Grand duchy

A grand duchy is a form of principality, monarchy which has a Grand Duke or a Grand Duchess as head of state.

The title and origins of grand duchies

The title Grand Duke (Latin: Magnus Dux, German: Großherzog, Italian: Gran Duca, French: Grand-Duc, Lithuanian:Didysis kunigaik?tis, Polish: Wielki ksi???) ranks in honour below King but higher than a sovereign Duke (Herzog) or Prince (Fürst). Grand Duchy is the appellation of the territory of a sovereign Grand Duke's territory.

Related Topics:
Title - Latin - German - Italian - French - Lithuanian - Polish - King - Duke - Prince - Fürst

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Grand Duke is also the usual and established translation of sovereign Grand Prince in languages which do not have separate words meaning prince for (1) the non-ruling relatives of a monarch, and (2) monarch (sovereign or like) princes. English and French use Grand Duke in this way.

Related Topics:
Grand Prince - Prince - Monarch

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Grand Duke is also the usual and established translation in English and French of the Russian courtesy title Velikiy Knjaz (grand prince) of Russia, which from 17th century belonged to members of the family of the Russian tsar, although those Grand dukes were not sovereigns.

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The title of sovereign Grand Duke and it as translation of Grand Prince thus have clearly different meanings.

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Western Grand Dukes and their sovereignties

The proper term of "Grand Duchy" was a later invention, probably originating in Western Europe, to denote lands of a particularly mighty duke, as the duchy had around the end of Middle Ages inflated to belong to rulers of a middle-sized town or a shire or similar relatively small fiefs, instead of the big provinces it once belonged to. See Grand Duke.

Related Topics:
Duchy - Grand Duke

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One of the first examples was the unofficial use of Grand Duke by the Dukes of Burgundy during the 15th century, when they ruled a vast tract of modern-day eastern France as well as most of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. The first monarchy ever officially titled "Grand Duchy" was the Medici sovereignty of Tuscany under overlordship of the Holy Roman Emperors. They received the title in 1569. Tuscany remained a grand duchy until 1860, when it was annexed by Piedmont-Sardinia as part of Italy's reunification.

Related Topics:
Burgundy - Medici - Tuscany - Holy Roman Emperor - 1860 - Piedmont-Sardinia

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Expanded use of the term lapsed until the early nineteenth century, when Napoleon used the title "Grand Duchy" for several territories given to his allies. The elevation of these figures to the title of Grand Duke usually accompanied an expansion of their fiefs with additional lands obtained from defeated powers such as Prussia. Though Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo and his vassal territories like the Grand Duchy of Berg were erased from the European map, the representatives assembled at the Congress of Vienna consented to yet more uses of the title by restored dukes and princes, especially for several of those in the lands that had constituted the Holy Roman Empire. As a result, the 19th century saw a new group of monarchies titled Grand Duchy around Central Europe, such as the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt.

Related Topics:
Prussia - Waterloo - Grand Duchy of Berg - Congress of Vienna - Hesse-Darmstadt

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At the same time, the courtesy use of the title "Grand Duke" in Russia expanded because of the births of several male dynasts. The new set of grand dukes afforded the Romanovs a respite from the continued issue of the male succession that plagued it during the 18th century.

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Within Germany, use of the title expanded after 1815, but its application was not universal. This is somewhat ironic, given that a Burgundian ruler in what were once Germany's western border regions first adopted the title, and considering that it was a German overlord, the Holy Roman Emperor, who first granted the official title to an Italian prince. However, in the German language (which has separate words for royal prince, "Prinz", and for sovereign prince, "Fürst"), the Grand Dukes of Lithuania and historic Russian states, as well as other Eastern European princes and later Russian dynasts, were referred to with the title "Großfürst", a direct translation, rather than using the version "Großherzog".

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The title Magnus Dux or Grand Duke (Didysis kunigaikštis in Lithuanian) is said to have been used by the rulers of Lithuania, and after rulers from the Jagiello dynasty became kings of Poland, it was later found among the titles used by kings of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Polish kings of the Swedish Vasa dynasty also used this grand princely title for their non-Polish territories.

Related Topics:
Lithuania - Jagiello - Poland - Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth - Vasa

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