Portal:Monarchy

The Monarchy Portal

The Weld-Blundell Prism is inscribed with the Sumerian King List

P:MONARCH

A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy), to fully autocratic (absolute monarchy), and may have representational, executive, legislative, and judicial functions.

The succession of monarchs has mostly been hereditary, often building dynasties; however, monarchies can also be elective and self-proclaimed. Aristocrats, though not inherent to monarchies, often function as the pool of persons from which the monarch is chosen, and to fill the constituting institutions (e.g. diet and court), giving many monarchies oligarchic elements. The political legitimacy of the inherited, elected or proclaimed monarchy has most often been based on claims of representation of people and land through some form of relation (e.g. kinship) and divine right or other achieved status.

Monarchs can carry various titles such as emperor, empress, king, and queen. Monarchies can form federations, personal unions, and realms with vassals through personal association with the monarch, which is a common reason for monarchs carrying several titles. Some countries have preserved titles such as "kingdom" while dispensing with an official serving monarch (note the example of Francoist Spain from 1947 to 1975) or while relying on a long-term regency (as in the case of Hungary in the Horthy era from 1920 to 1944).

Monarchies were the most common form of government until the 20th century, when republics replaced many monarchies, notably at the end of World War I. As of 2024^[update], forty-three sovereign nations in the world have a monarch, including fifteen Commonwealth realms that share King Charles III as their head of state. Other than that, there is a range of sub-national monarchical entities. Most of the modern monarchies are constitutional monarchies, retaining under a constitution unique legal and ceremonial roles for monarchs exercising limited or no political power, similar to heads of state in a parliamentary republic. (Full article...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Featured articles - load new batch

Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia.

Image 1

Solidus of Glycerius marked:
d·n· glycerius p·f· aug·

Glycerius (died after 474) was Roman emperor of the West from 473 to 474. He served as comes domesticorum (commander of the palace guard) during the reign of Olybrius (r. 472), until Olybrius died in November 472. After a four-month interregnum, Glycerius was proclaimed as emperor in March 473 by Gundobad, the magister militum (master of soldiers) and power behind the throne. Very few of the events of his reign are known other than that an attempted invasion of Italy by the Visigoths was repelled by local commanders, diverting them to Gaul. Glycerius also prevented an invasion by the Ostrogoths through diplomacy, including a gift of 2,000 solidi.

Glycerius was not recognized by the Eastern Roman emperor Leo I (r. 457–474), who instead nominated Julius Nepos (r. 474–475/480) as Western Emperor and sent him with an army to invade the Western Empire. Glycerius was without allies because Gundobad had abandoned him, and therefore was forced to abdicate on 24 June 474, and was succeeded by Nepos. He was appointed Bishop of Salona, which position he held until his death. He died, possibly in 480, and a nearly contemporaneous source blames him for the assassination of Nepos, but the records for this event are muddled. (Full article...)
Image 2

Amir Hamzah, c. 1928–1937

Tengku Amir Hamzah (February 1911 – 20 March 1946) was an Indonesian poet and National Hero of Indonesia. Born into a Malay aristocratic family in the Sultanate of Langkat in North Sumatra, he was educated in both Sumatra and Java. While attending senior high school in Surakarta around 1930, Amir became involved with the nationalist movement and fell in love with a Javanese schoolmate, Ilik Sundari. Even after Amir continued his studies in legal school in Batavia (now Jakarta) the two remained close, only separating in 1937 when Amir was recalled to Sumatra to marry the sultan's daughter and take on responsibilities of the court. Though unhappy with his marriage, he fulfilled his courtly duties. After Indonesia proclaimed its independence in 1945, he served as the government's representative in Langkat. The following year he was killed in a social revolution led by the PESINDO (Pemuda Sosialis Indonesia), and buried in a mass grave.

