of
798-610: The Peerage of England , Peerage of Scotland , Peerage of Great Britain , Peerage of Ireland and Peerage of the United Kingdom , held by thirty different people, as three people hold two dukedoms and two hold three (see List of dukes in the peerages of Britain and Ireland ). All dukedoms in the UK apart from the Duchy of Lancaster are inherited through the male line only, although dukedoms such as Marlborough and Fife (second creation) have passed through
855-612: The Principality of Achaea , so Robert received Achaea from John in exchange for 5,000 ounces of gold and the rights to the diminished Kingdom of Albania . John took the style of Duke of Durazzo . In 1368, Durazzo fell to Karl Thopia , who was recognized by Venice as Prince of Albania . The Visigoths retained the Roman divisions of their kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula and it seems that dukes ruled over these areas. They were
912-612: The preceding Duke were bestowed upon him in 1974 by the Queen. The escutcheon features on the 1st and 4th quarters the arms of the Great Steward of Scotland , with the 2nd and 3rd quarters featuring the arms of the Lord of the Isles . The arms of the current Duke are distinguished from those of Clan Stewart of Appin through the addition of an inescutcheon displaying the arms of the heir apparent to
969-574: The 12th century. In 1306, Robert the Bruce, Earl of Carrick, became King Robert I of Scotland , with the earldom merging in the Crown. In the following years, successive Kings of Scotland created several heirs apparent Earl of Carrick. The Act of 1469 finally settled the earldom on the eldest son of the Scottish monarch. The office of the Great Steward of Scotland (also called High Steward or Lord High Steward) dates back to its first holder, Walter fitz Alan , in
1026-411: The 12th century. The seventh Great Steward, Robert, ascended the Scottish throne as Robert II in 1371. Thereafter, only the heirs apparent to the Crown held the office. The 1469 Act also deals with this. Between the 1603 union of the crowns and Edward VII 's time as heir apparent, the style "Duke of Rothesay" appears to have dropped out of usage in favour of "Prince of Wales". Queen Victoria mandated
1083-557: The 19th century, the sovereign dukes of Parma and Modena in Italy, and of Anhalt , Brunswick-Lüneburg , Nassau , 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 ,
1140-562: The Belgian crown), such as Count of Flanders ( King Leopold III 's so-titled brother Charles 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. King Albert II until he succeeded his older brother Baudouin I ). When the Christian Reconquista , sweeping the Moors from
1197-516: The Roman provinces), a dux became the military commander in each province. The title dux , Hellenised to doux , survived in the Eastern Roman Empire where it continued in several contexts, signifying a rank equivalent to a captain or general. Later on, in the 11th century, the title Megas Doux was introduced for the post of commander-in-chief of the entire navy. During the Middle Ages
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#17328510793881254-579: The Scottish, or Norwegian, kings who ruled the Western Isles . The ambitious John MacDonald II, fourth Lord of the Isles, made a secret treaty in 1462 with King Edward IV of England, by which he sought to make himself an independent ruler. In 1475, James III discovered the Lord of the Isles' actions, and the Lordship became subject to forfeiture. MacDonald later regained his position, but James IV again deprived him of his titles in 1493 after his nephew provoked
1311-462: The United Kingdom and overseas. The title is named after Rothesay on the Isle of Bute , but is not associated with any legal entity or landed property. The Duke of Rothesay also holds other Scottish titles, including Earl of Carrick , Baron of Renfrew , Lord of the Isles , and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland . The current holder of the title is William, Prince of Wales , and his wife, Catherine ,
1368-566: The constituent duchies of the kingdom of Germany at the time of the extinction of the Carolingian dynasty (the death of Louis the Child in 911) and the transitional period leading to the formation of the Holy Roman Empire later in the 10th century. In Anglo-Saxon England, where the Roman political divisions were largely abandoned, the highest political rank beneath that of king was ealdorman , and
