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{{short description|Aristocratic title conferred on Spanish nobility}}
{{For|a list of current grandees|List of current grandees of Spain}}

[[File: Isabel II y su Estado Mayor, a caballo.jpg|thumb|350px|Equestrian portrait of [[Isabella II of Spain|Isabella II]], her husband [[Francis, King Consort of Spain]] (left), and [[Infante Francisco de Paula of Spain|Infante Francisco de Paula]] (right) with the most important Spanish [[Politician|statesmen]] and army officers of the time, many of whom were ''grandees of Spain'', by [[Charles Porion]], 1862]]

'''Grandee''' ({{IPAc-en|ɡ|r|ən|ˈ|d|iː}}; {{langx|es|Grande de España}}, {{IPA|es|ˈɡɾande|lang}}) is an official [[royal and noble ranks|aristocratic title]] conferred on some [[Spanish nobility]].<ref>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/grandee Encyclopedia Britannica: Grandee]</ref> Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the [[peerage of France]] during the {{lang|fr|[[Ancien Régime]]|italic=no}}, though in neither country did they have the significant constitutional political role the [[House of Lords]] gave to the [[Peerage of England]], of [[Peerage of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and of the [[Peerage of the United Kingdom|United Kingdom]]. A "grandee of Spain" nonetheless enjoyed greater social privileges than those of other similar European dignities.<ref>Santa Cruz y Mallen, Francisco Javier: ''Origen y transformación de la Grandeza de España'' (1946)</ref>

With the exception of [[Duke of Fernandina|Fernandina]],<ref>Salazar y Acha, Jaime de, ''Los grandes de España (siglos XV-XXI)'', Ediciones Hidalguía (Madrid, 2012), p. 474</ref> [[List of dukes in the peerage of Spain|all Spanish dukedoms]] are automatically attached to a grandeeship, yet only a few [[marquess]]ates, [[Count (title)|countships]], [[List of viscounts in the peerage of Spain|viscountcies]], [[List of barons in the peerage of Spain|baronies]] and [[List of lords in the peerage of Spain|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 [[Victoria Elisabeth Hohenlohe-Langenburg, 20th Duchess of Medinaceli|Duchess of Medinaceli]] and the [[Carlos Fitz-James Stuart, 19th Duke of Alba|Duke of Alba]], who are grandees ten and nine times respectively. All sons and daughters of [[Infante]]s are also grandees.<ref>[https://www.boe.es/buscar/pdf/1987/BOE-A-1987-25284-consolidado.pdf Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE) - 12 November 1987]</ref>

According to the [[Spanish Constitution of 1876|1876 Constitution]], fully in force until 1923, grandees of Spain could also be [[Senate of Spain|senators]] ''por derecho propio'' ("in their own right"), alongside archbishops and top military ranks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.asambleamurcia.es/sites/external/parlamentarios-murcia/09_salon_3.html|publisher=Assembly of Murcia|title=Parlamentarios por Murcia: Dos siglos al servicio de una Región|access-date=21 November 2020|archive-date=20 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020193745/http://www.asambleamurcia.es/sites/external/parlamentarios-murcia/09_salon_3.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

As of 2018, grandeeships totalled 417 out of the 2,942 extant titles in Spain (approximately 14%)<!-- ref>[https://percentagecalculator.net]''percentagecalculator.net'': 417 out of 2,942 is equivalent to the 14.1740312%</ref --> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.diputaciondelagrandeza.es/guiadetitulo/?b |title=Diputación permanente y consejo de la grandeza de España: Title Guide |access-date=5 December 2018 |archive-date=27 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327090421/http://www.diputaciondelagrandeza.es/guiadetitulo/?b |url-status=dead }} If one inputs the value {{lang|es|grandeza de España}} in the GRANDEZA section of the title guide, it will return 417 results. If one further inputs {{lang|es|Marques de}}, {{lang|es|Conde de}}, {{lang|es|Vizconde de}}, {{lang|es|Baron de}} and {{lang|es|Señor de}} it will return 142, 108, 2, 2 and 3 respectively. Furthermore, if one inputs {{lang|es|Grande de España}} in the TITLE section, it will return 7 results, that is, the 7 grandees without titles.</ref>  Despite losing their last legal privilege in 1984, when the right to possess [[diplomatic passport]]s and [[diplomatic immunity|immunity]] was revoked for all grandees of Spain, they still enjoy certain ceremonial privileges.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://elpais.com/diario/1984/05/28/espana/454543215_850215.html |title=Cardenales, ex ministros y grandes de España, privados del pasaporte diplomático |trans-title=Cardinals, ex-ministers and grandees of Spain, deprived of Diplomatic Passports |last=Bayón |first=Félix |work=[[El País]] |date=28 May 1984 |language=es }}</ref> All grandees are entitled to remain covered in the presence of the [[Monarchy of Spain|King of Spain]], as well as being addressed by him as {{lang|es|primo}} (cousin), a privilege that originated in the 16th century, when most grandees were [[consanguinity|close relatives]] of the Monarch.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=46CoAmkt2V0C&pg=PA99 |last=Quintanilla Raso |first=María Concepción |title=Títulos, grandes del reino y grandeza en la sociedad política: Fundamentos en la Castilla medieval |trans-title=Titles, Royal Grandees and Grandeeship in Political Society: Fundamentals in Medieval Castile |page=99 |date=2006 |publisher=Silex Ediciones |isbn=9788477371649 }}</ref>

