Margrave (man) and Margravine (woman) were the medieval titles for the hereditary nobleman and noblewoman with military responsibility for one of the border provinces of a kingdom. The greater exposure of a border province to military invasion provided the Margrave with military forces greater than the forces of the other lords of the realm, thereby indicating superior noble rank. As a military governor, the margrave often was responsible for a territory greater than the province proper, because of the border expansion subsequent to royal war. In the Middle Ages, the margrave usually exercised greater autonomy of action (tactical, strategic, political) than that granted by the king to the other lords of the realm. Nonetheless, the stable territory borders realised with the political progress achieved by the late middle ages (AD 1300–1500) and the early modern era (AD 1500) gradually diminished the politico-military distinctions of superior rank among margraves and the other hereditary lords of the kingdom.