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Duke, in the United Kingdom, is the highest-ranking hereditary title in all four peerages of the British Isles. A duke thus outranks all other holders of titles of nobility (Marquess, Earl, Viscount and Baron). The wife of a duke is known as a duchess, which is also the title of a woman who holds a dukedom in her own right, referred to as a duchess ''suo jure''; her husband, however, does not receive any title. In the order of precedence in the United Kingdom, non-Royal Dukes without state offices or positions generally take precedence before all other nobility, in order of date of creation, but after Royalty and certain Officers of State. ==History and definition== (詳細はnobleman, historically of the highest rank below the king or queen, and originally controlled an area known as a duchy or a dukedom. The title comes from the Latin ''Dux Bellorum'', which had the sense of "military commander" and was employed by both the Germanic peoples and by the Roman authors writing about them to refer to their war leaders. In the Middle Ages the title first rose to prominence among the Germanic monarchies. Dukes were the rulers of the provinces of the Holy Roman Empire and the superiors of the counts in the cities. Later, in the feudal monarchies, they were the highest-ranking peers of the king. There were, however, variants of these meanings and there were even sovereign princes employing ducal titles. In the Modern Age, the title of duke has become in almost all cases a nominal rank, without possession of an actual principality. It is still the highest titular rank in the peerages of France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. The Duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall, which are held by the Sovereign and the eldest son of the Sovereign respectively, are the only remaining territorial Duchies in the United Kingdom. A woman who holds in her own right the title to a dukedom, or is the wife of a duke, is normally styled duchess. However, Elizabeth II is known as Duke of Normandy in the Channel Islands and Duke of Lancaster in Lancashire. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dukes in the United Kingdom」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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