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 [[member of Parliament|parliamentary seat]]). By extension, the term can refer informally to any important person of [[social status|high status]], particularly [[wealth]]y, [[landed gentry|landed]] long-time residents in a region.  In the United Kingdom the term is currently and informally used of influential and long-standing [[legislator|members]] of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] and [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/another-tory-grandee-quits-the-commons-1770639.html |title=Another Tory grandee quits the Commons |first=David |last=Hughes |date=12 August 2009 |work=[[The Independent]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8113941.stm |title='Young' Bercow mocks Tory grandee |work=[[BBC News Online]] |date=22 June 2009 }}</ref> and has had more specific meanings in the past.

== Origins and privileges ==
{{Main list|List of current grandees of Spain}}

[[File:Heraldic Crown of Spanish Grandee.svg|thumb|[[Coronet#Spanish coronet rankings|Coronet]] of a grandee of Spain]]

Most Spanish noble titles are granted as {{lang|es|títulos del Reino}} (''Peer of the realm''), many of which predate the modern Spanish monarchy. The [[Kings of Spain]] re-established in 1520 the ancient dignity of Grande to confer as an additional rank of [[honour]]. The [[Post-nominal letters|post-nominals]] of grandees of Spain are {{lang|es|GE}}.<ref>{{cite book |title=Elenco de Grandezas y Títulos Nobiliarios Españoles |publisher=Real Asociación de Hidalgos de España <!-- Madrid, Ediciones Hidalguía --> |pages=1–5 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KRYMncjc2GUC&pg=PA273 |last=Soler Salcedo |first=Juan Miguel |title=Nobleza española |page=150 |publisher=Editorial Visión Libros |isbn=9788499834023 }}</ref>

The dignity of grandee ({{lang|es|Grand noble}}) began to be assumed by [[Spain]]'s leading noblemen in the Middle Ages to distinguish them as a {{lang|es|Grand señor}} ('[[Lord]] of the realm'), from lesser {{lang|es|ricoshombres}} ({{lang|es|Nobles de naturaleza}}), whose rank evolved into that of {{lang|es|[[hidalgo (Spanish nobility)|hidalgo]]}}. It was, as [[John Selden]] the 17th-century English jurist pointed out, not a general term denoting a [[social class|class]], but "an additional individual dignity not only to all Dukes but to some Marquesses and Counts also".<ref>Titles of Honor, ed. 1672, p. 478</ref><ref name=EB1911>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Grandee |volume=12 |page=349}}</ref> [[Noble title]]s, including and above the [[royal and noble ranks|rank]] of [[Count]], were seldom created in heredity by the Kings of [[Crown of Castile|Castile]] and [[Crown of Aragon|Aragon]] until the late [[Middle Ages]]—in contrast to [[France]] and elsewhere in Europe (where [[feudalism]] evolved more quickly)—being largely associated with [[royal Household|royal officers]] until the 14th century. The conferral of grandeeships initially conveyed only ceremonial privileges, such as remaining covered or seated in the presence of [[royal family|royalty]]. Over time grandees received more substantial rights: for example freedom from taxation and immunity from arrest, save at the King's command;<ref name=EB1911/> they were usually the senior judicial officers of their region. These rights later became open to abuse with some grandees renouncing their allegiance to the monarchy to wage war on the King.

In the late 1470s, [[Catholic Monarchs|King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I]] were the first to clamp down on grandee powers assumed by the medieval territorial nobles. In the 16th century, limitations on the number of grandees were introduced by [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|King Charles I]] (who later became [[Holy Roman Emperor]] as Charles V), who decreed that the [[Monarchy of Spain|Spanish Crown]] had the sole right to confer the dignity of a grandee.

