The Almanach de Gotha

The Almanach de Gotha, published from 1763 to 1944, was a respected directory of Europe's highest nobility and royalty. First published at the ducal court of Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, it was regarded as an authority in the classification of monarchies, ducal houses, families of former rulers, and royalty. A similarly named publication in London, begun in 2000, is one of the directories of Europe's highest nobility and royalty, and has received some severe criticism.^{[citation needed]} Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Nobility is a traditional hereditary status (see hereditary titles) that exists today in many countries (mainly present or former monarchies). ... Royalty may refer to either: the royal family of a country with a monarchy royalties the payment made to the owner of a copyright, patent, or trademark, for the use thereof This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same... A duke is a nobleman, historically of highest rank and usually controlling a duchy. ... A trial at the Old Bailey in London as drawn by Thomas Rowlandson and Augustus Pugin for Ackermanns Microcosm of London (1808-11). ... Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (b. ... Capitals Coburg and Gotha Head of State Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Saxe-Coburg and Gotha or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha (German: ) served as the name of the two German duchies of Saxe-Coburg and Saxe-Gotha in Germany, in the present-day states of Bavaria and Thuringia, which were...

Old Gotha (1763-1944)

The purpose of the almanach was to record the ruling houses of Europe and their cadet branches, the most important of those they had ennobled, and incumbent diplomatic corps and highest officers of state. The undertaking was massive, as there were many royal families in Germany and Italy alone, and their minor branches numbered in the thousands. The inclusion of a noble family in the almanach was seen as socially vital. Since communications were slow in the 18th and 19th centuries, a source was needed to check the existence of high noble persons. Following World War I and the fall of many royal houses, noble titles became easy to masquerade due to the inexistence of a regulating government in the business of granting titles; this made inclusion in the incorruptible Almanach de Gotha even more essential. If a noble title was not listed in the almanach, it was presumed as self-created and invalid. Inclusion of lower nobility was never even attempted, as that was seen as the task of each country's own nobility or corresponding institution. For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Nobility is a traditional hereditary status (see hereditary titles) that exists today in many countries (mainly present or former monarchies). ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ...

Even in the early 19th century this in-or-out dichotomy caused problems. Napoleon's reaction was typical of the "nouveau riche". The elected Emperor wrote to his Foreign Minister, de Champagny: For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ...

Monsieur de Champagny, this year's "Almanach de Gotha" is badly done. I protest. There should be more of the French Nobility I have created and less of the German Princes who are no longer sovereign. Furthermore, the Imperial Family of Bonaparte should appear before all other royal dynasties, and let it be clear that we and not the Bourbons are the House of France. Summon the Minister of the Interior of Gotha at once so that I personally may order these changes.^{[cite this quote]}

The response of the publishers was to humour Bonaparte by producing two editions: one for France, with the newly ennobled, and one for the remainder of Europe (i.e., those ennobled by those enthroned by Divine Right of Kings, as opposed to what the publishers deemed a Corsican upstart). For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... The Divine Right of Kings is a European political and religious doctrine of political absolutism. ... For other uses, see Corsica (disambiguation). ...

Structure

Although the almanach's structure changed over years, it consisted essentially of three sections. The first section always listed the sovereign houses of Europe. Sections two and three experienced some changes after the Franco-Prussian War, described below. The genealogist William Addams Reitwiesner comments that those changes display "pan-German triumphalism" and even a "fairly nasty bit of Germanic chauvinism." ^[1] “Sovereign” redirects here. ... Combatants Second French Empire North German Confederation allied with south German states (later German Empire) Commanders Napoleon III Otto Von Bismarck, Helmuth von Moltke the Elder Strength 400,000 at the beginning of the war 1,200,000 Casualties 150,000 dead or wounded 284,000 captured 350,000 civilian...

For over a century, the second section consisted of non-sovereign princely houses from all over Europe (save many easternmost areas). Rohans, Leiningens, Ruspolis, Windisch-Graetzes, Norfolks, Lobkowiczes, Thurn-Taxises and Czartoryskis appeared in happy coexistence. At that time, the third section was for immediate counts of the Holy Roman Empire (HRE), a specific, and by many measures the lowest, caste of the included high nobility. This article is about the medieval empire. ...

