Editing Grand duke (section)

==Eastern European==
===Ruthenian/Ukrainian grand dukes===

[[File:Лев Данилович.jpg |thumb|right|upright|Portrait of [[Leo I of Galicia|Leo I]], King of Ruthenia and Grand Duke of Kiev (18 century)]]

"Grand duke" is the traditional translation of the title ''[[Velikiy Kniaz|Velyky Knyaz]]'' (Великий Князь), which from the 11th century was at first the title of the leading [[prince]] (''[[Kniaz]]'') of [[Kievan Rus']], then of several other East Slavic princes. The title of [[Grand Duke of Kiev]] was usually given by a father to his eldest son, and with his death passed to the next oldest sibling. This system didn’t last very long, and in 12th century multiple northern princes of the [[Rurikid Dynasty]] could compete for their dominance in Kiev. Some of them would prefer to establish themselves as grand dukes independently from Kiev.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kollmann |first=Nancy Shields |authorlink=Nancy Shields Kollmann |title=Collateral Succession in Kievan Rus' |journal=Harvard Ukrainian Studies |year=1990 |volume=14 |pages=377–387}}</ref>

Another translation of this title would be ''grand prince.'' While this term is a more precise translation, it is neither standard nor widely used in English. In German, however, grand duke was known as a ''Großfürst,'' and in [[Latin]] as ''magnus princeps''.

With the decline of Kiev under the Mongols in the 13th century, [[Danylo of Galicia]] would be crowned as [[king of Ruthenia]] to show succession between Kiev and Galicia, while keeping the title of Grand Duke of Kiev.<ref>Serhii Plokhy, [https://books.google.com.ua/books?id=pm-QDQAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine] [https://web.archive.org/web/20230210023002/https://books.google.com/books?id=pm-QDQAAQBAJ Archived] 10 February 2023 at the [[Wayback Machine]] (2017), p. 84.</ref> With the expansion of the [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania]] into Ukrainian lands, Lithuanian princes would take the title of Grand Dukes of Ruthenia, until their unification with Poland.<ref>Between Two Worlds: A Comparative Study of the Representations of Pagan Lithuania in the Chronicles of the Teutonic Order and Rus'</ref>

===Lithuanian grand dukes===

[[File:King Vitoldo.png|thumb|right|upright|Painting of [[Vytautas the Great]], Grand Duke of Lithuania]]

Throughout the [[history of Lithuania]] from 1230s to 1795, most of its leaders were referred to as [[Grand Duke of Lithuania]], even when they jointly held the title [[King of Poland]] and other titles.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Gudavičius|first1=Edvardas|title=Didysis kunigaikštis|url=https://www.vle.lt/Straipsnis/didysis-kunigaikstis-64823|access-date=15 January 2020|website=vle.lt}}</ref>
=== Russian grand dukes ===<!-- This section is linked from [[Harold Godwinson]] -->

[[Image:Maria Fyodorovna of Russia by H. von Angeli (1874, Hermitage).jpg|thumb|left|upright|''Portrait of Grand Duchess [[Maria Feodorovna (Dagmar of Denmark)|Maria Fiodorovna]]'' by Heinrich von Angeli (1874)<BR/>Saint Petersburg, [[Hermitage Museum]]]]

From 1328 the ''Velikii Kniaz'' of [[Grand Duchy of Moscow|Muscovy]] appeared as the grand duke for "all of Russia" until [[Ivan IV of Russia]] in 1547 was [[Coronation|crowned]] as [[tsar]]. Thereafter the title was given to sons and grandsons (through male lines) of the Tsars and Emperors of Russia. The daughters and paternal granddaughters of Russian emperors, as well as the consorts of Russian grand dukes, were generally called "grand duchesses" in English.

From 1809 to 1917 the Emperor of [[Russia]] was also the [[Grand Duke of Finland]], which he held as an autonomous state. Before the Russian conquest Finland had been held by the Kings of Sweden, first as a [[royal duchy]], since 1581 with the King assuming the secondary title Grand Duke of Finland (Finnish: ''Suomen suuriruhtinas'', Swedish: ''Storfurste av Finland'').