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List of titles and honours of the Spanish Crown

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The coat of arms of the Spanish Crown

The current Spanish constitution refers to the monarchy as "The Crown" and the constitutional title of the monarch is simply rey/reina de España:[1] that is, "king/queen of Spain". However, the constitution allows for the use of other historic titles pertaining to the Spanish monarchy,[1] without specifying them. A royal 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.[2] Contrary to some belief, the long titulary that contains the list of over 20 kingdoms 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 the pre-1837 era when the long list was officially used.[3]

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, León, Aragón, ..." The following long titulary in the feudal style was last used officially in 1836 by Queen Isabella II (see the account of titulary in her article) before she became constitutional queen.

Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon were together described as the Catholic Monarchs of Spain. The first king to officially use a derivation of the name "Spain" as the realm in the titulary was Charles I of Spain, who used Rex Hispaniarum et Indiarum (i.e. King of the Spains and the Indies). This title was often used after his title of Holy Roman Emperor which was superior to that of king. During his brief and controversial occupancy of the throne Joseph Bonaparte, brother of Emperor Napoleon, also used a similar title, King of the Spains and the Indies, and conferred the title "Prince of Spain" to be hereditary on his children and grandchildren in the male and female line.

During the first restoration of the Bourbons, 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—he was "by divine grace and will of nation, king of Spain". During the second restoration, King Alfonso XII started to use "constitutional king of Spain, by divine and constitutional grace".

Juan Carlos I, King from 1975 to 2014, did not use the style of Catholic Majesty and the other titles and honours, but did not relinquish them.[4] Like his father, King Felipe VI uses the simple title of "King of Spain", without any divine, national or constitutional reference.[citation needed]

Titles associated with the Spanish Crown

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See also: List of titles and honours of Felipe VI of Spain

The titles used by the last Habsburg king of Spain, Charles II, were:[5][6]

By the Grace of God, King of Castile, of León, of Aragon, of the Two Sicilies, of Jerusalem, of Dalmatia, of Croatia, of Navarre, of Granada, of Toledo, of Valencia, of Galicia, of Mallorca, of Seville, of Sardinia, of Córdoba, of Corsica, of Murcia, of Jaén, of the Algarves, of Algeciras, of the Canary Islands, of the East and West Indies, of the Islands and Mainland of the Ocean Sea; Archduke of Austria; Duke of Burgundy, of Brabant, of Milan, of Athens and Neopatria; Count of Habsburg, of Flanders, of Tyrol, of Barcelona, of Roussillon, and of Cerdanya; Marquess of Oristano and Count of Goceano.

The title used by the first Bourbon (Bourbon-Anjou branch of the House of Capet) king of Spain, King Philip V of Spain, was:[7] Don Philip, By the Grace of God, King of Castile, of León, of Aragon, of the Two Sicilies, of Jerusalem, of Navarre, of Granada, of Toledo, of Valencia, of Galicia, of Mallorca, of Seville, of Sardinia, of Cordóba, of Corsica, of Murcia, of Jaen, of the Algarves, of Algeciras, of Gibraltar, of the Canary Islands, of the East and West Indies, of the Islands and Mainland of the Ocean Sea, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Anjou, of Burgundy, of Brabant and of Milan, Count of Habsburg, of Flanders, of Tyrol and of Barcelona, Lord of Biscay and of Molina, etc.

Greater royal arms of Spain from Charles III (1761-1868) to Alfonso XIII (1875-1931)

Kingdoms

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Duchies

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Counties

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Lordships

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Other titles maintained, but usually abbreviated with "etc."

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Because of the large number of titles associated with the Spanish Crown, only the most important were written, finishing the list with "etc." or "&c.", referring to minor or obsolete titles. These titles are:

Andreas Palaiologos, the nephew of the last Byzantine emperor, designated Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile as his heirs at his death in 1502.[10]: 463 [11][12] However, neither Ferdinand nor Isabella, nor any succeeding monarch of Spain, ever used the title.[12]

Military rank

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Hereditary orders of Spain

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Collar of a Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
The insignia of the Order of Charles III.

Titles of the heir apparent or heir presumptive

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The coat of arms of the Princess of Asturias
See also: List of titles and honours of Leonor, Princess of Asturias

Titles and styles are listed in order of degrees of rank, nobility, and honor:[14]

Principalities

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Duchy, county and lordship

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Orders of the heir apparent

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The following orders are traditionally granted to the heir apparent:

Royal titles

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Duchies

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Counties

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Titles in Pretence: historical title which is only nominal and ceremonial.
  2. ^ Spain today holds Ceuta, a city which, at time when the country got hold of it, was part of the Kingdom of the Algarves.
  3. ^ In 2010 the Government of Gibraltar began referring to Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of Gibraltar.[8] Initially just on coinage, the title now appears on many government documents.[9]

References

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  1. ^ a b Constitution, article 56(2)
  2. ^ Royal Decee 1368/1987, article 1(1)
  3. ^ (in Spanish) Article 57 of the Spanish Constitution
  4. ^ Almanach de Gotha 1999, Page 336, Decree of 1987
  5. ^ Seiler, Louis (1998). "Las fracturas políticas de la historia europea: una aplicación de la Carta de Rokkan". In Francisco Letamendía (ed.). Nacionalidades y regiones en la Unión Europea (in Spanish). Editorial Fundamentos. pp. 161–182. ISBN 9788424508036., p. 177
  6. ^ Piferrer, Francisco (1859). Nobiliario de los reinos y señorios de España (in Spanish). Vol. III. Madrid. pp. 239–240 (note 2).{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. ^ V, 1713, Felipe (29 March 2012), Español: Perdon general de Felipe V a los catalanes 30 marzo 1713, retrieved 25 May 2022{{citation}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ "No. 103/2010" (PDF) (Press release). Gibraltar: Government of Gibraltar. 6 May 2010. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  9. ^ "United Kingdom Partnership Agreement" (PDF). www.gov.uk. HM Government. 15 October 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2016. The Governor of Gibraltar is the representative of the Queen of Gibraltar, Queen Elizabeth II.
  10. ^ Setton, Kenneth M. (1978). The Papacy and the Levant (1204–1571), Volume II: The Fifteenth Century. Philadelphia: The American Philosophical Society. ISBN 0-87169-127-2.
  11. ^ Enepekides, P. K. (1960). "Das Wiener Testament des Andreas Palaiologos vom 7. April 1502" [The Vienna Testament of Andreas Palaiologos from 7 April 1502]. Akten des 11. Internat. Byzantinisten-Kongresses 1958 (in German). Munich: C.H. Beck. pp. 138–143. OCLC 761003148.
  12. ^ a b Freiberg, Jack (2014). Bramante's Tempietto, the Roman Renaissance, and the Spanish Crown. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 152. ISBN 978-1107042971.
  13. ^ "Inicio - la Corona Hoy - the Functions of the Head of State".
  14. ^ Casa de Su Majestad el Rey de España - La Monarquía en la Historia - The Monarchy through History
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