Talk:List of dukes in Europe

Italy
Putting together the Italian duchies is completely deceitful. In fact Italy was not a unifed country until 1861, when we had to invent a unified heraldry. Until the Napoleonic conquest Italy was divided in four kingdoms (Italy, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia) and other two important states, formerly belonged to the Byzantine Empire: Venice and the Papal State. So, we had completely different heraldic traditions. The Kingdom of Italy was a part of the Holy Roman Empire and followed the German pattern of duchy, which became a de facto independent state. Similarily, in the Republic of Venice the head of state had a title equivalent to duke. On the other hand, Siciliy, Naples, Sardinia and the Papal State were similar to the kingdoms of Spain and France, where the dukes were obedient vassals. Lele giannoni (talk) 11:33, 1 January 2013 (UTC)

Baltic
The dukes of Baltic countries formally were vassals of Poland and had no relationship with Germany and the Holy Roman Empire. Lele giannoni (talk) 15:52, 4 January 2013 (UTC)