Everything about Monarch totally explained
A
monarch is the person who heads a
monarchy, a
form of government in which the country or entity usually ruled or controlled by an individual who usually rules for
life or until
abdication. Monarchs may be
autocrats (
absolute monarchy) or may be
ceremonial heads of state who exercise little or no power or only
reserve power, with actually
authority vested in a
parliament or other body (
constitutional monarchy). Most states only have a single monarch at any given time, although a
regent may rule when the monarch is a
minor, not present or debilitated. Two monarchs have ruled simultaneously in some countries, as in the ancient
Greek city-state of
Sparta or the joint sovereignty of
William and Mary in
England and
Scotland.
Monarchs are usually entitled
king or
queen, but are sometimes
prince or
princess (
Sovereign Prince of Monaco),
emperor or
empress (
Emperor of Japan,
Emperor of India), or even
duke or
grand duke (
Grand Duke of Luxembourg). Many monarchs are distinguished by various
titles and
styles. Many take part in certain ceremonies, such as a
coronation.
Monarchy are associated with political or sociocultural in nature
hereditary rule; most monarchs, both historically and in the modern day, have been born and brought up within a
royal family (over a period of time called a
dynasty) and trained for future duties. Different systems of
succession have been used, such as
proximity of blood,
primogeniture, and
agnatic seniority (
Salic law). While traditionally most monarch have been male, female monarchs have also ruled in history; the term
queen regnant refers to a ruling monarch, while a
queen consort refers to 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 (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 of
Malaysia 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.
Monarchies have existed throughout the world, although in recent centuries many states have abolished the monarchy and becomes
republics. Advocacy of republics is called
republicanism, while advocacy of monarchies is called
monarchism. The principal advantage of hereditary monarchy is the immediate continuity of leadership, with a usually short
interregnum (as seen in the classic phrase "
The King is dead. Long live the King!").
Form of governments may be hereditary without being considered monarchies, such as that of
family dictatorships or
political familes are present in many
democracies.
Etymology
The word
monarch comes from the
Greek μόναρχος (from
μόνος, "one"/"singular," and
ἀρχός, "leader"/"guide"/"chief") which referred to a single, at least nominally absolute ruler. With time, the word has been succeeded in this meaning by others, such as autocrat or
dictator. In modern usage the word
monarch is generally used when referring to a traditional system of hereditary rulership, with elective monarchies often considered as exceptions.
Classification
A particular case is the French
co-prince of
Andorra, a position held by the elected
President of France. Nonetheless, he's still generally considered a monarch because of the traditional use of a monarchical title (even though Andorra is, strictly speaking, a
diarchy.) Similarly, the
Yang di-Pertuan Agong of
Malaysia is considered a monarch despite only holding the office for five years at a time. On the other hand, several
life-time dictators around the world have not been formally classified as monarchs, but that may be more to do with international political sensitivities than with semantics.
Succession
Hereditary succession within one family has been most common. The usual hereditary succession is based on some cognatic principles and on seniority, though sometimes merit has played a part. Thus, the most common hereditary system in feudal Europe was based on cognatic primogeniture, where a lord was succeeded by his eldest son, and failing sons, by either daughters or by sons of daughters. The system of
tanistry was semi-elective and gave weight also to merits and capability. The
Quasi-Salic succession provided firstly for male members of the family to succeed, and secondarily males descended from female lines. In most feudal fiefs, females (such as daughters and sisters) were allowed to succeed, should the male line fail, but usually the husband of the heiress became the real lord and most often also received the title,
jure uxoris. Great Britain and Spain today continue 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 among the nobility increased (thanks to lords limiting their personal participation in dangerous battles, and generally improved sustenance and living conditions among the wealthy), an eldest son was more likely to reach majority age before the death of his father, and primogeniture became increasingly favoured over proximity, tanistry, seniority and election.
Later, when lands were strictly divided among noble families and tended to remain fixed,
agnatic primogeniture (practically the same as
Salic Law) became more usual: the succession would go to the eldest son of the monarch, or, if the monarch had no sons, the throne would pass to the nearest male relative through the male line, to the total exclusion of females.
In some countries however, inheritance through the female line was never wholly abandoned, so that if the monarch had no sons, the throne would pass to the eldest daughter and to her posterity. (This,
cognatic primogeniture, was the rule that let
Elizabeth II become Queen.)
In 1980,
Sweden became the first monarchy to declare
equal primogeniture or
full cognatic primogeniture, meaning that the eldest child of the monarch, whether female or male, ascends to the throne. Other kingdoms (the
Netherlands in 1983,
Norway in 1990, and
Belgium in 1991) have since followed suit.
