Person at the head of a monarchy
A
monarch
is a
head of state
[1]
[2]
for life
or until
abdication
, and therefore the head of state of a
monarchy
. A monarch may exercise the highest authority and power in the
state
, or others may wield that power on behalf of the monarch. Usually a monarch either personally
inherits
the lawful right to exercise the state's sovereign rights (often referred to as
the
throne
or
the crown
) or is
selected by an established process
from a family or cohort eligible to provide the nation's monarch. Alternatively, an individual may
proclaim oneself
monarch, which may be backed and
legitimated
through
acclamation
,
right of conquest
or a combination of means.
If a young child is crowned the monarch, then a
regent
is often appointed to govern until the monarch reaches the requisite adult age to rule. Monarchs' actual powers vary from one monarchy to another and in different eras; on one extreme, they may be
autocrats
(
absolute monarchy
) wielding genuine
sovereignty
; on the other they may be
ceremonial
heads of state
who exercise little or no direct power or only
reserve powers
, with actual
authority
vested in a
parliament
or other body (
constitutional monarchy
).
A monarch can
reign
in multiple monarchies simultaneously. For example, the 15
Commonwealth realms
are all separate sovereign states, but share
the same monarch
through
personal union
.
Characteristics
[
edit
]
Monarchs, as such, bear a variety of titles ?
king
or
queen
,
prince
or
princess
(e.g.,
Sovereign Prince of Monaco
),
emperor
or
empress
(e.g.,
Emperor of China
,
Emperor of Ethiopia
,
Emperor of Japan
,
Emperor of India
),
archduke
,
duke
or
grand duke
(e.g.,
Grand Duke of Luxembourg
),
emir
(e.g.,
Emir of Qatar
),
sultan
(e.g.,
Sultan of Oman
), or
pharaoh
.
Monarchy
is political or sociocultural in nature, and is generally (but not always) associated with
hereditary rule
. Most monarchs, both historically and in the present day, have been born and brought up within a
royal family
(whose rule over a period of time is referred to as a
dynasty
) and trained for future duties. Different systems of
succession
have been used, such as
proximity of blood
(male preference or absolute),
primogeniture
,
agnatic seniority
,
Salic law
, etc. While traditionally most monarchs have been male, female monarchs have also ruled, and the term
queen regnant
refers to a ruling monarch, as distinct from a
queen consort
, the wife of a reigning king.
Some monarchies are non-hereditary. In an
elective monarchy
, the monarch is
elected
but otherwise serves as any other monarch. Historical examples of elective monarchy include the
Holy Roman Emperors
[3]
(chosen by
prince-electors
, but often coming from the same dynasty) and the
free election
of kings of the
Polish?Lithuanian Commonwealth
. Modern examples include the
Yang di-Pertuan Agong
(lit. "He Who is Made Lord') of
Malaysia
, who is appointed by the
Conference of Rulers
every five years or after the king's death,
[4]
and the
pope
of the
Roman Catholic Church
, who serves as sovereign of the
Vatican City State
and is elected to a life term by the
College of Cardinals
.
In recent centuries, many states have abolished the monarchy and become
republics
. Advocacy of government by a republic is called
republicanism
, while advocacy of monarchy is called
monarchism
. A principal advantage of hereditary monarchy is the immediate continuity of national leadership,
[5]
as illustrated in the classic phrase "
The [old] King is dead. Long live the [new] King!
". In cases where the monarch serves mostly as a ceremonial figure (e.g., most modern constitutional monarchies), real leadership does not depend on the monarch.
A form of government may, in fact, be hereditary without being considered a monarchy, such as a family dictatorship.
Classification
[
edit
]
Monarchies take a wide variety of forms, such as the two
co-princes of Andorra
, positions held simultaneously by the Roman Catholic bishop of Urgel (Spain) and the elected
president of France
(although strictly Andorra is a
diarchy
). Similarly, the
Yang di-Pertuan Agong
of
Malaysia
is considered a monarch despite only holding the position for five years at a time.