Amir began writing poetry while still a teenager: though his works are undated, the earliest are thought to have been written when he first travelled to Java. Drawing influences from his own Malay culture and Islam, as well as from Christianity and Eastern literature, Amir wrote 50 poems, 18 pieces of lyrical prose, and numerous other works, including several translations. In 1932 he co-founded the literary magazine Poedjangga Baroe. After his return to Sumatra, he stopped writing. Most of his poems were published in two collections, Nyanyi Sunyi (1937) and Buah Rindu (1941), first in Poedjangga Baroe then as stand-alone books. (Full article...)
Image 3

Statue of Simeon I in Vidin

Simeon I the Great (Church Slavonic: цѣсар҄ь Сѷмеѡ́нъ А҃ Вели́къ; Bulgarian: цар Симеон I Велики, romanized: Simeon I Veliki [simɛˈɔn ˈpɤrvi vɛˈliki]; Greek: Συμεών Αʹ ὁ Μέγας, romanized: Sumeṓn prôtos ho Mégas) ruled over Bulgaria from 893 to 927, during the First Bulgarian Empire. Simeon's successful campaigns against the Byzantines, Magyars and Serbs led Bulgaria to its greatest territorial expansion ever, making it the most powerful state in contemporary Eastern and Southeast Europe. His reign was also a period of unmatched cultural prosperity and enlightenment later deemed the Golden Age of Bulgarian culture.

During Simeon's rule, Bulgaria spread over a territory between the Aegean, the Adriatic and the Black seas. The newly independent Bulgarian Orthodox Church became the first new patriarchate besides the Pentarchy, and Bulgarian Glagolitic and Cyrillic translations of Christian texts spread all over the Slavic world of the time. It was at the Preslav Literary School in the 890s that the Cyrillic alphabet was developed. Halfway through his reign, Simeon assumed the title of "emperor" (Tsar), having prior to that been styled "prince" (Knyaz). (Full article...)
Image 4

Depiction of Wulfhere on the right at Lichfield Cathedral.

Wulfhere or Wulfar (died 675) was King of Mercia from 658 until 675 AD. He was the first Christian king of all of Mercia, though it is not known when or how he converted from Anglo-Saxon paganism. His accession marked the end of Oswiu of Northumbria's overlordship of southern England, and Wulfhere extended his influence over much of that region. His campaigns against the West Saxons led to Mercian control of much of the Thames valley. He conquered the Isle of Wight and the Meon valley and gave them to King Æthelwealh of the South Saxons. He also had influence in Surrey, Essex, and Kent. He married Eormenhild, the daughter of King Eorcenberht of Kent.

Wulfhere's father, Penda, was killed in 655 at the Battle of Winwaed, fighting against Oswiu of Northumbria. Penda's son Peada became king under Oswiu's overlordship but was murdered six months later. Wulfhere came to the throne when Mercian nobles organized a revolt against Northumbrian rule in 658 and drove out Oswiu's governors. (Full article...)
Image 5
Eardwulf (fl. 790 – c. 830) was king of Northumbria from 796 to 806, when he was deposed and went into exile. He may have had a second reign from 808 until perhaps 811 or 830. Northumbria in the last years of the eighth century was the scene of dynastic strife between several noble families: in 790, king Æthelred I attempted to have Eardwulf assassinated. Eardwulf's survival may have been viewed as a sign of divine favour. A group of nobles conspired to assassinate Æthelred in April 796 and he was succeeded by Osbald: Osbald's reign lasted only twenty-seven days before he was deposed and Eardwulf became king on 14 May 796.

Little is recorded of Eardwulf's family, though his father, also named Eardwulf, is known to have been a nobleman. Eardwulf was married by the time he became king, though his wife's name is not recorded. It is possible he later wed an illegitimate daughter of Charlemagne. In 798, early in his reign, Eardwulf fought a battle at Billington Moor against a nobleman named Wada, who had been one of those who killed King Æthelred. Wada was defeated and driven into exile. In 801, Eardwulf led an army against Coenwulf of Mercia, perhaps because of Coenwulf's support for other claimants to the Northumbrian throne. (Full article...)
Image 6

Portrait by Thomas Gainsborough, 1782

Prince Alfred of Great Britain (22 September 1780 – 20 August 1782) was the fourteenth child and ninth and youngest son of King George III and his queen consort, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. In 1782, Alfred, who had never enjoyed robust health, became unwell after his inoculation against smallpox. His early death, along with that of his brother Prince Octavius six months later, deeply distressed the royal family. In his later bouts of madness, King George imagined conversations with both of his youngest sons. (Full article...)
Image 7
Martinus (Greek: Μαρτίνος, romanized: Martínos) or Marinus (Greek: Μαρίνος, romanized: Marínos; died possibly in 641) was caesar of the Byzantine Empire from c. 639 to 641. Martinus was the fifth son of Emperor Heraclius and Empress Martina, who was Heraclius' second wife and niece. Martinus was elevated to caesar, a junior imperial title that placed him on the line of succession, at some point between 638 and 640 by his father.