1425-522: The crown upon the holder's accession to the throne. When the Plantagenet dynasty came to an end at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485, only four ducal titles remained extant, of which two were now permanently associated with the crown. John de la Pole was Duke of Suffolk and John Howard was Duke of Norfolk (2nd creation), while the duchy of Cornwall was reserved as a title and source of income for
1482-542: The current European monarchies of Belgium, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Other historical cases occurred for example in Denmark, Finland (as a part of Sweden) and France, Portugal and some former colonial possessions such as Brazil and Haiti. In the United Kingdom, a royal duke is a duke who is a member of the British royal family , entitled to the style of " His Royal Highness ". Ducal titles which have been given within
1539-471: The death of the Black Prince, the duchy of Cornwall passed to his nine-year-old son, who would eventually succeed his grandfather as Richard II . The title of Duke of Lancaster was created by Edward III in 1351 for Henry of Grosmont , but became extinct upon the duke's death in 1361. The following year, Edward III bestowed the title (2nd creation) on his fourth son, John of Gaunt , who was also married to
1596-452: The ducal estates are subjects of the British sovereign and owe neither fealty nor services to the duke per se . In Scotland, the male heir apparent to the British crown is always the Duke of Rothesay as well, but this is a dukedom (title) without a duchy. Similarly, the British monarch rules and owns the Duchy of Lancaster as Duke of Lancaster , but it is held separately from the Crown, with
1653-522: The duchy of Holstein , in personal union with the Danish crown, was nonetheless always a German principality. The two duchies jointly became a member of the German Bundesland as " Schleswig-Holstein " in the 19th century. Beginning in the 11th century, Danish kings frequently awarded the title of jarl (earl) or duke of Schleswig to a younger son of the monarch. Short-lived dukedoms were created for
1710-432: The duke pool when the title was not hereditary. The dukes tried to make their own offices hereditary. Beneath them in the internal structure were the counts and gastalds , a uniquely Lombard title initially referring to judicial functions, similar to a count's, in provincial regions. The Franks employed dukes as the governors of Roman provinces, though they also led military expeditions far from their duchies. The dukes were
1767-584: The dukes, who called up the thiufae when necessary. When the Lombards entered Italy, the Latin chroniclers called their war leaders duces in the old fashion. These leaders eventually became the provincial rulers, each with a recognized seat of government. Though nominally loyal to the king, the concept of kingship was new to the Lombards and the dukes were highly independent, especially in central and southern Italy, where
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1824-530: The eldest son of the sovereign, and the duchy of Lancaster was now held by the monarch. Norfolk perished alongside Richard III at Bosworth field, and the title was forfeit. It was restored to his son Thomas thirty years later by Henry VIII , as one of a number of dukes created or recreated by the Tudor dynasty over the ensuing century. England's premier ducal title, Norfolk, remains in the Howard family to this day. In
1881-419: The female line for one generation under terms of a special remainder for lack of male heirs of the initial grantee. Henrietta, 2nd Duchess of Marlborough and Her Highness Princess Alexandra (HRH Princess Arthur of Connaught), 2nd Duchess of Fife were duchesses in their own right. Both were succeeded in their titles by nephews born by younger sisters of the duchesses. The word duchess is normally only used for
1938-435: The first duke's daughter. On the same day Edward III also created his second son, Lionel of Antwerp , as Duke of Clarence . All five of Edward III's surviving sons eventually became dukes. In 1385, ten years after their father's death, his heir Richard II created dukedoms for his last two uncles on the same day. Thomas of Woodstock was named Duke of Gloucester and Edmund of Langley became Duke of York , thereby founding
1995-595: The first ealdormen were referred to as duces (the plural of the original Latin dux ) in the chronicles. The title ealdorman was replaced by the Danish eorl (later earl ) over time. After the Norman conquest , their power and regional jurisdiction was limited to that of the Norman counts . Edward III of England created the first English dukedom by naming his eldest son Edward, the Black Prince , as Duke of Cornwall in 1337. Upon
