Duchess in the context of "Duchies"

A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess. In Western European tradition, the title of duke ranked among the highest nobility, generally just below the monarch and above counts or earls.

Historically, there was a significant distinction between sovereign dukes, who ruled independent states, and dukes who were simply noblemen within larger kingdoms. Some duchies functioned as sovereign states in regions that only later became unified nation‑states, such as Germany (once the Holy Roman Empire, a federal empire) and Italy (later a unified kingdom). By contrast, other duchies were subordinate territories within kingdoms that had already consolidated, either partially or fully, during the medieval era: examples include France, Spain, Sicily, Naples, and the Papal States.

Croatian nobility (Croatian: plemstvo, lit. 'vlastelin'; French: la noblesse) was a privileged social class in Croatia during the Antiquity and Medieval periods of the country's history. Noble families in the Kingdom of Croatia included high ranking populates from Slavonia, Dalmatia, Istria, and Republic of Ragusa. Members belonged to an elite social hierarchy, normally placed immediately behind blood royalty, that possessed considerably more privileges or eminence than most other classes in a society. Membership thereof typically was often hereditary. Historically, membership in the nobility and the prerogatives thereof have been regulated or acknowledged by the monarch. Acquisition of sufficient power, wealth, military prowess or royal favour enabled commoners to ascend into the nobility. The country's royalty was heavily influenced by France's nobility resulting members of the Royal Courts to assume French titles and practices during French occupation. The controversial assumption of French practices contributed to wide spread political and social elitism among the nobles and monarch. The nobility regarded the peasant class as an unseen and irrelevant substrata of people which lead to high causality revolts and beheadings as well as sporadic periods of intense domestic violence.

Croatian Kings and Queen consorts often established duchies culminating in the Duchy of Croatia. Dukes or Duchesses were to rule a large territories within the Kingdom. Under the rule of the country's first King, Croatia became one of the most powerful kingdoms in the Balkans. Nobles possessed unprecedented power over the governed, and were one of the first members of royalty to advocate for monarchical absolutism. Many nobles were charged with the administration of numerous territories and at the height of the Kingdom's power royals ruled nearly eleven separate countries and dozens of extended domains.

This is a list of the royal consorts of the rulers of Bohemia.

The first Duchess of Bohemia (česká kněžna) was St. Ludmila, while the first Queen of Bohemia (česká královna) was Świętosława of Poland. Some of them were (like their husbands) not crowned.