Croatian nobility

Croatian nobility refers to the noble families of Croatia, Slavonia, Dalmatia, Istria, Bosnia and Republic of Ragusa.

General history of Croatian nobility

Croatian nobility, similar to English Nobility, originated from feudalism. The relationships between monarchs and their warriors produced nobility because the rulers would promise the warriors land in exchange for protection of the country. From this derived the Hrvatski plemićki zbor (Croatian Nobility Assembly) which is the only association of living descendants from Croatian nobility.

Croatian nobility titles mostly were granted by the kings of Croatia, later kings of Hungary-Croatia. In Dalmatia and Istria several Venetian titles were granted and during the French occupation, French titles were granted.

Following the collapse of Austria-Hungary following World War I, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia) stopped giving hereditary titles.

Titles of the Croatian nobility

Between 1941-1943 King Tomislav II of the Independent State of Croatia granted about 60 titles of duke, marquess, count, viscount and baron but mostly to non-citizens. The title of a duke is the highest of the nobility. A marquess is a nobleman of hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. A count is a title in European countries for a noble of varying status, but historically deemed to convey an approximate rank intermediate between the highest and lowest titles of nobility. A baron is a title of honour, often hereditary, and ranked as one of the lowest titles in the nobility system. A viscount is a member of the nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, below an earl or a count (the earl's continental equivalent) and above a baron.