Succession
[
edit
]
Hereditary succession within one
patrilineal
family has been most common (but see the
Rain Queen
), with a preference for children over siblings, and sons over daughters. In Europe, some peoples practiced equal division of land and regalian rights among sons or brothers, as in the Germanic states of the Holy Roman Empire, until after the
medieval era
and sometimes (e.g.,
Ernestine duchies
) into the 19th century. Other European realms practiced one or another form of
primogeniture
, in which a
lord
was succeeded by his eldest son or, if he had none, by his brother, his daughters or sons of daughters.
The system of
tanistry
practiced among Celtic tribes was semi-elective and gave weight also to ability and merit.
[6]
[7]
The
Salic law
, practiced in France and in the Italian territories of the
House of Savoy
, stipulated that only men could inherit the crown. In most
fiefs
, in the event of the demise of all legitimate male members of the
patrilineage
, a female of the family could succeed (semi-Salic law). In most realms, daughters and sisters were eligible to succeed a ruling kinsman before more distant male relatives (male-preference primogeniture), but sometimes the husband of the heiress became the ruler, and most often also received the title,
jure uxoris
. Spain today continues this model of succession law, in the form of
cognatic primogeniture
. In more complex medieval cases, the sometimes conflicting principles of
proximity
and
primogeniture
battled, and outcomes were often idiosyncratic.
As the average life span increased, the eldest son was more likely to reach majority age before the death of his father, and primogeniture became increasingly favored over proximity, tanistry, seniority, and election.
In 1980,
Sweden
became the first monarchy to declare
equal primogeniture
,
absolute primogeniture
or
full cognatic primogeniture
, meaning that the eldest child of the monarch, whether female or male, ascends to the throne.
[8]
Other nations have since adopted this practice:
Netherlands
in 1983,
Norway
in 1990,
Belgium
in 1991,
Denmark
in 2009, and
Luxembourg
in 2011.
[9]
[10]
The
United Kingdom
adopted absolute (equal) primogeniture on April 25, 2013, following
agreement by the prime ministers of the sixteen Commonwealth Realms
at the 22nd Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
[11]
In some monarchies, such as
Saudi Arabia
, succession to the throne usually first passes to the monarch's next eldest brother and so on through his other brothers, and only after them to the monarch's children (
agnatic seniority
). In some other monarchies (e.g.,
Jordan
), the monarch chooses who will be his successor within the royal family, who need not necessarily be his eldest son.
Lastly, some monarchies are
elective
(
UAE
,
Malaysia
,
Holy See
and
Cambodia
), meaning that the monarch is elected instead of assuming office due to direct inheritance. Rules and laws regarding election vary country to country.
[12]
Whatever the rules of succession, there have been many cases of a monarch being overthrown and replaced by a usurper who would often install his own family on the throne.
History
[
edit
]
Monarchs in Africa
[
edit
]
A series of
pharaohs
ruled
Ancient Egypt
over the course of three millennia (
c.
3150 BC
to 31 BC) until it was conquered by the
Roman Empire
. In the same time period several kingdoms flourished in the nearby
Nubia
region, with at least one of them, that of the so-called
A-Group
culture, apparently influencing the customs of Egypt itself. From the 6th to 19th centuries, Egypt was variously part of the
Byzantine Empire
, Islamic Empire,
Mamluk
Sultanate,
Ottoman Empire
and
British Empire
with a distant monarch. The
Sultanate of Egypt
was a short-lived protectorate of the
United Kingdom
from 1914 until 1922 when it became the
Kingdom of Egypt
and Sultan
Fuad I
changed his title to King. After the
Egyptian Revolution of 1952
, the monarchy was dissolved and Egypt became a republic.
West Africa
hosted the
Kanem Empire
(700?1376) and its successor, the
Bornu
principality which survives to the present day as one of the
traditional states
of
Nigeria
.
In the
Horn of Africa
, the
Kingdom of Aksum
and later the
Zagwe dynasty
,
Ethiopian Empire
(1270?1974), and
Aussa Sultanate
were ruled by a series of monarchs.
