this: Duke (disambiguation)

A duke is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy or a dukedom. The title comes from the Latin Dux Bellorum, which had the sense of "military commander" and was employed by both the Germanic peoples themselves and by the Roman authors covering them to refer to their war leaders.

In the Middle Ages the title 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.

In the Modern Age, with the notable exception of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, it mostly became a nominal rank without an actual principality. It remains the highest titular peerage in France, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and Italy.

A woman who holds in her own right the title to such duchy or dukedom, or is the wife of a duke, is normally styled duchess. However, Queen Elizabeth II is known as Duke of Normandy in the Channel Islands and Duke of Lancaster in Lancashire.

East Asia

During the era of feudalism in Ancient China (Spring and Autumn and the Warring States), the equivalent titles of Grand Marquis or Grand Duke were often given to the nobility and governors of the individual kingdoms and principalities.

Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages following the collapse of Roman power in Western Europe, the title was still employed in the Germanic kingdoms, most often to the rulers of the old Roman provinces.

Visigoths

The Visigoths retained the Roman divisions of their kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula and it seems that dukes ruled over these areas.Fact: date=June 2008 They were the highest magnates in the land and, along with the bishops, elected the king, usually from their own file. They were the military commanders and in this capacity often acted independently of the king, most notably in the last days of the kingdom.

The army was structured decimally with the highest unit, the thiufa, probably corresponding to about one thousand people from each civitas, city district. The cities were commanded by the counts, who were in turn responsible to the dukes, who called up the thiufae when need be.

Lombards

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 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, in order 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.