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