List of titles and honours of the Spanish Crown
Encyclopedia
The current Spanish constitution refers to the monarchy as "the crown of Spain" and the constitutional title of the monarch is simply rey/reina de España: that is, "king/queen of Spain". However, the constitution allows for the use of other historic titles pertaining to the Spanish monarchy, without specifying them. A decree promulgated 6 November 1987 at the Council of Ministers regulates the titles further, and on that basis the monarch of Spain has a right to use ("may use") those other titles appertaining to the Crown. Contrary to some belief, the long titulary that contains the list of over 20 kingdoms, etc., is not in state use, nor is it used in Spanish diplomacy. In fact, it has never been in use in that form, as "Spain" was never a part of the list in pre-1837 era when the long list was officially used.

Spain, mentioned differently in the titulary depending on which monarch was reigning, was for more than three centuries also symbolized by the long list that started "...of Castile, Leon, Aragon,..." - The following long titulary in the feudal style was the last used officially in 1836 by Isabella II of Spain
Isabella II of Spain
Isabella II was the only female monarch of Spain in modern times. She came to the throne as an infant, but her succession was disputed by the Carlists, who refused to recognise a female sovereign, leading to the Carlist Wars. After a troubled reign, she was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of...

 (see the account of titulary in her article) before she became constitutional queen.

The first king to officially use a derivation of the name "Spain" as the realm in the titulary was Charles I of Spain
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V was ruler of the Holy Roman Empire from 1519 and, as Charles I, of the Spanish Empire from 1516 until his voluntary retirement and abdication in favor of his younger brother Ferdinand I and his son Philip II in 1556.As...

, who used "Rex Hispaniarum et Indiarum"(i.e., King of the Spains and Indies). This title was often used after his title of "Holy Roman Emperor," as "Emperor" was considered a superior title to "King." During his brief and controversial occupancy of the throne Joseph Napoleon Bonaparte, brother of Emperor Napoleon, also used a similar title, King of the Spains and the Indies.

During the first restoration of the historic dynasty, it returned to the traditional format (...of Castile, Leon, Aragon,...) until 1837, when the short version "queen of the Spains" was taken into use by Isabella II. The singular Spain was first used by Amadeo
Amadeo I of Spain
Amadeo I was the only King of Spain from the House of Savoy...

 — he was "by divine grace and will of nation, king of Spain." During the second restoration, King Alfonso XII
Alfonso XII of Spain
Alfonso XII was king of Spain, reigning from 1874 to 1885, after a coup d'état restored the monarchy and ended the ephemeral First Spanish Republic.-Early life and paternity:Alfonso was the son of Queen Isabella II of Spain, and...

 started to use "constitutional king of Spain, by divine and constitutional grace".

With the current (and third) restoration of the royal house of Spain, the present monarch, Juan Carlos, uses the simple title "king of Spain", without any divine, national or constitutional reference.

The present king has chosen not to use the title of Catholic Majesty and the other titles. He has not, however, relinquished these titles and honours.

Titles held by the King of Spain

Spanish monarchical
Spanish monarchy
The Monarchy of Spain, constitutionally referred to as The Crown and commonly referred to as the Spanish monarchy or Hispanic Monarchy, is a constitutional institution and an historic office of Spain...

 Titles or Style
Style (manner of address)
A style of office, or honorific, is a legal, official, or recognized title. A style, by tradition or law, precedes a reference to a person who holds a post or political office, and is sometimes used to refer to the office itself. An honorific can also be awarded to an individual in a personal...

 are listed in order of degrees of sovereignty, nobility, and honor:

Note: Titles in Pretence
Pretender
A pretender is one who claims entitlement to an unavailable position of honour or rank. Most often it refers to a former monarch, or descendant thereof, whose throne is occupied or claimed by a rival, or has been abolished....

 marked with * are historical titles which are only nominal and ceremonial.

Kingdoms


  • King of Castile
    Kingdom of Castile
    Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...


  • King of León
    Kingdom of León
    The Kingdom of León was an independent kingdom situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in AD 910 when the Christian princes of Asturias along the northern coast of the peninsula shifted their capital from Oviedo to the city of León...


  • King of Aragón
    Kingdom of Aragon
    The Kingdom of Aragon was a medieval and early modern kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, in Spain...


  • King of the Two Sicilies
    Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
    The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, commonly known as the Two Sicilies even before formally coming into being, was the largest and wealthiest of the Italian states before Italian unification...

