in general, something belonging to a duke. See Duke.

The letters patent granted by the senate of Venice were called *ducal*; and so also were the letters written in the name of the senate to foreign princes. The denomination of ducal is derived from the circumstance that, at the beginning of such patents, the name of the duke or doge was written in capitals. The date of ducals is usually in Latin, but the body is in Italian. In 1716 a courier was dispatched with a ducal to the emperor, returning him thanks for renewing the treaty of alliance with the republic of Venice, against the Turks.