Duke of Northumberland

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The Duke of Northumberland is a title in the peerage of the United Kingdom.

In Latin, ealdormans of Northumbrians were called Dux when they were vassals of Anglo-Saxon kings of England (Wessex). Bamburgh's lords (holders of Bernicia), Osulf I (d.963) and his son Waltheof I, founded a veritable dynasty of Northumbrian dux. Soon after the Norman Conquest of England, the huge earldom was parceled, and that dynasty's heirs continued to possess Huntingdon and Northampton in the 12th century, being then called just earls.

The title Duke of Northumberland was created in 1551 for John Dudley. The name for his dukedom was chosen because according to feudal custom, he and his family was seen (at least by they themselves) the rightful senior heir to the Bamburgh dynasty, being descended directly from daughter of Simon de St.Liz II, great-great-great-great-grandson of dux Waltheof I of Northumbrians.

Duke John supported the claim of his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey, to the English throne, but when she was deposed by Queen Mary, Dudley was convicted of high treason and executed. A bastard son of John's younger son and surviving heir, the famous Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, claimed the dukedom and used the title in early 17th century when in exile. George Fitzroy, a bastard of king Charles II, was awarded the title in 1674, but it became extinct as Fitzroy left no heirs. The title was created for the third time in 1766 for heirs of a totally different family, the earlier earls of Northumberland, and it has been in the Percy family ever since. The seat of the Dukes of Northumberland is Alnwick Castle, in Alnwick, Northumberland; their London residence is Syon House in Brentford.

The subsidiary titles of the Duke of Northumberland are: Earl of Northumberland (created 1749), Earl Percy (1766), Earl of Beverley (1790), Baron Warkworth (1749) and Baron Lovaine (1784). All titles are in the Peerage of Great Britain. The courtesy title of the eldest son and heir to the Duke is Earl Percy.