From 30 June to 22 October 1513, Catherine of Aragon held the titles Governor of the Realm and Captain General of the King's Forces as Queen Regent of England,[1][failed verification][2] winning the Battle of Flodden against a Scottish invasion while Henry VIII was in France fighting the Battle of the Spurs.
In the mid-17th century, with the first establishment in England of something akin to a standing army, the title Captain General was used (either alongside or in place of that of Commander-in-Chief of the Forces) to signify its commanding officer.
Thereafter there was no permanent Commander-in-Chief or equivalent appointed until 1744; the following year the office of Captain General was vested in Prince William, Duke of Cumberland.
According to Article IX, section 3 of the Rhode Island Constitution, the Governor holds the titles of "captain-general" and "Commander-in-Chief".
Maurice's nephew William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg was concurrently also a stadtholder (in two provinces) but he held a normal commission in the States Army.
By the late 15th century, the title Captain General, besides being the usual meaning of commander-in-chief in the field, was also linked to the highest commander of specialized military branches (artillery, royal guards, etc.
No later than the fall of Granada (1492) the title was conferred also on officers with full jurisdiction of every person subject to fuero militar (military obligations) in a region.
Under the Nationalist regime of 1939–1975, the only holder of the rank of capitán general de la armada was the Caudillo, Generalísimo Francisco Franco.
[12] The rank of Captain General of the Air Force, originally created by Franco for himself, currently is reserved for the reigning monarch.
The term "Captain General" as Hetman (the word from the German Hauptmann "Capitan") is a political title from Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders.
[17] In addition to artillery units, Charles III also serves as the Captain General for the British Royal Marines.
[19] One other appointment of Captain General is in the Royal Company of Archers (The King's Body Guard for Scotland), a position currently held by the Duke of Buccleuch.
In the Portuguese Empire, a capitão-general (plural capitães-generais) was a governor of a capitania geral (captaincy general), with a higher rank than a capitão-mor (captain-major) and directly subordinated to the Crown.
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, one of the major factions in the setting.
During the First Succession War, Resolution 288 was passed making the post permanent "for the duration of the crisis", with no end point delineated.
In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Cesare Borgia is depicted in the office of Captain General of the Papal Army, a position he did in fact hold along with Gonfalonier of the Church.
In the Ring of Fire universe (created by Eric Flint), Gustav II Adolf, King of Sweden, is granted the newly created hereditary title of "Captain General of the State of Thuringia" (later known as the State of Thuringia-Franconia) at the end of the first book, entitled '1632'.
In the Warhammer 40,000 universe, the title Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes is given to the head of the Adeptus Custodes, the elite 10,000 genetically engineered supersoldiers who acted as the God-Emperor of Mankind's elite bodyguard, joining him in battle during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy.
In the aftermath, the Captain-General was granted a position as a High Lord of Terra and ultimate authority over who could approach the Golden Throne, where the Emperor was interred after his battle with the Warmaster Horus.