Haile Selassie
, the last Emperor of Ethiopia, was deposed in a
communist
coup
. Various
Somali Sultanates
also existed, including the
Adal Sultanate
(led by the
Walashma dynasty
of the
Ifat Sultanate
),
Sultanate of Mogadishu
,
Ajuran Sultanate
, Warsangali Sultanate,
Geledi Sultanate
,
Majeerteen Sultanate
and
Sultanate of Hobyo
.
Central
and
Southern Africa
were largely isolated from other regions until the modern era, but they did later feature kingdoms like the
Kingdom of Kongo
(1400?1914).
The
Zulu people
formed a powerful
Zulu Kingdom
in 1816, one that was subsequently absorbed into the
Colony of Natal
in 1897. The
Zulu king
continues to hold a hereditary title and an influential cultural position in contemporary South Africa, although he has no direct political power. Other tribes in the country, such as the
Xhosa
and the
Tswana
, have also had and continue to have a series of kings and chiefs (namely the
Inkosis
and the
Kgosis
) whose local precedence is recognised, but who exercise no legal authority.
As part of the
Scramble for Africa
, seven European countries invaded and colonized most of the African continent.
[13]
Currently, the African nations of
Morocco
,
Lesotho
, and
Eswatini (Swaziland)
are sovereign monarchies under dynasties that are native to the continent. Places like
St. Helena
,
Ceuta
,
Melilla
and the
Canary Islands
are ruled by the
king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
or the
king of Spain
. So-called "sub-national monarchies" of varying sizes can be found all over the rest of the continent, e.g., the
Yoruba
city-state of
Akure
in south-western
Nigeria
is something of an elective monarchy: its reigning
Oba
, the
Deji
, has to be chosen by an electoral college of
nobles
from amongst a finite collection of royal princes of the realm upon the death or removal of an incumbent.
Monarchs in Europe
[
edit
]
Within the
Holy Roman Empire
different titles were used by nobles exercising various degrees of sovereignty within their borders (see below). Such titles were granted or recognised by the emperor or pope. Adoption of a new title to indicate sovereign or semi-sovereign status was not always recognized by other governments or nations, sometimes causing
diplomatic
problems.
During the nineteenth century, many small monarchies in Europe merged with other territories to form larger entities, and following
World War I
and
World War II
, many
monarchies were abolished
, but of those remaining, all except Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Vatican City, and Monaco were headed by a king or queen.
As of 2022
[update]
, in Europe there are twelve monarchies: seven
kingdoms
(
Belgium
,
Denmark
,
Netherlands
,
Norway
,
Spain
,
Sweden
and the
United Kingdom
), one
grand duchy
(
Luxembourg
), one
papacy
(
Vatican City
), and two
principalities
(
Liechtenstein
and
Monaco
), as well as one
diarchy
principality (
Andorra
).
Monarchs in Asia
[
edit
]
In China, before the abolition of the monarchy in 1912, the
emperor of China
was traditionally regarded as the ruler of "
All under heaven
". "King" is the usual translation for the term
wang
(
王
), the sovereign before the
Qin dynasty
and during the
Ten Kingdoms
period. During the early
Han dynasty
, China had a number of kingdoms, each about the size of a
province
and subordinate to the Emperor.
In Korea,
Daewang
(great king), or
Wang
(king), was a Chinese royal style used in many states rising from the dissolution of
Gojoseon
,
Buyeo
,
Goguryeo
,
Baekje
,
Silla
and
Balhae
,
Goryeo
,
Joseon
. The legendary
Dangun
Wanggeom founded the first kingdom, Gojoseon. Some scholars maintain that the term
Dangun
also refers to a title used by all rulers of Gojoseon and that
Wanggeom
is the proper name of the founder.
