A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...

, territory,

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

, or domain ruled by a

duke 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 rank ...

duchess 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 ranke ...

, a ruler hierarchically second to the

king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...

queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

in Western European tradition. There once existed an important difference between "sovereign dukes" and dukes who were ordinary noblemen throughout Europe. Some historic duchies were sovereign in areas that would become part of nation-states only during the modern era, such as happened in Germany (once a federal empire) and Italy (previously a unified kingdom). In contrast, others were subordinate districts of those

kingdoms Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

that had unified either partially or completely during the medieval era, such as France, Spain, Sicily, Naples, and the Papal States.

Examples

In France, several duchies existed in the medieval period, including

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, Burgundy,

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

, and

Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 Janu ...

. The medieval German stem duchies (german: Stammesherzogtum, literally "tribal duchy," the official title of its ruler being ''

Herzog ''Herzog'' (female ''Herzogin'') 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. ...

'' or "duke") were associated with the

Frankish Kingdom Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks duri ...

and corresponded with the areas of settlement of the major Germanic

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

s. They formed the nuclei of the major feudal states that comprised the early era of the

Holy Roman Empire of the German nation The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

(961-1806; in German: ''Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation''). These were ''Schwaben'' (Swabia, mainly the present-day German state of Baden-Württemberg), ''Bayern'' (Bavaria), and ''Sachsen'' (Saxony) in pre-Carolingian times, to which ''Franken'' (Franconia, at present the northern part of the German state of Bavaria) and ''Lothringen'' (Lorraine, nowadays mostly part of France) were added in post-Carolingian times. As mentioned above, such a duke was styled ''Herzog'' (literally "the one who is leading

he troops He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

). In medieval England, duchies associated with the territories of

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

and

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

were created, with certain powers and estates of land accruing to their dukes. The

Duchy of Lancaster The Duchy of Lancaster is the private estate of the British sovereign as Duke of Lancaster. The principal purpose of the estate is to provide a source of independent income to the sovereign. The estate consists of a portfolio of lands, properti ...

was created in 1351 but became merged with the Crown when, in 1399, Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Lancaster, ascended the throne of England as Henry IV. Nowadays, the Duchy of Lancaster always belongs to the sovereign and its revenue is the

Privy Purse The Privy Purse is the British Sovereign's private income, mostly from the Duchy of Lancaster. This amounted to £20.1 million in net income for the year to 31 March 2018. Overview The Duchy is a landed estate of approximately 46,000 acres (200 ...

. The Duchy of Cornwall was created in 1337 and held successively by the Dukes of Cornwall, who were also heirs to the throne. Nowadays, the Duchy of Cornwall belongs to the sovereign's

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

, if there is one: it reverts to the Crown in the absence of an heir apparent and is automatically conferred to the heir apparent upon birth. These duchies today have mostly lost any non-ceremonial political role, but generate their holders' private income. During the Wars of the Roses, the Duke of York made a successful entry into the City of York, by merely claiming no harm and that it was his right to possess "his duchy of York." Any and all feudal duchies that made up the patchwork of England have since been absorbed within the Royal Family. Other than Cornwall and Lancaster, British royal dukedoms are titular and do not include landholdings. Non-royal dukedoms are associated with ducal property, but this is meant as the duke's private property, with no other feudal privileges attached. At present, all independent (i.e., sovereign) duchies have disappeared.

List of duchies

Baltic provinces and governorates

* Duchy of Courland and Semigallia *

Duchy of Estonia (disambiguation) The Duchy of Estonia may refer to: *Duchy of Estonia (1219–1346) – ''Hertugdømmet Estland'', a Dominum directum of King of Denmark *Duchy of Estonia (1561–1721) The Duchy of Estonia ( sv, Hertigdömet Estland, et, Eestimaa hertsogkon ...

Duchy of Livonia The Duchy of Livonia ( or ; lt, Livonijos kunigaikštystė; la, Ducatus Ultradunensis; et, Liivimaa hertsogkond; lv, Pārdaugavas hercogiste; german: Herzogtum Livland), also referred to as Polish Livonia or Livonia ( pl, link=no, Inflanty) ...

