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…
The Dukes of Orléans: A ‘Spare’ Title for France’s Second Sons (Part II)
Shortly after his marriage to his first cousin, Princess Henrietta of England, in March 1661, Philippe de France, second son of Louis XIII and younger brother of Louis XIV, was given the Orléans apanage (for its earlier history, see Part I). Philippe had, as Gaston had before him, been known as Duke of Anjou, but…
The Dukes of Orléans: A ‘Spare’ Title for France’s Second Sons (Part I)
France and England share a tradition of using a select group of ducal titles for their second sons—most often York for England and Orléans for France. But not always, since, in both cases, if the holder of the second son title had his own son it carried on into the next generation, so the Crown…
Frankopan: Princes of Adriatic Islands and on the Frontiers of Christianity
Croatia was a kingdom for a thousand years, from 925 to 1918, yet for most of that time it was subject to rule by neighbouring dynasties, the Hungarian Arpads, the Austrian Habsburgs. Its western Adriatic coastline was for centuries dominated by Italian maritime republics, Venice and Ragusa. Croatia’s nobility therefore was always tightly intertwined with…
Like feuding Montagus: the troubled history of the Dukes of Manchester
The city of Manchester was a rough city in the industrial age. The history of the dukes of Manchester shares some of the underworld aspects of the great northern powerhouse, but in fact has nothing to do with the city—like most British dukedoms, the title does not align with the geography. Three modern dukes of…
Jablonowski—Polish princes, kin to French royals
The Kingdom of Poland, a remarkably egalitarian society, officially had no title rankings within its nobility. It therefore had very few families with the titles duke or princes within its borders—those that did bear higher titles received them from foreign powers, either the Holy Roman Empire or Russia. Amongst these, one stands out as also…
Cantacuzino: Byzantine survivors, Romanian patriots and Russian princes
One of the most interesting aspects of the high aristocracy in European history is its fluidity. In the centuries before the rise of nationalism, elites could and often did move from place to place and adapt to new scenarios with relative ease. On this site, we’ve seen examples of this already with the Scottish Hamiltons…
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Dukes and Princes 