Subsequently, the {{lang|es|grandes de España}} (grandees of Spain) were subdivided into three grades:<ref name=EB1911/>
# those who spoke to the King and received his reply in full regalia;
# those who addressed the King uncovered, but by right wore their coronets to hear his answer;
# those who required permission from the King before wearing their coronets.<ref name=EB1911/>

[[File:Manto de Grande de España.svg|thumb|[[Mantle and pavilion (heraldry)|Heraldic mantle]] of a grandee of Spain]]

All grandees traditionally have been addressed by the king as '' mi Primo'' (my cousin), whereas ordinary nobles are formally styled as '' mi Pariente'' (my kinsman).  ''Grandezas'' could also be bestowed upon foreigners, such as the memorialist [[Louis de Rouvroy, Duc de Saint-Simon]] who took great pride in becoming a grandee after his successful posting as [[List of diplomatic missions of France|French Ambassador to Madrid]], representing [[King of France|King]] [[Louis XIV]]. The dignity was highly considered by foreign peers. For an extensive period of time, it was even deemed 'the pinnacle of nobiliary stratification'.{{sfn|de Mestas|1963|pp=155-156}} Foreign grandees were mostly French, although there was also a significant number of German, [[Flanders|Flemish]], [[Wallonia|Walloon]], Italian, and [[New Spain|Novohispanic]]/[[Aztec]] peers, as a result of the scope of the [[Spanish Empire]] in Europe and the Americas.{{sfn|de Mestas|1963|pp=156}} Some examples included the Dukes of [[Duke of Wellington (title)|Wellington]], [[List of rulers of Bavaria|Bavaria]], [[Claude Louis Hector de Villars|Villars]], [[Duke of Mouchy|Mouchy]], [[Duke of Moctezuma de Tultengo|Moctezuma de Tultengo]], [[Ambroise-Polycarpe de La Rochefoucauld|Doudeauville]], [[House of Croÿ|Croÿ]], the [[Prince of Sulmona|Princes of Sulmona]], [[Prince of Ligne|Ligne]], and the [[List of Lords and Counts of Egmont|Counts of Egmont]].{{sfn|de Mestas|1963|p=175}}

The dignity of grandee was abolished by the Napoleonic King [[Joseph Bonaparte]], before being revived in 1834 by {{lang|es|[[decree|Estatuto real]]}} when grandees were given precedence in the [[Chamber of Peers (Spain)|Chamber of Peers]] of [[Spain]].

Nowadays, all grandees are deemed to be "of the first class", and is an honorific dignity conferring neither power nor legal privilege.  A {{lang|es|Grandeza de España}} (grandeeship) is a separate [[legal entity]] from a title of nobility, although {{lang|es|grandezas}} are normally but not exclusively granted in conjunction with a [[hereditary title|title]]. Since the 20th century invariably the King of Spain has conferred a {{lang|es|Grandeza de España}} upon any newly created [[duke]].

A grandee of any noble rank is higher in [[Order of precedence|precedence]] than a non-grandee (apart from members of the [[Spanish Royal Family]]), even if that non-grandee holds a [[hereditary title]] ({{lang|es|titulo}}) of a higher grade than that of the said grandee. Thus, a [[baron]]-grandee would outrank a non-grandee [[marquess]], thus rendering the dignity of {{lang|es|grandeza}} an [[order of Precedence|hereditary rank of precedence]] rather than a [[noble title|title of nobility]]. Since 1987, children of an {{lang|es|[[infante]]}} of [[Spanish Royal Family|Spain]] are recognised as members of the Spanish royal family and are accorded the [[royal and noble ranks|rank]] and [[style (manner of address)|style]] of a grandee by [[courtesy title|courtesy]]: they do not formally hold this dignity until such time as a [[noble title|title]] with {{lang|es|grandeza}} is granted to them by the [[King of Spain|sovereign]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.boe.es/g/es/bases_datos/doc.php?coleccion=iberlex&id=1987/25284#analisis |title=Spanish Royal Decree 1368/1987: Regulation of Titles, Styles and Honors of the Royal Family |work=[[Boletín Oficial del Estado]] |access-date= August 14, 2010 }}</ref>

Some of the best known [[Spanish nobility|Spanish grandees]] are the [[Duke of Arcos|dukes of Arcos]], [[Duke of Alba|of Alba]], [[Duke of Medinaceli|of Medinaceli]], [[Duke of Villahermosa|of Villahermosa]], [[Duke of Osuna|of Osuna]], [[Duke of the Infantado|del Infantado]], [[Duke of Alburquerque|of Alburquerque]], [[Duke of Moctezuma de Tultengo|of Moctezuma]], [[Duke of Frías|of Frías]] and [[Duke of Medina Sidonia|of Medina-Sidonia]]; well-known [[marquess]]es include those of Aguilar de Campoo, of [[Marquess of Astorga|Astorga]], of Santillana, and of {{lang|es|los Vélez|italic=no}}; the [[count]]s of Benavente, [[Count of Lerín|of Lerín]], Olivares, Oñate, and [[Count of Lemos|Lemos]] also hold grandeeships.

