Grand Duke
The
title Grand Duke (in
Latin,
Magnus Dux; in
Russian,
'еликий князь; in
German,
Großherzog,
Italian Gran Duca; in
French,
Grand-duc; in
Portuguese,
Grão-duque; in
Finnish,
Suurherttua; in
Polish,
Wielki Książe; in
Hungarian,
Nagy Herceg;in
Swedish,
Storhertig; in
Dutch,
Groothertog; in
Danish,
Storhertug, in
Lithuanian,
Didysis Kunigaikštis) used in
Western Europe and particularly in
Germanic countries for provincial sovereigns, is of a protocolary rank below
King but higher than a sovereign
Duke (
Herzog) or
Prince (
Fürst).
The feminine form is
Grand Duchess. A Grand Duke's principality (state or merely titular) is called a
Grand Duchy.
Grand Duke is the usual and established translation of
Grand Prince in languages which do not have separate words meaning
prince for (1) children of a monarch, and (2)
monarch (sovereign or like) princes. English and French use Grand Duke also in this way.
The title Grand Duke as translation of
Grand Prince and the proper title
Grand Duke have clearly different meanings and a separate background. Compare with the article
Grand Prince.
See also Grand DuchyThe proper term of Grand Duke was a later invention, probably originating in Western Europe, to denote a particularly mighty duke, as the title
Duke has until the end of Middle Ages been inflated to belong to rulers of relatively small fiefs (such as a city state or a district), instead of the big provinces it once was attached to.
One of the first examples was the semi-official use of Grand Duke meaning the later Dukes of
Burgundy, i.e in
15th century, when they ruled a portion of East France as well as most of the Netherlands.
Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (ruler 1419-67) assumed the subsidiary, legally void style and title
Grand Duke of the West in 1435, having recently consolidated duchies of Brabant and Limbourg as well as the countships of Holland, Zeeland, Friesland, Hainaut and Namur under his possession. His son and successor
Charles the Bold (ruler 1467-77) continued to use the same style.
Apparently the first monarch ever officially titled Grand Duke was the
Medici sovereigns of
Tuscany beginning from the late
16th century. This official title was granted by
Pope Pius V in
1569, but the lands in question apparently belonged under the vassalage of the
Holy Roman Empire.
Napoleon used to award that title extensively: during his era, several of his allies were allowed to assume the title of Grand Duke, usually at the same time as their inherited fiefs were enlarged by additional lands obtained thanks to being allies of
Napoleon I of France. His conquerors, for example the
Congress of Vienna, consented to yet more uses of the title. Thus, the
19th century saw a new group of monarchs titled Grand Duke all around Central Europe. A list of such is available at
Grand Duchy.
At the same century, the courtesy use of translated Grand Duke, Russia, expanded because of births of several male dynasts, instead of the earlier precarious situations when Russia barely had only one or two to succeed.
The term can be said to originate in
Germany, in a sense that a ruler in the then Germany's western borders was the first to be called so, and that it was a German overlord, the Holy Roman Emperor, whose vassal (however, an Italian) was first granted the official title, however, by the Pope.
The German and Dutch languages, which have separate words for royal prince (
Prinz, Prins) and for sovereign prince (
Fürst, Vorst), mark the Grand Princes of Lithuania, Russian states and other Eastern European as higher princes, as well as the Russian rulers and later princes of the blood, by the terms
Grossfürst, Grootvorst, not
Grossherzog, Groothertog.
The title
Magnus Dux or Grand Duke (
Didysis kunigaikštis in Lithuanian) is said to have been used by the rulers of
Lithuania, and after
Jagiello also became kings of
Poland. From 1573, both the Latin and the Polish equivalent
Wielki Ksiaze, in chief of Lithuania as well as Russia, Prussia, Mazovia, Samogithia, Kiev, Volhynia, Podolia, Podlachia, Livonia, Smolensk, Severia and Chernigov (including hollow claims), were used as part of the respective versions of the full style officially used by the kings (title
Krol) of Poland during the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Polish kings of the Swedish
Vasa dynasty also used the grand-princely title for their non-Polish territory.
In
1582 king
John III of Sweden added
Grand Duke of Finland to the subsidiary titles of the Swedish kings, however without any factual consequences,
Finland already being a part of the Swedish realm.
After the Russian conquests, it continued to be used by the Russian Emperor in his role as ruler of
Lithuania (
1793-
1918) and of
autonomous Finland (
1809-
1917) as well. The
Holy Roman Empire ruling house of
Habsburg instituted a similar
Grand Principality in
Transylvania in
1765.
