Duke

The term duke is a title of nobility which refers to the sovereign male ruler of a Continental European duchy, to a nobleman of the highest grade of the British peerage, or to the highest rank of nobility in various other European countries, including Portugal, Spain and France (in Italy, principe is held to be the highest grade). The wife of a duke, or a woman who rules a duchy, is known as a duchess.

History

Dux was a title given by the Romans to a general commanding a single military expedition and holding no other power than that which he exercised over his soldiers. The designation first arose in the early part of the second century AD. Upon the separation of the civil and military functions in the fourth century the dux became commander of all the troops cantoned in a single province. To avoid the connotations of the modern "dukes", Roman military leaders are usually called duces.

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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...).

Related Topics:
Germanic - Franks - Roman - Governor - Counties - 7th century - Clan - Tribe - Charlemagne - 788 - Margraviate - Saxony - Bavaria - Swabia - Lorraine

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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.

Related Topics:
Monarch - History of Schleswig-Holstein - Crown - Tax

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

Related Topics:
Benevento - Spoleto

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

Related Topics:
Parma - Modena - Italy - Brunswick-Lüneburg - Anhalt - Saxe-Coburg-Gotha - Saxe-Meiningen - Saxe-Altenburg - Germany

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Since the unification of Italy in the 1870, there have no longer been any sovereign duchies in Europe, for Luxembourg is a grand duchy.

Related Topics:
1870 - Luxembourg - Grand duchy

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

Related Topics:
Black Prince - Duke of Cornwall - 1337 - England

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There were no Anglo-Saxon dukes; 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 title "doge" is derived from the same origin.

Related Topics:
Anglo-Saxon - Middle English - Old French - Latin - Dux - Verb - Doge

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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, 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.

Related Topics:
Roman Empire - Lombard - Carolingian - Counts

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In the United Kingdom, the inherited office 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. 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, and the United Kingdom, held by twenty-four different people (see List of Dukes in order of precedence).

Related Topics:
Dukedom - List of Dukes in order of precedence

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