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{{short description|Dukedom in the Peerage of Great Britain}}
{{see also|Baron Montagu of Boughton}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{More sources needed|date=October 2008}}
{{Infobox nobility title
| name              = Dukedom of Montagu
| image             = [[File:Coronet of a British Duke.svg|130px|center]] [[File:Arms of George Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu.svg|150px|centre]] 
| image_size        =  
| alt               =  
| caption           =  
| creation_date     = 5 November 1766
| creation          = Second
| monarch           = [[George III|King George III]] 
| peerage           = [[Peerage of Great Britain]] 
| baronetage        =  
| first_holder      = [[George Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu|George Montagu (né Brudenell), 4th Earl of Cardigan]]
| last_holder       =  
| present_holder    = 
| heir_apparent     =  
| heir_presumptive  =  
| remainder_to      = 
| subsidiary_titles = Marquess of Monthermer, Earl of Cardigan, Baron Brudenell of Stonton, Baron Montagu of Boughton
| status            = Extinct
| extinction_date   = 23 May 1790
| family_seat       =  
| former_seat       =  
| motto             = '''Aequitas Actionum Regula'''
| footnotes         =  
}}
The title of '''Duke of Montagu''' has been created twice, firstly for the  [[House of Montagu|Montagu family]] of [[Boughton House|Boughton]], Northamptonshire, and secondly for the Brudenell family, Earls of Cardigan. It was first created in the [[Peerage of England]] in 1705 for [[Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu|Ralph Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Boughton]], with the subsidiary title ''Marquess of Monthermer,'' but became extinct in 1749. The 1st Duke had been created ''Earl of Montagu'' and ''Viscount Monthermer'' in 1689.  The Dukedom was then recreated in the [[Peerage of Great Britain]] in 1766 (together with the subsidiary title ''Marquess of Monthermer'') for the late Duke's son-in-law [[George Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu|George Brudenell, 4th Earl of Cardigan]], who adopted the surname of Montagu. On his death in 1790 the dukedom and marquessate became extinct a second time, but the earldom passed to his brother, [[James Brudenell, 5th Earl of Cardigan]].

The dukedom is named after the Montagu family "of Boughton" in Northamptonshire, where the 1st Duke built the splendid and surviving [[Boughton House]], which claimed descent from the ancient [[Anglo-Normans|Anglo-Norman]] family of [[William Montagu, 1st Earl of Salisbury|Montagu, Earls of Salisbury]], which connection is however unproven. The earliest proven ancestor of the Montagu family of Boughton is Thomas Montagu (d.1516) of Hemington, Northamptonshire,<ref>Appendix D of Cokayne, G. E.; H. A. Doubleday & Lord Howard de Walden, eds. (1936). The Complete Peerage, or a history of the House of Lords and all its members from the earliest times (Moels to Nuneham), Vol. 9 (2nd ed.). London: The St. Catherine Press</ref> the son of Richard Ladde (d.1484), "alias Montagu", of Hanging Houghton in Northamptonshire, whose family of Ladde is recorded in the deeds of that place from 1355.<ref>Appendix D, Complete Peerage, Vol.9</ref> Richard Ladde "alias Montagu" was the father of Sir [[Edward Montagu (judge)|Edward Montagu]], Lord Chief Justice (great-great grandfather of the 1st Duke), who purchased the estate of Boughton in 1528.<ref>'Weekley', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Northamptonshire, Volume 2, Archaeological Sites in Central Northamptonshire (London, 1979), pp. 152–164 [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/northants/vol2/pp152-164]</ref> It is suggested by the Complete Peerage<ref>Appendix D, Complete Peerage, Vol.9</ref> that the Ladde family adopted the surname of Montagu due to "having to deal with some Montagu inheritance", i.e. dictated by the terms of a bequest from a member of that family, as was common practice, requiring the legatee to adopt the surname and arms of the legator, where a branch of a family had died out in the male line. Collins Peerage<ref>Collins Peerage, Vol.II, p.42,</ref> suggests that the Montagu family of Boughton was descended from James "Montagu", a natural son of [[Thomas Montagu, 4th Earl of Salisbury]] (1388-1428), the maternal grandfather of "[[Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick|Warwick the King-Maker]]", 16th Earl of Warwick, 6th Earl of Salisbury. The Montagu family of Boughton and its descendants use the coat of arms of Montagu, Earls of Salisbury, but [[Difference (heraldry)|differenced]] by a ''bordure sable'', and quarters the arms of [[Thomas de Monthermer, 2nd Baron Monthermer|Monthermer]], as did the Earls of Salisbury, but undifferenced.

Sir [[Edward Montagu (judge)|Edward Montagu]] of Boughton, Lord Chief Justice, was the ancestor of Montagu, Duke of Montagu, Montagu, Earls and Dukes of Manchester, Montagu, Earls of Sandwich and Montagu, Earls of Halifax.

==Earls of Montagu (1689)==
:''Other titles: Baron Montagu of Boughton (1621)''
*[[Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu|Ralph Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Boughton, 1st Earl of Montagu]] (1638–c. 1709) (created '''Duke of Montagu''' in 1705)

==Dukes of Montagu, first Creation (1705)==
:''Other titles: Earl of Montagu (1689) and Baron Montagu of Boughton (1621)''
*[[Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu]] (1638–c. 1709) was a courtier and diplomat
*[[John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu]] (1690–1749), only son of the 1st Duke, died without male issue

==Dukes of Montagu, second Creation (1766)==
:''Other titles: Marquess of Monthermer (1766), Earl of Cardigan (1661), Baron Brudenell of Stonton, in the county of Leicester (1628) and Baron Montagu of Boughton, in the county Northampton (1786)''
*[[George Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu]] (1712–1790), son-in-law of the 2nd Duke
**[[John Montagu, Marquess of Monthermer]] (1735–1770), only son of the 1st Duke, predeceased his father unmarried

==Family tree==
{{Montagu family tree}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montagu}}
[[Category:Extinct dukedoms in the Peerage of England]]
[[Category:Extinct dukedoms in the Peerage of Great Britain]]
[[Category:Montagu family|Duke]]
[[Category:Brudenell-Bruce family|Duke]]
[[Category:1689 establishments in England]]
[[Category:1705 establishments in England]]
[[Category:1766 establishments in Great Britain]]
[[Category:Noble titles created in 1705]]
[[Category:Noble titles created in 1766]]
[[Category:Dukes of Montagu| ]]