earliest kings were seen as having a close relationship with divinity. Some were regarded as living gods, others as kin of the gods, still others as semi-divine. Many kings ritually impersonated or were agents of a god or goddess, executing the deity’s will, or priests — those who offer sacrifice — of a divinity. Just as the concepts of morality and law come to us from religion, so do abstract ideas of authority and beliefs about the source of power. Anointing — an act to separate the king from the profane and obtain for him an infusion of divine grace — in later times came to be regarded as giving a sacred sanction to a monarch and bestowing a special character on him.
Quickies
Did you know …
• that early kings who grew old were sacrificed in a re-creation ritual to assure the continuing vitality of the community?
This semi-sacramental character was thought to make the king a means of healing and led to practices such as “touching for the King’s Evil” (scrofula), a type of faith healing. Charles II, it is estimated, touched over 100,000 people. Today this royal quality is attested by the desire of people to touch Queen Elizabeth II.
What kinds of monarchy are there?
There are hereditary, elective, dual, theocratic, absolute, and constitutional monarchies— just about as many types as there have been societies to be governed. Sovereignties have been called empires, kingdoms, dominions, realms, principalities, grand duchies, counties, and commonwealths.
What is hereditary monarchy?
When the crown, on the death of a sovereign, passes automatically from one monarch to another in the same family it is known as a hereditary monarchy. In monarchies such as Britain/the Commonwealth, Denmark, monarchy. In monarchies such as Britain/ and Japan, the succession has gone on without legal interruption for more than a thousand years.
What is an elective monarchy?
In an elective monarchy the king is chosen, usually for life, by vote. Earliest elected kings were selected — mostly by battle! — from members of the extended royal family. Poland is a state that turned from a hereditary monarchy into an elective one in 1572. Its kings were chosen by the szlacta or landed gentry. But elective monarchy so weakened the Polish kingdom that it ended up being partitioned by its neighbours and disappeared as a state for over a century.
Order of Succession to Queen Elizabeth II (first 12)
• The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales
• Prince William of Wales
• Prince Harry of Wales
• The Prince Andrew, Duke of York
• Princess Beatrice of York
• Princess Eugenie of York
• The Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
• James, Viscount Severn [Prince James of Wessex]
• Lady Louise Wessex [Princess Louise of Wessex]
• The Princess Anne, Princess Royal
• Peter Phillips
• Zara Phillips
Malaysia, a Commonwealth country, and the papacy are modern elective monarchies. Nine local hereditary sultans in Malaysia meet every five years to choose one amongst them to be king (Yang di-Pertuan Agong). The pope is elected, customarily from among the cardinals of the Church, for life. Given its great longevity of nearly 2,000 years, the papacy is the most successful elective monarchy in history. Because it is impossible for the papacy to compromise its spiritual claims, bad or incompetent popes never do irreparable damage to it.
The Dalai Lama, former ruler of Tibet, another elective theocratic monarchy, was chosen by reincarnation. A young child believed to possess the soul of the deceased Dalai Lama was searched for and when discovered was enthroned as the new monarch.
How do absolute, authoritarian, and legislatively responsible monarchies differ?
In an absolute monarchy there is no restraint on the will of the ruler. In authoritarian and legislatively responsible monarchies there are religious, customary, and legal restrictions. In a legislatively responsible monarchy the king or his ministers are, in addition, restrained by a popularly elected body. Edward I expressed the principle underlying the latter:
“What touches all,” he said, “should be approved by all.”
Have there been any absolute regimes in modern times?
There have been no absolute monarchies in modern times, but there have been many absolute republics. Lenin and Stalin’s Soviet Union, Hitler’s Germany, Mao’s China, and Pol Pot’s Cambodia are examples.
Monarchs Who Changed History
| Cyrus “the Great” | Persia |
| Darius I “the Great” | Persia |
| Chandragupta Maurya | India |
| Alexander III “the Great” | Greece, Asia Minor, Persia, Egypt |
| Constantine I “the Great” | Roman Empire, East and West |
| Tiridates IV “the Great” | Armenia |
| Clovis I | France |
| Charlemagne | France, Germany, Italy |
| Arpad | Hungary |
| Rurik | Russia |
| Alexius I Comnenus | Byzantium |
| Ivan Asen II | Bulgaria, Thrace, Albania, Greece, Macedonia |
| Urôs Stephen “the Great” | DusânSerbia |
| William “the Conqueror” | England |
| Alfonso I Henriques | Portugal |
| Robert “the Bruce” | Scotland |
| St. Vladimir I | Russia |
| Pachacutec Inca Yupanquil | Ecuador, Peru, Chile |
| Mohammed II | Turkey, Balkans, Mediterranean |
| Montezuma II | Mexico |
| Jan III Sobieski | Western Europe |
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Peter “the
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