Heraclius died on 11 February 641, leaving the Byzantine Empire to Martinus's half-brother Constantine III and his elder full brother Heraclonas; Constantine III soon died of tuberculosis, although some of his partisans alleged that Martina poisoned him. One such partisan, Valentinus, led troops to Chalcedon, across the Bosporus strait from the imperial capital, Constantinople, to force Martina to install Constans II, the son of Constantine III, as co-emperor. Valentinus seized Constantinople and forced Martina to install Constans II in September or October 641, and deposed Martina, Heraclonas, and Martinus. Martinus was mutilated and exiled to Rhodes. He died soon after, possibly during or immediately after the mutilations. (Full article...)
Image 8

Gold dinar minted at Baghdad in the name of Sayf al-Dawla and his brother Nasir al-Dawla, 943/4 CE

ʿAlī ibn ʾAbū'l-Hayjāʾ ʿAbdallāh ibn Ḥamdān ibn Ḥamdūn ibn al-Ḥārith al-Taghlibī (Arabic: علي بن أبو الهيجاء عبد الله بن حمدان بن الحارث التغلبي, 22 June 916 – 8 February 967), more commonly known simply by his honorific of Sayf al-Dawla (سيف الدولة, lit. 'Sword of the Dynasty'), was the founder of the Emirate of Aleppo, encompassing most of northern Syria and parts of the western Jazira.

The most prominent member of the Hamdanid dynasty, Sayf al-Dawla originally served under his elder brother, Nasir al-Dawla, in the latter's attempts to establish his control over the weak Abbasid government in Baghdad during the early 940s CE. After the failure of these endeavours, the ambitious Sayf al-Dawla turned towards Syria, where he confronted the ambitions of the Ikhshidids of Lower Egypt to control the province. After two wars with them, his authority over northern Syria, centred at Aleppo, and the western Jazira, centred at Mayyafariqin, was recognized by the Ikhshidids and the Abbasid caliph. A series of tribal rebellions plagued Sayf al-Dawla's realm until 955, but he overcame them and maintained the allegiance of the most important of the nomadic Bedouins. (Full article...)
Image 9

King Alexander c. 1917

Alexander (Greek: Αλέξανδρος, romanized: Aléxandros; 1 August 1893 – 25 October 1920) was King of Greece from 11 June 1917 until his death on 25 October 1920.

The second son of King Constantine I, Alexander was born in the summer palace of Tatoi on the outskirts of Athens. He succeeded his father in 1917, during World War I, after the Entente Powers and the followers of Eleftherios Venizelos pushed King Constantine and his eldest son, Crown Prince George, into exile. Having no real political experience, the new king was stripped of his powers by the Venizelists and effectively imprisoned in his own palace. Venizelos, as prime minister, was the effective ruler with the support of the Entente. Though reduced to the status of a puppet king, Alexander supported Greek troops during their war against the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. Under his reign, the territorial extent of Greece considerably increased, following the victory of the Entente and their Allies in the First World War and the early stages of the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922. (Full article...)
Image 10

Afonso at age 2 wearing the blue band of the Order of the Southern Cross, 1846

Dom Afonso (23 February 1845 – 11 June 1847) was the Prince Imperial and heir apparent to the throne of the Empire of Brazil. Born in Rio de Janeiro, he was the eldest child of Emperor Dom Pedro II and Dona Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies, and thus a member of the Brazilian branch of the House of Braganza.

Afonso died from epilepsy at the age of two, devastating the emperor. The following year, Pedro and Teresa Cristina had another son, Pedro Afonso, but he too died in infancy. After the loss of his second son, doubts grew in Pedro II's mind that the imperial system could be viable. He still had an heir in his daughter Isabel, but he was unconvinced that a female would prove to be a suitable successor. He showed less concern about the effects his policies had on the monarchy, provided his daughter Isabel with no training for her role as potential empress, and failed to cultivate her acceptance within the country's political class. Pedro II's lack of interest in protecting the imperial system ultimately led to its downfall. (Full article...)
Image 11

Unas being suckled by the goddess Iat, Egyptian Museum

Unas /ˈjuːnəs/ or Wenis, also spelled Unis (Ancient Egyptian: wnjs, hellenized form Oenas /ˈiːnəs/ or Onnos; died c. 2345), was a king, the ninth and last ruler of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt during the Old Kingdom. Unas reigned for 15 to 30 years in the mid-24th century BC (c. 2345–2315 BC), succeeding Djedkare Isesi, who might have been his father.

