His/Her Illustrious Highness (

abbreviation An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...

: H.Ill.H.) is the usual English-language translation for ''Erlaucht'', a style historically attributed to certain members of the European

aristocracy Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At t ...

. It is not a literal translation, as the German word for "Highness" is ''

Hoheit Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address Your Highness) is a formal style used to address (in second person) or refer to (in third person) certain members of a reigning or formerly reigning dynasty. It is typically used with a possessive ad ...

'', a higher style that appertained to sovereign dukes and other royalty.

Usage

Ancient

"Illustrious Highness" is used to translate the Middle High German word ''Erlaucht'' (german: erleuchtet) eventually borne by Imperial counts, similar to the later '' Durchlaucht'' ("Serene Highness") which was reserved for the ''Reichsfürsten'' ( Princes of the Holy Roman Empire).

Modern

From the Early modern period, the style ''Erlaucht'' has been used by the members of those comital families (''

Reichsgraf Imperial Count (german: Reichsgraf) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. In the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from ...

en'') who, like the ''Reichsfürsten'', held the status of

Imperial immediacy Imperial immediacy (german: Reichsfreiheit or ') was a privileged constitutional and political status rooted in German feudal law under which the Imperial estates of the Holy Roman Empire such as Imperial cities, prince-bishoprics and secular prin ...

. They retained it even after the German Mediatisation of 1802/03, confirmed by the Bundesversammlung of the German Confederation in 1828. The style was also adopted by the cadet members of some princely families like Colloredo-Mansfeld,

Fugger The House of Fugger () is a German upper bourgeois family that was historically a prominent group of European bankers, members of the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century mercantile patriciate of Augsburg, international mercantile bankers, and vent ...

, Khevenhüller, Salm, Sayn-Wittgenstein, Schönburg, Solms, Starhemberg, Stolberg, Waldburg or Waldeck-Pyrmont. Mediate comital families were entitled to the lower style, '' Hochgeboren''. ''Erlaucht'' is sometimes used to translate the Russian word ''Siyatelstvo'' (Сиятельство), a style used by members of some Russian princely families (also sometimes translated as Serene Highness). In

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

, the Russian princely counts hold the style of Illustriousness, often translated as "Illustrious Highness". Royal styles {{Europe-noble-stub