2052-461: The firstborn son, like the Duchy of Cornwall – nor is either inherited by the deceased duke's next brother, unless that brother also becomes heir apparent. Though the Act specified "King", eldest sons of queens regnant subsequently also held the dukedom. The interpretation of the word Prince , however, does not include women. Therefore, in the event of an heiress presumptive or heiress apparent (this being
2109-407: The former Caliphate of Córdoba and its taifa-remnants , transformed the territory of former Suevic and Visigothic realms into Catholic feudal principalities, none of these warlords 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. In Portugal,
2166-713: The greater Romanization of those provinces. But the titles were basically equivalent. In late Merovingian Gaul, the mayors of the palace of the Arnulfing clan began to use the title dux et princeps Francorum : 'duke and prince of the Franks'. In this title, duke implied supreme military control of the entire nation ( Francorum , the Franks) and it was thus used until the end of the Carolingian dynasty in France in 987. The stem duchies were
2223-501: The highest hereditary title (aside from titles borne by a reigning or formerly reigning dynasty) in Portugal (though now a republic), Spain, and the United Kingdom. In Sweden, members of the royal family are given a personal dukedom at birth. The Pope, as a temporal sovereign, has also, though rarely, granted the title of duke or duchess to persons for services to the Holy See . In some realms
2280-449: The highest-ranking officials in the realm, typically Frankish (whereas the counts were often Gallo-Roman), and formed the class from which the kings' generals were chosen in times of war. The dukes met with the king every May to discuss policy for the upcoming year, the so-called Mayfield . In Burgundy and Provence , the titles of patrician and prefect were commonly employed instead of duke, probably for historical reasons relating to
2337-448: The income of the duchy estates providing the sovereign's Privy Purse . The Channel Islands are two of the three remaining Crown Dependencies , the last vestiges of the lands of the Duchy of Normandy. The Islanders in their loyal toast will say "Le Roi, notre Duc" (The King, Our Duke). Though the title was apparently renounced under the Treaty of Paris in 1259, the Crown still maintains that
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2394-470: The infantes or natural sons of the monarch. There are exceptions, such as António José de Ávila , who, although not having any relation to the royal family, was given the title of Duke of Ávila and Bolama in the 19th century. Spanish infantes and infantas are usually given a royal dukedom upon marriage, excepting the heir apparent who is the Prince of Asturias . Those titles are nowadays not hereditary but carry
2451-664: The islands today retain autonomy in government, they owe allegiance to The King in his role as Duke of Normandy." During the Middle Ages , after Roman power in Western Europe collapsed, the title was still employed in the Germanic kingdoms, usually to refer to the rulers of old Roman provinces. The Venetians installed a "Duke of Durazzo" (today Durrës ) during their brief rule over the city and its environs in 1205–1213. In 1332, Robert of Taranto succeeded his father, Philip . Robert's uncle, John , did not wish to do him homage for
2508-536: The most powerful landowners and, along with the bishops, elected the king, usually from their own midst. They were the military commanders and in this capacity often acted independently from the king, most notably in the latter period before the Muslim invasions. The army was structured decimally with the highest unit, the thiufa , probably corresponding to about 1,000 people from each civitas (city district). The cities were commanded by counts, who were in turn answerable to
2565-544: The relative status of "duke" and "prince", as titles borne by the nobility rather than by members of reigning dynasties, varied—e.g., in Italy and Germany. A woman who holds in her own right the title to such duchy or dukedom, or is married to a duke, is normally styled duchess. Queen Elizabeth II , however, was known by tradition as Duke of Normandy in the Channel Islands and Duke of Lancaster in Lancashire. A duchy
2622-398: The royal family include Duke of Cornwall , Duke of Lancaster , Duke of Clarence , Duke of York , Duke of Gloucester , Duke of Bedford , Duke of Cumberland , Duke of Cambridge , Duke of Rothesay , Duke of Albany , Duke of Ross , Duke of Edinburgh , Duke of Kent , Duke of Sussex , and Duke of Connaught and Strathearn . Following his abdication in 1936 the former King Edward VIII
