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For other uses, see Monarch (disambiguation).
Elizabeth I, monarch of England from 1558 to 1603
Tigranes the Great, monarch of Armenia from 95 BCE to 55 BCE
The word monarch comes from the Greek , meaning "one ruler," which referred to an absolute ruler. With time, the word has been succeeded in this meaning by others, such as autocrat or dictator, and the word monarch in modern usage almost always refers to a traditional system of hereditary rulership, however, see the discussion on elective monarchies below.
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The normal monarch title in Europe — i.e., the one used if the monarch has no higher title — is prince or princess, by convention. 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.
| Male version | Female version | Realm | Adjective | Latin | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emperor | Empress | Empire | imperial | Imperator | 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, WalesPrince of Wales is a courtesy title given to the eldest son (if there is one) of the King/Queen of Great Britain and Nthn Ireland - he is not a monarch in his own right; Andorra (Co-Princes). Historical: Albania, Serbia |
| Pope | Pope* | Papacy | papal | Papa | Monarch of the Papal States and later Sovereign of the State of Vatican City |
| Duke | Duchess | Duchy | ducal | Dux | |
| 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 |
*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
Note that some of these titles have several meanings and do not 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 did not 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.
Today, there are seven kingdoms, one grand duchy, one duchy (Normandy - channel islands), one papacy, and two principalities in Europe (Liechtenstein and Monaco), excluding the peculiar case of Andorra and one "Lord of Mann" — the title for the monarch of Isle of Man.
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It is not uncommon that people who are not generally seen as monarchs nevertheless use monarchical titles. There are four cases of this:
The concept of monarchy existed in the Americas long before the arrival of European colonialists.Canada: HistoryFerguson, Will; The Lost Kingdom; Macleans, October 27, 2003 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.The Four Indian Kings Many of the leaders were queens, but this was not 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,The Crown in Canada though it remained subordinate to the United Kingdom; thus, Victoria was monarch of Canada, but not sovereign of it. It was not 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 | 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 |
Monarchs of the African Continent Royal Kingdoms Federation inherit their thrones according to a strict procedure that has not changed through the generations. Instead of being inherited directly by the eldest child, a throne rotates among branches of the royal family line. A reigning king nominates his successor from the proper branch, to be confirmed by his supporters after his death. The Federation’s matriarchal imperial throne, however, is seen as sacred or divine, and succeeds to the chosen matriarch upon the Empress’ death.
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In China, "king" is the usual translation for the term wang 王, which designated 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.
When a difference exists below, male titles are placed to the left and female titles are placed to the right of the slash.
Succession from one monarch to another varies from country to country. Traditionally, hereditary succession within members of 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 could have been 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. SOU 1977:5 Kvinnlig tronföljd, p.16. 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 (e.g. Jordan), the monarch chooses who will be his successor, who need not necessarily be his eldest son.
NOTE: The table comprises all sovereign monarchs of the world today, but is severely incomplete with regard to the non-sovereign monarchs.
Look up monarch, kingship in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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