    *

  • King
    Kings of Jerusalem
    This is a list of kings of Jerusalem, from 1099 to 1291, as well as claimants to the title up to the present day.-Kings of Jerusalem :...

     of Jerusalem
    Kingdom of Jerusalem
    The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Catholic kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, but its history is divided into two distinct periods....

    *

  • King of Navarre
    Kingdom of Navarre
    The Kingdom of Navarre , originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean....


  • King of Granada


  • King of Toledo
    Kingdom of Toledo
    The Kingdom of Toledo was the juridical definition of a Christian medieval kingdom in what is now central Spain, created after Alfonso VI of León's capture of Toledo in 1085.-Background:...


  • King of Seville
    Taifa of Seville
    The Taifa of Seville was a short lived medieval kingdom, in what is now southern Spain and Portugal. It originated in 1023 and lasted until 1091, and was under the rule of the Arab Abbadid family.-History:...


  • King of Valencia
    Kingdom of Valencia
    The Kingdom of Valencia , located in the eastern shore of the Iberian Peninsula, was one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon. When the Crown of Aragon merged by dynastic union with the Crown of Castile to form the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Valencia became a component realm of the...


  • King of Galicia
    Kingdom of Galicia
    The Kingdom of Galicia was a political entity located in southwestern Europe, which at its territorial zenith occupied the entire northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Founded by Suebic king Hermeric in the year 409, the Galician capital was established in Braga, being the first kingdom which...


  • King of Sardinia
    Kingdom of Sardinia
    The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...

    *

  • King of Cordoba

  • King of Corsica
    Corsica
    Corsica is an island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is located west of Italy, southeast of the French mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....

    *

  • King of Menorca

  • King of Murcia

  • King of Jaen


  • King of Algeciras
    Algeciras
    Algeciras is a port city in the south of Spain, and is the largest city on the Bay of Gibraltar . Port of Algeciras is one of the largest ports in Europe and in the world in three categories: container,...


  • King of Gibraltar
    Kingdom of Gibraltar
    The Kingdom of Gibraltar is one of the many historic substantive titles pertaining to the Castilian monarchy and its successor, the Spanish monarchy, belonging to what is known as Grand Title...

    *

  • King of the Canary Islands
    Canary Islands
    The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...


  • King of the Spanish East
    Spanish East Indies
    Spanish East Indies was a term used to describe Spanish territories in Asia-Pacific which lasted for three centuries . With the seat of government in Manila, the territory encompassed the Philippine Islands, Guam and the Mariana Islands, the Caroline Islands, and for a period of time, parts of...

     and West Indies
    Spanish West Indies
    The Spanish West Indies was the contemporary name for the Spanish colonies in the Caribbean...

     and of the Islands and Mainland
    Spanish Main
    In the days of the Spanish New World Empire, the mainland of the American continent enclosing the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico was referred to as the Spanish Main. It included present-day Florida, the east shore of the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, Mexico, Central America and the north coast of...

     of the Ocean Sea*

Archduchies

  • Archduke of Austria
    Archduchy of Austria
    The Archduchy of Austria , one of the most important states within the Holy Roman Empire, was the nucleus of the Habsburg Monarchy and the predecessor of the Austrian Empire...

    *

Duchies

  • Duke
    Duke of Burgundy
    Duke of Burgundy was a title borne by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, a small portion of traditional lands of Burgundians west of river Saône which in 843 was allotted to Charles the Bald's kingdom of West Franks...

     of Burgundy
    Duchy of Burgundy
    The Duchy of Burgundy , was heir to an ancient and prestigious reputation and a large division of the lands of the Second Kingdom of Burgundy and in its own right was one of the geographically larger ducal territories in the emergence of Early Modern Europe from Medieval Europe.Even in that...

    *
  • Duke
    Duke of Brabant
    The Duchy of Brabant was formally erected in 1183/1184. The title "Duke of Brabant" was created by the German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in favor of Henry I, son of Godfrey III of Leuven . The Duchy of Brabant was a feudal elevation of the since 1085/1086 existing title of Landgrave of Brabant...

     of Brabant
    Duchy of Brabant
    The Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. Its territory consisted essentially of the three modern-day Belgian provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Antwerp, the Brussels-Capital Region and most of the present-day Dutch province of North Brabant.The Flag of...

    *
  • Duke of Milan
    Duchy of Milan
    The Duchy of Milan , was created on the 1st of may 1395, when Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Lord of Milan, purchased a diploma for 100,000 Florins from King Wenceslaus. It was this diploma that installed, Gian Galeazzo as Duke of Milan and Count of Pavia...

