Suo jure
Encyclopedia
Suo jure is a Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

 phrase meaning "in her [or his] own right".

It is commonly encountered in the context of titles of nobility
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...

, especially in cases where a wife may hold a title in her own right rather than through her marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

.

A queen in her own right is termed a queen regnant
Queen regnant
A queen regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right, in contrast to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigning king. An empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns in her own right over an empire....

.

Examples of suo jure titles

  • Eleanor, Duchess of the Aquitaine
    Eleanor of Aquitaine
    Eleanor of Aquitaine was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Western Europe during the High Middle Ages. As well as being Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, she was queen consort of France and of England...

    , French, then English queen consort, duchess suo jure
  • Mary, Duchess of Burgundy
    Mary of Burgundy
    Mary of Burgundy ruled the Burgundian territories in Low Countries and was suo jure Duchess of Burgundy from 1477 until her death...

    , Queen consort of the Romans
    King of the Romans
    King of the Romans was the title used by the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire following his election to the office by the princes of the Kingdom of Germany...

    , duchess suo jure
  • Henrietta Godolphin, 2nd Duchess of Marlborough, English peeress suo jure
  • Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier, French princess, peeress suo jure
  • Margaret of Mar, 31st Countess of Mar, Scottish peeress suo jure
  • Maria Theresa of Austria
    Maria Theresa of Austria
    Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina was the only female ruler of the Habsburg dominions and the last of the House of Habsburg. She was the sovereign of Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria and Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma...

    , Austrian archduchess, Hungarian and Bohemian queen regnant
  • Elizabeth of Russia, Russian empress regnant
  • Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba
    Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba
    Doña María del Rosario Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart y Silva, 18th Duchess of Alba de Tormes, Grandee of Spain is the current head of the House of Alba and the third woman to carry the title in her own right...

    , Spanish grandee
    Grandee
    Grandee is the word used to render in English the Iberic high aristocratic title Grande , used by the Spanish nobility; Portuguese nobility, and Brazilian nobility....

     suo jure
  • Élisabeth Marguerite d'Orléans, Duchess of Alençon, French princess, peeress suo jure
  • Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife, British princess, duchess suo jure
  • Patricia Mountbatten, 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma, British countess suo jure

See also

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