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Spanish nobles are classified either as Grandees (also called Grandes de España or Peers) or as Titled Nobles (Títulos del Reino). Formerly, Grandees were divided into the first, second and third classes, but now, all Grandees are of the first class. An individual is a Grandee if he holds a Grandeeship (Grandeza de España), regardless of possession of a title of nobility. Normally, however, each Grandeza is granted along with a title, though this was not always the case.
Furthermore, a Grandeza de España is normally awarded along with every ducal title. A peer of any rank outranks a non-peer, even if that non-peer is of a higher grade. Thus, a Baron-Peer would outrank a Marquess who is not a peer.
Some of the best-known titles of Grandees of Spain are the Dukes of Alba, Medinaceli, Osuna, Infantado, Alburquerque, Nájera, Frías, Medina Sidonia; the Marquesses of Aguilar de Campóo, Astorga, Santillana, los Vélez; the Counts of Benavente, Lerín, Olivares, Orga.
Grandees and their consorts are entitled to the style of Most Excellent Lord/Lady or His/Her Excellency and are called "cousin" (primo) by the King.
By extension the term can refer to any important person of high status, particularly a wealthy, landed long-time resident in an area.
New Model Army
In the English Civil War, senior officers from the landed gentry in the New Model Army who opposed the Levellers were informally termed the Grandees.
After the defeat of the King Charles I of England in the war, there were a series of debates and confrontations between the Levellers, whose members were known as Agitators, and the Grandees such as Sir Thomas Fairfax, Oliver Cromwell and Henry Ireton, who opposed the Agitators' proposals that they saw as radical. The disagreements were aired publicly at the Putney Debates, which started in late October 1647 and lasted for a couple of weeks.
See also
"Grandee"