Kniaz’ or knyaz is a word found in some Slavic languages, denoting a nobility rank. Nenad Knežević (Ненад Кнежевић (born December 5 1967 in Cetinje, Yugoslavia, now Montenegro) widely known by The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages) a group of closely related Languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages Nobility is a government-privileged title which may be either hereditary (see Hereditary titles) or for a lifetime It is usually translated into English as either Prince or Duke, although the correspondence is not exact. Prince, from the Latin root Princeps, is a general term for a Monarch, for a member of a monarch's or former monarch's family and is a A duke is a member of the Nobility, historically of highest rank below the Sovereign, and historically controlled a Duchy or a Dukedom
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The title is pronounced and written similarly in different Eastern European languages. Eastern Europe is a general term that refers to the Geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the European continent. Most of the many Languages of Europe belong to the Indo-European Language family. In West Slavic languages, such as Polish and Sorbian, the word has later come to denote "lord", and in Czech, Polish and Slovak also came to mean "priest" (kněz, ksiądz, kňaz) as well as "duke" (kníže, książę, knieža). The West Slavic languages is a subdivision of the Slavic language group that includes Czech, Polish, Slovak, and Sorbian.
Etymology
The etymology is directly related to the English King, the German König, and the Scandinavian konung. Western scholars likes to teach, that it was probably borrowed early from the Proto-Germanic Kuningaz, a form also borrowed by Finnish and Estonian (Kuningas). Proto-Germanic, or Common Germanic, is the hypothetical common ancestor ( Proto-language) of all the Germanic languages such as modern English Germanic monarchy, also called barbarian monarchy, was a monarchical systemof government which was predominant among the Germanic tribes of Late Antiquity Finnish ( or suomen kieli) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland (92% As of 2006) and by ethnic Finns outside Estonian (; ˈeːsti ˈkeːl is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1 The proto-Slavic form was kǔningǔ, kъnędzь, East-Slavic knyaz', Polish ksiądz, Czech kněz etc.
Middle Ages
The meaning of the term changed over the course of history. Initially the term was used to denote the chieftain of a tribe. A traditional tribal chief is the leader of a Tribe, or the head of a tribal form of self-government Later, with the development of feudal statehood, it became the title of a ruler of a state among East Slavs (княжество, kniazhestvo, traditionally translated as duchy or principality), for example, of Kievan Rus'. A duchy is a territory fief, or domain ruled by a Duke or Duchess. A principality (or princedom) is a monarchical feudatory or Sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a monarch with the title of Prince Kievan Rus′ (Ки́евская Русь romanised: Kievskaya Rus', rusʲ also written as Kyivan Rus′ (Ки́ївська Русь or Kievan In medieval Latin sources the title was rendered as either rex or dux. Dux (plural duces) is Latin for leader (from the verb ducere, 'to lead' and could refer to anyone who commanded troops such
As the degree of centralization grew, the ruler acquired the title Velikii Kniaz (Великий Князь) (translated as Grand Prince or Grand duke, see Russian Grand Dukes). The Title Grand Prince or Great Prince (Magnus Princeps Russian and Ukrainian: Великий князь Velikiy knyaz; Вялíкий The Title Grand Prince or Great Prince (Magnus Princeps Russian and Ukrainian: Великий князь Velikiy knyaz; Вялíкий The Title grand duke (in Latin, magnus dux; in Spanish, gran duque; in Russian, Великий Герцог The Title grand duke (in Latin, magnus dux; in Spanish, gran duque; in Russian, Великий Герцог He ruled a Velikoe Knyazhestvo (Великое Княжество) (Grand Duchy), while a ruler of its vassal constituent (udel, udelnoe kniazhestvo or volost) was called udelny kniaz or simply kniaz. A grand duchy is a territory whose Head of state is a Grand Duke or Grand Duchess. Volost or volost' was a traditional administrative subdivision in Eastern Europe.
When Kievan Rus' became fragmented in the 13th century, the title Kniaz continued to be used in East Slavic states, including Novgorod, Vladimir-Suzdal', Muscovy, Tver, Halych-Volynia, and in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Veliky Novgorod (Вели́кий Но́вгород is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia and the administrative center of Novgorod Vladimir-Suzdal Principality (Влади́миро-Су́здальское кня́жество The Grand Duchy of Moscow (Великое княжество Московское was a medieval Russian polity centered on Moscow between 1340 and Tver (Тверь is a city in Russia, the administrative center of Tver Oblast. The Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia ( Ruthenian: sla Галицко-Волинскоє Королѣвство Regnum Galiciæ et Lodomeriæ or Galicia-Vladimir, was The Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Lietuvos Didžioji Kunigaikštystė old literary Lithuanian Didi Kunigiste Letuvos, Ruthenian: Wialikaje Kniastwa Litowskaje
Russia
As Muscovy gained dominion over much of former Kievan Rus', Velikii Kniaz Ivan IV of Russia in 1547 was crowned as Tsar. Tsar csar and tzar redirect here For other uses see Tsar (disambiguation. Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov (Алексей Михайлович ( March 9, 1629 (O The Grand Duchy of Moscow (Великое княжество Московское was a medieval Russian polity centered on Moscow between 1340 and Tsar csar and tzar redirect here For other uses see Tsar (disambiguation. Since the mid-18th century, the title Velikii Kniaz has been revived to allude to sons and grandsons (through male lines) of the Russian Emperors. See titles for Tsar's family for details. Tsar csar and tzar redirect here For other uses see Tsar (disambiguation.
