A title is an honorary title that is inherited or given to individuals for life. As a rule, this concerned representatives of the nobility and was done in order to emphasize their special privileged position. Such titles are, for example, Duke, Count, Prince, Most Serene Prince. About the latter, its origin, history in different countries and some representatives will be discussed in the article.
In a feudal society
Titling was common in societies where there were class-feudal relations. This took place in Russia, and in some countries there are titles today, in particular, in the UK. One of those that was in the Russian Empire - His Serene Highness Prince.
It contains two components:
- Prince. The meaning of this word has changed over the centuries, but has always meant a very significantthe most influential person.
- The Most Serene, which is associated with the concept of "lordship", referring to dukes and sovereign princes. There is also the option “Highest Highness”, in German it is Durchlaucht; in French - altesse sérénissime.
To understand what the Most Serene Prince is, each of the components should be considered in detail.
Prince
Among the Slavs and some other peoples from the 9th to the 16th century, this is the head of a monarchical feudal state or a separate entity (an appanage prince). He was a representative of the feudal aristocracy. Later, "prince" became the highest title of nobility.
Depending on the importance of the person, in Southern and Western Europe he was equated with a duke or prince. In Central Europe, which was formerly the Holy Roman Empire, there is a similar title "furst", and in the North it is "king".
One of the titles of nobility inherent in the Russian Empire was "Grand Duke". It concerned those who belonged to the imperial family. Beginning in 1886, he began to refer only to some of them. These were the sons, daughters, grandchildren of Russian emperors, who were born in the male line. Granddaughters did not care.
Prophetic Oleg
This is the first figure in Ancient Russia, which is attributed to historical characters, in contrast to the semi-mythical Rurik, considered the founder of Russian statehood. The fact that he was a sovereign ruler, and not just a voivode under the juvenile Igor, is confirmed by a written document.
This is an agreement that was madein 911 between the Byzantine state and Kievan Rus. "Bright Prince" - this is how Oleg is referred to in this agreement. He acts here as the supreme ruler of the Rus and also calls himself "Grand Duke", "Our Grace". In his submission are the boyars and other high-ranking persons. Thus, the name of the title "Highest Prince" has its roots in the first period of the existence of our state. And how did he appear in Europe?
Your Grace in Europe
There the title of Durchlaucht was first granted to electors by Emperor Charles IV in 1356. The nobles, who were members of the elector's houses, began to be called "the brightest nobility", in German - Durchlauchtig Hochgeboren. Electors were imperial princes in the Holy Roman Empire who had the right to elect the emperor since the 13th century.
After that, in 1742, another emperor, Charles VI, allowed all sovereign princes to be called Durchlaucht, and the electors began to be addressed as Kurfürstliche Durchlaucht, which means “electoral lordship.”
In 1825, at the direction of the Diet of the German Confederation, the title of Durchlaucht was given to princes who were heads of mediatized houses. In a number of sovereign houses of European princes, all daughters and younger sons bore the title Hochfürstliche Durchlaucht, meaning "great lordship."
The right to the title of Altesse Sérénissime, in French "lordship", in France had princesses and princes of blood. And also the so-called foreign princes, representativesruling houses that belonged to the princely family, for example, the princes of Monaco. In Spain, there is the title of El Serenísimo Señor, which means "the brightest lord" - this is one of the names of infants (princes).
In the Russian state
The title of "Highest Prince" was granted in 1707 by Peter I to Alexander Menshikov, his closest associate. And in 1711 it was received by Dmitry Cantemir, Moldavian ruler, Russian senator and privy councillor. Previously, for a number of special services to the state, they were elevated to the dignity of princes of the Holy Roman Empire.
Further on, this title was assigned to other royal persons. So, for example, the emperors ruling the Holy Roman Empire, the titles of prince and lordship were granted to Grigory Orlov, Grigory Potemkin and Platon Zubov. And then these titles were recognized by Catherine the Great.
The hereditary title of lordship could be given both together with the princely one, as, for example, to Counts M. I. Kutuzov and I. F. Paskevich, and separately from it. So it was, for example, with the hereditary princes P. M. Volkonsky and D. V. Golitsyn.
According to the provisions of the "Institution of the Imperial Family", until 1886, the title of "lordship" was supposed to be given to the youngest children born to the emperor's great-grandchildren and their descendants in the male line. And then it became the property of all great-grandchildren and male descendants of the Imperial House, born in a legal marriage.
Golenishchev-Kutuzov
Mikhail Illarionovich was a count from 1811, and from 1812 - the Most Serene Prince of Smolensky. His yearslife - 1745-1813. He was both a commander and a diplomat, he held the rank of field marshal general. Kutuzov was a participant in military campaigns against the Turks, in the war of 1812 he led the Russian army.
He studied with A. V. Suvorov and was his colleague. He managed to visit the governor-general, Kazan, Vyatka, Lithuania were under his command. And also there was a military governorship in St. Petersburg and Kyiv. Mikhail Illarionovich was the first of those who had all the degrees of the Order of St. George.
At the beginning of the war of 1812, M. Kutuzov was elected head of the St. Petersburg militia, and then the Moscow militia. After the Russian troops left Smolensk in August, he became commander in chief. Although the French did not achieve victory in the battle of Borodino, the Russian army was deprived of the opportunity to go on the counteroffensive. To save the army, the military, led by Kutuzov, had to surrender Moscow to Napoleon.
In October, near the village of Tarutino, Murat's French corps was defeated, and Napoleon was forced to hasten his withdrawal from Moscow. Kutuzov's army blocked the way for the French to the southern provinces near Maloyaroslavets. As a result, they were forced to retreat to the west along the devastated Smolensk road. After several battles near Vyazma and Krasny, the main enemy forces were defeated on the Berezina River.
Kutuzov's wise and flexible strategy allowed the Russian army to win a brilliant victory. In 1812, in December, Kutuzov became the owner of the title of the Most Serene Prince of Smolensk.
Grigory Potemkin
Since 1776 hebore the title of Most Serene Prince of Tauride. He was a Russian statesman, field marshal general, creator of the military Black Sea Fleet and its first chief, favorite and associate of Catherine the Great.
Under his direct leadership, the accession and initial arrangement of Tavria and Crimea to the Russian Empire took place. Potemkin had huge plots of land there. He founded a number of cities, among which there are modern regional centers. We are talking about Yekaterinoslav (now the Dnieper), Kherson, Sevastopol, Nikolaev.
According to some sources, His Serene Highness Prince Grigory Alexandrovich was not only the favorite of the Empress, but also her morganatic husband. He was the first owner of the St. Petersburg Tauride Palace. In 1790-1791. actually ruled the Moldavian principality.
Descendants of the king
The tomb of the Most Serene Princes Yuryevsky is located in Pushkin, at the Kazan cemetery, and is a grave chapel. This family is known for the fact that it includes the descendants of Tsar Alexander II. The emperor's love affair with Princess Ekaterina Mikhailovna Dolgorukova lasted for many years.
In July 1880, a morganatic marriage was concluded between them. In December, E. M. Dolgorukova became the Most Serene Princess Yuryevskaya. She could pass this title on by inheritance. The princess and the emperor had four children - two sons and two daughters. One of the sons died in infancy.
