Editing Duke (section)

{{short description|Noble or royal title in some European countries and their colonies}}
{{Redirect|Duchess|other uses|Duchess (disambiguation)|and|Duke (disambiguation)|and|Dukes (disambiguation)}}
{{redirect-distinguish|Titular duke|Partitioned-off duke}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2023}}

{{Royal and noble ranks}}

'''Duke''' is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a [[duchy]], or of a member of [[Royal family|royalty]], or [[nobility]]. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, [[grand prince]]s, [[grand duke]]s, 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 language|Latin]] ''[[dux]]'', 'leader', a term used in [[Roman Republic|republican Rome]] to refer to a military commander without an official rank (particularly one of [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] or [[Celts|Celtic]] origin), and later coming to mean the leading military commander of a province. In most countries, the word '''''duchess''''' is the female equivalent.
[[File:James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos by Michael Dahl.jpg|thumb|A portrait of [[James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos]] wearing the [[robes of the British peerage]].]]
Following the reforms of the emperor [[Diocletian]] (which separated the civilian and military administrations of the Roman provinces), a ''dux'' became the military commander in each province. The title ''dux'', Hellenised to ''doux'', survived in the [[Eastern Roman Empire]] where it continued in several contexts, signifying a rank equivalent to a captain or general. Later on, in the 11th century, the title ''[[Megas Doux]]'' was introduced for the post of commander-in-chief of the entire navy.

During the [[Middle Ages]], the title (as ''[[Herzog]]'') signified first among the [[Germanic monarchy|Germanic monarchies]]. Dukes were the rulers of the provinces and the superiors of the [[count]]s in the cities and later, in the [[feudal monarchies]], the highest-ranking peers of the king. A duke may or may not be, ''[[ipso facto]]'', a member of the nation's [[peerage]]: in the United Kingdom and Spain, all dukes are/were also peers of the realm, in France, some were and some were not, while the term is not applicable to dukedoms of other nations, even where an institution similar to the peerage (e.g. [[Grandee]]ship, [[Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)|Imperial Diet]], [[Upper nobility (Kingdom of Hungary)|Hungarian House of Magnates]]) existed.

During the 19th century, many of the smaller German and Italian states were ruled by dukes or grand dukes. But at present, with the exception of the [[Luxembourg|Grand Duchy of Luxembourg]], there are no dukes ruling as monarchs. Duke remains the highest hereditary title (aside from titles borne by a reigning or [[abolished monarchy|formerly reigning]] dynasty) in Portugal (though now a republic), Spain, and the United Kingdom. In Sweden, members of the royal family are given a personal dukedom at birth. The Pope, as a temporal sovereign, has also, though rarely, granted the title of duke or duchess to persons for services to the [[Holy See]]. In some realms the relative status of "duke" and "prince", as titles borne by the [[nobility]] rather than by members of reigning dynasties, varied—e.g., in Italy and Germany.

A woman who holds in her own right the title to such duchy or dukedom, or is married to a duke, is normally styled duchess. [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth II]], however, was known by tradition as [[Dukes of Normandy|Duke of Normandy]] in the [[Channel Islands]] and [[Duke of Lancaster]] in Lancashire.