within a community or dominion. Principes was applied in this sense to the leading
members of the Frankish tribe, of the kingdom of the Franks as a whole, and of the
duchies, marches, counties, and castellanies down to ca. 1150. In Latin documents before
ca. 1150, it was normally employed in alternation or combination with such other generic
terms as magnates, proceres, and potentes, all roughly synonymous; but of these terms,
only princeps gave rise to a vernacular derivative, so it must have prevailed in the spoken
language. During the 12th century, both the Latin word and its vernacular derivatives
were largely replaced in France in the generic sense of “leading man” by the newly
synonymous title baron, but prince continued to be used, to 1500 and beyond, of the
greater barons of the kingdom who were not only the “leading men” of the realm but
virtually sovereign rulers. In consequence, the titles “principate” and “principality” were
used as generic titles for the dominions of greater barons, the former before and the latter
after ca. 1300. A feminine version of the personal title, princess, first appeared only ca.
1320.
From 1441, the generic title prince was employed with gradually increasing frequency
in the expression princes du sang (royal), or “princes of the blood (royal),” to designate
the members of the royal house. As all such princes were rulers of major baronies,
however, this did not at first alter the basic sense of the title prince itself, and the royal
princes were just as often referred to at first as “seigneurs” or “lords of the blood.” Not
until the 16th century did the generic title prince and its feminine equivalent, princess,
begin to acquire their modern sense, “member of the lineage of a sovereign lord,” when
used by themselves. In France, unlike England, royal princes were always distinguished
by the phrase “of the blood.”
D’A.Jonathan D.Boulton
[See also: NOBILITY]
Boulton, D’A.J.D. Grants of Honour: The Origins of the Systems of Nobiliary Dignities of
Traditional France, ca. 1100–1515. Forthcoming.
Jackson, Richard A. “Peers of France and Princes of the Blood.” French Historical Studies 8
(1971):27–46.
Kienast, Walther. Der Herzogstitel in Frankreich und Deutschland (9. bis 12. Jahrhundert).
Vienna: Oldenbourg, 1968.
Werner, Karl Ferdinand. “Les principautés périphériques du monde franc du VIIIe siècle.” In
Structures politiques du monde franc (VIe-XIIe siècles). London: Variorum, 1979.
PRISE D’ORANGE
. A post-1160 imitation of a lost Siège d’Orange, this chanson de geste of 1,888
assonanced decasyllables recounts the exploits that bring together in the Guillaume
d’Orange Cycle the name of the hero and that of his city. The lost text, known principally
through the Vita sancti Wilhelmi (1125), told of the siege of Or-ange by the Saracens
after the conquest of the city (and undoubtedly of its queen, Orable, as well) by
Guillaume de Toulouse. This story, perhaps linked to memories of Guillaume de
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