Editing Prince (section)

==Prince as generic for ruler==
The original but now less common use of the word was the application of the Latin word ''{{Lang|la|[[Princeps|prīnceps]]}}'', from [[Byzantine Empire|late Roman]] [[law]] and the classical system of government that eventually gave way to the European [[feudalism|feudal]] society. In this sense, a prince is a ruler of a territory that is [[sovereignty|sovereign]] or quasi-sovereign, i.e., exercising substantial (though not all) prerogatives associated with monarchs of independent nations, such as the [[imperial immediacy|immediate states]] within the historical boundaries of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. In [[medieval]] and [[early modern Europe]], there were as many as two hundred such territories, especially in Italy, Germany, and [[Gaelic Ireland]]. In this sense, "prince" is used of any and all rulers, regardless of actual title or precise rank. This is the [[Renaissance]] use of the term found in [[Niccolò Machiavelli]]'s famous work, ''[[The Prince|Il Principe]]''.<ref name="furst">"Fürst - Origins and cognates of the title", 2006, webpage: [http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Frst__Other_uses_in_German/id/5035795 EFest-Frst] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110828052838/http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Frst__Other_uses_in_German/id/5035795 |date=2011-08-28 }}.</ref> It is also used in this sense in the [[United States Declaration of Independence]].

As a title, by the end of the medieval era, ''prince'' was borne by rulers of territories that were either substantially smaller than those of or exercised fewer of the rights of sovereignty than did emperors and kings. A [[lord]] of even a quite small territory might come to be referred to as a ''prince'' before the 13th century, either from translations of a native title into the Latin ''{{Lang|la|prīnceps}}'' (as for the hereditary ruler of [[Wales]]) or when the lord's territory was [[allodial title|allodial]]. The lord of an [[allodial title|allodium]] owned his lands and exercised prerogatives over the subjects in his territory absolutely, owing no feudal homage or duty as a vassal to a [[feudalism|liege lord]], nor being subject to any higher jurisdiction. Most small territories designated as principalities during feudal eras were allodial, e.g. the [[Dombes|Princedom of Dombes]].

Lords who exercised lawful authority over territories and people within a feudal hierarchy were also sometimes regarded as ''princes'' in the general sense, especially if they held the rank of [[count]] or higher. This is attested in some surviving [[style (manner of address)|styles]] for e.g., British earls, [[marquess]]es, and [[duke]]s are still addressed by the [[The Crown|Crown]] on [[ceremony|ceremonial]] occasions as ''high and noble princes'' (cf. [[Royal and noble styles]]).

In parts of the Holy Roman Empire in which [[primogeniture]] did not prevail (e.g., Germany), all legitimate [[patrilineality|agnates]] had an equal right to the family's hereditary titles. While titles such as [[emperor]], [[king]], and [[prince elector|elector]] could only be legally occupied by one dynast at a time, holders of such other titles as [[duke]], [[margrave]], [[landgrave]], [[count palatine]], and prince could only differentiate themselves by adding the name of their [[appanage]] to the family's original title. This tended to proliferate unwieldy titles (e.g. [[Catherine II of Russia|Princess Katherine of Anhalt-Zerbst]]; [[Charles X of Sweden|Karl, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Neukastell-Kleeburg]]; or [[Prince Christian Charles of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Plön-Norburg]]) and, as [[agnatic primogeniture]] gradually became the norm in the Holy Roman Empire by the end of the 18th century, another means of distinguishing the monarch from other members of his dynasty became necessary. Gradual substitution of the title of ''Prinz'' for the monarch's title of ''[[Fürst]]'' occurred, and became customary for cadets in all German dynasties except in the grand duchies of [[Mecklenburg]] and [[Grand Duchy of Oldenburg|Oldenburg]].<ref>''Almanach de Gotha'' (Gotha: Justus Perthes, 1944), pages 14–131.</ref> Both {{Lang|de|Prinz}} and ''{{Lang|de|Fürst}}'' are translated into English as "prince", but they reflect not only different but mutually exclusive concepts.

This distinction had evolved before the 18th century (although Liechtenstein long remained an exception, with cadets and females using {{Lang|de|Fürst/Fürstin}} into the 19th century) for dynasties headed by a ''[[Fürst]]'' in Germany. The custom spread through the [[Continental Europe|Continent]] to such an extent that a renowned imperial general who belonged to a [[cadet branch]] of a reigning ducal family, remains best known to history by the generic dynastic title, "[[Prince Eugene of Savoy]]". Note that the princely title was used as a prefix to his Christian name, which also became customary.

Cadets of France's other {{Lang|fr|[[princes étrangers]]}} affected similar usage under the [[House of Bourbon|Bourbon]] kings. Always facing the scepticism of Saint-Simon and like-minded courtiers, these quasi-royal aristocrats' assumption of the princely title as a personal, rather than territorial, designation encountered some resistance. In writing ''Histoire Genealogique et Chonologique'', [[Père Anselme]] accepts that, by the end of the 17th century, the heir apparent to the [[House of la Tour d'Auvergne|House of La Tour d'Auvergne]]'s sovereign duchy bears the title ''Prince de Bouillon'', but he would record in 1728 that the heir's ''La Tour'' cousin, the Count of Oliergues, is "''known as'' the Prince Frederick" ("''dit'' le prince Frédéric").<ref>{{cite book|author = Père Anselme|author-link= Père Anselme|title= Histoire Genealogique et Chronologique de la Maison Royale de France|year = 1728|publisher= Compagnie des Libraires|location= Paris|language= fr|pages= 543, 545|chapter= Ducs de Bouillon}}</ref>

The post-medieval rank of {{Lang|de|[[gefürsteter Graf]]}} (princely count) embraced but elevated the German equivalent of the intermediate French, English and Spanish nobles. In the Holy Roman Empire, these nobles rose to dynastic status by preserving from the Imperial crown ({{Lang|la|[[de jure]]}} after the [[Peace of Westphalia]] in 1648) the exercise of such sovereign prerogatives as the [[mint (coin)|minting]] of money; the [[muster (military)|muster]] of military troops and the right to wage war and contract [[treaty|treaties]]; local judicial authority and [[constabulary]] enforcement; and the habit of inter-marrying with sovereign dynasties. By the 19th century, cadets of a ''{{Lang|de|[[Fürst]]}}'' would become known as ''{{Lang|de|Prinzen}}''.