 |
Business | Industries | Finance | Tax |
| Index: > 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 Z |
|
|||||
In the general sense, the German word "Fürst" refers to a ruler, as in Machiavelli's The Prince. Thus a king, a duke, and a Fürst in the narrow sense are all covered by the term. Before the 12th century also counts were included, according to how the word was used in Germany.
The word Fürst designates the head (the "first") of a ruling house, or the head of a branch of such a house. The "first" originates from ancient Germanic times, when the "first" was the leader in battle.
The child of a Fürst (in this general sense) is as a rule called Prinz (male) or Prinzessin (female), although exceptionally there exist families where all or some members are Fürst/Fürstin (Wrede) or Herzog/Herzogin (Anhalt, Bavaria, Mecklenburg, Oldenburg, Saxony and Württemberg)[1].
Cognates of the word Fürst exist in the Slavonic and North Germanic languages, as for instance "furste" in Swedish.
The title Fürst is used for the head of a princely house of German origin. Unless he also holds a higher title, as duke or king, he will be known as Fürst von plus the geographic origin of the dynasty, alternatively Fürst zu plus the domain ruled. (Exceptions exist.)
The actual rank of the holder of a title is, however, dependent on not only the title as such, but on for instance the degree of sovereignty and on the rank of the lord of the title-holder. But also such matters as the age of the princely dynastyA dynasty is a family or extended family which retains political power across generations, or more generally, any organization which extends dominance in its field even as its particular members change. See also: family dictatorship. China was ruled by a play a role (note the terms Uradel, Briefadel, altfürstliche, neufürstliche; and see German nobility ).
A Kurfürst was an ElectorIn the Holy Roman Empire, the prince-electors or electoral princes German: Kurfurst (singular) Kurfursten (plural)—were the members of the electoral college of Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the king of Germany before his accession as of the Holy Roman Empire. Kur (earlier spelling Chur) is derived from kur/küren, to choose.
Großfürst is German for the LatinAlternative meanings: See Latin (disambiguation Latin was the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. It gained great importance as the formal language of the Roman Empire. All Romance languages are descended from Latin, and ma Magnus Princeps, which in English is translated as Grand duke, used for instance for the sons of a TsarTsar ( Bulgarian Russian often spelt Czar or Tzar in English), was the title used for the rulers of the First and Second Bulgarian Empires from 913 and in Russia from 1547 to 1917. It is derived from the Latin title Caesar. History of usage The title tsar. Grand duke is otherwise translated as Großherzog in German, and as Magnus Dux in Latin.
Example of bearers of the Fürst-title are the present-day rulers of the principalitiesPrince Albert of Monaco on the left represents a principality where he wields adminisitrative authority. Prince Charles of Wales represents a titular principality with no administrative authority. A principality is a monarchial feudatory or sovereign stat LiechtensteinThe Principality of Liechtenstein (pronounced "LEEKH-ten-shtine" ( IPA: ['lik. tan]; SAMPA: ["lik. StaIn]) is a small, doubly landlocked country in central Europe, bordered by Switzerland to its west and by Austria to its east. Being mountainous, it is a and of MonacoThe Principality of Monaco known as Munegu in the local dialect, is a city state and the second-smallest country in the world, wedged in between the Mediterranean Sea and France along the French Riviera or Cote d'Azur (The Blue Coast). Consisting mostly o. Also the hereditary rulers of the former principalities of Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro and Albania bore the title "Fürst" until they gradually acquired the title of "King".
See also: Grand duchy, Grand duke, Grand duchess and Titles of nobility
Titles| Politics | Business | Finance |
 |
 |
 |