Archduke - Ruler Style

Ruler Style

The English word is recorded only since 1530, derived from Middle - via Old French archeduc, from Merovingian Latin archidux, from arch(i)- (see arch- (adj.)) + dux 'duke' .

Archduke (in German Erzherzog) is a title distinct from Grand duke (in German Großherzog), used in some other German royal houses and still in sovereign Luxembourg.

First use was as the title of the rulers of Austrasia (c.750), one of the Merovingian (Frankish) realms resulting from the complex successions in the house of Clovis, roughly comprising Germany, Switzerland and the Low Countries.

In the Carolingian Empire, the title was awarded as a unique promotion to the duke of Lotharingia (much larger than Lorraine), which could be seen as successor to the former Carolingian kingdom of Lothringia which had been at par at least with West Francia (modern France) in the dynastic divisions under the early heirs of Charlemagne but ended up absorbed by East Francia (Greater Germany).

After the split (959) of the (arch)duchy into Upper - (German Oberlothringen, including modern Lorraine) and Lower Lothringia (German Niederlothringen, north of it, with seat at Cologne and originally vested in its prince-archbishop, but extending north all the way to Frisia) and the latter's further fragmentation, two of the 'succeeding' duchies in the Low Countries, Brabant (mainly in present Belgium) and Gelre (now in the Dutch kingdom and giving its name to the province of Gelderland), claimed the archducal rank but were never officially granted it by the Holy Roman Emperor. The Dutch form is Aartshertog.

The title Archduke of Austria, the only one to become generally notable, was invented in the Privilegium Maius, a 14th century forgery initiated by Duke Rudolf IV of Austria. Originally, it was meant to denote the ruler of the (thus 'Arch')duchy of Austria, in an effort to put that ruler on par with the Prince-electors, as Austria had been passed over in the Golden Bull of 1356, when the electorships had been assigned. Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV refused to recognize the title.

Duke Ernest the Iron and his descendants unilaterally assumed the title "archduke".

This title was only officially recognized in 1453 by Emperor Frederick III, when the Habsburgs had (permanently) gained control of the office of the Holy Roman Emperor. First it was granted to Frederick's younger brother, Albert VI of Austria (d. 1463), who used the title at least from 1458. In 1477, Frederick III granted the title archduke also to his first cousin, Sigismund of Austria, ruler of Further Austria. Frederick's son and heir, the future Emperor Maximilian I, started to use the title, but apparently only after the death of his wife Mary of Burgundy (d. 1482) as the title never appears in documents of joint Maximilian and Mary rule in the Low Countries (where Maximilian is still titled Duke of Austria). The title appears first in documents of joint Maximilian and Philip (his under-age son) rule in the Low Countries. Emperor Frederick III himself used just Duke of Austria, never Archduke, until his death in 1493. Ladislaus the Posthumous, Duke of Austria, who died in 1457, was never in his lifetime authorized to use it, and accordingly, not he nor anyone in his branch of the dynasty ever used the title.

Female children of the dynasty were not yet entitled to the title in the 15th century. It was used only by those dynasts who ruled a Habsburg territory, i.e., only by males and their consorts.