Traditional ranks among European royalty, peers, and nobility are rooted in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Although they vary over time and between geographic regions (for example, one region's prince might be equal to another's grand duke), the following is a fairly comprehensive list that provides information on both general ranks and specific differences.

Ranks and titles

Sovereign:

See also Monarch

• generally used titles
  • Emperor, rules¹ an empire
  • King, rules¹ a kingdom (sovereign kings are ranked above vassal kings)
  • Duke, the ruler of a duchy, such as the statelets of the German and Holy Roman Empires
  • Prince, Fürst in German, ruling¹ a principality
  • Sultan, a Turkish title, rules¹ a sultanate
  • Emir, an Arabic title, rules an emirate

• specific to one or a few realms
  • Pope ( also "Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church and Vicar of Christ"); the Pope is also the absolute ruler of the sovereign state The Vatican City
  • Tsar (or Czar) in Serbian, Bulgarian, Russian, and Croatian, derives from Caesar, i.e. Emperor; although in its origins the title was meant to claim the imperial dignity, in its Russian and Bulgarian usages, at least, it has in more recent times been seen as only equivalent to King
  • Maharajah, in India, Nepal, (et cetera) "Maha" a prefix meaning highest, and "Rajah" meaning king, hence "highest king", Emperor.
  • Shahanshah, Shah of Shahs, hence Emperor.
  • Khakhan, Khan of Khans, hence Emperor.
  • Caliph, ruling a caliphate is an Islamic title indicating the successor to Muhammad, who is both a religious and a secular leader
  • Rajah, In India, Nepal,(et cetera), title used for denoting the ruler of a kingdom.
  • Shah, in Iran (Persia), king, though often actually referring to the Shahanshah (Emperor).
  • Khan (Mongol, or Turkic) rules a khanate (mainly Asian, but also existed in Mongol/Turkic territory in Russia, Ukraine, and the Crimea)
  • Archduke, before 1806 the title of the ruler of the archduchy of Austria
  • Grand Duke, ruling¹ a grand duchy
  • Grand Prince, a title primarily used in the medieval Russian principalities as the title for the highest level
  • High King, used in Gaelic and Hellenic culture to designate one who ruled over lesser kings

Noble² and cadet:

• • Archduke, ruling an archduchy; was generally only a sovereign rank when used by the rulers of Austria; was also used by the Habsburgs of the Holy Roman Empire for members of the imperial family
  • Duke, rules¹ a duchy³, also for junior members of ducal and some grand ducal families
  • Prince, Prinz in German; junior members of a royal, ducal or princely family (the title of Fürst for heads of princely families and sometimes all members, e.g. Wrede)
  • Infante, title of the cadet members of the royal families of Portugal and Spain
  • Elector, Kurfürst in German, a rank for those who voted for the Holy Roman Emperor, usually sovereign of a state (e.g. the Margrave of Brandenburg, an elector, called the Elector of Brandenburg)
  • Marquess, Margrave, or Marquis was the ruler¹ of a marquessate, margraviate, or march
  • Landgrave, a German title, ruler of a landgraviate
  • Count, theoretically the ruler of a county; known as an Earl in modern Britain
  • Viscount (vice-count), theoretically the ruler of a viscounty or viscountcy
  • Freiherr, holder of an allodial barony – these are "higher" level of barons^{citation needed}
  • Baron, theoretically the ruler of a barony – some barons in some countries may have been "free barons" (liber baro) and as such, regarded (themselves) as higher barons

Regarding the titles of duke and prince: in Germany, a sovereign duke outranked a sovereign prince, but a royal cadet prince outranked a cadet duke of a ducal or grand ducal family. In the German nobility as well, being created a duke was a higher honour than being created a prince. The issue of a duke were sometimes styled as dukes or as princes; princely issue were styled as princes.

Aristocratic:

• • Baronet is generally an inheritable knighthood; often or usually not noble but ranking below Baron and above Knight
  • Vidame, a minor French aristocrat
  • Fidalgo Hidalgo, a minor Portuguese and Spanish aristocrat (from filho d'algo = filho d'alguém = son of someone [important])
  • Seigneur or Knight of the Manor rules a smaller local fief
  • Knight is the basic rank of the aristocratic system
  • Jonkheer a title for prestigious Dutch families that never received a title, instead a new title was invented. Though these titles have no claim to a territory, city, or province in the Netherlands, they are basically claiming a good family name. A woman who holds this title is called a Jonkvrouw, though the wife of a Jonkheer is a Mevrouw or sometimes Freule, which could also be used by daughters of the same.
  • Esquire is a rank of gentry originally derived from Squire and indicating the status of an attendant to a knight or an apprentice knight; it ranked below Knight but above Gentleman⁴

In Germany, the actual rank of the holder of a title is, however, dependent on not only the title as such, but on for instance the degree of sovereignty and on the rank of the lord of the title-holder. But also such matters as the age of the princely dynasty play a role (Uradel, Briefadel, altfürstliche, neufürstliche, see: German nobility). Thus, any sovereign ruler would be higher than any formerly sovereign, i.e. mediatized, family of any rank (thus, the Fürst of Waldeck, sovereign until 1918, was higher than the Duke of Arenberg, mediatized). Members of a formerly sovereign house ranked higher than the regular nobility. Among the regular nobility, those whose titles derived from the Holy Roman Empire ranked higher than those whose titles were granted by one of the German princes after 1806, no matter what title was held.

In Austria, nobility titles may no longer be used since 1918.⁵

In Germany, the constitution of the Weimar Republic in 1919 abolished nobility and all nobility titles. They are now merely part of the family name, and there is no more right to the traditional forms of address (e.g., "Hoheit" or "Durchlaucht"). The last title was conferred on 12 November 1918 to Kurt von Klefeld.

In Switzerland, nobility titles are prohibited and are not recognized as part of the family name.

General chart of "translations" between languages

Below is a comparative table of corresponding royal and noble titles in various European countries. Quite often, a Latin 3rd declension noun formed a distinctive feminine title by adding -issa to its base, but usually the 3rd declension noun was used for both male and female nobles, except for Imperator and Rex. 3rd declension nouns are italicized in this chart. See Royal and noble styles to learn how to address holders of these titles properly.

See also

• Styles and titles of peers in the United Kingdom
• Table of Ranks in the Russian Empire
• German comital titles
• Nobility
• Peerage
• Royal and noble styles

References

External links

• Hereditary titles
• Unequal and Morganatic Marriages in German Law
• Noble, Princely, Royal, and Imperial Titles
• British noble titles
• Fake titles