Gyuwon Sahwa
(1675) describes The Annals of the
Dangun
as a collection of nationalistic legends. The monarchs of Goguryeo and some monarchs of Silla used the title
Taewang
, meaning "Greatest King". The early monarchs of Silla used the titles of
Geoseogan
,
Chachaung
,
Isageum
, and finally
Maripgan
until 503. The title
Gun
(prince) can refer to the dethroned rulers of the Joseon dynasty as well. Under the
Korean Empire
(1897?1910), the rulers of Korea were given the title of
Hwangje
, meaning the "Emperor". Today, Members of the
Korean Imperial family
continue to participate in numerous traditional ceremonies, and groups exist to preserve Korea's imperial heritage.
[
citation needed
]
The
Japanese monarchy
is now the only monarchy to still use the title of
Emperor
.
In modern history, between 1925 and 1979, Iran was ruled by two emperors from the
Pahlavi dynasty
that used the title of "Shahanshah" (or "King of Kings"). The last Iranian Shahanshah was King
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
, who was forced to abdicate the throne as a result of a revolution in Iran. In fact the Persian (Iranian) kingdom goes back to about 2,700 BC (see
list of Kings of Persia
), but reached its ultimate height and glory when King
Cyrus the Great
(known as "The Great Kourosh" in Iran) started the
Achaemenid dynasty
. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of
the ancient Near East
, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of
Southwest Asia
and much of
Central Asia
and the Caucasus. From the
Mediterranean Sea
and
Hellespont
in the west to the
Indus River
in the east, Cyrus the Great created the largest empire the world had yet seen.
Thailand
and Bhutan are like the United Kingdom in that they are constitutional monarchies ruled by a king.
Jordan
and many other Middle Eastern monarchies are ruled by a
Malik
and parts of the
United Arab Emirates
, such as
Dubai
, are still ruled by monarchs.
Saudi Arabia
is the largest Arab state in Western Asia by land area and the second-largest in the Arab world (after Algeria). It was founded by
Abdul-Aziz bin Saud
in 1932, although the conquests which eventually led to the creation of the Kingdom began in 1902 when he captured
Riyadh
, the ancestral home of his family, the
House of Saud
; succession to the throne was limited to sons of Ibn Saud until 2015, when
a grandson
was elevated to Crown Prince. The Saudi Arabian government has been an absolute monarchy since its inception, and designates itself as
Islamic
. The King bears the title "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" in reference to the two holiest places in Islam:
Masjid al-Haram
in
Mecca
, and
Masjid al-Nabawi
in
Medina
.
Oman
is led by Sultan
Haitham bin Tariq Al Said
. The
Kingdom of Jordan
is one of the
Middle East
's more modern monarchies is also ruled by a
Malik
. In Arab and Arabized countries,
Malik
(absolute King) is the absolute word to render a monarch and is superior to all other titles.
Nepal
abolished their monarchy in 2008.
Sri Lanka
had a complex system of monarchies from 543 BC to 1815. Between 47?42 BC, Anula of Sri Lanka became the country's first female head of state as well as Asia's first head of state.
[
dubious
–
discuss
]
In
Malaysia
's constitutional monarchy, the
Yang di-Pertuan Agong
(the Supreme Lord of the Federation) is
de facto
rotated every five years among the nine Rulers of the Malay states of Malaysia (those nine of the thirteen states of Malaysia that have hereditary royal rulers), elected by
Majlis Raja-Raja
(
Conference of Rulers
).
Under
Brunei
's 1959 constitution, the
Sultan of Brunei
is the head of state with full executive authority, including emergency powers, since 1962. The Prime Minister of Brunei is a title held by the Sultan. As the prime minister, the Sultan presides over the cabinet.
Cambodia
has been a kingdom since the 1st century. The power of the absolute monarchy was reduced when it became the
French Protectorate of Cambodia
from 1863 to 1953. It returned to an absolute monarchy from 1953 until the establishment of a republic following the
1970 coup
. The monarchy was restored as a constitutional monarchy in 1993 with the king as a largely symbolic figurehead.