United Baltic Duchy The United Baltic Duchy (german: Vereinigtes Baltisches Herzogtum, lv, Apvienotā Baltijas hercogiste, et, Balti Hertsogiriik), or alternatively the Grand Duchy of Livonia, was the name proposed during World War I by leaders of the local ...

Croatia

* Lower Pannonia * Duchy of Croatia *

Pagania The Narentines were a South Slavic tribe that occupied an area of southern Dalmatia centered at the river Neretva (), active in the 9th and 10th centuries, noted as pirates on the Adriatic. Named ''Narentani'' in Venetian sources, Greek source ...

* Poljica duchy

Denmark

* Duchy of Schleswig *

Duchy of Holstein The Duchy of Holstein (german: Herzogtum Holstein, da, Hertugdømmet Holsten) was the northernmost state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It originated when King Christian I of Denmark had hi ...

(formally part of the Holy Roman Empire)

England

* Duchy of Cornwall *

France

Duchy of Anjou The Duchy of Anjou (, ; ; la, Andegavia) was a French province straddling the lower Loire. Its capital was Angers, and its area was roughly co-extensive with the diocese of Angers. Anjou was bordered by Brittany to the west, Maine to the nort ...

Duchy of Aquitaine The Duchy of Aquitaine ( oc, Ducat d'Aquitània, ; french: Duché d'Aquitaine, ) was a historical fiefdom in western, central, and southern areas of present-day France to the south of the river Loire, although its extent, as well as its name, fluc ...

* Duchy of Berry *

Duchy of Bourbon Duke of Bourbon (french: Duc de Bourbon) is a title in the peerage of France. It was created in the first half of the 14th century for the eldest son of Robert of France, Count of Clermont and Beatrice of Burgundy, heiress of the lordship of B ...

Duchy of Brittany The Duchy of Brittany ( br, Dugelezh Breizh, ; french: Duché de Bretagne) was a medieval feudal state that existed between approximately 939 and 1547. Its territory covered the northwestern peninsula of Europe, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean t ...

Duchy of Burgundy The Duchy of Burgundy (; la, Ducatus Burgundiae; french: Duché de Bourgogne, ) emerged in the 9th century as one of the successors of the ancient Kingdom of the Burgundians, which after its conquest in 532 had formed a constituent part of the ...

Duchy of Gascony The Duchy of Gascony or Duchy of Vasconia ( eu, Baskoniako dukerria; oc, ducat de Gasconha; french: duché de Gascogne, duché de Vasconie) was a duchy located in present-day southwestern France and northeastern Spain, an area encompassing the m ...

Duchy of Guyenne Guyenne or Guienne (, ; oc, Guiana ) was an old French province which corresponded roughly to the Roman province of '' Aquitania Secunda'' and the archdiocese of Bordeaux. The name "Guyenne" comes from ''Aguyenne'', a popular transformation of ...

Duchy of Normandy The Duchy of Normandy grew out of the 911 Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between King Charles III of West Francia and the Viking leader Rollo. The duchy was named for its inhabitants, the Normans. From 1066 until 1204, as a result of the Norman c ...

Duchy of Orléans The Duchy of Orléanais () is a former royal duchy, which was created during reign of Hugh Capet by elevating the former County of Orléans. In 1498, as part of a centralisation of France under Louis XII, the duchy was dissolved and replaced by t ...

Duchy of Lorraine The Duchy of Lorraine (french: Lorraine ; german: Lothringen ), originally Upper Lorraine, was a duchy now included in the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France. Its capital was Nancy. It was founded in 959 following th ...

Georgia

Duchy of Aragvi The Duchy of Aragvi ( ka, არაგვის საერისთავო) was an important fiefdom in medieval and early modern Georgia, strategically located in the upper Aragvi valley, in the foothills of the eastern Greater Caucasus cres ...

* Duchy of Kldekari *

Duchy of Ksani The Duchy of Ksani ( ka, ქსნის საერისთავო) was an administrative unit in feudal Georgia. It consisted lands around Ksani and two more neighbouring south-western valleys, thus making two administrative entities: Ksni ...

