Spanish nobility

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Portrait of a Spanish Noble at the height of their Empire. D.Gabriel de la Cueva

Spanish nobles are persons who possess the legal status of hereditary nobility according to the laws and traditions of the Spanish monarchy. A system of titles and honours of Spain and of the former kingdoms that constitute it comprise the Spanish nobility. Some nobles possess various titles that may be inherited, but the creation and recognition of titles is legally a prerogative of the King of Spain.

Some noble titles and families still exist which have transmitted that status since time immemorial. Some aristocratic families use the nobiliary particle de before their family name. During the rule of General Francisco Franco, some new hereditary titles were conceded to individuals, and the titles granted by the Carlist pretenders were officially recognized.

Despite accession to Spain's throne of Juan Carlos I in 1975, the court of nobles holding positions and offices attached to the royal household was not restored. Noble titleholders are subjected to taxation, whereas under Spain's ancien régime they were exempt. King Juan Carlos has granted new titles to recognize the merits of politicians and artists (see below).

Contents

[edit] Classification of Spanish nobles

Titles of Spain
Royal Titles
The crown of the Spanish Monarch.
The coronet of the Prince of Asturias (Crown Prince).
The coronet of the Infantes of Spain (Princes).
Titles of nobility
A coronet of the Grandee.
A Spanish coronet of a duke.
A Spanish coronet of a marquess.
A Spanish coronet of a count.
A Spanish coronet of a viscount.
A Spanish coronet of a baron.
A Spanish coronet of a señor (lord).

Spanish nobles are classified as either Grandee of Spain (Grandes de España), as titled nobles, or as untitled nobles.

In the past, grandees were divided into the first, second, and third classes, but now, this division has ceased to be relevant in practice but remains as a titular dignity; legally all grandees enjoy the same privileges in modern times. At one time however, each class held special privileges such as: (1) those who spoke to the king and received his reply with their heads covered. (2) those who addressed the king uncovered, but put on their hats to hear his answer. (3) those who awaited the permission of the king before covering themselves.

Additionally, all grandees were addressed by the king as mi Primo (my Cousin), whereas ordinary nobles were only qualified as mi Pariente (my Kinsman).

An individual may hold a grandeeship, whether in possession of a title of nobility or not. Normally, however, each grandeeship is attached to a title. A grandeeship is always attached to the grant of a ducal title. The grant of a grandeeship with any other rank of nobility has always been at the will of the sovereign. Excepting dukes and some very ancient titles of marquesses and counts, most Spanish titles of nobility are not attached to grandeeships.

A grandee of any rank outranks a non-grandee, even if that non-grandee's title is of a higher degree, with the exception of official members of the Spanish Royal family who may in fact hold no title at all. Thus, a baron-grandee enjoys higher precedence than a marquis who is not a grandee.

Since 1987 the children of an Infante of Spain, traditionally considered part of the royal family, have been entitled to the rank and style of a grandee but do not hold the legal dignity of grandee unless a grandeza is officially conferred by the sovereign; once the dignity has been officially bestowed, it becomes hereditary.

Some notable titles, which are attached to grandeeships, are: Duke of Alba, Duke of Medinaceli, Duke of Osuna, Duke of Infantado, Duke of Alburquerque, Duke of Nájera, Duke of Frías and Duke of Medina Sidonia, Marquis of Aguilar de Campoo, Marquis of Astorga, Marquis of Santillana, Marquis of Los Vélez, Count of Benavente, Count of Lerín, Count of Olivares, Count of Oñate, and Count of Lemos.

[edit] Form of address

Dukes and other individuals who are grandees are entitled to the style of Most Excellent Lord/Lady or His/Her Excellency. Also, individuals who hold a princedom (rare outside the royal family) are addressed as Most Excellent Lord/Lady.

Titled nobles (without a grandeeship) who are of the rank of marquis or count use the style Most Illustrious Lord/Lady. Those who hold a title with the rank of viscount, baron or Señor use simply Señor/Señora.

[edit] Ranks

The ordinary Spanish nobility is divided into six ranks. From highest to lowest, these are: Duque (Duke), Marqués (Marquess), Conde (Count), Vizconde (Viscount), Barón (Baron), and Señor (Lord) (as well as the feminine forms of these titles).

Nobility descends from the original male who was raised to the nobility or recognized as belonging to the hereditary nobility to all legitimate descendants, male and female, in the male line. Thus, most persons who are legally noble, hold no noble title.