In the
Philippines
, the
pre-Colonial
Filipino
nobility, variously titled the
hari
(today meaning "king"),
Lakan
,
Raja
and
Datu
belonged to the caste called
Uring
Maharlika
(Noble Class). When the islands
were annexed
to the
Spanish Empire
in the late 16th century, the
Spanish monarch
became the sovereign while local rulers often retained their prestige as part of the
Christianised
nobility called the
Principalia
. After the
Spanish?American War
, the country was ceded to the United States of America and made into a territory and eventually a
Commonwealth
, thus ending monarchism. While the Philippines is currently a republic, the
Sultan of Sulu
and
Sultan of Maguindanao
retain their titles only for ceremonial purposes but are considered ordinary citizens by the
1987 Constitution
.
Bhutan
has been an independent kingdom since 1907. The first
Druk Gyalpo
(
Dragon King
) was elected and thereafter became a hereditary absolute monarchy. It became a constitutional monarchy in 2008.
Tibet
was a monarchy since the
Tibetan Empire
in the 6th century. It was ruled by the
Yuan dynasty
following the Mongol invasion in the 13th century and became an effective
diarchy
with the
Dalai Lama
as co-ruler. It came under the rule of the Chinese
Qing dynasty
from 1724 until 1912 when it gained de facto independence. The
Dalai Lama
became an absolute temporal monarch until the
annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China
in 1951.
Nepal
was a monarchy for most of its history until becoming a federal republic in 2008.
Monarchs in the Americas
[
edit
]
The concept of monarchy existed in the Americas long before the arrival of European colonialists.
[14]
[15]
When the Europeans arrived they referred to these tracts of land within territories of different aboriginal groups to be kingdoms, and the leaders of these groups were often referred to by the Europeans as Kings, particularly hereditary leaders.
[16]
Pre-colonial titles that were used included:
The first local monarch to emerge in North America after colonization was
Jean-Jacques Dessalines
, who declared himself
Emperor of Haiti
on September 22, 1804.
[17]
Haiti again had an emperor,
Faustin I
from 1849 to 1859. In South America, Brazil
[18]
had a royal house ruling as emperor between 1822 and 1889, under emperors
Pedro I
and
Pedro II
.
Between 1931 and 1983 nine other previous British colonies attained independence as kingdoms. All, including Canada, are in a
personal union
relationship under a shared monarch. Therefore, though today there are legally ten American monarchs, one person occupies each distinct position.
In addition to these sovereign states, there are also a number of sub-national ones. In
Bolivia
, for example, the
Afro-Bolivian king
claims descent from an African dynasty that was taken from its homeland and sold into slavery. Though largely a ceremonial title today, the position of
king of the Afro-Bolivians
is officially recognized by the government of Bolivia.
Male title
|
Female title
|
Realm
|
Examples
|
Emperor
|
Empress
|
Empire
|
Haiti (1804?1806)
&
1849?1859)
,
Brazil (1822?1889)
,
Mexico (1821?1823)
&
1864?1867)
,
Sapa Inca
|
King
|
Queen
|
Kingdom
|
Haiti (1811?1820)
,
Brazil (1815?1822)
,
Canada
,
Jamaica
,
the Bahamas
,
Grenada
,
Saint Lucia
,
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
,
Antigua and Barbuda
,
Belize
,
Saint Kitts and Nevis
|
Monarchs in Oceania
[
edit
]
Polynesian
societies were ruled by an
ariki
from ancient times. The title is variously translated as "supreme chief", "paramount chief" or "king".
The
Kingdom of Tahiti
was founded in 1788. Sovereignty was ceded to
France
in 1880 although descendants of the
P?mare dynasty
claim the title of King of Tahiti.
The
Kingdom of Hawaii
was established in 1795 and overthrown in 1893.
An independent
Kingdom of Rarotonga
was established in 1858. It became a protectorate of the
United Kingdom
at its own request in 1893.
Seru Epenisa Cakobau
ruled the short-lived
Kingdom of Fiji
, a constitutional monarchy, from 1871 to 1874 when he voluntarily ceded sovereignty of the islands to the
United Kingdom
. After independence in 1970, the
Dominion of Fiji
retained the British monarch as head of state until it became a republic following a
military coup in 1987
.