    *
  • Duke of Athens
    Duchy of Athens
    The Duchy of Athens was one of the Crusader States set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade, encompassing the regions of Attica and Boeotia, and surviving until its conquest by the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century....

    *
  • Duke of Neopatria
    Duchy of Neopatria
    The Duchy of Neopatria or Neopatras was one of the Crusader States set up in Greece after the conquest of the Byzantine Empire during the Fourth Crusade...

    *
  • Duke
    Duke of Limburg
    The counts of Limburg rose to prominence when one of their house was appointed Duke of Lower Lorraine.Though Lorraine was soon confiscated, the ducal title was kept within the family, transferred it to the county of Limburg, which was eventually ratified by the Holy Roman Emperor...

     of Limburg
    Duchy of Limburg
    The Duchy of Limburg, situated in the Low Countries between the river Meuse and the city of Aachen, was a state of the Holy Roman Empire. Its territory is now divided between the Belgian provinces of Liège and Limburg , the Dutch province of Limburg , and a small part of North Rhine-Westphalia in...

    *

Counties

  • Count of Habsburg
    Habsburg
    The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...

    *
  • Count
    Count of Flanders
    The Count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders from the 9th century until the abolition of the position by the French revolutionaries in 1790....

     of Flanders
    County of Flanders
    The County of Flanders was one of the territories constituting the Low Countries. The county existed from 862 to 1795. It was one of the original secular fiefs of France and for centuries was one of the most affluent regions in Europe....

    *
  • Count of Tyrol
    County of Tyrol
    The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary...

    *
  • Count
    Counts of Roussillon
    This is a list of the counts of Roussillon, in Catalan Rosselló.-Carolingian counts:These counts were nominated by the Carolingian kings of France, of whom they were vassals.*Gaucelm Hereafter, also counts of Barcelona....

     of Roussillon
    County of Roussillon
    The County of Roussillon was one of the Catalan counties in the Marca Hispanica during the Middle Ages. The rulers of the county were the Counts of Roussillon, whose interests lay both north and south of the Pyrenees.-Visigothic county:...

    *
  • Count of Cerdanya
  • Count of Barcelona
  • Count of Girona
  • Count of Osona
  • Count of Besalú
    County of Besalú
    The County of Besalú was one of the landlocked medieval Catalan counties near the Mediterranean coastline. It was roughly coterminous with the modern comarca of Garrotxa and at various times extended as far north as Corbières, Aude, now in France. Its capital was the village of Besalú...



Lordships

  • Lord of Biscay
    Lord of Biscay
    Lord of Biscay is a historical title of the head of state of the autonomous territory of Biscay, Basque Country.- History :The first known Lord of Biscay , Íñigo López "Ezkerra" was a lieutenant of the Kingdom of Pamplona , and this was until the Castilian conquest of Gipuzkoa in 1200...

  • Lord of Molina
    Molina de Aragón
    Molina de Aragón is a municipality located in the province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. According to the 2009 census , the municipality has a population of 3,671 inhabitants...


Military Rank

  • Captain General
    Captain General
    Captain general is a high military rank and a gubernatorial title.-History:This term Captain General started to appear in the 14th century, with the meaning of commander in chief of an army in the field, probably the first usage of the term General in military settings...

     of the Royal Spanish Armed Forces
    Spanish Armed Forces
    The Spanish Armed Forces are the military forces of the Kingdom of Spain. The Spanish Armed Forces are a modern military force charged with defending the Kingdom's integrity and sovereignty...

     and its Supreme Commander

Hereditary Orders of Spain

  • Sovereign Grand Master
    Grand Master (order)
    Grand Master is the typical title of the supreme head of various orders of knighthood, including various military orders, religious orders and civil orders such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Orange Order...

     of the Celebrated Order of the Golden Fleece
    Order of the Golden Fleece
    The Order of the Golden Fleece is an order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430, to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Infanta Isabella of Portugal, daughter of King John I of Portugal. It evolved as one of the most prestigious orders in Europe...

  • Grand Master of the Royal & Distinguished Order of Charles III
  • Grand Master of the Royal Order of Isabel, the Catholic
    Order of Isabel the Catholic
    The Order of Isabella the Catholic is a Spanish civil order granted in recognition of services that benefit the country. The Order is not exclusive to Spaniards, and many foreigners have been awarded it....

