Captain general

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Captain general (and its literal equivalent in several languages) is a high military rank of general officer grade, and a gubernatorial title.

History

The term "Captain General" started to appear in the 14th century, with the meaning of

field officer, had the suffix "general"; e.g. major general, lieutenant general, brigadier general, colonel general
.

Republic of Venice

In the

Captain general of the Sea. It is at least documented since 1370 and was used up to the fall of the Republic of Venice
in 1797.

Great Britain

From 30 June to 22 October 1513,

Henry VIII was in France fighting the Battle of the Spurs
.

Commander-in-Chief of the Forces

In the mid-17th century, with the first establishment in England of something akin to a

Queen Anne
.

In the 18th century, the office of Captain General was held by the Duke of Marlborough (1702 to 1711), the Duke of Ormonde (1711 to 1714) and the Duke of Marlborough again (1714 to 1722). Thereafter there was no permanent Commander-in-Chief or equivalent appointed until 1744; the following year the office of Captain General was vested in Prince William, Duke of Cumberland. Cumberland resigned in 1757; his successors in command were for the most part appointed Commander-in-Chief but not Captain General, with one exception: the last appointment of a Captain General of the Forces was that of Prince Frederick, the Duke of York in 1799.[4]

Any distinction that there may have been at this time between the office of "Captain General" and "Commander-in-Chief" is unclear. One difference is that the Commander-in-Chief was appointed by commission and the Captain General by patent, leading some to surmise that the appointment of Captain General was 'one of dignity, not of power';[4] however the matter is somewhat academic as most Captains General held the appointment of Commander-in-Chief simultaneously (and from 1757 the appointment of Commanders-in-Chief was itself done by patent).

Other uses

Since the 17th century the title Captain General has been in use in England for the titular head of the Honourable Artillery Company[5] and in Scotland for the senior officer of the Royal Company of Archers.[6]

In 1947 the position of Colonel-in-Chief, Royal Marines was changed by its incumbent, King

Royal Regiment of Artillery
was changed by its incumbent, George VI, to Captain General.

The formal head of the Combined Cadet Force is also titled Captain General.

New South Wales

From 1787 (the year before the arrival in Australia of the First Fleet) to 1837, the Governor of New South Wales was referred to as Captain-General.[7]

Prussia

In Prussia a Generalkapitän was the commander of the

lifeguards
.

United States

In the Thirteen United Colonies and, later, the United States of America, during the American Revolutionary War, George Washington was the "Captain-General and Commander in Chief of the Forces."[8][9] George Washington is the only general in the United States to be referred to as "Captain-General" of the armed forces.

Connecticut

In Connecticut, the state Constitution of 1965 states that the Governor is also the Captain General of the Connecticut State Militia.

Rhode Island

In Rhode Island, the Governor holds two different military titles. According to Article IX, section 3 of the Rhode Island Constitution, the Governor holds the titles of "captain-general" and "Commander-in-Chief".[10]

Vermont

The 1786 Constitution of Vermont, which became effective when Vermont was an independent country and continued in effect for two years after Vermont's admission to the Union in 1791, says "The Governor shall be captain-general and commander-in-chief of the forces of the State, but shall not command in person, except advised thereto by the Council, and then only as long as they shall approve thereof."[11] The language remained in the 1793 Constitution of Vermont.

Netherlands

Maurice of Nassau was appointed to the office of "Captain General of the Union" (commander-in-chief of the Dutch States Army) and "Admiral General" of the Dutch Republic in 1587. This was a "confederal" office, under the States General of the Netherlands. He was also stadtholder of five of the seven provinces, which was a provincial appointive office, under the sovereign States of the several provinces. Maurice's nephew William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg was concurrently also a stadtholder (in two provinces) but he held a normal commission in the States Army. The office was not hereditary, but after 1747 only members of the House of Orange-Nassau
could be appointed to it.

Spain

By the late 15th century, the title Captain General, besides being the usual meaning of commander-in-chief in the field, was also linked to the highest commander of specialized military branches (artillery, royal guards, etc.), usually signaling the independence of that particular corps.

No later than the fall of Granada (1492) the title was conferred also on officers with full jurisdiction of every person subject to fuero militar (military obligations) in a region. Those officers usually also acted as commanders for the troops and military establishments in their area and, as time passed, those duties (and the title) were mostly united in the highest civilian authority of the area. During the period of Spanish rule in much of Latin America there were several Captaincies of the Spanish Empire. The military post of captain general as highest territorial commander lasted in Spain until the early 1980s.

