Dukes of Courland: Kettlers and Birons
Can you think of a country in Europe that existed in the pre-modern period but vanished completely, leaving almost no trace? The Duchy of Courland is one of these. It was a semi-sovereign state from 1561 to 1795—only semi- since it was legally a fief of the grand dukes of Lithuania, then the kings of…
Dukes of Ormond: The Butlers, managing the King’s wine since the 12th century
In the historic Kingdom of Ireland there were two types of nobility: the ancient native Gaelic aristocracy, descended from kings and clan chiefs, and the Anglo-Norman nobles who arrived in the wake of their conquest of Ireland in the 1170s-80s. These soon controlled most of the richest parts of Ireland, but over the centuries became…
Golitsyn Princes: Russian ministers from Peter the Great to Nicholas II
The Russian Empire in all its vastness had many, many princes. Some became fairly well known while others came and went in prominence in Russian history. One of the most enduring—with historical figures from the fifteenth century all the way to the Revolution of 1918, and some interesting characters even after—are the Golitsyns. One was…
Galliera (Part II): The Montpensiers, Orléanist dukes masquerading as Spanish royals
The Duchy of Galliera, as seen in Part I, was created in 1839 for Raphaelle De Ferrari and his wife Maria Brignole-Sale, centred on a tiny village in the Papal States north of Bologna. After the death of the pro-Orléanist Duchess of Galliera in 1888, the Duchy was willed to Antoine d’Orléans, Duke of Montpensier,…
Galliera (Part I): Brignole-Sale and the most amazing palazzi in Genoa
Once upon a time there was a shining city by the sea: Genoa. A fair city built on bustling trade with the eastern Mediterranean, its merchant-oligarchs created a republic in which a select number of leading families shared rule through an elective title of doge, a local variant of the old Roman title dux or…
Princes of Gwynedd: the last bastion in Wales
Since 1301, the heir to the English throne has borne the title Prince of Wales, but this title had been forged by several previous generations of native Welsh princes, notably of the House of Aberffraw: the princes of Gwynedd. From their base on the Isle of Môn, better known in English as Anglesey, they dominated…
Eggenberg: The rise and fall of a princely house
In the world of dukes and princes, most family histories stretch across centuries. Families usually needed to accumulate stories of valorous deeds and a reputation of living like princes before they were formally created as such. They also needed sufficient wealth, acquired over generations, to sustain such a dignity. But not always. Sometimes one man…
Montesquiou: The oldest noble family in France made popular by musketeer d’Artagnan
In June 1673, the French Army laid siege to the Dutch city of Maastricht, a key crossing point of the river Meuse—they would take and hold the city for several years, aided by an English force commanded by a young Duke of Monmouth and the future Duke of Marlborough, John Churchill, and with the participation…
Scott of Buccleuch: an ancient Scottish clan coupled with an illegitimate royal line
Of all the grand aristocratic families with multiple titles and country houses in the United Kingdom today, one of the few who have also retained much of their ancestral lands is that of Montagu-Douglas-Scott. As their name suggests, this is actually three lineages joined together. The Scotts are an old Scottish clan from the Borders…
Leiningen: A tiny principality with the grandest royal connections
Those knowledgeable about the dynastic details of the life of Queen Victoria will know that she had a half-sister, Princess Feodora. But her appearance in season three of the television series Victoria surprised many—at the time, I was asked if this was a fictional character added to make the series more interesting, as historical dramas…
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Dukes and Princes 