  • Grand Master of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Hermenegild
  • Grand Master of the Order of Montesa
    Order of Montesa
    The Order of Montesa is a Christian military order, territorially limited to the Kingdom of Aragon.-Templar background:The Templars had been received with enthusiasm in Aragon from their foundation in 1128...

  • Grand Master of the Order of Alcántara
    Order of Alcántara
    The Order of Alcántara , also called the Knights of St. Julian, was originally a military order of León, founded in 1166 and confirmed by Pope Alexander III in 1177.-Alcántara:...

  • Grand Master of the Order of Calatrava
    Order of Calatrava
    The Order of Calatrava was the first military order founded in Castile, but the second to receive papal approval. The papal bull confirming the Order of Calatrava as a Militia was given by Pope Alexander III on September 26, 1164.-Origins and Foundation:...

  • Grand Master of the Order of Santiago
    Order of Santiago
    The Order of Santiago was founded in the 12th century, and owes its name to the national patron of Galicia and Spain, Santiago , under whose banner the Christians of Galicia and Asturias began in the 9th century to combat and drive back the Muslims of the Iberian Peninsula.-History:Santiago de...

  • Grand Master of the Order of Queen Maria Luisa
    Order of Queen Maria Luisa
    The Royal Order of Queen María Luisa is an Order created by Charles IV of Spain by royal decree in April 21 1792 at the request of his wife Queen Maria Luisa, to have a way to reward noble women who distinguished themselves for their services and talents, so it was established as a distinction...


Titles held by the heir apparent to the Spanish Throne

Titles and styles
Style (manner of address)
A style of office, or honorific, is a legal, official, or recognized title. A style, by tradition or law, precedes a reference to a person who holds a post or political office, and is sometimes used to refer to the office itself. An honorific can also be awarded to an individual in a personal...

 are listed in order of degrees of rank, nobility, and honor:

Principalities

  • Prince of Asturias
    Prince of Asturias
    Prince of Asturias is the historical title given to the heir to the Spanish throne. It was also the title under the earlier Kingdom of Castile. The current Prince of Asturias is Felipe, son of King Juan Carlos of Spain and Queen Sofía...

     — title of the heir of the Kingdom of Spain and earlier Crown of Castile-Leon
    Crown of Castile
    The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...

  • Prince of Girona
    Prince of Girona
    The title of Prince of Girona is one of the titles given to the heir apparent to the Crown of Aragon. It originated in 1351 when King Peter IV of Aragon named his successor, to whom he conceded the title of Duke of Girona; the title embraced territories of the counties of Girona, Besalú, Empúries...

     — title of the heir of the Crown of Aragon
    Crown of Aragon
    The Crown of Aragon Corona d'Aragón Corona d'Aragó Corona Aragonum controlling a large portion of the present-day eastern Spain and southeastern France, as well as some of the major islands and mainland possessions stretching across the Mediterranean as far as Greece...

  • Prince of Viana
    Prince of Viana
    The Prince of Viana is one of the titles of the heir of the Crown of Spain. Other associated titles originate from the rest of the kingdoms that formed Spain: Prince of Asturias, Prince of Girona, Duke of Montblanc, Count of Cervera and Lord of Balaguer....

     — title of the heir of the Kingdom of Navarre
    Kingdom of Navarre
    The Kingdom of Navarre , originally the Kingdom of Pamplona, was a European kingdom which occupied lands on either side of the Pyrenees alongside the Atlantic Ocean....


Duchies, Counties and Lordships

  • Duke of Montblanc
    Duchy of Montblanc
    Duke of Montblanc is a Spanish noble title, which has been reserved as one of the titles of the heir apparent prince since the 15th century, pertaining first to the Aragonese and then to the Spanish crown...

     — title of the heir of the Principality of Catalonia
    Principality of Catalonia
    The Principality of Catalonia , is a historic territory in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula, mostly in Spain and with an adjoining portion in southern France....

  • Count of Cervera
    Count of Cervera
    The title Count of Cervera is currently held by Felipe, Prince of Asturias, heir to Juan Carlos of Spain. Cervera is the capital of the comarca of Segarra, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia...

     — title of the heir of the Kingdom of Valencia
    Kingdom of Valencia
    The Kingdom of Valencia , located in the eastern shore of the Iberian Peninsula, was one of the component realms of the Crown of Aragon. When the Crown of Aragon merged by dynastic union with the Crown of Castile to form the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Valencia became a component realm of the...

