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Title: Monarch  
Author: World Heritage Encyclopedia
Language: English
Subject: Monarchy, Emperor, Forest of Burzee, 6th century BC, Prince
Collection: Government, Monarchs, Monarchy, Noble Titles, Politics, Positions of Authority, Titles
Publisher: World Heritage Encyclopedia


A monarch is the sovereign head of state,[1] officially outranking all other individuals in the realm.[2] A monarch may exercise the most and highest authority in the state or others may wield that power on behalf of the monarch. Typically 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 become monarch by conquest, acclamation or a combination of means. A monarch usually reigns for life or until abdication. 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 power or only reserve powers, with actual authority vested in a parliament or other body (constitutional monarchy).


  • Characteristics 1
  • Classification 2
  • Succession 3
  • History 4
    • Monarchs in Africa 4.1
    • Monarchs in Europe 4.2
    • Monarchs in Asia 4.3
    • Monarchs in the Americas 4.4
    • Monarchs in Oceania 4.5
  • Titles and precedence in Europe 5


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 Japan, Emperor of India), archduke, duke or grand duke (e.g., Grand Duke of Luxembourg). Prince is sometimes used as a generic term to refer to any monarch regardless of title, especially in older texts.[3]

Monarchy is political or sociocultural in nature, and is generally (but not always) associated with hereditary rule. Most monarchs, both historically and in the modern 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 (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, a position rotated among the nation's historically ruling dynasties, 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 (however see, e.g., United Arab Emirates). 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, with a usually short interregnum (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.



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.


The nine European Monarchs who attended the King Frederick VIII of Denmark.

Hereditary succession within one patrilineal family has been most common (although, see the Rain Queen), with preference for children over siblings, 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 practice one form or another of primogeniture, whereunder 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 was semi-elective and gave weight also to ability and merit.

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.



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.

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.


Monarchs in Africa





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 whose local precedence is recognised, but who exercise no legal authority.



Monarchs in Europe


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 II, most monarchies were abolished, but of those remaining all except Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Monaco were headed by a king or queen.


Monarchs in Asia

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 Danguns as a collection of nationalistic legends. The monarchs of Goguryeo and some monarchs of Silla used the title "Taewang", meaning the "Great king". The early monarchs of Silla have used the title of "Geoseogan", "Chachaung", "Isageum", and finally "Maripgan" until 503. The title "Gun" (prince) can refer to the dethroned rulers of 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 lmperial heritage.














Monarchs in the Americas

Emperor Pedro II of Brazil visiting victims of cholera, 1855
Francisco Pizarro meets with the Inca emperor Atahualpa, 1532

The concept of monarchy existed in the Americas long before the arrival of European colonialists.[5][6] 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.[7]

Pre-colonial titles that were used included:



Male title Female title Realm Examples
Emperor Empress Empire Brazil, Mexico, Sapa Inca

Monarchs in Oceania









In New Zealand the position of Māori King was established in 1858. The role is largely cultural and ceremonial, and has no legal power.


Titles and precedence in Europe

The usage and meaning of a monarch's specific title has historically been defined by tradition, law and diplomatic considerations.

Note that some titles borne by monarchs have several meanings and may not exclusively designate a monarch. A Prince may be a person of royal blood (some languages uphold this distinction, see Fürst). A Duke may belong to a peerage and hold a dukedom (title) but no duchy (territory). In Imperial Russia, a Grand Duke was a son or patrilineal grandson of the Tsar or Tsarina. Holders of titles in these alternative meanings did not enjoy the same status as monarchs of the same title.

Within the Holy Roman Empire, there were numerous titles used by noblemen whose authority within their territory sometimes approached sovereignty, even though they acknowledged the Holy Roman Emperor as suzerain; Elector, Grand Duke, Margrave, Landgrave and Count Palatine, as well as kings, dukes, princes and "princely counts" (gefurstete Grafen]]. A ruler with a title below emperor or king might still be regarded as a monarch, outranking a nobleman of the same ostensible title (e.g., Antoine, Duke of Lorraine, a reigning sovereign, and his younger brother, Claude, Duke of Guise, a nobleman in the peerage of France).

The table below lists titles in approximate order of precedence. According to protocol any holder of a title indicating sovereignty took precedence over any non-sovereign titleholder.
Male version Female version Realm Adjective Notes and examples


Archduke Archduchess Archduchy Archducal Historical: Unique to the House of Habsburg which ruled the Archduchy of Austria; title used for all members of dynasty
Prince Princess Principality, Princely state Princely Today: Hutt River.
Marquis Marquise Marquisate/March Marquisal A continental rank below that of a Duke but above a Count. British version is Marquess. Although Margrave shares word-origin, in Germany it referred to rulers rather than nobles. Historical examples: Marquess of Queensbury, [[Marquisate

Genus: Magdalenaea