In some monarchies, such as
Saudi Arabia, succession to the throne usually first passes to the monarch's next eldest brother, and only after that to the monarch's children (
agnatic seniority). In some other monarchies (for example
Jordan), the monarch chooses who will be his successor, who need not necessarily be his eldest son.
History
Monarchs in Africa
Pharaohs ruled
Ancient Egypt over the course of three millennia (circa 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.
Central Africa hosted the Kanem Empire (700 - 1376).
In
East Africa, the
Aksumite Empire and later the
Ethiopian Empire (1270-1974) were ruled by a series of monarchs.
Haile Selassie, the last Emperor of Ethiopia, was deposed in a
communist coup.
Southern Africa was isolated from other cultures until the modern era, but did later feature kingdoms like the
Kingdom of Kongo (1400 – 1914).
As part of the
Scramble for Africa, Europeans conquered, bought, or established African kingdoms and styled themselves as a monarch.
Monarchs in Europe
Prince was a common title within the
Holy Roman Empire, along with a number of higher titles listed below. Such titles were granted by the Emperor, while the titulation of rulers of sovereign states was generally left to their own discretion, most often choosing
King or
Queen. Such titulations could cause
diplomatic problems, and especially the elevation to
Emperor or
Empress was seen as an offensive action. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries most small monarchies in Europe disappeared, merging to form larger entities, and so
King the most common title for male rulers and
Queen has become the most common title today for female rulers.
Today in
Europe, there are seven
kingdoms, one
grand duchy, one
duchy, one
papacy, and three
principalities (
Liechtenstein,
Wales and
Monaco), excluding the peculiar case of
Andorra and one "
Lord of Mann" — the title for the monarch of
Isle of Man.
Monarchs in Asia
In China, "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 small kingdoms, each about the size of a
county and subordinate to the Empress or Emperor of China.
The
Japanese monarchy is now the only monarchy to still use the title of Emperor.
Monarchs in the Americas
The concept of monarchy existed in the Americas long before the arrival of European colonialists. 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. Many of the leaders were queens, but this wasn't understood by the Europeans, who had no knowledge of the indigenous history or languages, much less an understanding of
matrilineality
Pre-colonial titles that were used included:
The first local monarch to emerge in North America after colonization was
Augustin I, who declared himself
Emperor of Mexico in 1822. Mexico again had an emperor,
Maximilian I from 1863 to 1867. In South America, Brazil had a European royal house ruling as emperor between 1822 and 1889, under Emperors
Pedro I and
Pedro II.
These American emperors were deposed due to complex issues, including pressure from the highly
republican
United States, which had declared itself independent of the British monarch in 1776. The British, worried about U.S. colonial expansion, invasion following the
American Civil War, and the fact that the U.S. had aided the Mexican republican rebels in overthrowing Maximilian I, pushed for the union of the Canadian provinces into a country in 1867. With
Confederation, Canada became a self-governing nation which was considered a kingdom in its own right, though it remained subordinate to the
United Kingdom; thus,
Victoria was monarch of Canada, but not sovereign of it. It wasn't until the passing of the
Statute of Westminster that Canada was considered to be under a distinct Canadian Crown, separate to that the British, and not until 1953 that the Canadian monarch, at the time
Elizabeth II, was
titled by Canadian law as Queen of Canada.
Between 1931 and 1983 nine other previous British colonies attained independence as kingdoms, all, including Canada, in a
personal union relationship under a shared monarch. Therefore, though today there are legally ten American monarchs, one person occupies each distinct position.
| Male Title |
Female Title |
Realm |
Latin |
Examples |
| Emperor |
Empress |
Empire |
Imperator (Imperatrix) |
Brazil, Mexico, Sapa Inca |
| King |
Queen |
Kingdom |
Rex (Regina) |
Canada, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Saint Kitts and Nevis |
Titles
The
normal monarch title in Europe —
for example, the one used if the monarch has no higher title — is
prince or
princess, by convention. As an absolute ruler, a monarch can choose a title. However, titles are usually defined by tradition and diplomatic considerations.
Note that some of these titles have several meanings and don't necessarily designate a monarch. A
Prince may be a person of royal blood (some languages uphold this distinction, see
Fürst). A
Duke may be a
British peer. In
Imperial Russia, a
Grand Duke was a son or grandson of the
Tsar or Tsarina. Holders of titles in these alternative meanings didn't enjoy the same status as the monarchs of the same title.
