A duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.

Some duchies were sovereign in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era (such as Germany and Italy). In contrast, others were subordinate districts of those kingdoms that unified either partially or completely during the Medieval era (such as England, France, and Spain). The term is used almost exclusively about Europe.

Examples[link]

Traditionally, a grand duchy, such as Luxembourg, was generally independent and sovereign. Sovereign duchies were common in the Holy Roman Empire and German-speaking areas.

In France, a number of duchies existed in the medieval period. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom still claims the medieval French title of Duke of Normandy, and this provides the legal status of the Channel Islands as Crown Dependencies. Other important French duchies included Burgundy, Brittany, and Aquitaine.

The mediæval German Stem duchies (German: Stammesherzogtum, literally "tribal duchy") were associated with the Frankish Kingdom and corresponded with the areas of settlement of the major Germanic tribes. They formed the nuclei of the major feudal states that comprised the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation. These were Schwaben, Bayern and Sachsen in pre-Carolingian times, to which Franken and Lothringen were added in post-Carolingian times. Such a duke was titled Herzog.

In medieval England, the territories of Lancashire and Cornwall were made duchies, with certain powers accruing to their dukes. The Duchy of Lancaster was created in 1351 but became merged with the Crown when, in 1399, the duke, Henry Bolingbroke ascended the throne of England as Henry IV. Nowadays the Duchy of Lancaster always belongs to the sovereign and its revenue is the Privy Purse. The Duchy of Cornwall was created in 1337 and held successively by the dukes of Cornwall who were also heirs to the throne. Nowadays the Duchy of Cornwall belongs to the sovereign's heir apparent, if any: it reverts to the Crown in the absence of an heir apparent, and is automatically conferred to the heir apparent upon birth. These duchies today have lost their political role (although there is an ongoing dispute over the status of Cornwall), but generate their holders' private income. During the Wars of the Roses, the Duke of York made a successful entry into the City of York, by merely claiming no harm and that it was his right to possess "his duchy of York".^[1] Any and all feudal duchies that made up the patchwork of England have since been absorbed within the Royal Family. Other than Cornwall and Lancaster, British royal dukedoms are titular and do not include land holdings. Non-royal dukedoms are associated with ducal property, but this is meant as the duke's private property, with no other feudal privileges attached.

In more recent times territorial duchies have become rare; most dukedoms conferred in the last few centuries have been of a purely symbolic character (see Duke). No independent duchy exists today, except for Luxembourg, which is an independent country formally called a grand duchy.

See also[link]

Grand Duchies[link]

• Grand Duchy of Baden
• Grand Duchy of Finland
• Grand Duchy of Hesse
• Grand Duchy of Lithuania
• Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
• Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin
• Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
• Grand Duchy of Oldenburg
• Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach
• Grand Duchy of Tuscany

Duchies in Austria, Germany, Italy, and the Low Countries[link]

• Duchy of Acerenza
• Duchy of Alsace
• Duchy of Apulia
• Duchy of Austria
• Duchy of Bavaria
• Duchy of Brabant
• Duchy of Bremen
• Duchy of Brunswick
• Duchy of Carinthia
• Duchy of Carniola
• Duchy of Ferrara
• Duchy of Franconia
• Duchy of Gelders
• Duchy of Holstein
• Duchy of Lauenburg
• Duchy of Limburg
• Duchy of Upper Lorraine
• Duchy of Lower Lorraine
• Duchy of Luxemburg
• Duchy of Magdeburg
• Duchy of Mantua
• Duchy of Mecklenburg
• Duchy of Milan
• Duchy of Modena
• Duchy of Oldenburg
• Duchy of Parma
• Duchy of Pomerania
• Duchy of Salzburg
• Duchy of Savoy
• Duchy of Saxony
• Duchy of Schleswig
• Duchy of Spoleto
• Duchy of Styria
• Duchy of Swabia
• Duchy of Württemberg

Duchy in Denmark[link]

• Duchy of Schleswig

Duchies in England[link]

• Duchy of Cornwall
• Duchy of Lancaster

Duchies in France[link]

• Duchy of Anjou
• Duchy of Aquitaine
• Duchy of Berry
• Duchy of Bourbon
• Duchy of Brittany
• Duchy of Burgundy
• Duchy of Normandy
• Duchy of Orléans

Duchies in Poland[link]

• Duchy of Prussia
• Duchy of Warsaw

Other current or historical duchies[link]

• United Baltic Duchy
• Littoral Croatian Duchy
• Duchy of the Franks
• Duchy of Gascony
• Duchy of Limburg
• Duchy of Rascia
• Duchy of Vasconia
• Duchy of Athens

See also[link]

• Constitutional status of Cornwall
• Duchies in England
• Grand Duchy

Fictional duchies[link]

