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…
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…
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Dukes and Princes 