In April, I’ll be posting 26 blogs, one for every letter of the alphabet. I write historical romance set in Regency England, and I’m offering a brief lexicon of words to help you understand the story world of my Regency characters. Follow the links for more in depth information.

D is for Dowager:

If you are a follower of the BBC television series, Downton Abbey, you’ll recognize this famous dowager, Dame Maggie Smith–Violet Crawley, the Dowager Countess of Grantham.

A dowager is the widow of a peer. Thus, our fictional Violet Crawley is no longer just a countess, since her husband is deceased. The term derives from the word “dower”, a financial provision made for a widow, arranged for in a legal contract before the marriage.

Dowager Queen Juliane Marie of Denmark, 1778

The term is not limited to English titles.

The French Dowager Duchess of Berry in mourning with her two children praying to a bust of her husband in circa 1822 by Gérard

And D is for Duke:

In the British system, a duke is the highest ranking peer, except for the royal dukes, who are princes in their own right. Like Navy SEALs, there are far more dukes on the pages of romance books than in real life. Check out my blog from two years ago about this phenomenon.  I haven’t been able to bring myself to write one of these elevated heroes. Maybe someday.

Questions? Comments? Visit tomorrow for the letter E!

Images: badge, a-to-zchallenge.com; all others, Wikimedia