Dukes

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 above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked below grand dukes and above or below princes, depending on the country or specific title. 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 d

thumb|Portrait of Russian boyar Pyotr Potemkin by [[Godfrey Kneller]] thumb|Russian boyars in the 16th–17th centuries

200px|thumb|Until Boris I of Bulgaria|Boris I (852–889), the title of the Bulgarian monarchs was (). His son, Simeon I (893–927), adopted the title [[tsar (emperor), which became the title of the subsequent Bulgarian rulers.]]

thumb|Archducal hat, the coronet of the [[Archduchy of Austria kept in the treasury of Klosterneuburg Abbey]]

imperial and or royal title

thumb|Jan Zamoyski, an important 16th-century Polish magnate

thumb|350px|Equestrian portrait of Isabella II of Spain|Isabella II, her husband [[Francis, King Consort of Spain (left), and Infante Francisco de Paula (right) with the most important Spanish statesmen and army officers of the time, many of whom were grandees of Spain, by Charles Porion, 1862]]

(; feminine ; masculine plural ; feminine plural ) 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 ranks below a king and above a ('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.

Duchy of Spain