Duke of Teck

Infobox Former Country
native_name = "Herzogtum Teck"
conventional_long_name = Duchy of Teck
common_name = Teck
continent = Europe
region = Central Europe
country = Germany
era = Middle Ages
status = Vassal
empire = Holy Roman Empire
government_type = Principality
year_start = 1187
year_end = 1439
event_start =
date_start = Unknown
event1 = Partitioned into
spaces|4T-Obendorf and T-Owen
date_event1 =
13th century
event2 = Teck-Owen acquired the
spaces|4Principality of Mindelheim
date_event2 =
1365
event3 = Teck-Oberndorf sold to
spaces|4Hohenberg on extinction
date_event3 = 1374
event4 = Lands sold to Württemberg
date_event4 = 1381
event_end = Ducal line extinct
date_end =
event_post = Resurrected as a
spaces|4courtesy title
date_post =
1863–1918
p1 = Duchy of Swabia
image_p1 =
s1 = Württemberg
image_s1 =

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capital = Teck
footnotes =

Duke of Teck was a title of nobility, referring to Teck castle, Germany, which gave its name to a former branch line of the Zähringen dynasty.

The Dukes of Teck from 1187 to 1439

The original Dukes of Teck were a line of the Zähringer family and existed from c. 1187 to 1439.

Adalbert, son of Conrad of Zähringen, inherited his father's possessions around the castle Teck between Kirchheim and Owen. After the death of his brother Berthold IV, Duke of Zähringen in 1186, Adalbert adopted the title of a Duke of Teck.

In the 13th century, the family divided into the lines of Teck-Oberndorf and Teck-Owen.

The Dukes of Teck-Oberndorf died out in 1363 and Frederick of Teck-Owen sold their possessions to the Count of Hohenberg.

In 1365, the Dukes of Teck-Owen came into the possession of Mindelheim but had to sell their heritage around the castle Teck to the Counts of Württemberg. The last member of that line, Louis of Teck, since 1412 Patriarch of Aquileia, died in 1439.

The Dukes of Teck from 1495 to 1871

In 1495 Emperor Maximilian I elevated Count Eberhard von Württemberg to the status of a Duke of Würrtemberg and also awarded him with the derelict title of a Duke of Teck. However, the title was not used actively any more until the 19th century.

Renewal of the title in 1871

In 1871, the now kings of Württemberg reestablished the title for Prince Francis of Teck, the son of Duke Alexander of Württemberg who had married into the British Royal Family. The title existed until 1917, when the British monarch, King George V relinquished all Germanic titles on behalf of himself and those members of the British Royal Family who were British citizens. When the Kingdom of Württemberg collapsed in 1918, the title became extinct.

Creation

Duke Alexander of Württemberg married the Countess Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde in a morganatic marriage. Thus their eldest son, Francis had no title or succession rights in the Kingdom of Württemberg. Although King William I of Württemberg created Francis, "Prince of Teck" in 1863, it was difficult for Francis to find a suitable wife given his low royal rank. In 1871, King Charles I of Württemberg awarded him the title of Duke of Teck to give Francis more status.

Prince Francis, 1st Duke of Teck

Prince Francis, 1st Duke of Teck married Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, a granddaughter of King George III in 1866. As the couple had to live off Mary Adelaide's Parliamentary Annuity, since the Duke of Teck had no income, the Duke and Duchess of Teck lived in London. In 1887, Queen Victoria, the Duchess of Teck's cousin granted the Duke of Teck the style "His Highness".

In 1892, the Duke of Teck's daughter, Princess Victoria Mary of Teck married Prince George, Duke of York who later reigned as King George V. The Tecks were now considered full members of the British Royal Family.

Prince Adolphus, 2nd Duke of Teck

When the 1st Duke of Teck died in 1900, the dukedom passed to his eldest son, HSH Prince Adolphus of Teck. King George V later granted the 2nd Duke of Teck the style "His Highness" in 1911.

Extinction of title

During World War I, anti-German sentiment in the United Kingdom led the Duke of Teck's son in law, King George V, to change the name of the royal house from the Germanic House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to the more English sounding House of Windsor. The King also renounced all his Germanic titles for himself and all members of the British Royal Family who were British citizens.

In response to this, the Duke of Teck renounced his title of a Prince of Teck and Duke of Teck in the Kingdom of Württemberg and the style "His Highness". Adolphus, along with his other Teck relation, Prince Alexander of Teck, adopted the name Cambridge, after their grandfather, Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge.

Adolphus was subsequently created Marquess of Cambridge, Earl of Eltham, and Viscount Northallerton in the peerage of the United Kingdom. His elder son took the title Earl of Eltham as a courtesy title. His younger children became Lord/Lady (Christian Name) Cambridge. Alexander was created Earl of Athlone. His children also became Lord/Lady (Christian Name) Cambridge.

After the end of World War I, the Kingdom of Württemberg became a state within the Weimar Republic. Subsequently no further creations of the Duke of Teck occurred. The last male line descendant of Prince Francis, Duke of Teck was George Cambridge, 2nd Marquess of Cambridge, the son of Prince Adolphus, Duke of Teck who died in 1981, and no legal claim to the title exists now.