Ivan IV of Moscow in the 16th century was the last sovereign to reign whose highest title was velikiy knyaz, until he assumed the rank of Tsar of Russia.
Velikiy knyaz (Meaning closest to Grand Prince but was generally translated as Grand Duke in state documents written in Latin), used in the Slavic and Baltic languages, was the title of a medieval monarch who headed a more-or-less loose confederation whose constituent parts were ruled by lesser knyazs ( often translated as "princes" ) .
[1] Although, the Slavic knjaz and the Baltic kunigaikštis (nowadays usually translated as prince) are similar to kings in terms of ruling and duties.
However, a velikiy knyaz (grand prince) was usually only primus inter pares within a dynasty, primogeniture not governing the order of succession.
Constantine VII mentioned Árpád in his book De Administrando Imperio as megas Turkias arkhon, while Bruno of Querfurt referred to Géza in his Sancti Adalberti Pragensis episcopi et martyris vita altera as Ungarorum senior magnus.
[4] Stefan Nemanja expelled his brother Tihomir in 1168 and assumed the title of veliki župan,[5] as described in the Charter of Hilandar (и постави ме великог жупана).
[citation needed] In the 13th century, the monarchs of other Rus' principalities which originated as appanages of Kiev, such as Vladimir-Suzdal and Galicia-Volhynia, started claiming the title of "grand prince" as well.
From the 15th century, the Grand Princes of Moscow (Muscovy) started adding "and of all Rus'" to their title until Ivan IV proclaimed himself "tsar of Russia" in 1547.
A more literal translation of the Russian title than grand duke would be great prince — especially in the pre-Petrine era — but the term is neither standard nor widely used in English.
The daughters and paternal granddaughters of the emperors used a different version of the title (Великая Княжна, Velikaya Knyazhna) from females who obtained it as the consorts of Russian grand princes (Великие Княгини, Velikie Knyagini).