Marquis

Marquis crown.

Spanish crown of Marquis descendant.

Marquis is a noble title through which European monarchs have granted an honor or dignity to certain people and lineages throughout history. His position in the European noble hierarchy is higher than that of count and immediately lower than that of duke. Its feminine form is marquise and its lordship is called marquisate.

Its origins go back to the border lords of the kingdom, initially called marquises, since they were in charge of defending a border and administering a brand within of the Carolingian Empire. These marks were border territories, such as the Marca Hispánica, (border with Muslim territories).

Title of Marquis in Spain

The noble titles of Spain are recognized by the king and regulated by the State; their improper use is prosecuted by law and in no case are they likely to be bought or sold and it is the title that has been granted most frequently. The Spanish crown has granted the title to people who have not enjoyed nobility, as a reward for their great merits or for some sale when the monarch's coffers were scarce, which occurred with greater notoriety in the 17th and 18th centuries.

In Spain, the title of marquis would not be consolidated until the 15th century, with the oldest marquisates being those of Villena, Santillana, Aguilar de Campoo and Astorga^{[citation required]}. Currently^[when?] there are 1,372 marquis titles in Spain, of which 142 also hold the dignity of Grandee of Spain.

The marquesados, like the rest of the titles of nobility, are hereditary in the person of the eldest son or daughter of the last holder. The use of such titles is extended to the legitimate spouses of the person who holds the dignity and to widowed spouses as long as they do not remarry. The treatment corresponding to the Grand Marquises of Spain is that of Excellence and for the marquises who are not Grandees of Spain, that of Most Illustrious.

Marquis title in Germany

In Germany, Bohemia and Hungary the equivalent of the marquises are the margraves, and the territories they controlled were the margraviates. That is why the German marquises are often referred to interchangeably as marquises or margraves and enjoyed recognition as princes of the Empire.

With the passage of time, the territory over which the marquises exercised their jurisdiction began to be called a marquisate, as is the case of the Marquisate of Brandenburg (in which the Hohenzollern Dynasty began that would one day become royal of Prussia and German imperial) or the also important Marquisate of Baden.

In popular culture

• In countries like Spain the expression "living as a marquis" is synonymous with a careless and opulent life.
• In The Cat with Boots the son of the moliner gets through Marquis de Carabás.
• Probably one of the best-known characters in the title is the French writer Marquis of Sade, whose controversial libertine life has become a figure of popular culture.