Editing Duke (section)

== Elsewhere in Europe ==

=== Hungary ===
{{main|Duchy (Kingdom of Hungary)}}
In the [[Kingdom of Hungary]] no ducal principalities existed but duchies were often formed for members of the dynasty as [[appanage]]s. During the rule of the [[Arpads|Árpád dynasty]] dukes held territorial powers, some of them even minted coins, but later this title became more often nominal.
These duchies usually were
* the Duchy of Nitra
* the Duchy of Bihar
* the Duchy of [[Transylvania]] (consisting of the [[voivodship]] of Transylvania and some other counties)

In the Jagiellonian era (1490–1526) only two dukes did not belong to the royal dynasty: [[John Corvin]] (the illegitimate son of [[Matthias Corvinus]]) and [[Lawrence of Ilok|Lőrinc Újlaki]] (whose father was the titular king of [[Bosnia (region)|Bosnia]]), and both bore the title as royal dukes.

After the [[Battle of Mohács]] the Habsburg kings rewarded Hungarian aristocrats (like the [[House of Esterházy|Esterházys]]) with princely titles, but they created these titles as Holy Roman Emperors, not as kings of Hungary.

=== Greece ===
The Byzantines retained the title ''dux'', transcribed as δούξ (''doux'') in [[Medieval Greek]]. As in the later Roman Empire, it remained a military office and was not a feudal or hereditary rank. In the 10th century, it was given to the military commanders over several ''[[Theme (Byzantine district)|themata]]'' (also known as ''[[katepano]]''), and in the late 11th century it became used for the governor of a ''thema''.

When the Catholic crusaders overran the Byzantine Empire in the [[Fourth Crusade]], they installed several [[crusader state]]s (see [[Frankokratia]]), some of which were of ducal rank:
* the [[Duchy of Athens]], to which the [[Duchy of Neopatras]] was later linked
* the Aegean insular [[Duchy of Naxos]], officially the "Duchy of the Archipelago"
* the [[Venetian Crete|Venetian colony of Crete]] (Candia) was initially ruled by the [[Duke of Candia]]

In Italy and other western countries, the later Byzantine [[appanage]]s of the [[Palaiologan period]] were sometimes translated as duchies: the [[Despotate of the Morea|Morea]], [[Mesembria]], [[Selymbria]] and [[Thessaloniki]]. The Greek rank of their holders, however, was that of ''[[despotes]]''.

In the independent [[Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg)|Kingdom of Greece]], the style of [[Duke of Sparta]] was instituted in 1868 upon the birth of the future [[Constantine I of Greece|Constantine I]] as a distinct title for the [[Crown Prince of Greece]].

=== Slavic and nearby countries ===
Generally, confusion reigns whether to translate the usual ruler titles, ''[[knyaz]]/ knez/ książe'' etc. as Prince (analogous to the German Fürst) or as Duke;
* In splintered [[Poland]] petty principalities generally ruled by branches of the earlier Polish [[Piast dynasty]] are regarded as duchies in translated titulary. Examples of such: [[Kujavia]], [[Masovia]], [[Sandomierz|Sandomir]], [[Greater Poland]] and [[Kalisz]] as well as various minor duchies, often short-lived or in personal union or merger, named after their capitals, mainly in the regions known as [[Lesser Poland|Little Poland]] and [[Greater Poland]], including (there are often also important Latin or German forms) [[Kraków]], [[Łęczyca]] and [[Sieradz]].
* In [[Pomerelia]] and [[Pomerania]] (inhabited by the Kashubians, different Slavic people from the Poles proper), branches of native ruling dynasties were usually recognized as dukes, quite similarly to the pattern in Poland.
* In Russia, before the imperial unification from [[Grand Duchy of Moscow|Muscovy]]; sometimes even as vassal, tributary to a Tartar [[Khan (title)|Khan]]; later, in Peter the Great's autocratic empire, the russification '''gertsog''' was used as the Russian rendering of the German ducal title ''Herzog'', especially as (the last) part of the full official style of the Russian Emperor: ''Gertsog Shlesvig-Golstinskiy, Stormarnskiy, Ditmarsenskiy I Oldenburgskiy I prochaya, I prochaya, i prochaya'' "Duke of Schleswig-Holstein [see above], [[Stormarn (gau)|Stormarn]], [[Dithmarschen]] and Oldenburg, and of other lands", in chief of German and Danish territories to which the Tsar was dynastically linked.
* In Bohemia was [[Duchy of Krumlov]], and short-lived [[Napoleon II of France|Duchy of Reichstadt]] and [[Duchy of Friedland]].
* In [[Silesia]] were many petty duchies as [[Duchy of Brzeg]], [[Duchy of Legnica]], [[Duchy of Zator]] and [[Duchy of Racibórz]]. They were vassals of [[List of rulers of Bohemia|King of Bohemia]].
*In [[Lithuania]], the approximate equivalent of a duke or prince was called ''kunigaikštis'' in the Lithuanian language.  Latin translation was ''dux'' meaning "duke" in the Middle Ages, whereas Latin for "prince" is ''princeps''.  The overall leader of the Lithuanian dukes ([[Lithuanian language|Lith.]] plural: ''kunigaikščiai'') was the [[grand duke]] ([[Lithuanian language|Lith.]]: ''didysis kunigaikštis'', [[Latin language|Latin]]: ''magnus dux''), who acted as the monarch of the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] until 1795 when Russians took over the land.

=== Netherlands ===
After Belgium and the Netherlands separated in 1830, the title of duke no longer existed in the Netherlands. There is, however, one exception; the title ''Hertog van Limburg'' (''Duke of Limburg'') still exists. This title, however, is an exclusive title for the head of state (the monarch, i.e., the king or queen of the Netherlands).

=== Georgia ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=September 2023}}
In Georgia, the title of ''[[eristavi]]'' is equivalent to duke. The word means "head of the nation" or "head of the army".  A duke ruled a duchy ([[saeristavo]]); a duke of two or more duchies was called ''[[eristavt-eristavi]]'', duke of dukes.

In the 6th to 9th centuries, [[Iberia]] was ruled by [[Erismtavari]], a title similar to [[grand duke]]. Erismtavari was the first among equal dukes.

Georgians use the title ''eristavi'' only for Georgian dukes. When talking about foreign dukes, they use the German word ''Herzog'', which is the German equivalent of "duke".

In the late 15th and early 16th century, the kingdom of Georgia collapsed and most of the western Georgian dukes became princes. In the 19th century the title of ''eristavi'' was abolished by the Russian conquerors and the former dukes took the word ''Eristavi'' as their last names.