Everything about Captain-general totally explained
Captain General (and its literal equivalent in several languages) is a high
military rank and a
gubernatorial title.
Army
The rank, formerly relatively common within various European forces, usually ranking above a Lieutenant General, at the current level of a full
General. Nowadays its usage in Britain has largely died out, although it still applies to certain ceremonial positions, such as the
Captain General of the
Royal Marines, almost exclusively held by members of the
Royal Family.
The rank of Captain General was first created when the term "general" was added to certain leading officers on the battlefields of Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to denote the most senior soldier of a certain rank in any given formation. The first such general rank was that of
Sergeant-Major General (since shortened to
Major General), followed by
Lieutenant General and Captain General. An even higher rank,
Colonel General also existed but has been abolished in most armies. (Arguably, it survives in the ceremonial rank of
Colonel-in-Chief.)
The rank of
Captain is located between
Lieutenant and
Major. As such, it follows that the rank of Captain General was considered senior to
Lieutenant General - the word "captain" was simply dropped over time, as with (
Sergeant-) Major General, hence the apparent disparity between the structure of the general ranks and field grade ranks.
In the modern
British Army, and the armies of various
Commonwealth nations, the term
Captain General is used exclusively when describing the ceremonial head of the artillery corps. As such,
HM The Queen is the Captain General of the
Honourable Artillery Company,
Royal Artillery,
Royal Canadian Artillery,
Royal Australian Artillery and
Royal New Zealand Artillery.
A Captain General can also be:
Currently in the
United Kingdom the ceremonial head of the
Royal Marines is the
Captain-General, currently
HRH Prince Philip.
Navy
In Spain, the title Captain General (
capitán general) is the highest military rank, corresponding to
Field Marshal in other armies. It is traditionally reserved for the king (or,
Francisco Franco, during the latter's dictatorship).
A much older usage of the term Captain General arose in the Spanish
Navy of the 16th century. A Capitán-General (General Captain) was appointed by the king as the leader of a fleet (although the term 'squadron' is more appropriate, as most galleon fleets rarely consisted of more than a dozen vessels, not counting escorted merchantmen). The fleet second-in-command was the 'almirante' (admiral), an officer appointed by the capitan-general and responsible for the seaworthiness of the squadron.
Administrative positions
The term "captain general" can also be used to translate Spanish
capitán general or Portuguese
capitão-mor, administrative titles used in the
Spanish Empire and the
Portuguese Empire, especially in the
Americas. Each was in charge of a
captaincy.
In the Spanish Empire and Latin America
Capitán General was a title given to the
Spanish military governor of a province of the
Spanish Empire.
With the disapearance of captaincies general as an administrative division in Spain and in the colonies during the 19th century,
Capitán General became the highest
military rank in the
Spanish Army, reserved for the
king.
Francisco Franco of Spain and
Augusto Pinochet of Chile held the rank during their dictatorships. The Bolivian president also becomes automatically the rank of "Captain General of the Bolivian armed forces"(five star General) after designation.
In the Portuguese Empire
Capitão-mor (plural
capitães-mores), sometimes also
capitão-donatário, was the hereditary title and office given by the
Portuguese Crown to noblemen granted the rule of captaincies in the territories of the
Portuguese Empire, most importantly in
Terra de Vera Cruz (modern
Brazil). They held absolute powers in their lands, subject only to the Crown, and were given the task of settling and colonizing their respective domains.
In Brazil, most of these settlements failed, and their nominal dominions were actually haphazardly settled by colonists and
Jesuit Reductions, and ultimately the land was incorporated first into the only succeeding Capitanias,
São Vicente and
Pernambuco, which then became the
Viceroyalty of Brazil and the
Viceroyalty of Grão-Pará. The absolute power of the Capitães-Mor was continued, in Brazil, by the tradition of
Coronelism that endures to this day in the northeast of that nation.
In fiction
In
J. R. R. Tolkien's
The Lord of the Rings Boromir is considered to be a captain general of
Gondor.
In the
Wheel of Time series by
Robert Jordan, "Captain-General" is the highest rank of the Ever Victorious Army of Seanchan, excepting only the rank of
Marshal-General, which may be temporarily assigned to a Captain-General given the command of a war. In addition, Captain-General is also the title of both the leader of the Queen's Guard of Andor and the head of the Green Ajah of the Aes Sedai.
In the
BattleTech universe, Captain-General is the title of the military and political leader of the Free Worlds League. Since the 25th century, Captain-Generals have been members of the Marik family.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Captain-general'.
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