Grandees and their consorts are entitled to the [[honorific]] [[style (manner of address)|prefix]] of '[[the Most Excellent]] Lord/Lady' or 'His/Her Most Excellency', and they can be addressed as {{lang|es|Primo}} (cousin) by the King, although this tradition is in disuse today.

==Portugal and Brazil==
{{Unreferenced section|date=December 2020}}
Both [[Portuguese nobility|Portuguese]] and [[Brazilian nobility]] adopted the term {{lang|es|grande}} ("grandee") from the Spanish, to designate a higher rank of noblemen.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Grandee definition and meaning |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/grandee#:~:text=noun-,1.,of%20great%20rank%20or%20eminence |website=Collins Dictionary}}</ref> The Brazilian system automatically deemed [[duke]]s, [[marquis]]es and [[count]]s (as well as [[archbishop]]s and [[bishop]]s) {{lang|es|grandes do Império}} ("grandees of the Empire", or literally translated as "Great Ones of the Empire"). Viscounts and barons could also be ennobled with or without {{lang|es|grandeza}} ("grandeeship", alternatively "greatness").

Viscounts ennobled with grandeeship displayed a count's coronet on their coat of arms, and barons ennobled with grandeeship bore a coat of arms surmounted by a viscount's coronet.

The order of precedence in Brazilian nobility was as follows: after the members of the Imperial Family, dukes, marquises, counts, viscounts with grandeeship, viscounts without grandeeship, barons with grandeeship, barons without grandeeship. Brazilian grandeeships, like its nobility, were not hereditary titles.

Grandees were allowed to keep their heads covered in the presence of the [[list of Portuguese monarchs|king]] or [[emperor of Brazil|emperor]] until such time as the monarch may command otherwise; as elsewhere throughout Europe, these noble families displayed their [[coat of arms|coats of arms]] on their properties, carriages (or vehicles), and over their graves (see [[funerary hatchment|hatchment]]). The abolition of the monarchies in Portugal and Brazil extinguished the formal use of such titles, although their use continues among some of the Portuguese aristocracies.

==New Model Army==
{{anchor|Grandee (New Model Army}}
{{main|New Model Army}}

During the [[Wars of the Three Kingdoms]], senior military officers from the English [[landed gentry]] who served in the [[New Model Army]], who were opposed to the more radical [[Levellers]], came to be informally termed "grandees".<ref>The ''[[OED]]'' first cites this specific usage as "1648–9 C. WALKER Relat. & Observ. 1 The said Leading men or Grandees (for that is now Parliament language) First divided themselves into two factions."</ref> After the defeat of [[Charles I of England]] in the [[Second English Civil War]], there was a series of debates and confrontations between radical, elected representatives of New Model Army soldiers, known as the [[Agitators]], and the Army's grandees such as [[Thomas Fairfax|Sir Thomas Fairfax]], [[Oliver Cromwell]] and [[Henry Ireton]], who opposed the Agitators' more radical proposals. These disagreements were aired publicly at the [[Putney Debates]], which started in late October 1647 and lasted for several weeks.<ref>David Plant ''[http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/glossary/levellers.htm The Levellers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513163351/http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/glossary/levellers.htm |date=13 May 2008 }}'' on the website of the [http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/index.htm British Civil Wars and Commonwealth]</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of current grandees of Spain]]
* [[Hidalgo (nobility)]]
* {{lang|pt|[[Fidalgo]]}}
* {{lang|ga|[[Flaith]]}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==

* {{cite journal |last=de Mestas |first=Alberto |date=1963 |editor-last1=de Cadenas y Vicent |editor-first1=Vicente|journal=Hidalguía|volume=11|issue=57|publisher=Instituto Salazar y Castro |pages=155–192 |title=Las Grandezas de España otorgadas a franceses }}

[[Category:Dukes|*]]
[[Category:Grandees of Spain| ]]
[[Category:Levellers]]
[[Category:New Model Army]]