2679-519: The same purpose in Lolland and Halland . After the accession to the throne of Christian I , a complex system of appanages were created for male-line descendants of the king, being granted non-sovereign ducal titles in both Schleswig and Holstein , e.g. Duke of Gottorp , Duke of Sønderborg, Duke of Augustenborg , Duke of Franzhagen, Duke of Beck, Duke of Glücksburg and Duke of Nordborg. This arrangement occurred in both territories despite Schleswig being
2736-468: The term is not applicable to dukedoms of other nations, even where an institution similar to the peerage (e.g. Grandeeship , Imperial Diet , Hungarian House of Magnates ) existed. During the 19th century, many of the smaller German and Italian states were ruled by dukes or grand dukes. But at present, with the exception of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , there are no dukes ruling as monarchs. Duke remains
2793-488: The title (as Herzog ) signified first among the Germanic monarchies . Dukes were the rulers of the provinces and the superiors of the counts in the cities and later, in the feudal monarchies , the highest-ranking peers of the king. A duke may or may not be, ipso facto , a member of the nation's peerage : in the United Kingdom and Spain all dukes are/were also peers of the realm, in France some were and some were not, while
2850-482: The title for use to refer to the eldest son and heir apparent when in Scotland, and this usage has continued since. This may have been as a result, direct or indirect, of the 1822 visit of King George IV to Scotland . Another of the non-peerage titles belonging to the heir apparent, that of Lord of the Isles , merits special mention. The Lords of the Isles, of the MacDonald family, originally functioned as vassals of
2907-568: The title is retained: "In 1106, William's youngest son Henry I seized the Duchy of Normandy from his brother Robert; since that time, the English sovereign has always held the title Duke of Normandy ", and that "By 1205, England had lost most of its French lands, including Normandy. However, the Channel Islands, part of the lost Duchy, remained a self-governing possession of the English Crown. While
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#17328510793882964-506: The title of Duke of Suárez in favour of former primer minister Adolfo Suárez in 1981. Since the accession of King Felipe VI to the throne in 2014, no new noble title has been created. The Northern European duchies of Halland , Jutland , Lolland , Osilia and Reval existed in the Middle Ages. The longest-surviving duchy was Schleswig , i.e., Sonderjylland (a portion of which later became part of Germany). Its southern neighbor,
3021-401: The title of duke was granted for the first time in 1415 to infante Peter and infante Henry , the second and third sons of king John I , following their participation in the successful Conquest of Ceuta . Pedro became the first Duke of Coimbra and Henry the first Duke of Viseu . From the reign of king Manuel I , the title of Duke of Beja was given to the second son of the monarch. This
3078-618: The wife of a duke. Dukes of Lancaster are called dukes even when they are female, and by tradition the monarch of the UK, whether male or female, is known in the Channel Islands as the Duke of Normandy. 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
3135-456: Was changed during the Liberal regime in the 19th century (with Queen Maria II ), when the first infante (second son of the monarch) got the title of Duke of Porto and the second infante (third son) was known as Duke of Beja. There are examples of duke as a subsidiary title, granted to the most powerful noble houses: Usually, the title of duke was granted to relatives of the royal family, such as
3192-576: Was given the first Norwegian title of duke ( hertug ). There is no indication that those two titles meant the same thing, or was mixed. He was first jarl , and then also hertug , but after he became hertug he kept the title jarl . Sweden has a history of making the sons of its kings ruling princes of vast duchies, but this ceased in 1622. Only one non-royal person was ever given a dukedom. Duke of Rothesay Duke of Rothesay ( / ˈ r ɒ θ s i / ROTH -see ; Scottish Gaelic : Diùc Baile Bhòid ; Scots : Duik o Rothesay )
3249-469: Was given the title Duke of Windsor . There are also non-royal dukes in the United Kingdom. In Belgium , the title of Duke of Brabant (historically the most prestigious in the Low Countries , and containing the federal capital Brussels ) is awarded to the heir apparent of the monarch, other dynasts receiving various lower historical titles (much older than Belgium, and in principle never fallen to
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