Within the
Holy Roman Empire, there were even more titles that were used occasionally for monarchs although they were normally noble;
Margrave,
Count Palatine, and
Landgrave. A monarch with such a low title still was regarded as more important than a noble Duke.
| Male version |
Female version |
Realm
|
Adjective |
Latin |
Examples |
| Emperor |
Empress |
Empire |
imperial |
Imperator (Imperatrix) |
Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Ottoman Empire, Holy Roman Empire, Russia, First and Second French Empire, Austria, Mexico, Brazil, German Empire (none left in Europe after 1918), Empress of India (ceased to be used after 1947 when India was granted independence from the British Empire), Japan (the only remaining enthroned emperor in the world). |
| King |
Queen |
Kingdom |
royal |
Rex (Regina) |
Common in larger sovereign states |
| Viceroy |
Vicereine |
Viceroyalty |
viceroyal |
Proconsul |
Historical: Spanish Empire (Peru, New Spain, Rio de la Plata, New Granada), Portuguese Empire, (India, Brazil), British Empire |
| Grand Duke |
Grand Duchess |
Grand duchy |
Grand Ducal |
Magnus Dux |
Today: Luxembourg; historical: Lithuania, Baden, Finland, Tuscany et al |
| Archduke |
Archduchess |
Archduchy |
archducal |
Arci Dux |
Historical: Unique only in Austria, Archduchy of Austria; title used for member of the Habsburg dynasty |
| Prince |
Princess |
Principality, Princely state |
princely |
Princeps |
Today: Monaco, Liechtenstein, Wales; Andorra (Co-Princes). Historical: Albania, Serbia |
| Duke |
Duchess |
Duchy |
ducal |
Dux |
There are none left currently. Though historical examples include Normandy. |
| Count |
Countess |
County |
countly |
Comes |
Most common in the Holy Roman Empire, translated in German as Graf; historical: Barcelona, Brandenburg, Baden, numerous others |
| Baron |
Baroness |
Barony |
Baronial |
Baro |
There are normal baronies and sovereign baronies, a sovereign barony can be compared with a principality, however, this is an historical exception; sovereign barons no longer have a sovereign barony, but only the title and style |
| Pope |
Pope* |
Papacy |
papal |
Papa |
Monarch of the Papal States and later Sovereign of the State of Vatican City |
The pope is the Bishop of Rome (a celibate office always forbidden to women), in English however, reports of female popes such as (
Pope Joan) refer to them as
pope and
Popess is used, among other things, for the second trump in the
Tarot deck
; some European languages also have a feminine form of the word pope, such as the Italian papessa, the French papesse
, and the German Päpstin
Titles by region
When a difference exists below, male titles are placed to the left and female titles are placed to the right of the slash.
Africa
Asia
- Arasan/Arasi - Tamil Nadu(India), Sri Lanka
- Veyndhan, ko/Arasi - Tamil Nadu(India)
- Druk Gyalpo — hereditary title given to the king of Bhutan
- Chakrawarti Raja - India Sri Lanka
- Chogyal — "Divine Ruler" — ruled Sikkim until 1975
- Engku or Ungku - Malaysia, to denote particular family lineage akin to royalty
- Qaghan - Central Asian Tribes
- Hwangje - States that unified Korea
- Wang - States of Korea that don't have control over all of Korea
- Huángdì - Imperial China (Emperor)
- Susuhanan - the Indonesian princely state of Surakarta until its abolition
- Sultan - Aceh, Brunei Darussalam, Java, Oman, Malaysia, Sultan is the title of seven (Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, Selangor, and Terengganu) of the nine rulers of the Malay states
- Maha Raja - India Sri Lanka
- Meurah - Aceh before Islam
- Yang di-Pertuan Agong - Monarch of Malaysia, elected each five years among the reigning Sultan of each Malaysian state
- Sumeramikoto, Okimi - Japan, king
- Tennō or Mikado - Japan
- Shogun - Japanese military dictator, always a Samurai
- Saopha - Shan, king of Shan, today as a part of Myanmar
- Shahinshah or Padshah or Badshah or simply Shah - Emperor of Iran or Hindustan(India)
- Syed or Shariffah - Malaysia, descendants of the Islamic prophet Muhammad; Syed/Sharifah in Perlis if suffixed by the royal clan name, is roughly equivalent to Prince or Princess
- Wang (King) - pre-Imperial China
- In China, "king" is the usual translation for the term wang 王.
- Emperor of China
- Patabenda - Sub- king Sri lanka
- Preah Karuna Preah Bat Sâmdech Preah Bâromneath - King of Cambodia Khmer, the title literally means "The feet of the Greatest Lord who is on the heads (of his subjects)" (This royal title doesn't refer directly to the king himself but to his feet, according to traditions.)