  • Lord of Balaguer
    Lord of Balaguer
    The Lord of Balaguer is a title of the Spanish Crown. specifically represents the Heir to the Kingdom of Mallorca, a part of the Crown of Aragon.-Evolution:...

     — title of the heir of the Kingdom of Mallorca

Hereditary Orders of the heir apparent of Spain

  • Knight of the Celebrated Order of the Golden Fleece
    Order of the Golden Fleece
    The Order of the Golden Fleece is an order of chivalry founded in Bruges by Philip III, Duke of Burgundy in 1430, to celebrate his marriage to the Portuguese princess Infanta Isabella of Portugal, daughter of King John I of Portugal. It evolved as one of the most prestigious orders in Europe...

  • Knight of the Royal & Distinguished Order of Charles III
  • Knight of the Royal and Military Order of San Hermenegildo
    Royal and Military Order of San Hermenegildo
    The Royal and Military Order of Saint Hermenegild is both a general military honor and a legion created by Fernando VII of Spain dating from 1814....

  • Knight of the Order of Montesa
    Order of Montesa
    The Order of Montesa is a Christian military order, territorially limited to the Kingdom of Aragon.-Templar background:The Templars had been received with enthusiasm in Aragon from their foundation in 1128...

  • Knight of the Order of Alcántara
    Order of Alcántara
    The Order of Alcántara , also called the Knights of St. Julian, was originally a military order of León, founded in 1166 and confirmed by Pope Alexander III in 1177.-Alcántara:...

  • Knight of the Order of Calatrava
    Order of Calatrava
    The Order of Calatrava was the first military order founded in Castile, but the second to receive papal approval. The papal bull confirming the Order of Calatrava as a Militia was given by Pope Alexander III on September 26, 1164.-Origins and Foundation:...

  • Knight of the Order of Santiago
    Order of Santiago
    The Order of Santiago was founded in the 12th century, and owes its name to the national patron of Galicia and Spain, Santiago , under whose banner the Christians of Galicia and Asturias began in the 9th century to combat and drive back the Muslims of the Iberian Peninsula.-History:Santiago de...


Duchies

  • Cádiz
    Duke of Cádiz
    The Duchy of Cádiz is Spanish nobility title. Its name refers to the Andalusian city of Cádiz.-History:After the death of the 1st Duke, the Catholic Monarchs negotiated with Francisca Ponce de León y de la Fuente, the abolition of the Marquisate and Duchy of Cádiz, reinstating the city and the...

  • Seville
    Duke of Seville
    The Dukedom of Seville is a Spanish nobility title granted in 1823 by Ferdinand VII of Spain to his nephew Infante Enrique. The Dukes are also Grandees of Spain.The current Duke of Seville is Don Francisco de Borbón y Escasany.-List of holders:-Source:...

  • Segovia
  • Badajoz
  • Soria
  • Lugo
  • Palma de Mallorca
    Duchess of Palma de Mallorca
    Duchess of Palma de Mallorca is a noble title granted for life by King Juan Carlos I of Spain for his daughter, Infanta Cristina, on 26 September 1997 by her marriage to Iñaki Urdangarin.- Dukes of Palma de Mallorca :...


Counties

  • Chinchón
    Count of Chinchón
    The Spanish noble title Count of Chinchón was initially created by Charles I of Spain on 9 May 1520, granting the title to Fernando de Cabrera y Bobadilla...

  • Molina
  • Montemolín
  • Montizón
  • Barcelona

Byzantine Empire

The last titular Byzantine Emperor, Andreas Palaiologos
Andreas Palaiologos
Andreas Palaiologos titular Byzantine emperor and Despot of Morea from 1465 until his death in 1502.-Biography:He was the nephew of Constantine XI Palaiologos, the last Byzantine Emperor of Constantinople...

, sold his imperial title to Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand II of Aragon
Ferdinand the Catholic was King of Aragon , Sicily , Naples , Valencia, Sardinia, and Navarre, Count of Barcelona, jure uxoris King of Castile and then regent of that country also from 1508 to his death, in the name of...

 and Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I of Castile
Isabella I was Queen of Castile and León. She and her husband Ferdinand II of Aragon brought stability to both kingdoms that became the basis for the unification of Spain. Later the two laid the foundations for the political unification of Spain under their grandson, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor...

 before his death in 1502. However, the sale of such a title in pretense was of uncertain validity and no kings of Spain are known to have used the Byzantine Imperial titles.

See also

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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