Army

In the late 17th or very early 18th century, a personal rank of captain general was created in the

monarch
.

Navy

The evolution of the title in the

CIC
for the Atlantic and the Mediterranean respectively.

A peculiar usage of the rank arose in the Spanish Navy of the 16th century. A capitán-general was appointed by the king as the leader of a fleet (although the term 'squadron' is more appropriate, as most galleon fleets rarely consisted of more than a dozen vessels, not counting escorted merchantmen), with full jurisdictional powers. The fleet second-in-command was the 'almirante' (admiral), an officer appointed by the capitan-general and responsible for the seaworthiness of the squadron.[13] One captain-general that sailed under the Spanish flag that is now well known was Ferdinand Magellan, leader of the first fleet to sail around the world.

Under the Nationalist regime of 1939–1975, the only holder of the rank of capitán general de la armada was the

Generalísimo Francisco Franco.[12]

Air force

The rank of Captain General of the

Air Force, originally created by Franco for himself, currently is reserved for the reigning monarch.[12]

Portugal

Army

The title was given, in 1508, to the commander-in-chief of the Ordenanças (the territorial army of the crown).

During the

fieldmarshall-general
.

Navy

Like in the Army, the Capitão-General da Armada Real (Captain-General of the Royal Navy) was the commander-in-chief of the Portuguese Navy in the 17th and 18th centuries.

France

The title has been only sporadically used in France. During the 17th century, and for a short while, a rank between

General of the Army
, but was represented in the field by lieutenant generals who commanded in his absence.

Kingdom of Bavaria

In the former Kingdom of Bavaria, the generalkapitän was the leader of the royal Hartschier guard. The position was associated with the highest class ranking in the Hofrangordnung (court order of precedence).[14]

Papal States

During the time of the

Flag-bearer of the Holy Roman Church
.

Bohemia, Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine

The term "Captain General" as Hetman (the word from the German Hauptmann "Capitan") is a political title from Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders. It was the title of the second-highest military commander (after the monarch) in 15th- to 18th and 20th-century.

Siam

The rank Captain General (Thai: นายกองใหญ่) was used as the highest rank in Wild Tiger Corps, this rank was exclusively for King Vajiravudh but in 1915 he created rank General of the Wild Tiger Corps (Thai: นายพลเสือป่า) for members who are leaders of corps. The rank was equivalent to Brigadier.

Current usage as a military rank and dignity

Bolivia

In Bolivia, the President of Bolivia for the duration of his or her tenure in the office has the rank and dignity of Captain General as head of the Armed forces, despite being a civilian. He or she is responsible for the overall command of the forces.

Commonwealth realms

In the armies of various Commonwealth realms, the term Captain General (Captain-General in Canada) is generally used when describing the ceremonial head of a corps or unit. Charles III serves as the Captain General of several artillery units in these realms, including the British Royal Artillery and the Honourable Artillery Company,[15][16] the Royal Australian Artillery,[17] the Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery,[18] and the Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery.[17] In addition to artillery units, Charles III also serves as the Captain General for the British Royal Marines.[19]

One other appointment of Captain General is in the Royal Company of Archers (The King's Body Guard for Scotland), a position currently held by the Earl of Airlie.[20]

Chile

If the Commander-in-Chief of the Army and the Head of State are reunited in the same person, they are promoted to the permanent military rank of Captain General (Spanish: capitán general). It has only happened three times in Chile's history (Bernardo O'Higgins, Ramón Freire and Augusto Pinochet). Current electoral provisions (as of 2008) forbid the Commander-in-Chief becoming president.

Spain

In Spain, the title Captain General (capitán general) is the highest military rank, and has since 1999 been exclusively borne by the

Felipe VI
).

Administrative positions

The term "captain general" can also be used to translate Spanish capitán general or Portuguese capitão-general, administrative titles used in the Spanish Empire and the Portuguese Empire, especially in the Americas. Each was in charge of a captaincy.

In the Spanish Empire and Latin America

Capitán General was the military title given to the

audiencia
(court of law).