Duchy of Tskhumi The Duchy of Tskhumi ( ka, ცხუმის საერისთავო) was a duchy (''saeristavo'') in a medieval Georgia. Ruled by a House of Shervashidze, the duchy existed from 8th to 14th century, in the north-western part of Georgia an ...

Duchy of Racha The Duchy of Racha ( ka, რაჭის საერისთავო, ''rach'is saerist'avo'') was an important fiefdom in medieval and early modern Georgia, located in the western province of Racha, in the upper Rioni Valley in the foothills ...

Holy Roman Empire

Duchy of Alsace The Duchy of Alsace ( la, Ducatus Alsacensi, ''Ducatum Elisatium''; german: Herzogtum Elsaß) was a large political subdivision of the Frankish Empire during the last century and a half of Merovingian rule. It corresponded to the territory of Alsac ...

(in English also ‘Alsatia’) * Duchy of Austria (later Archduchy of Austria, in German: ''Erzherzogtum Österreich'') *

Duchy of Bavaria The Duchy of Bavaria ( German: ''Herzogtum Bayern'') was a frontier region in the southeastern part of the Merovingian kingdom from the sixth through the eighth century. It was settled by Bavarian tribes and ruled by dukes (''duces'') under ...

Duchy of Bohemia The Duchy of Bohemia, also later referred to in English as the Czech Duchy, ( cs, České knížectví) was a monarchy and a principality of the Holy Roman Empire in Central Europe during the Early and High Middle Ages. It was formed around 870 b ...

* Duchy of Brabant * Duchy of Bremen * Duchy of Brunswick * Duchy of Carinthia * Duchy of Carniola * Duchy of Franconia * Duchy of Gelders *

* Duchy of Lauenburg * Duchy of Limburg * Duchy of Upper Lorraine * Duchy of Lower Lorraine * Duchy of Luxemburg (a Grand Duchy since 1815; see above) * Duchy of Magdeburg * Duchy of Mecklenburg * Duchy of Oldenburg * Duchy of Pomerania * Duchy of Salzburg * Duchy of Savoy * Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg * Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha * Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen * Duchy of Saxony * Duchy of Styria * Duchy of Swabia * Duchy of Thuringia * Duchy of Westphalia * Duchy of Württemberg The following duchies were part of the medieval Kingdom of Italy, which itself was part of the Holy Roman Empire: * Duchy of Milan * Duchy of Mantua *Duchy of Sabbioneta *Duchy of Montferrat *Duchy of Guastalla *List of Dukes of Modena, Duchy of Modena and Reggio *Duchy of Mirandola *Duchy of Massa and Carrara

Naples

* Duchy of Acerenza * Duchy of Apulia * Duchy of Sora

Papal States (Holy See)

*Duchy of Ferrara *Duchy of Urbino *Duchy of Camerino *Duchy of Castro *Duchy of Parma

Poland

* Duchy of Poland (966–1025), Duchy of Poland *Duchy of Prussia * Duchy of Warsaw

Slovakia

*Duchy of Nitra

Spain

* Dukedoms of Spain

Sweden

All provinces of Sweden have the right to have a ducal coronet in their arms. The king gives princes and princesses ducal titles ''of'' them. The current such royal duchies are: *Västergötland *Värmland *Gästrikland and Hälsingland combined *Östergötland *Gotland *Ångermanland *Skåne *Södermanland *Dalarna *Blekinge *Halland *Uppland

Other current or historical duchies

* Duke of the Franks, Duchy of the Franks * Pannonian Slavs#Principality, Duchy of Lower Pannonia * Gascony, Duchy of Gascony * Duchy of Limburg *

* Duchy of Vasconia * Duchy of Athens *Duchy of Neopatras * Pakualaman, Duchy of Pakualaman * Mangkunegaran Palace, Duchy of Mangkunegaran

References

External links

The Duchy of Cornwall official site
{{Authority control Monarchy Types of administrative division Dukedoms,