Duke
A
duke or
duchess can either be a monarch ruling over a duchy or a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch. The title comes from French
duc, itself from the Latin
dux, 'leader', a term used in republican Rome to refer to a military commander without an official rank, and later coming to mean the leading military commander of a province. During the Middle Ages the title signified first among the Germanic monarchies. Dukes were the rulers of the provinces and the superiors of the counts in the cities and later, in the feudal monarchies, the highest-ranking peers of the king. A duke may or may not be,
ipso facto, a member of the nation's peerage: in the United Kingdom and Spain all dukes are/were also peers of the realm, in France some were and some were not, while the term is not applicable to dukedoms of other nations, even where an institution similar to the peerage existed. During the 19th century many of the smaller German and Italian states were ruled by Dukes or Grand Dukes. But presently, with the exception of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, there are no ruling dukes.