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 ceremonialheads 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).
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.
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
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
Contemporary European monarchies by type of succession
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.
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.
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 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.
A map of Europe exhibiting the continent's monarchies (red) and republics (blue)Elizabeth II was the monarch of independent countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas.
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 recognized 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.
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, Balhae, Goryeo, and 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. 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.
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.
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]
Sha-quan – King of the world used in some Native American tribes
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.
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 Pōmare dynasty claim the title of King of Tahiti.
The Kingdom of Hawaii was established in 1795 and overthrown in 1893.
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 Māori King was established in 1858. The role is largely cultural and ceremonial and has no legal power.
Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. Constitutional monarchies differ from absolute monarchies in that they are bound to exercise powers and authorities within limits prescribed by an established legal framework.
A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for life or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic, to fully autocratic, and may have representational, executive, legislative, and judicial functions.
Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn legitimate child to inherit the parent's entire or main estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some children, any illegitimate child or any collateral relative. In most contexts, it means the inheritance of the firstborn son ; it can also mean by the firstborn daughter, or firstborn child.
Maharaja is an Indian princely title of Sanskrit origin. In modern India and medieval northern India, the title was equivalent to a prince. However in late ancient India and medieval south India, the title denoted a king.
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others.
A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title, crown princess, is held by a woman who is heir apparent or is married to the heir apparent.
A hereditary monarchy is a form of government and succession of power in which the throne passes from one member of a ruling family to another member of the same family. A series of rulers from the same family would constitute a dynasty. It is historically the most common type of monarchy and remains the dominant form in extant monarchies. It has the advantages of continuity of the concentration of power and wealth and predictability of who one can expect to control the means of governance and patronage. Provided that a monarch is competent, not oppressive, and maintains an appropriate dignity, it might also offer the stabilizing factors of popular affection for and loyalty to a ruling family. The adjudication of what constitutes oppressive, dignified and popular tends to remain in the purview of the monarch. A major disadvantage of hereditary monarchy arises when the heir apparent may be physically or temperamentally unfit to rule. Other disadvantages include the inability of a people to choose their head of state, the ossified distribution of wealth and power across a broad spectrum of society, and the continuation of outmoded religious and social-economic structures mainly for the benefit of monarchs, their families, and supporters.
An elective monarchy is a monarchy ruled by a monarch who is elected, in contrast to a hereditary monarchy in which the office is automatically passed down as a family inheritance. The manner of election, the nature of candidate qualifications, and the electors vary from case to case. Historically, it was common for elective monarchies to transform into hereditary ones by repeated election of the previous rulers' children, or for hereditary monarchies to acquire elective or semi-elective succession laws, particularly following dynastic crises.
A queen regnant is a female monarch, equivalent in rank, title and position to a king. She reigns suo jure over a realm known as a kingdom; as opposed to a queen consort, who is married to a reigning king; or a queen regent, who is the guardian of a child monarch and rules pro tempore in the child's stead or instead of her husband who is absent from the realm, be it de jure in sharing power or de facto in ruling alone. A queen regnant is sometimes called a woman king. A princess, duchess, or grand duchess regnant is a female monarch who reigns suo jure over a principality or (grand) duchy; an empress regnant is a female monarch who reigns suo jure over an empire.
Agnatic seniority is a patrilineal principle of inheritance where the order of succession to the throne prefers the monarch's younger brother over the monarch's own sons. A monarch's children succeed only after the males of the elder generation have all been exhausted. Agnatic seniority excludes females of the dynasty and their descendants from the succession. Contrast agnatic primogeniture, where the king's sons stand higher in succession than his brothers.
A war of succession is a war prompted by a succession crisis in which two or more individuals claim the right of successor to a deceased or deposed monarch. The rivals are typically supported by factions within the royal court. Foreign powers sometimes intervene, allying themselves with a faction. This may widen the war into one between those powers.
In the European history, monarchy was the prevalent form of government throughout the Middle Ages, only occasionally competing with communalism, notably in the case of the maritime republics and the Swiss Confederacy.
An order, line or right of succession is the line of individuals necessitated to hold a high office when it becomes vacated, such as head of state or an honour such as a title of nobility. This sequence may be regulated through descent or by statute.
The monarchy of Denmark is a constitutional institution and a historic office of the Kingdom of Denmark. The Kingdom includes Denmark proper and the autonomous territories of the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The Kingdom of Denmark was already consolidated in the 8th century, whose rulers are consistently referred to in Frankish sources as "kings". Under the rule of King Gudfred in 804 the Kingdom may have included all the major provinces of medieval Denmark.
A non-sovereign monarchy, subnational monarchy or constituent monarchy is one in which the head of the monarchical polity, and the polity itself, are subject to a temporal authority higher than their own. The constituent states of the German Empire or the princely states of the Indian Empire during British rule provide historical examples; while the Zulu king, whose power derives from the Constitution of South Africa, is a contemporary one.
The monarchies of Malaysia exist in each of the nine Malay states under the constitutional monarchy system as practised in Malaysia. The political system of Malaysia is based on the Westminster parliamentary system in combination with features of a federation.
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds the powers of government without control, or the entire sovereignty over a nation; he is a limited monarch if his power is restrained by fixed laws; and he is an absolute, when he holds the whole legislative, judicial, and executive power, or when the legislative or judicial powers, or both, are vested in other people by the king. Kings are hereditary sovereigns when they hold the powers of government by right of birth or inheritance, and elective when raised to the throne by choice.
↑ L Gomes. 1889: como um imperador cansado, um marechal vaidoso e um professor injustiçado contribuíram para a o fim da monarquia e programação 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. ISBN978-0-8173-1732-4.
Schutt-Ainé, Patricia (1994). Haiti: A Basic Reference Book. Miami, Florida: Librairie Au Service de la Culture. pp.33–35, 60. ISBN978-0-9638599-0-7.
External links
Look up monarchor kingship in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Politicsportal 