A grandeeship ennobles its recipient and, although usually conferred with a title, need not be.

[edit] Princes

There is also the often overlooked title of Prince (Principe/Princesa) used by those who have been granted or have inherited that title. It is often not included in lists of the Spanish nobility because it is rare: princely titles are now reserved for members of the royal family (the heir to the throne or the consort of the Queen regnant). The heir's princely titles derive from the ancient kingdoms which united to form Spain.

Other titles of prince were frequently granted by the kings of Spain, but usually in their capacity as Kings of Naples or of Sicily. Such nobles often sojourned at the Spanish court where their titles were used, but rarely were Spanish nobles the recipients of a title of prince combined with a territorial designation in Spain. The most notable exception was the title "Prince of the Peace" conferred on Manuel Godoy, a favourite of the King and, especially, of the Queen.

There is, however, one noble princedom which was created by the Spanish crown for the Barons of Belmonte that remains in use today; the Principe de Belmonte. Although legislation of the twentieth century ended official recognition of the title of prince outside the royal family, it did allow the holder of a princedom to have the dignity converted to a ducal title of the same name.

Three titles of prince are held by the heir to the Spanish throne.

[edit] Duke/Duchess (Duque/Duquesa)

All Dukedoms are attached to a Grandeeship. A partial list includes:

[edit] Marquis/Marchioness (Marqués/Marquesa)

[edit] Count/Countess (Conde/Condesa)

[edit] Viscount/Viscountess (Vizconde/Vizcondesa)

  • Viscounty of la Alborada
  • Viscounty of Altamira
  • Viscounty of Banderas
  • Viscounty of Cabrera
  • Viscounty of la Calzada
  • Viscounty of Quintanilla de Florez

[edit] Baron/Baroness (Barón/Baronesa)

Baronies did not exist in the Kingdom of Castile nor the Kingdom of Navarre, and the Kings of Spain did not create afterwards any baronies attached to Castilian or Navarrese estates. However, they did exist in the Kingdom of Aragon, such as:

[edit] Señor/Señora (Lord/Lady)

The title of Senor is out of the usual ranks of Spanish nobility, meaning that it has no place in the order of precedence and stands alone as it is, together with that of counts, the oldest in seniority of the realms. Many of the Spanish lordships are among the oldest nobility titles in Spain, and they usually granted the holder military and legal administrative powers over their lordship. Although some lordships were created by the kings of Spain, others existed before them and have not been created by any known king. For example, the lord of Biscay would be the head of Biscay, holding a great degree of independence from the king of Castile, to whom he could pledge or not pledge feudal allegiance, but of whom he was not, at least at first, a vassal: each new lord of Biscay had to renew his oath to the king. Ultimately however, the kings of Castile inherited the lordship.

[edit] Other titles

  • Infante: currently used by those royal princes who are not the heir apparent to the throne. Previously, it was also a high nobility title, the most famous holders having been the Infantes de Carrión who appear in the Lay of the Cid.
  • Ricohombre (fem. Ricahembra): used during the Reconquista, it is roughly equivalent to Baron. By the 17th century, it was a synonym of nobleman.
  • Condestable: cognate with Constable, it is a hereditary title used in the Kingdoms of Castile and León to refer to the second person in power in the kingdom, after the king. It was a hereditary title within the Velasco family, that gradually lost the powers once attributed to the Condestable of Castile.
  • Caballero: equivalent to lnight, it was very rare in the kingdom of Castile, but common in the kingdom of Aragon, where there were four types of caballeros:
    • Golden-spur caballero: used by those infanzones who have been knighted. They held the highest prestige among the knights' ranks.
    • Royal-privilege caballero: it was a personal title not to be inherited by his descendents, granted by the king to Docotors of the Law. It was rarely used by their holders, since the doctoral rank enjoyed more privileges.
    • Caballero Mesnadero: held by cadet sons of a Ricohombre. It disappeared during the 18th century, when the Bourbon kings purged the ranks of the nobility.
    • Caballero franco: referred to those who had previously been hijosdalgo or infanzones, but were commoner-born.
  • Potestad: only in the kingdom of Aragon, its equivalent is the Italian podestà, an administrative-related title. It disappeared with the Nueva Planta decrees in 1713.
  • Doctor: indeed, any holder of a doctorate was recognised as possessing privileges appertaining to the nobility. For example, doctors were exempt from uncovering their heads in the presence of the King, a privilege shared only by the grandees. 