Kniaz continued as a hereditary title of Russian nobility patrilineally descended from Rurik (e. The Russian Nobility (Дворянство Dvoryanstvo) arose in the 14th century and essentially governed Russia until the October Revolution Rurik or Riurik (Рюрик; Old East Norse: Rørik, meaning "famous ruler" c g. , Repnin, Gorchakov) or Gediminas (e. Repnin (Репнин the name of an old Russian Princely family of Rurikid stock Gorchakov, or Gortchakoff (Горчако́в is a Russian Princely family of Rurikid stock descended from the Rurikid sovereigns of Peremyshl Gediminas (ca 1275 – winter 1341 was the Monarch of medieval Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the title lt didysis kunigaikštis (вялікі князь g. , Galitzine, Troubetzkoy). The Galitzines, more correctly the Golitsyns (Голи́цын are one of the largest and noblest Princely houses of Russia. Trubetskoy ( English) Трубецкой ( Russian) Trubiacki ( Belarusian Members of Rurikid or Gedyminid families were called princes when they ruled tiny quasi-sovereign medieval principalities. The Rurik Dynasty was the ruling Dynasty of Kievan Rus', the successor Russian principalities and early united Russia, from 862 to 1598 The Gediminids ( Lithuanian: Gediminaičiai, singular Gediminaitis) were a Dynasty of Monarchs of the medieval Lithuania After their demesnes were absorbed by Muscovy, they settled at the Moscow court and were authorised to continue with their princely titles.
Since 18th-century, the title was occasionally granted by the Tsar, for the first time by Peter the Great to his associate Alexander Menshikov, and then by Catherine the Great to her lover Grigory Potemkin. Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov (Александр Данилович Меншиков (1673 &ndash 1729 was a Russian statesman whose official titles included Generalissimo Catherine II, called Catherine the Great (Екатерина II Великая Yekaterina II Velikaya;) reigned as Empress of Russia for 34 years After 1801, with the incorporation of Georgia into the Russian Empire, various titles of numerous local nobles were controversially rendered in Russian as "kniazes". Georgia ( საქართველო, Sakartvelo) is a Transcontinental country in the Caucasus region situated at the dividing line between The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Similarly, many petty Tatar nobles asserted their right to style themselves "kniazes" because they descended from Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan ( or;, Chinggis Khaan, ʧiŋgɪs χaːŋ Činggis Qaɣan; 1162–1227 born (meaning "ironworker" was the Mongol founder
See also "Velikiy Knyaz" article for more details. The Title Grand Prince or Great Prince (Magnus Princeps Russian and Ukrainian: Великий князь Velikiy knyaz; Вялíкий
Finally, within the Russian Empire of 1809-1917, Finland was called Grand Duchy of Finland (Velikoe Kniazhestvo Finlyandskoe). The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya Year 1809 ( MDCCCIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Year 1917 ( MCMXVII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Finland, officially the Republic of Finland ( is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of northern Europe. A grand duchy is a territory whose Head of state is a Grand Duke or Grand Duchess. The Grand Duchy of Finland (Magnus Ducatus Finlandiæ Великое княжество Финляндское ' Velikoe knjažestvo finljandskoe) was the Predecessor
Balkans
In the 19th century, the Serbian term knez (кнез) and the Bulgarian term kniaz (княз) were revived to denote semi-independent rulers of those countries, such as Alexander Karađorđević and Alexander of Battenberg. Aleksandar Karađorđević ( Serbian Cyrillic Александар Карађорђевић ( October 11, 1806 – May 3, Alexander Joseph of Battenberg ( April 5, 1857 - November 17, 1893) the first prince ( Knyaz) of modern Bulgaria, reigning
See also
This is a list of those members of the Russian Imperial Family who bore the title Velikiy Knjaz (usually translated into English as Grand Duke, but more accurately This is a list of those members of the Russian Imperial House who bore the title Velikaia Kniaginia (Великая Княгиня or Velikaia Knazhna (ВеликаяDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic