Marquis

Marquis. It is one of the noble titles that monarchs confer as a sign of recognition and gratitude; It is a hereditary rank in several European monarchies and some of their colonies . The wife of the marquis or who holds the title is known as a marchioness. The term is also used to render equivalent treatment in the East, as in imperial China and Japan .

History

In the British nobility he occupies a rank below Duke and above Earl. Although the vast majority of marquisates are named after territories and therefore their holders are known as “Marquises of X”, a certain number of them obtain their name from surnames (even if it is not the bearer’s own). , its owners being known as “Marquises In any case, he is informally known as “Lord The magnates who were in charge of the defense and administration of a brand within the Carolingian Empire were initially called marquises .

Iñigo López de Mendoza , Marquis of Santillana ( 1398 – 1458 )

In turn, the brands were border territories, such as the Marca Hispánica (border with Muslim territories). Over time , the territory over which the marquises exercised their jurisdiction began to be called Marquisate, as is the case of the Marquisate of Brandenburg (in which the Hohenzollern Dynasty began , which one day would become the Royal Prussian and Imperial German Dynasty). or the also important Marquisate of Baden. In Germany , the equivalent of the marquises are the margraves, the Spanish name given to the Germanic title Markgraf (from Mark, border, mark, and Graf, count). The wife of a margrave is called margravine or Markgräfin in German. A margrave originally had the functions of military governor of a Carolingian mark (e.g. the Hispanic Mark), a bordering province in the Middle Ages. The margraves had jurisdiction over a mark (Mark, in German), which was called a margraviate or marquisate. As the bordering provinces gained importance, they became larger than the interior ones, and the margraves gained power over the other rulers of the kingdom.

That is why German marquises are often called either marquises or margraves and are recognized as princes of the Empire. In Spain , the title of marquis would not be consolidated until the 15th century , with the oldest marquisates being those of Villena , Santillana , Aguilar de Campóo and Astorga . The marquisates, like the rest of the Spanish noble titles, are hereditary in the person of the first-born son or daughter of the last holder. The use of such titles is extended to the legitimate consorts of the person holding the dignity . Currently there are 1,372 titles of marquis in Spain, of which 142 also hold the dignity of Grandee of Spain, the highest European nobility recognition