Duchy of Lorraine

The Duchy of Lorraine, initially also known as the Duchy of Upper Lorraine, was a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire which existed from the 10th century until 1766, when it was annexed by the Kingdom of France. It gave its name to the present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France. Its capital was Nancy.

It was founded in 959-965, following the division of the old Stem Duchy of Lotharingia into two separate duchies: Upper and Lower Lorraine, the westernmost parts of the Holy Roman Empire. The Lower duchy was dismantled by the 12th century, while Upper Lorraine in time came to be known just as the Duchy of Lorraine. The Duchy of Lorraine was coveted and briefly occupied by the dukes of Burgundy and the kings of France, but was ruled by the dukes of the House of Lorraine after 1473.

In 1737, the duchy was given to Stanisław Leszczyński, the former monarch of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, who had lost his throne as a result of the War of the Polish Succession, with the understanding that it would fall to the French crown on his death. When Stanisław died on 23 February 1766, Lorraine was annexed by France and reorganized as the province of Lorraine and Barrois.