Australia
,
New Zealand
(including the
Cook Islands
and
Niue
),
Papua New Guinea
,
Solomon Islands
and
Tuvalu
are sovereign states within the
Commonwealth of Nations
that currently have
Charles III
as their reigning constitutional monarch.
The
Pitcairn Islands
are part of the
British Overseas Territories
with
Charles III
as the reigning constitutional monarch.
Tonga
is the only remaining sovereign kingdom in Oceania. It has had a monarch since the 10th century and became a constitutional monarchy in 1875. In 2008, King
George Tupou V
relinquished most of the powers of the monarchy and the position is now largely ceremonial.
In
New Zealand
the position of
M?ori King
was established in 1858. The role is largely cultural and ceremonial and has no legal power.
Uvea
,
Alo
and
Sigave
in the
French
territory of
Wallis and Futuna
have non-sovereign elective monarchs.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"monarch"
.
Oxford Dictionaries
. 2014. Archived from
the original
on May 17, 2014.
- ^
Webster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707.
ISBN
0-395-96214-5
- ^
"The Holy Roman Empire - Qualifications"
.
Heraldica
.
Archived
from the original on 2017-12-29
. Retrieved
2021-04-23
.
- ^
Marathe, Om (2019-08-03).
"Explained: Malaysia is the world's only monarchy of its kind. Here's why"
.
The Indian Express
.
Archived
from the original on 2021-04-23
. Retrieved
2021-04-23
.
- ^
Nicholson, Harold (1952).
King George the Fifth: his life and reign
. London: Constable.
- ^
BROWNE, J., ed. (1838).
History of the Highlands & of the Highland Clans
. Glasgow.
- ^
Hadfield, Andrew; Maley, Willy (1997).
Edmund Spenser. A View of the State of Ireland. From the first printed edition (1633)
. Oxford.
- ^
SOU
1977:5
Kvinnlig tronfoljd
, p. 16.
- ^
"Overturning centuries of royal rules"
.
BBC News
. 28 October 2011.
Archived
from the original on 8 March 2021
. Retrieved
22 June
2018
.
- ^
"New Ducal succession rights for Grand Duchy"
.
luxtimes.lu
. 11 December 2017.
Archived
from the original on 15 December 2018
. Retrieved
16 December
2018
.
- ^
Emma.Goodey (2016-03-17).
"Succession"
.
The Royal Family
.
Archived
from the original on 2016-05-13
. Retrieved
2021-04-23
.
- ^
Louis, chevalier de Jaucourt (biography) (2011-01-01).
"Elective monarchy"
.
Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert - Collaborative Translation Project
.
- ^
Davies, Catriona (12 August 2010).
"Colonialism and the 'scramble for Africa'
"
.
CNN
. Retrieved
26 February
2024
.
- ^
Canada: History
Archived
2007-02-19 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
Ferguson, Will;
The Lost Kingdom
;
Macleans
, October 27, 2003
[
dead link
]
- ^
Margaret Knight Sypniewska.
"Courtly Lives - Four Indian Kings"
.
Angelfire
.
Archived
from the original on 2019-08-09
. Retrieved
2007-01-30
.
- ^
TiCam (27 September 2006).
"17 October: Death of Dessalines"
.
haitiwebs.com
. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link
)
- ^
L Gomes. 1889: como um imperador cansado, um marechal vaidoso e um professor injusticado contribuiram para a o fim da monarquia e programacao da republica no Brasil. Globo Livros. 2013.
Sources
- Girard, Philippe R. (2011).
The Slaves Who Defeated Napoleon: Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian War of Independence 1801?1804
. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: The University of Alabama Press.
ISBN
978-0-8173-1732-4
.
- Schutt-Aine, Patricia (1994).
Haiti: A Basic Reference Book
. Miami, Florida: Librairie Au Service de la Culture. pp. 33?35, 60.
ISBN
978-0-9638599-0-7
.
External links
[
edit
]
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