Duke of Sparta (

Katharevousa Katharevousa ( el, Καθαρεύουσα, , literally "purifying anguage) is a conservative form of the Modern Greek language conceived in the late 18th century as both a literary language and a compromise between Ancient Greek and the contempor ...

: , Demotic Greek: Δούκας της Σπάρτης) was a title instituted in 1868 to designate the

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wi ...

of the

Kingdom of Greece The Kingdom of Greece ( grc, label= Greek, Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος ) was established in 1832 and was the successor state to the First Hellenic Republic. It was internationally recognised by the Treaty of Constantinople, wh ...

. Its legal status was exceptional, as the

Constitution of Greece The Constitution of Greece ( el, Σύνταγμα της Ελλάδας, Syntagma tis Elladas) was created by the Fifth Revisionary Parliament of the Hellenes in 1974, after the fall of the Greek military junta and the start of the Third Hellen ...

forbade the award or acceptance of titles of nobility for Greek citizens. Consequently, it was mostly used abroad, and only occasionally and unofficially within Greece. The birth of Crown Prince

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I *Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...

(later king as Constantine I) on 21 July/2 August 1868 was widely celebrated in Greece, especially as the heir-apparent's name resonated with the Byzantine imperial tradition and the irredentist aspirations enshrined in the "''

Megali Idea The Megali Idea ( el, Μεγάλη Ιδέα, Megáli Idéa, Great Idea) is a nationalist and irredentist concept that expresses the goal of reviving the Byzantine Empire, by establishing a Greek state, which would include the large Greek popu ...

''". As a result, on the day of the Crown Prince's baptism on 22 August/3 September, at the initiative of the Prime Minister

Dimitrios Voulgaris Dimitrios Voulgaris ( el, Δημήτριος Βούλγαρης; 20 December 1802 – 10 January 1877) was a Greek revolutionary fighter during the Greek War of Independence of 1821 who became a politician after independence. He was nickname ...

, his father, King

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgor ...

, issued a decree according to which Constantine, as well as any future heir to the Greek crown, would bear the title "Duke of Sparta".Royal Decree of 22 August/3 September 1868, published in ΦΕΚ 44/1868
/ref> However, this decree was contrary to Article 3 of the Greek constitution, which expressly prohibited the recognition of foreign titles of nobility or the conferment of such on Greek citizens, a tradition that had been established already during the Greek War of Independence, even though several of its leading figures had previously borne such titles. This led to a stormy debate in

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, at the instigation of

Timoleon Filimon Timoleon Filimon ( el, Τιμολέων Φιλήμων 1833 – 7 March 1898) was a Greek journalist, politician, intellectual and tutor of King George I. He was one of the founding members of the Historical and Ethnological Society of Greece.

. The government of the day backed the decree on the argument that the constitutional provision did not apply to members of the Royal Family, but Filimon and others countered that the phrasing made no distinction, and that the decree thus violated the constitution. The decree was finally approved by Parliament on 17/29 September 1868, with 98 votes in favour, 2 abstentions, and 26 against. Nevertheless, use of the title "Duke of Sparta" within Greece was later quietly dropped. However, Crown Prince Constantine was known as "HRH The Duke of Sparta" on the international scene from his birth until his accession in 1913—for 45 years. This again led to the misunderstanding of various, quite respectable publications that the title "Duke of Sparta" was synonymous with that of "

Crown Prince of Greece The Crown Prince of Greece ( el, Διάδοχος, Diadochos) is the List of heirs to the Greek throne, heir to the Monarchy of Greece, defunct throne of Greece. Since the 1973 Greek republic referendum, abolition of the Kingdom of Greece, Greek ...

", and the title has thus re-surfaced from time to time, but neither of the successive Crown Princes of Greece have ever been officially styled thus. The term '' Diadochos'' (literally, "heir"), which is a functional description and does not have any connotations of a title of nobility, has been historically employed to denote the position of heir-apparent in general—not limited to the Greek throne—instead.

References

{{Kingdom of Greece

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

1868 establishments in Greece Constantine I of Greece

See also

References