However, in the 1876 edition, sections two and three were amalgamated, which elevated those former HRE comital families to the level of princely houses. In the intervening years, those counts had become mediatized, but quite regularly, their heads had received a compensation in titles: primogenitural princely title. In the 1877 edition, section two was divided into parts A and B, almost along "ethnic" lines: all mediatized Germans, be they comital or princely, were assigned to A; and all princely non-German families and non-mediatized HRE families were put into B. This created an illusion that mediatized Germans were higher than princely non-Germans. The illusion was strengthened in 1890, when the almanach renamed II A to section II, and II B to section III. Mediatized (from Mediatization) refers to a formerly souvereign non-eccelesiastic principality within the Holy Roman Empire that has has lost its immediate souvereignty (Reichsunmittelbarkeit = Imperial immediacy) within the Empire and been incorporated into another realm -- an event with wide application in Germany in 1803 (Reichsdeputationshauptschluss), following Napoleons victory over...

The original section two, and its successor, the third section, included only selected families of European high nobility, or "princely houses". The almanach did not succeed in full coverage; families from geographical corners that were not perceived by editors to be of interest to monarchical courts of Western Europe, the almanach's major audience, were not well-represented or were listed only in later editions.

This division was considered of great social significance in the Holy Roman Empire and its successor states; nobles from the second section were considered legally equal to German royals appearing in the first section (at least with those royals whose houses actually were ducal or less before the Napoleonic period; of the truly older kingdoms, Prussia declined to recognize a countess Harrach, mediatized, from section two, to marry its king in better than morganatic terms). For example, if a countess from the second section married a royal or sovereign from the first section (who mostly were of houses until 19th century just ducal or margravial, immediate comital and so forth), their alliance was considered equal and their children were regarded as dynastic, thus inheriting succession rights. On the other hand, if a countess or princess or duchesse-in-her-own-right from the third section married a German petty sovereign from the first section, their children were usually treated as non-dynastical and excluded from the succession line in most monarchies. A morganatic marriage is a type of marriage which can be contracted in certain countries, usually between persons of unequal social rank (unebenbürtig in German), which prevents the passage of the husbands titles and privileges to the wife and any children born of the marriage. ...

The arbitrary division was a major source of frustration for those families who landed in the third section. For example, the Birons of Courland and Murats of Italy, both relatively parvenue families, ineffectually claimed their right to be included in the second section. Moreover, most princely families of the Russian Empire were not included in the Gotha at all, while the Bagrationi of Georgia (presumed to be the oldest royal dynasty of Europe, and certainly reigning into the 19th century in some parts of Georgia)^{[citation needed]} as well as other reigning Georgian princely families (Dadiani of Mingrelia) possibly deserved a place in the first section. The same may be said for the Girays of Crimea, who claimed descent from Genghis Khan. Biron is the name of several communes in France: Biron, in the Charente-Maritime département Biron, in the Dordogne département Biron, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Coat of arms of Courland Courland (Latvian: ; German: ; Latin: Curonia / Couronia; Lithuanian: ; Estonian: ; Polish: ; Russian: ) is an historical Baltic province now part of Latvia. ... Murat is a name of: People Joachim Murat Murat I Murat II Murat III Murat IV Murat V Murat Rais Murat Zyazikov Murat Yakin Murat Bayhan Murat Bernard Young Murat Yuce Places Murat is the name or part of the name of several communes in France: Murat, in the Allier... The subject of this article was previously also known as Russia. ... The Bagratuni or Bagrationi or Bagratid royal dynasty (Armenian: Բագրատունյաց Արքայական Տոհմ or Bagratunyac Arqayakan Tohm, Georgian: ბაგრატიონთა სამეფო დინასტია or Bagrationta Samepo Dinastia) is a royal family whose ascendancy in Transcaucasia lasted for more than a millenium, since the 8th century until the early 19th century. ... Dadiani coat of arms Dadiani (დადიანი in Georgian) was a Georgian family of nobles, and a ruling dynasty of the western Georgian province of Samegrelo. ... Mingrelia (Samegrelo in Georgian) is a historic province in the western part of the republic of Georgia, formerly also known as Odishi. ... Giray or Guirey was the Genghisid dynasty reigning in the Khanate of Crimea since its formation in 1427 until its downfall in 1783. ... Motto Процветание в единстве(Russian) Protsvetanie v edinstve(transliteration) Prosperity in unity Anthem Нивы и горы твои волшебны, Родина(Russian) Nivy i gory tvoi volshebny, Rodina(transliteration) Your fields and mounts are wonderful, Motherland Location of Crimea (red) with respect to Ukraine (light blue). ... For other uses, see Genghis Khan (disambiguation). ...

