Duchy of Warsaw - Grand Duchy of Warsaw

Grand Duchy of Warsaw

The Duchy of Warsaw is commonly referred to today as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. However, the duchy was not referred to as such in French, which was both the diplomatic language of the time, and of course the language of the French Empire which created the state.

Article XV of the Treaty of Tilsit, which created the duchy, the Convention which transferred it to Saxony, and Article 1 of the Act of the Congress of Vienna, which effectively abolished it, all refer to it in French as the "Duché de Varsovie".

Similarly, the duchy's constitution refers to it in German as Herzogtum Warschau, and its coins bore the Latin inscription FRID·AVG·REX SAX·DVX VARSOV· (Fridericus Augustus, Rex Saxoniæ, Dux Varsoviæ; "Frederick Augustus, King of Saxony, Duke of Warsaw).