[edit] Lower nobility

Lower nobility held ranks, without individual titles, such as hidalgo, infanzon (in Aragon) or escudero (esquire). These did not, however, correspond to the status of a baron, a title unknown to Spanish nobility except in Catalonia.

Hidalgo was the most common of these: Originally all the nobles in the Western Peninsular Christian Realms were hidalgos and as cristianos viejos those that mattered, (but a note of exception needs to be made, as there were at some times Jewish and even Muslims without titles or possessions recognized as noble hidalgos and with same privileges to bear arms as knights in the royal mesnada real ) and the first of the Kings of Pamplona and Asturias were originally elected and raised on a shield to their rank by these untitled nobles as Princeps inter Pares. And for the next three hundred years remained so and only a few of them were granted the not permanent or inheritable title of Comes, counts. And from this estate of the realm came and resided all nobility. All the nobles of Biscay having been granted in this rank. All titled and untitled nobles are considered hidalgos, but many who came to be titled nobles without being from hidalguía or blood nobility. And as some lordships, that were recognized by the kings of Spain, the condition of Hidalgo de Sangre existed before them and was not created by any known king and thus could not in reality emanate from the Kings. Kings could give or take titles and titled possessions, imprison and execute their nobles but they could not change nobility Birthright, included their own without free will abdication.

Some hidalgos were descendants of noblemen who did not inherit a family title[citation needed]. Unlike noble titles, hidalgo did not have any fief, grant or land attached. Many were as poor as commoners, although they were tax-exempt and could join the civil service or the army. During the Middle Ages it was a title granted by the King of Castile as a reward for any service done to the crown (or as a way of recognising rights, as in the case of Biscay). hidalgo being the simplest way of proving one's pure blood, came to be the only lesser title to remain among the ranks of Spanish nobility

In the same way escudero was granted for military achievements, when the Reconquista ended.

The descendants of cadets of kings of Aragon, who did not inherit the throne, were considered infanzones.

[edit] Succession

The evidence supporting one's claim to a title may be reviewed by the Deputation of Grandees and Titled Nobles of the Kingdom (Diputación de Grandes y Títulos del Reino). The body includes eight grandees, eight nobles who are not grandees, and a president who must hold both a grandeeship and a hereditary title without grandeeship.

Succession to Spanish noble titles is hereditary, but not automatic. The original letters patent which created the title determines the order of succession. Payment of substantial fees is required whenever a title is inherited.

While noble titles historically have followed the rule of male-preference primogeniture, a Spanish law came into effect on October 30, 2006, after approval by both houses of Parliament, establishing the inheritance of hereditary noble titles by the firstborn regardless of sex. The law is retroactive to July 27, 2005.[1]

Following the death of a noble, the senior heir may petition the King through the Spanish Ministry of Justice for permission to use the title. If the senior heir does not make a petition within two years, then other heirs may themselves do so. Furthermore, there is an overall limit of forty years from vacancy within which one may claim a title.

The petitioner must demonstrate that he or she is a child, grandchild or direct male line descendant of a noble (whether a grandee or not), or that he or she belongs to certain bodies or orders of chivalry deemed noble, or that the father's family is recognized as noble (if succeeding to a grandeeship, the mother's family also). Furthermore, a fee must be paid; the fees depend on whether the title is attached to a grandeeship or not, and on whether the heir is a direct descendant or collateral kinsman of the previous holder. The petition is normally granted, except if the petitioner is a criminal.

Titles may also be ceded to heirs other than the senior heir, during the lifetime of the main titleholder. Normally, the process is used to allow younger children to succeed to lesser titles, while the highest or principal title goes to the senior heir. Only subsidiary titles may be ceded; the principal title must be reserved for the senior heir. The cession of titles may only be done with the approval of the monarch.

Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, 18th Duchess of Alba, holds the Guinness Book of Records for number of titles with over 50 titles.

[edit] Titles created during the current reign

Since the beginning of his reign in 1975, King Juan Carlos has created new titles for about 51 people (as of April 2011),[2] among others recognizing the merits of politicians and artists. Some of these dignities have been hereditary. Examples include

King Juan Carlos also exceptionally confirmed the title of Count of Barcelona, a title historically attached to the Crown, but used as a title of pretence by his father Juan de Borbón during the dynasty's 20th century exile and the subsequent reign of his son.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ http://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2006/10/31/pdfs/A37742-37743.pdf
  2. ^ “Nobiliario Español” : Titles and Grandeeships conferred by Juan Carlos I., with actual holders.

[edit] References
Reigning Monarchies
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