Grandee

[Sp. grande, from Lat. grand is, great.] The highest title of Spanish nobility. The collective body of the grandees is called la grandesa. To this cla belonged that very powerful section of the nobility who, from their great wealth, were called the ricos hombres (rich men). The grandees were originally the descendants of the great feudatories of the crown, and were po e ed of many important privileges; among which were exemption from taxation, and from the power of any civil or criminal court, without a special warrant from the king. They had also the right of bearing a banner, and of enlisting soldiers on their own account, and might even enter the service of a foreign prince at war with Castile without being guilty of treason. They had the right in all public transactions of being covered in the presence of the king, who addre ed a grandee as sui primi, "my cousin-german." At length Cardinal Ximenes succeeded in breaking their power, and depriving them of many of their privileges. Subsequently it became the practice of the Spanish kings to raise new men to the rank of grandees, partly with the view of destroying the power of the ancient nobility, and partly to reward their friends. In this way three cla es of grandees arose, differing in rank as well as in the privileges which they enjoyed. Under the government of Joseph Bonaparte the dignities and privileges of the grandees were entirely abolished. They were partially restored at the Restoration, but no very important privileges were bestowed upon them.