• Underland, ruled by Underbeit, on The Venture Brothers
• Duchy of Atreides from the Dune series by Frank Herbert
• Grand Duchy of Jeuno (from Final Fantasy XI)
• Soleanna from Sonic The Hedgehog
• Duchy of Dollet (from Final Fantasy VIII)
• Grand Duchy of Karameikos, from the Dungeons & Dragons Mystara Campaign Setting.
• Duchy of Grand Fenwick
• Borogravia, Quirm (from the Discworld series)
• The Six Duchies (from The Farseer Trilogy and Tawny Man Trilogy by Robin Hobb)
• Zeon (from the Mobile Suit Gundam series, also sometimes translated as a Principality, as the Japanese language does not distinguish between the two)
• Erat, Asturia, Mimbre, Wacune (from the Belgariad series)
• Crydee, Yabon, Krondor, Olasko, Rillanon, Ran, Rodez, The Sunset Isles (from the Riftwar saga)
• Freid (from The Vision of Escaflowne series)
• Cagliostro from Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro
• Duchy of Nuts from Adventure Time with Finn & Jake
• Duchy of Harrington from the Honorverse

References[link]

1. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1150417

External links[link]

Look up duchy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• The Duchy of Cornwall - The Duchy of Cornwall official web-site

Alex de Campi is a British-American music video director and comics writer.

Biography[link]

De Campi was educated at Princeton University, majoring in Art History. Prior to her writing career, she worked as an investment banker in Hong Kong. She currently splits her time between London and America.

Comics[link]

Alex de Campi is well known for her 2005 mini-series Smoke (published by IDW Publishing, art by Igor Kordey),^[1] which was nominated for the Eisner Award for Best Limited Series,^[2] and her 2006 manga series Kat & Mouse (published by Tokyopop, art by Federica Manfredi).^[3] De Campi's work falls outside the superhero genre, with Smoke being a political thriller, and Kat & Mouse detailing the adventures of two mystery-solving high school students (a "CSI for tweens"); she has published work for children (e.g. Agent Boo) and for the European market (e.g. her French language sci-noir series Messiah Complex).

Recent work includes the Valentine mobile comic,^[4][5] which is the main focus of her Uncanny Valleygirl column at Bleeding Cool.

Films[link]

De Campi has also ventured into filmmaking, directing a number of music videos, including the video for Amanda Palmer's "Leeds United",^[6] the animated video for Flipron's "Raindrops Keep Falling On The Dead" (which was featured at the 2008 Marfa Film Festival,^[7] and SXSW in 2007), The Real Tuesday Weld feat The Puppini Sisters' "Apart of Me" (shown at Soho Shorts in 2008) and for The Schema's "Those Rules You Made", which made it to number 1 music video worldwide in Youtube in August 2007.^[8] She has given a "BBC Two Masterclass" on shooting videos, for Blast (a BBC initiative to encourage creativity in young people), focusing on her October 2007 video for The Real Tuesday Weld versus the Puppini Sisters.^[9]

Works[link]

Bibliography[link]

• Smoke (art by Igor Kordey, 3-issue mini-series, 2005, tpb, 156 pages, December 2005, ISBN 1-933239-28-X)
• Kat & Mouse (art by Federica Manfredi, 2006)
• Agent Boo (art by Edo Fuijkschot, 2006)
• Messiah Complex (art by Eduardo Ocana, 2006)
• Adam in Chromaland (art by Luigi Giammarino, 2007)

Videography[link]

• "Leeds United" - Amanda Palmer (Roadrunner) Aug 2008
• "Last Words" - The Real Tuesday Weld (Six Degrees) Oct 2008
• "Guilty Pleasure" - Manda Rin (ThisisfakeDIY) Oct 2008
• "Lighthouse" - The Duloks (unsigned) - Aug 2008
• "Book of Lies" - Flipron (Tiny Dog) Jul 2008
• "These Eyes" - Martin/Towers (Northstar Records) Feb 2008
• "Jilted" - The Puppini Sisters (Universal) Jan 2008
• "(I Can't Believe I'm Not A) Millionaire" A-side and B-side versions - The Puppini Sisters (Universal) Jan 2008
• "Pretty Little Miss Dysmorphia" - Des O'Connor (unsigned) Jan 2008
• "Apart of Me" - The Real Tuesday Weld feat The Puppini Sisters (Six Degrees) Oct 2007
• "Those Rules" - The Schema (unsigned) Aug 2007
• "Why Dogs Howl at the Moon" - Thomas Truax (ST Records) Jul 2007
• "Dogboy vs Monsters" - Flipron (Tiny Dog) Mar 2007
• "Raindrops Keep Falling on the Dead" - Flipron (Tiny Dog) May 2006

Notes[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website