 thumb|archducal hat, the coronet of an archduke  the title of archduke (feminine: archduchess) (german: erzherzog, feminine form: erzherzogin) was borne by the habsburg rulers of the archduchy of austria and, later, by all members of that dynasty. it denotes a rank within the holy roman empire below that of king and above that of duke. territory ruled by an archduke or archduchess is called an archduchy. ==terminology== the english word is recorded only since 1530, derived from middle, via old, french , from merovingian latin , from greek -,  meaning "authority" or "primary" (see arch-) and  "duke". "archduke" () is a title distinct from grand duke (), used by some other european dynastiesâe.g., luxembourg. ==history== the first known use was by the rulers of austrasia ( 750), one of the merovingian (frankish) realms resulting from the complex successions in the house of clovis, roughly comprising germany, switzerland and the low countries. in the carolingian empire, the title was awarded as a unique promotion to the duke of lotharingia (who held a substantially larger territory than the post-medieval duchy of lorraine). the lotharingian duchy could be seen as successor to the former carolingian kingdom of lotharingia, a realm which had been of approximately equal stature with west francia (modern france) in the dynastic divisions under the early heirs of charlemagne. but lotharingia was eventually absorbed by east francia (greater germany), becoming part of the holy roman empire rather than a fully independent kingdom. after the split (959) of the (arch)duchy into upper (german oberlothringen, including modern lorraine) and lower lotharingia (german niederlothringen, north of it, with its capital at cologne. it was originally vested in cologne's prince-archbishop, but the duchy extended north to frisia). the latter's further fragmentation created two "succeeding" duchies in the low countries, brabant (mainly in present belgium) and gelre (now in the dutch kingdom, giving its name to the province of gelderland). both claimed archducal status but were never officially recognised as such by the holy roman emperor. the dutch form is aartshertog. archduke of austria, the only archducal title to survive, 
Austrian_noble_titles Dukes German_noble_titles History_of_Austria House_of_Habsburg Men\'s_social_titles Royal_titles