Grand Princes or
great princes were medieval monarchs which ruled usually several tribes and/or were overlords of other princes. At the time, they were usually treated and translated as
kings. However, grand princes were not as elevated sovereign as later Western kings, and perhaps thus they are treated lower than kings, particularly in later literature.Grand Princes ruled in Central and Eastern Europe, notably among Slavs, Balts and Hungarians.
The title
Grand Prince is
Velikiy Knjaz (
'еликий князь) in Russian. The Slavic word
knjaz and the Baltic
kunigaitis (today translated as Prince) are actually cognates of King. Thus,
Veliki Knjaz was more like "high king" than "grand duke".
These countries developed in a way that the position of the head of the dynasty became more elevated. In such situations, those Monarchs assumed a higher title, such as Tsar or sole King. Grand Prince
Ivan IV of Muscovy was apparently the last monarch to rule without any higher title, until he assumed the style
Tsar of Russia in 1547.
The title Grand Prince (which in many of those lands already was in later
medieval centuries awarded simultaneously to several rulers of the more expanded dynasty) continued, in modern times, as a courtesy title for all or several members of the Russian dynasty, such as the
Grand Duke of Russia (
veliki knjaz) in Russia's imperial era.
The Latin title
dux (the etymological root of
duke), which was phonetically rendered
δουξ in Greek, was a common title for imperial generals in the Late Roman Empires (west and east), but note it was
lower in rank than
Comes (the etymological root of
Count). In the Eastern Empire, a
dux ranked just below a
strategos.
Under the later, exclusively Byzantine
theme system (the new military circonscriptions, becoming more important than the provinces), the commander of a theme was styled a dux.
*The title
Megas Doux, or in latinized spelling
Megas Dux ( Μέγας Δουξ), literally 'Grand duke' (
Megas being the Greek for great, used in front of various styles), occasionally anglicised
Megaduke, first appears in the
Comnenian period, and was conferred upon the commanding admiral of the Byzantine navy, used in the
Byzantine Empire during the
Palaeologian dynasty (
1259-
1453). Among the recipients of this honor was Roger de Flor of the
Catalan Company, who was given the title for his services against the Turks during the reign of
Andronicus II Palaeologus.
By the time
Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks, the office had become virtual chief minister, heading both civil and military administration.
for a fuller account, see Grand Prince"Grand Duke" is the traditional translation of the title
Velikiy Kniaz, which from the
11th century was at first the title of the leading
Prince of
Kievan Rus', then of several princes of the
Rus'. From
1328 the
Velikii Kniaz of
Muscovy appeared as the Grand Duke for "all of Russia" until
Ivan IV of Russia in
1547 was
crowned as
Tsar. Thereafter the title was given to sons and grandsons (through male lines) of the Tsars and Emperors of Russia. The daughters and paternal granddaughters of Russian Emperors, as well as the consorts of Russian Grand Dukes, were generally called "Grand Duchesses" in English.
A more accurate translation of the Russian title would be
Great Prince - especially in the pre-Petrine era - but the term is neither standard nor widely used in English. In German, however, a Russian Grand Duke was known as a
Großfürst, and in
Latin as
Magnus Princeps.
From
1809 to
1917 the Emperor of
Russia was also the
Grand Duke of Finland, a title often rendered imprecisely as Grand Duke of Finland (influenced by French and English usages in 19th century diplomacy and communications), which he held as an autonomous state. Before the Russian conquest Finland had been held by the Swedish kings, first as a
royal duchy, since 1581 with the King assuming the secondary title
Grand Prince of Finland (Finnish:
Suomen suuriruhtinas, Swedish:
Storfurste av Finland), also often mis-rendered as Grand Duke of Finland.
See also:
*
List of Grand Dukes of Russia and
*
List of Grand Duchesses of RussiaTuscany's sovereign obtained in
17th century the status of Royal Highness.
Most often, a reigning Grand Duke or Duchess was
styled Royal Highness. Other members of the families differed in style. Junior members of the
Grand Ducal Family of Luxembourg are also
Royal Highnesses; however, this derives from their status apparently as cadet members of the dethroned royal house of Bourbon-Parma and not from the Grand Ducal title.
In
Hesse-Darmstadt and
Baden, however, junior members of the ruling dynasty bore the style of
Grand Ducal Highness (
Großherzogliche Hoheit). For instance, prior to her marriage, Empress Alexandra of Russia was known as "Her Grand Ducal Highness Princess Alix of Hesse and by the Rhine" (
Ihre Großherzogliche Hoheit Alix Prinzessin von Hessen und bei Rhein).
A Russian Grand Duke or Grand Duchess was an
Imperial Highness.
(incomplete)
*
Geocities.com - Titles of European hereditary rulers - here Finland*
WorldStatesmen- here Finland*
Fürst*
Nobility*
Royal and noble ranks*
Titles of nobility
