A monarch is a ruler or head of state of a monarchy. Monarchs traditionally occupy a hereditary office in which they are appointed for life, as opposed to the president of a republic, who is elected for some specific amount of time.
A sovereign is the monarch of a sovereign state. Although non-sovereign states have often had monarchs historically (not least within the Holy Roman Empire), all European monarchs since 1918 have been sovereigns. Outside Europe there still exist several monarchs of subnational entities however, e.g. in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, and also the Kings of the French Wallis and Futuna territory. In a few cases a monarch is associated with a particular group (or nation) within a state, such as Te Arikuini Te Atairangikaahu of the Maori (the Maori Queen) and Osei Tutu II of the Ashanti.
Monarchy is the form of government involving a monarch. It can be either absolute or constitutional, and constitutional monarchies may even restrict the powers of the monarch to the point where he is little more than a figurehead, which is a common modern practice. The word monarchy can also be used about a country which has such a system. Normally however, such countries identify themselves more narrowly depending on the actual title used by the monarch – e.g. as a kingdom, grand duchy, or principality.
Elective monarchies were once common, although only a very small portion of the population was eligible to vote. As the impact of the feudal system diminished, many monarchs were eventually allowed to introduce hereditary succession, guaranteeing that the title and office will stay within the family. Today, almost all monarchies are hereditary monarchies in which the monarchs come from one royal family with the office of sovereign being passed from one family member to another upon the death or abdication of the incumbent. One notable exception is the Holy See.
Being appointed for life is not necessarily the one criterion that distinguishes monarchs from other leaders. In contemporary Europe, the tradition of hereditary monarchies has grown so strong that rulers who break with the traditional system but are nevertheless appointed for life often are not seen as or referred to as monarchs. Such examples include Francisco Franco (although Spain at the time was formally a monarchy). On the other hand, some rulers who are not appointed for life are seen as and referred to as monarchs, because they use titles commonly associated with them, e.g. the co-princes of Andorra.
European monarchical titles
In Europe, a monarch may traditionally bear any of several titles. Although monarchs have normally been male, each of these titles also has a female counterpart. This is used not only in the (historically rare) case that the monarch is female, but also for wives of monarchs. (When there is need to distinguish between the two cases, terms like Queen regnant and Queen consort come in handy.) The converse is not true however: the husband of a Queen regnant is not automatically a King. (E.g., the Duke of Edinburgh is not King Philip of the United Kingdom.)
The normal monarch title in Europe – i.e., the one used if the monarch has no higher title – is Prince. It 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 the discretion of themselves, most often choosing King. Such titulations could cause diplomatic problems, and especially the elevation to Emperor was seen as an offensive action. During the 19th and 20th centuries most small monarchies in Europe disappeared to form larger entities, and so King has become the most common title today.
| Title | Female counterpart | Realm | Latin | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pope | - | Papacy | Papa | Monarch of the Papal States and later the Holy See; considered senior to Emperors in diplomatic relations |
| Emperor | Empress | Empire | Imperator | Roman Empire, Byzantine Empire, Holy Roman Empire, Russia (Tsar), France, Austria (none left after 1918) |
| King | Queen | Kingdom | Rex | Common in larger sovereign states |
| Grand Duke | Grand Duchess | Grand duchy | Magnus Dux | Today: Luxembourg. Historical: Lithuania, Baden, Finland et al. |
| Duke | Duchess | Duchy | Dux | |
| Prince | Princess | Principality | Princeps |
Note that some of these titles have several meanings and do not necessarily designate a monarch. A Prince can be a person of royal blood (some languages uphold this distinction, see Fürst). A Duke can be a British peer. In Imperial Russia, a Grand Duke was a son or grand-son of the Tsar. Holders of titles in these alternative meanings did not enjoy the same status as actual monarchs of the same title. (Within the Holy Roman Empire, there were even more titles that were occasionally used for monarchs although they were normally noble: Margrave, Count Palatine, Landgrave. An actual monarch with such low titles still outranked a noble Duke.)
Today, there are seven kingdoms, one grand duchy, and two principalities in Europe, excluding the peculiar case of Andorra and the non-recognized principality of Sealand.
Other monarchical titles
In China, "king" is the usual translation for the term wang, 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 Emperor of China.
When a difference exists, male titles are placed to the left and female titles are placed to the right of the slash.
By region
- Americas
- Cacique - Aboriginal Hispaniola
- Huey Tlatoani - Aztec Empire
- Inka - Inca Empire
- Asia
- Hwangje - States that unified Korea
- Wang - States of Korea that do not have control over all of Korea
- Badshah - India (emperor)
- Huangdi - Imperial China
- Maharaja/Maharani - India
- Nawab, Wali - Muslim rulers of principalities or princes under Mughal (Mogul) or British Indian Empires
- Nizam - Hyderabad, India
- Susuhanan - the Indian princely state of Surakarta until its abolition
- Tenno or Mikado - Japan
- Wang - pre-Imperial China
- Middle East
- Caliph - Islamic holy title
- Emir - Arabic holy title
- Khan - Mongol Emperor or Turkish, Afghan, Pashtun or other Central Asian chieftain
- Malik/Malika - Arabic leader
- Pharaoh - Ancient Egypt
- Shah - Persia/Iran, Afghanistan
- Shahenshah - Persia/Iran, "King of Kings" or emperor
- Shaikh - Arabic leader
- Sultan/Sultana - Arabic King
- Oceania
- Chieftain - Leader of a "primitive" people
- King - there were/are also kings in Oceania (i.e. Wallis and Futuna, Nauru)
General monarch titles
- Autocrat - General term for absolute monarch.
- Emperor/Empress - Empire
- Grand Duke/Grand Duchess - Grand Duchy
- King/Queen - Kingdom
- Prince/Princess - Sovereign Principality
Succession
In hereditary monarchies, there is a formalized system used to determine succession to the throne, also known as the order of succession. This system varies from country to country. Traditionally, agnatic primogeniture, succession going to the eldest son of the monarch, has been most common; if the monarch had no sons, the throne would pass to the nearest male relative. Some countries however accepted female rulers early on, so that if the monarch had no sons, the throne would pass to the eldest daughter. (This, cognatic primogeniture, was the rule that let Elizabeth II become Queen.) In 1980, Sweden became the first European monarchy to abolish this preference for males altogether, declaring equal primogeniture or full cognatic primogeniture, so that the eldest child of the monarch now ascends to the throne, be that child male or female. Other kingdoms (Norway in 1990, Belgium in 1991 and the Netherlands) have followed.
In some monarchies, e.g. Saudi Arabia, succession to the throne has passed to the monarch's next eldest brother, and only to the monarch's children after that. In some other monarchies, the monarch chooses who will be his successor, who need not necessarily be his eldest son, e.g. Jordan.
Current monarchs
NOTE: The table comprises all sovereign monarchs of the world today, but is severely incomplete with regard to the non-sovereign monarchs.
In addition to these, there are a few former monarchs who have abdicated or been deposed still alive, as well as several pretenders, claiming thrones that do not exist at the moment. Also, Paddy Roy Bates styles himself Prince of Sealand, although no country recognizes him as a sovereign.
Alternate meanings
- Monarch butterfly is a type of butterfly.
- Monarch Airlines is a UK airline.
- Monarch (chess) is a chess engine.