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Duke of Teck (German:Herzog von Teck) is a title which was created twice in Germanic lands. It was first borne from 1187 to 1439 by the head of a cadet line of theGerman ducalHouse of Zähringen, known as the "first House of Teck". The seat of this territory wasCastle Teck in theDuchy of Swabia (from 1512 part of theCounty of Württemberg).
The title was recreated in 1871 by KingCharles I of Württemberg for his cousinFrancis, who as the product of amorganatic marriage did not have a right to titles of nobility as a member of theHouse of Württemberg. His descendants settled in the United Kingdom and married into theBritish royal family.
Adalbert I, son ofConrad I, Duke of Zähringen, inherited his father's Swabian possessions around Teck Castle betweenKirchheim andOwen. After the death of his brotherBerthold IV in 1186, Adalbert adopted the title of "Duke of Teck". His descendant,Conrad II, became a candidate for theelection asking of the Romans upon the death of KingRudolf I in 1291, but was slain the following year, probably by agents of his opponentSiegfried of Westerburg, Archbishop ofCologne.
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 thecounts of Hohenberg. In 1365, the dukes of Teck-Owen came into the possession ofMindelheim but had to sell their lands around Castle Teck to thecounts of Württemberg in 1381. The last member of that line,Louis of Teck,Patriarch of Aquileia from 1412, died in 1439.
In 1495, Holy Roman EmperorMaximilian I elevated CountEberhard von Württemberg to the status of reigning duke (herzog) of Württemberg, also granting him the defunct title of "Duke of Teck". However, the title was not borne independently by any member or branch of that dynasty. Eventually, in 1806, the dignity was renounced byFrederick upon his elevation as king.[1]
Duke Alexander of Württemberg (1804–1885), an Austrian major-general andcadet of the dynasty that had becomekings of Württemberg in 1806, established anon-dynastic line of dukes of Teck by virtue of hismorganatic marriage in 1835 with a Hungarian noblewoman,Countess Claudine Rhédey von Kis-Rhéde (1812–1841). Their son, excluded from succession to the throne of Württemberg, was born CountFrancis von Hohenstein (1837–1900), sharing the title his mother was granted by EmperorFerdinand I of Austria on 16 May 1835, two weeks after the couple married inVienna.[3]
In 1863, KingWilliam I of Württemberg raised Francis in rank to "Prince (Fürst) of Teck" with the styleSerene Highness (Durchlaucht), heritable by all his male-line descendants. In 1866, Francis marriedPrincess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge, a member of theBritish royal family and granddaughter of KingGeorge III. As the couple had to live on Mary's parliamentaryannuity, the prince having inherited little income, they lived mostly in England—first atKensington Palace (where their children were born) and later atRoyal Lodge inSurrey,[3] both residences lent them byQueen Victoria.
In 1871, KingCharles I of Württemberg granted Francis the new (and, within theGerman nobility, higher) title of "Duke (Herzog) of Teck",[4] heritable by male-lineprimogeniture. In 1887, Queen Victoria granted the Duke of Teck the British style ofHighness[3] on a non-hereditary basis.
In 1893, Francis' daughter,Princess Victoria Mary of Teck, married Prince George, Duke of York, who later reigned as KingGeorge V.[4] When the first duke of Teck died in 1900, the title passed to his eldest son, PrinceAdolphus of Teck. King George V granted the second duke of Teck, his brother-in-law, the personal style ofHighness in 1911.
The title existed until theFirst World War, when anti-German sentiment in theUnited Kingdom prompted the British monarch to adopt a non-German surname and relinquish all German titles on behalf of himself and those of his family members domiciled in his realms, including the Tecks.[4] The Duke of Teck thus renounced, in July 1917, his German titles of prince and duke in theKingdom of Württemberg, as well as the styles ofHighness andSerene Highness. Adolphus, along with his brother,Prince Alexander of Teck, assumed the name "Cambridge", which had been borne as aterritorial designation by their maternal grandfather,Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge.
On 16 July 1917, Adolphus was created as "Marquess of Cambridge", "Earl of Eltham" and "Viscount Northallerton" in thePeerage of the United Kingdom.[4] His elder son took thecourtesy title of "Earl of Eltham". His younger children became "Lord/Lady (Christian name) Cambridge", as children of amarquess. Adolphus's younger brother, Alexander, who had married PrincessAlice of Albany in 1904, was simultaneously created "Earl of Athlone" and "Viscount Trematon". Their son PrinceRupert of Teck (1907–1928), who also took the surname of Cambridge and was known by the courtesy title of "Viscount Trematon",[4] was one of the descendants of Queen Victoria who suffered fromhaemophilia, along with the crown princesAlexei of Russia andAlfonso of Spain.
The last male-line descendant of the first duke of Teck was his grandsonGeorge Cambridge, 2nd Marquess of Cambridge. He died in 1981 and themarquessate of Cambridge became extinct.
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