In the Portuguese Empire

In the Portuguese Empire, a capitão-general (plural capitães-generais) was a governor of a capitania geral (

captain-major) and directly subordinated to the Crown. A captaincy general had a higher category than the simple captaincies
(also referred as subaltern captaincies). Sometimes, a captaincy general included one or more subaltern captaincies. The governors of the captaincies general were usually styled "governor and captain-general", with the term "governor" referring to his administrative role and the term "captain-general" referring to his military role as commander-in-chief of the troops in his captaincy.

The title capitão-general was also associated to the roles of Governor-General or Viceroy of Portuguese India and of Brazil. Thus, in Brazil, besides the captains-generals that were governors of the several captaincies general, existed a central captain-general that was the governor-general or Viceroy.

In fiction

In J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Boromir is described as "Captain-General" of the armies of Gondor.[21][22]

In the

Aes Sedai
.

In the

Roman Dictator
, who held power only for also long as a crisis demanding a Captain-General persisted. During the First Succession War, Resolution 288 was passed making the post permanent "for the duration of the crisis", with no end point delineated.

In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Cesare Borgia is depicted in the office of Captain General of the Papal Army, a position he did in fact hold along with Gonfalonier of the Church.

In the

Ring of Fire universe (created by Eric Flint
), Gustav II Adolf, King of Sweden, is granted the newly created hereditary title of "Captain General of the State of Thuringia" (later known as the State of Thuringia-Franconia) at the end of the first book, entitled '1632'. This was a recognition of his authority over Thuringian territory as an integral part of the "Confederated Principalities of Europe", a Protestant substitute for the Holy Roman Empire which he created, while allowing the Thuringian government to continue to claim that it was a republic and not a monarchy.

In the

High Lord of Terra
and ultimate authority over who could approach the Golden Throne, where the Emperor was interred after his battle with the Warmaster Horus.

See also

References

  1. ^ "The Tudors - Catherine of Aragon Timeline - History". historyonthenet.com. 4 December 2013. Archived from the original on 26 January 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  2. ^ Cunningham, Dr Sean (20 May 2020). "The National Archives - Katherine of Aragon and an army for the North in 1513". The National Archives blog. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  3. ^ Lingard, John (1829). A History of England from the First Invasion by the Romans. Vol. XI. Baldwin and Cradock. p. 447.
  4. ^ a b c d Roper, Michael (1998). The Records of the War Office and Related Departments, 1660-1964. Kew, Surrey: Public Record Office.
  5. ^ "Relationship between the Active Unit and the Company". The Honourable Artillery Company. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  6. ^ Paul, Sir James Balfour (1875). The History of the Royal Company of Archers: The Queen's Body-guard for Scotland. EDINBURGH AND LONDON: WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS. p. 35.
  7. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 June 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. ^ Washington, George (1988). "Proclamation on the Occupation of Boston". In Chase, Philander D. (ed.). The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 3, 1 January 1776 – 31 March 1776. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia. pp. 501–502. Archived from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  9. ^ Soldiers of the Maryland Division (2010). "To George Washington from Soldiers of the Maryland Division, 9 April 1779". In Chase, Philander D. (ed.). The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 20, 8 April – 31 May 1779. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia. pp. 22–23. Archived from the original on 20 September 2021. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  10. State of Rhode Island General Assembly. Archived from the original
    on 18 August 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
  11. ^ Constitution of Vermont – July 4, 1786 "Constitution of Vermont - July 4, 1786". 18 December 1998. Archived from the original on 4 September 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
  12. ^ a b c "La Corona y la 'dictadura totalitaria' de Franco". Fundación Nacional Francisco Franco (in Spanish). 6 November 2012. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  13. ^ "Spanish Galleon: 1530–1690" by Angus Konstam, copyright 2004 Osprey Publishing, Ltd.
  14. ^ 'Hofrangordnung (German) Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon.
  15. ^ "His Majesty Charles III". www.thegunners.org.uk. Royal Artillery Association. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  16. ^ "The Company". hac.org.uk. The Honourable Artillery Company. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  17. ^ a b The Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery (13 August 2023). "Excellent news to start the week!". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
  18. ^ @CanadianArmy (11 August 2023). "Today, His Majesty King Charles III, King of Canada, has graciously announced that he will adopt the Royal Appointment of Captain General of The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery" (Tweet). Retrieved 3 February 2024 – via Twitter.
  19. ^ "King Charles takes over from Prince Harry as Captain General of the Royal Marines". www.forces.net. BFBS. 28 October 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  20. British Monarchy. Archived
    from the original on 29 September 2006. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  21. – via Google Books.
  22. – via Google Books.