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Originally, dukes were men in the Roman army who had achieved the rank of general, but could not hold it because they were not Roman citizens by birth. Early in the Middle Ages, the title was pretty much interchangeable with the title of general. It quickly became a term for a man who controlled a large piece of territory and maintained a powerful fighting force. In this capacity, it was a title of nobility, higher than count or earl. By the time of the High Middle Ages, it was the highest title of nobility, though it was below that of any royal rank, such as prince.

In some places, dukes were monarchs in their own right. As such they were often called archdukes. Monarchs whose ranks were of nobility rather than monarchy were prone to deciding they were kings, however.

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13y ago
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13y ago

Dukes were the rulers of the provinces and the superiors of the counts in the cities and later, in the feudal monarchies, the highest-ranking peers of the king. The female equivalent is a Duchess. In the middle ages a duke is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy.

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13y ago

a duke is a member of noblity and is of the highest ranking be sides the king and queen. im doing a report on them and i figured out they are the cammandors of the military they control a duchy. hope this helps im only 13 so im not so good at this answering ?'s thaNKS FOR THE QUESTION.

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13y ago

Dukes were nobles so they ran their estates and manor and served at the will of the king.

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Dukes were at the highest level of nobility. They were at a lower rank than emperors, kings, and princes, but these are royal, not noble, ranks. Originally, dukes were barbarians serving at the level of general of the Roman army, but who were disqualified from that rank because they were not Roman born. Later, they were nobles above the ranks of earl (count) or marquess. Where the earl or marquess controlled a county, the duke controlled a duchy, which was not, strictly speaking, a county, but greater. In that office, they were expected to maintain a rather large fighting force, if they were vassals of a king. It was possible, however, that they were not vassals, but independent. An independent duchy was a monarchy, with the duke as the monarch. The Duke of Aragon was independent, and one of the dukes became king by simply deciding that was what he was. The Duke of Brittany was independent until the duchy was united with France, which happened after the Middle Ages were over. Duke of Benevento was independent, but the duchy was given to the Pope by Holy Roman Emperor Henry III, whose armies had conquered it, in exchange for the Bishobric of Bamberg, in 1053.

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9y ago

During the middle ages, the Dukes were primarily responsible in governing provinces. They are as well the immediate superior of the Counts. Its female counterpart is called a Duchess.

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12y ago

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Q: What is a duke in medieval times?
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