Styles represent the fashion by which monarchs and noblemen are properly addressed. Throughout history, many different styles were used, with little standardization. This page will detail the various styles used by royalty and nobility in Europe, in the final form arrived at in the nineteenth century.
A prince is a male ruler or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. Prince is also a title of nobility, often hereditary, in some European states. The female equivalent is a princess. The English word derives, via the French word prince, from the Latin noun prīnceps, from primus (first) and caput (head), meaning "the first, foremost, the chief, most distinguished, noble ruler, prince".
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 the Latin dux, 'leader', a term used in republican Rome to refer to a military commander without an official rank, and later coming to mean the leading military commander of a province. In most countries, the word duchess is the female equivalent.
A grand duchy is a country or territory whose official head of state or ruler is a monarch bearing the title of grand duke or grand duchess.
Fürst is a German word for a ruler as well as a princely title. Fürsten were, starting in the Middle Ages, members of the highest nobility who ruled over states of the Holy Roman Empire and later its former territories, below the ruling Kaiser (emperor) or König (king).
Knyaz, kniaz or knez is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times of history and different ancient Slavic lands. It is usually translated into English as prince or duke, depending on specific historical context and the potentially known Latin equivalents of the title for each bearer of the name. These translations probably derive from the fact that the title tsar was often treated as equivalent to "king" by European monarchs. In Latin sources the title is usually translated as princeps, but the word was originally derived from the common Germanic *kuningaz (king).
The Nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania or Greater Lithuanian szlachta was historically a legally privileged hereditary elite class in the Kingdom of Lithuania, Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth consisting of Lithuanians from Lithuania Proper; Samogitians from Duchy of Samogitia; following Lithuania's eastward expansion into what is now Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, many ethnically Ruthenian noble families (boyars); and, later on, predominantly Baltic German families from the Duchy of Livonia and Inflanty Voivodeship. It traced its origins via Palemonids to Polemon II of Pontus.
Traditional rank amongst European royalty, peers, and nobility is rooted in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Although they vary over time and among geographic regions, the following is a reasonably comprehensive list that provides information on both general ranks and specific differences. Distinction should be made between reigning families and the nobility – the latter being a social class subject to and created by the former.
Grand Duke of Finland, alternatively the Grand Prince of Finland, was, from around 1580 to 1809, a title in use by most Swedish monarchs. Between 1809 and 1917, it was the official title of the ruler of the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland, who was also the Emperor of Russia. The anachronistic female form of the title in English would be Grand Duchess of Finland. The only women to have used the title were the Swedish queens regnant Kristina and Ulrika Eleonora. A few crown princes of Sweden also were called Grand Duke of Finland.
Grand prince or great prince is a title of nobility ranked in honour below Emperor, equal to Archduke, King, Grand duke and Prince-Archbishop; above a Sovereign Prince and Duke.
His/Her Serene Highness is a style used today by the reigning families of Liechtenstein, Monaco and Thailand. Over the past 400 years, it has also used as a style for senior members of the family of Hazrat Ishaan, who are believed to succeed Prophet Muhammad based on the 1400 year old Sunni Sayyid ul Sadatiyya line of Imamate of Ahlul Bayt. Until 1918, it was also associated with the princely titles of members of some German ruling and mediatised dynasties and with a few princely but non-ruling families. It was also the form of address used for cadet members of the dynasties of France, Italy, Russia and Ernestine Saxony, under their monarchies. Additionally, the treatment was granted for some, but not all, princely yet non-reigning families of Bohemia, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania and Russia by emperors or popes. In a handful of rare cases, it was employed by non-royal rulers in viceregal or even republican contexts.
His or Her Grand Ducal Highness is a style of address used by the non-reigning members of some German ruling families headed by a Grand Duke. No currently reigning family employs the style, although it was used most recently by the younger sisters of the late Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg. Since Grand Duchess Charlotte's marriage to Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma, all of their male-line descendants have used the style Royal Highness, which he bore.
Duke of Finland was an occasional medieval title granted as a tertiogeniture to the relatives of the King of Sweden between the 13th and 16th centuries. It included a duchy along with feudal customs, and often represented a veritably independent principality. Grand Duke of Finland was a nominal royal title used by Swedish monarchs from the 1580s until 1720, which was revived again briefly from 1802 to 1805 and was also used by Russia's monarchs until 1917.
The Duchy of Franconia was one of the five stem duchies of East Francia and the medieval Kingdom of Germany emerging in the early 10th century. The word Franconia, first used in a Latin charter of 1053, was applied like the words Francia, France, and Franken, to a portion of the land occupied by the Franks.
Herzog is a German hereditary title held by one who rules a territorial duchy, exercises feudal authority over an estate called a duchy, or possesses a right by law or tradition to be referred to by the ducal title. The word is usually translated by the English duke and the Latin dux. Generally, a Herzog ranks below a king and above a Graf ('count'). Whether the title is deemed higher or lower than titles translated into English as prince is dependent upon the language, country, and era in which the titles coexisted.
The Grand Ducal Crown of Tuscany was a ducal crown created by the Medicean Grand Dukes of Tuscany.
Grand Duke of Bosnia was a court title in the Bosnian medieval state, with its first holders being recorded around the middle of the 14th century. The title was bestowed by the monarch to its highest military commander, rarely two, usually reserved for the most influential and most capable among the highest most prominent Bosnian nobility highest Bosnian nobility. It was very much different from the Grand duke title found in Europe at the time. To interpret it as an office post rather than a court rank could be equally accurate, and although it was retained for life by a nobleman who gained it, it was not meant to be hereditary, at least not at first. although it was not hereditary at first, it served both purposes and was retained for life by a nobleman who gained it. However, in the last several decades of the Bosnian medieval state it became hereditary, which means it became more than just an office or a court rank.
