Grandee

For a list of current grandees, see List of current grandees of Spain.

Equestrian portrait of Isabella II, her husband Francis, King Consort of Spain (left), and Infante Francisco de Paula (right) with the most important Spanish statesmen and army officers of the time, many of whom were grandees of Spain, by Charles Porion, 1862

Grandee (/ɡrənˈdiː/; Spanish: Grande de España, Spanish: [ˈɡɾande]) is an official aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility.[1] Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the Ancien Régime, though in neither country did they have the significant constitutional political role the House of Lords gave to the Peerage of England, of Great Britain and of the United Kingdom. A "grandee of Spain" nonetheless enjoyed greater social privileges than those of other similar European dignities.[2]

With the exception of Fernandina,[3] all Spanish dukedoms are automatically attached to a grandeeship, yet only a few marquessates, countships, viscountcies, baronies and lordships have the distinction. A single person can be a grandee of Spain multiple times, as grandeeships are attached, except in a few cases, to a title and not an individual. Such grandees with more than one title notably include the current Duchess of Medinaceli and the Duke of Alba, who are grandees ten and nine times respectively. All sons and daughters of Infantes are also grandees.[4]

According to the 1876 Constitution, fully in force until 1923, grandees of Spain could also be senators por derecho propio ("in their own right"), alongside archbishops and top military ranks.[5]

As of 2018, grandeeships totalled 417 out of the 2,942 extant titles in Spain (approximately 14%) of which there were 153 Dukedoms, 142 Marquessates, 108 Countships, 2 Viscountcies, 2 Baronies, 3 Lordships and 7 hereditary grandees with no title attached to the grandeeship.[6] Despite losing their last legal privilege in 1984, when the right to possess diplomatic passports and immunity was revoked for all grandees of Spain, they still enjoy certain ceremonial privileges.[7] All grandees are entitled to remain covered in the presence of the King of Spain, as well as being addressed by him as primo (cousin), a privilege that originated in the 16th century, when most grandees were close relatives of the Monarch.[8]

Outside Spain, the term can refer to other people of a somewhat comparable, exalted position, roughly synonymous with magnate; formerly a rank of high nobility (especially when it carried the right to a parliamentary seat). By extension, the term can refer informally to any important person of high status, particularly wealthy, landed long-time residents in a region. In the United Kingdom the term is currently and informally used of influential and long-standing members of the Conservative Party, Labour Party and Liberal Democrats,[9][10] and has had more specific meanings in the past.

  1. ^ Encyclopedia Britannica: Grandee
  2. ^ Santa Cruz y Mallen, Francisco Javier: Origen y transformación de la Grandeza de España (1946)
  3. ^ Salazar y Acha, Jaime de, Los grandes de España (siglos XV-XXI), Ediciones Hidalguía (Madrid, 2012), p. 474
  4. ^ Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE) - 12 November 1987
  5. ^ "Parlamentarios por Murcia: Dos siglos al servicio de una Región". Assembly of Murcia. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  6. ^ "Diputación permanente y consejo de la grandeza de España: Title Guide". If one inputs the value grandeza de España in the GRANDEZA section of the title guide, it will return 417 results. If one further inputs Marques de, Conde de, Vizconde de, Baron de and Señor de it will return 142, 108, 2, 2 and 3 respectively. Furthermore, if one inputs Grande de España in the TITLE section, it will return 7 results, that is, the 7 grandees without titles.
  7. ^ Bayón, Félix (28 May 1984). "Cardenales, ex ministros y grandes de España, privados del pasaporte diplomático" [Cardinals, ex-ministers and grandees of Spain, deprived of Diplomatic Passports]. El País (in Spanish).
  8. ^ Quintanilla Raso, María Concepción (2006). Títulos, grandes del reino y grandeza en la sociedad política: Fundamentos en la Castilla medieval [Titles, Royal Grandees and Grandeeship in Political Society: Fundamentals in Medieval Castile]. Silex Ediciones. p. 99. ISBN 9788477371649.
  9. ^ Hughes, David (12 August 2009). "Another Tory grandee quits the Commons". The Independent.
  10. ^ "'Young' Bercow mocks Tory grandee". BBC News Online. 22 June 2009.