Another source of frustration was Gotha's rather Salic stance in favor of agnatic descent. Many houses of other countries were formed on the basis of cognatic succession. There existed many pretenders to lost monarchies and sovereign or semi-sovereign earlier provinces in Western Europe, but these were regularly treated as ducal or princely families of agnatic descent in part three, if mentioned at all. The Salian Franks or Salii were a group of proto-Dutch speaking Franks who originally had been living North of the limes in the coastal area above the Rhine in the northern Netherlands, where today still is a region called Salland. ...

The Gotha's condescending attitude towards Eastern European nobility and royalty, and towards Iberian, Spanish, British, Italian, and Scandinavian highest nobility, led to the proliferation of German mediatized princesses in the royal houses of Europe, as their value in the marriage market had been artificially enhanced by Gothic rankings. Another consequence was the yet ongoing Romanov succession dispute, as Maria Vladimirovna of Russia, a claimant to the headship of the Russian Imperial Family ^{[citation needed]}, is the daughter of the Romanov father and the Bagrationi princess, a morganaut according to the Gotha standards; the entire male dynastic descent went extinct when applying Gothic standards. The Monarchy of Russia was abolished in 1917 following the February Revolution, which forced Tsar Nicholas II to abdicate. ... H.I.H. Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna, Titular Empress and Autocrat of all the Russias Maria Vladimirovna of Russia, Mariya Vladimirovna Romanova (Мари́я Влади́мировна Рома́нова) (born December 23, 1953) has been regarded by many Russian monarchists as the Head of the Imperial Family of Russia and Titular Empress and Autocrat of all the... A morganatic marriage is a type of marriage which can be contracted in certain countries, usually between persons of unequal social rank (unebenbürtig in German), which prevents the passage of the husbands titles and privileges to the wife and any children born of the marriage. ...

Gotha until the Iron Curtain

When the Soviet troops entered Gotha in 1945, they systematically destroyed all archives of the almanach^[1], as a public gesture ^[2] of protest against all the Almanach de Gotha stood for. However, the customers had retained sufficient copies of their own to ensure the survival of the almanach's records. From 1945 onwards, the almanach has not been published. Those tracing the ancestry of German nobility have used the Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels (GHdA) (particularly its part Fürstliche Häuser) as a substitute. Gotha is a town in Thuringia, in Germany. ... Its like the Almanach of Gotha, but limited just to the German royalty and nobility. ...

Almanach de Gotha published in London since 2000

In 1999, following the fall of communism, a commercial enterprise decided to renew the publication, touting themselves as the true successors to the reputable almanach. Partly in response to the many European aristocrats who have been trying to regain property sequestered by communist regimes, a new Almanach de Gotha was published in London, with John Kennedy as its editor. Thus far, three editions (in 2000, 2001 and 2004) have been published, with the aim of helping the aristocrats prove their identities, and restore to them their ancestral estates. The most accurate version remains however the copies from the German edition of the "Genealogisches Handbuch des Adels" 'section "Fuerstliche Haeuser". Available at Wilhem Starke Verlag it is unfortunately only published in German and a reader must own at least 3 of the latest copies to be able to retrace the majority of European royal families.^{[citation needed]} This article is about the year. ... Communism is an ideology that seeks to establish a classless, stateless social organization based on common ownership of the means of production. ...

Notes

Further reading

• Diesbach, Ghislain de. Secrets of the Gotha. Meredith Press, 1964.

External links and references

• Scanned versions of the old almanachs
• William Addams Reitwiesner, Mediatized nobility
• Explanation of Italian Nobility
• Explanation of German Nobility
• THE KENNEDY "ALMANACH DE GOTHA" VOLUME II by Guy Stair Sainty
• The Almanach de Gotha - Gothic horror from the Economist.com, 2002
• Online Gotha project