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300px Prince 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 state, whose monarch is a prince. The term is also sometimes used as a general term for other small sovereign states led by lesser royalty, as for instance Grand Duchies, whose monarch is a Grand Duke or Grand Duchess. No sovereign duchy currently exists, but Luxembourg is a surviving example of a sovereign grand duchy.
Principalities have existed in ancient and modern civilizations of Africa, Asia,(the Indian Princely states were ruled by kings called Princes by the British), EuropeFor the band of the same name, see Europe (band . Europe is a continent forming the westermost part of the Eurasian supercontinent. Europe is bounded to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the south by the Mediterranean Se and OceaniaFor the fictional superstate in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four see Oceania (fiction . Oceania is a name used for varying groups of islands of the Pacific Ocean. In its narrow usage it refers to Polynesia (including New Zealand), Melanesia (inc. Surviving principalities include AndorraAndorra is a very small landlocked principality in southwestern Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by France and Spain. Once isolated, it is currently a prosperous country mainly because of tourism and its status as a tax haven, 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, Monaco and Wales, but notable principalities existed until the early 20th century19th century 20th century 21st century more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901- 2000 in the sense of the Gre in various regions of FranceThe French Republic or France ( French: Republique francaise or France is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents., GermanyThe Federal Republic of Germany ( German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland is one of the world's leading industrialized countries, located in the middle of the European Union. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea, to the east, Italy, Portugal, and Spain.
An ecclesiastical form of principality exists in the Roman Catholic Church in the form of a diocese led by a cardinal, the principal papal elector.
1 Development
Though principalities existed in antiquity, before the height of the Roman Empire, the modern principality as it is known today was developed in the Middle Ages between 350 and 1450 when feudalism was the primary economic system employed by Eurasian societies. Feudalism increased the power of local princes to govern the king's lands. As princes continued to gain more power over time, the authority of the king was diminished in many places. This led to political fragmentation and the king's lands were broken into ministates led by princes and dukes who wielded absolute power over the territories. This was especially prevalent in Europe.