- Phrabat Somdej Phrachaoyuhua - King of Thailand (Siam), the title literally means "The feet of the Greatest Lord who is on the heads (of his subjects)" (This royal title doesn't refer directly to the king himself but to his feet, according to traditions.)
- Racha - Thailand same meaning as Raja
- Datu - pre-colonial Philippines
- Raja - pre-colonial Philippines
- Raja - Malaysia, Raja denotes royalty in Perak and certain Selangor royal family lineages, is roughly equivalent to Prince or Princess
- Tengku - Malaysia, Tengku (also spelled Tunku in Johor, Negeri Sembilan and Kedah is roughly equivalent to Prince or Princess
- Raja - Nepal King
- Rani - Nepali Queen
- Hari - Filipino title for king
Europe
- Arqa/Thagavor - Armenian King
- Germanic king
- Basileus - Greek King
- Despot - Serbia (originating from Byzantium)
- Vezér - Ancient Hungarian
- Fejedelem - Ancient/Medieval Hungarian
- Imperator Tsar / Czar Autocrat - The Ruler of Imperial Russia
- Vojvoda (Serbian)/Vajda (Hungarian) - Serbian/Hungarian/Romany Title
- Domn (in Romanian) /Gospodar (in Old Slavonian) - Medieval Romania (Moldova, Wallachia)
- Rí, Rúirí, Rí Rúireach and Ard Rí - King, local overking, regional King, and High King in pre-Norman Ireland
- Kniaz'/Knyaginya/Knez/Knjeginja (generally translated as "prince") - Kievan Rus'/Serbia
- Kralj- Croatia, Serbia
- Kaiser - Imperial Germany
- Tsar/Tsaritsa - Bulgaria, pre-imperial Russia, Serbia
- Kunigaikshtis (Kunigaikštis) - Lithuanian, duke as in Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
- Župan sometimes Veliki Župan (Grand Župan) - Serbia, Croatia
- Autocrator Greek term for the Byzantine Emperor
- Mbret - Albanian King
Africa and the Middle-East
Oceania
- Chieftain - Leader of a tribe or clan.
- Tui or tui - there were/are also kings in Oceania (for example Tonga, Wallis and Futuna, Nauru)
- houeiki, matai, alii, tūlafale, tavana, ariki - usually translated as "chief" in various Polynesian countries.
- "Mo'i" normally translated as King is a title used by Hawaiian monarchs since unification in 1810. The last person to hold that title was Queen Lili'uokalani.
Current monarchs
NOTE: The table comprises all sovereign monarchs of the world today, but is severely incomplete with regard to the non-sovereign monarchs.
Use of titles by non-sovereigns
It isn't uncommon that people who are not generally seen as monarchs nevertheless use monarchical titles. There are four cases of this:
Claiming an existing title, challenging the current holder. This has been very common historically. For centuries, the British monarch used, among his other titles, the title King of France, despite the fact that he'd had no authority over French territory since the fifteenth century. Such as any one of the numerous antipopes who have claimed the Holy See.
Retaining the title of an extinct monarchy. This can be coupled with a claim that the monarchy was in fact never, or should never have been, extinct. An example of the first case is the Prince of Seborga. Examples of the second case are several deposed monarchs or otherwise pretenders to thrones of abolished monarchies, for example, Leka, Crown Prince of Albania who is styled by some as the "King of The Albanians." Retaining the title of an extinct monarchy can, however, be totally free of claims of sovereignty, for example it was customary of numerous European Monarchies to include "King of Jerusalem" in their full titles. When it comes to deposed monarchs, it's customary to continue the usage of their monarchical title (for example, Constantine II, King of the Hellenes) as a courtesy title, not a constitutional office, for the duration of their lifetime. However the title then dies with them and can't be used by anyone else unless the crown is restored constitutionally. (Some republicans take offense at this custom, in spite of the fact that the same courtesy is often given to former republican heads of state too – a former U.S. president is usually styled "Mr President" for the rest of his life.) Monarchs who have freely abdicated lose their right to use their former title. However where a monarch abdicated under duress (for example, Michael I of Romania), it's customary to see the abdication as invalid and to treat them as deposed monarchs entitled to use their monarchical style for their lifetime.
Inventing a new title. This is common by founders of micronations, and also may or may not come with a claim of sovereignty. When it does, it's disregarded by state leaders. A notable example is Paddy Roy Bates, styling himself the "Prince of Sealand," but not recognized as such by any national government, thus failing at least the constitutive condition for statehood (see Sealand for a fuller discussion of his claims).Further Information
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