Little is known of Unas' activities during his reign, which was a time of economic decline. Egypt maintained trade relations with the Levantine coast and Nubia, and military action may have taken place in southern Canaan. The growth and decentralization of the administration in conjunction with the lessening of the king's power continued under Unas, ultimately contributing to the collapse of the Old Kingdom some 200 years later. (Full article...)
Image 12

Silver penny of Wiglaf, struck 827–829.
Legend: + vviglaf rex m

Wiglaf (died 839) was King of Mercia from 827 to 829 and again from 830 until his death in 839. His ancestry is uncertain: the 820s were a period of dynastic conflict within Mercia and the genealogy of several of the kings of this time is unknown. Wigstan, his grandson, was later recorded as a descendant of Penda of Mercia, so it is possible that Wiglaf was descended from Penda, one of the most powerful seventh-century kings of Mercia.

Wiglaf succeeded Ludeca, who was killed campaigning against East Anglia. His first reign coincided with the continued rise of the rival Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex under Ecgberht. Ecgberht drove Wiglaf from the throne in 829, and ruled Mercia directly for a year. Wiglaf recovered the kingdom in 830, probably by force, although it may be that Wiglaf remained subject to Ecgberht's overlordship. Mercia never regained the south-eastern kingdoms, but Berkshire and perhaps Essex came back into Mercian control. The causes of the fluctuating fortunes of Mercia and Wessex are a matter of speculation, but it may be that Carolingian support influenced both Ecgberht's ascendancy and the subsequent Mercian recovery. Although Wiglaf appeared to have restored Mercia's independence, the recovery was short-lived, and later in the century Mercia was divided between Wessex and the Vikings. (Full article...)
Image 13

Portrait by Godfrey Kneller, c. 1690

William III (William Henry; Dutch: Willem Hendrik; 4 November 1650 – 8 March 1702), also known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 1672, and King of England, Ireland, and Scotland from 1689 until his death in 1702. He ruled Great Britain and Ireland with his wife, Queen Mary II, and their joint reign is known as that of William and Mary.

William was the only child of William II, Prince of Orange, and Mary, Princess Royal, the daughter of King Charles I of England, Scotland, and Ireland. His father died a week before his birth, making William III the prince of Orange from birth. In 1677, he married his first cousin Mary, the elder daughter of his maternal uncle James, Duke of York (later King James). (Full article...)
Image 14

Portrait attributed to John de Critz, c. 1605

James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until his death in 1625. Although he long tried to get both countries to adopt a closer political union, the kingdoms of Scotland and England remained sovereign states, with their own parliaments, judiciaries, and laws, ruled by James in personal union.

James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, and a great-great-grandson of Henry VII, King of England and Lord of Ireland, and thus a potential successor to all three thrones. He acceded to the Scottish throne at the age of thirteen months, after his mother was forced to abdicate in his favour. Although his mother was a Catholic, James was brought up as a Protestant. Four regents governed during his minority, which ended officially in 1578, though he did not gain full control of his government until 1583. In 1589, he married Anne of Denmark. Three of their children survived to adulthood: Henry Frederick, Elizabeth, and Charles. In 1603, James succeeded his cousin Elizabeth I, the last Tudor monarch of England and Ireland, who died childless. He continued to reign in all three kingdoms for 22 years, a period known as the Jacobean era, until his death in 1625. After the Union of the Crowns, he based himself in England (the largest of the three realms) from 1603, returning to Scotland only once, in 1617, and styled himself "King of Great Britain and Ireland". He advocated for a single parliament for England and Scotland. In his reign, the Plantation of Ulster and English colonisation of the Americas began. (Full article...)
Image 15

Henry in full regalia (depicted in the 11th-century Evangelion of Saint Emmeram's Abbey)

Henry IV (German: Heinrich IV; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105, King of Germany from 1054 to 1105, King of Italy and Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was the son of Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor—the second monarch of the Salian dynasty—and Agnes of Poitou. After his father's death on 5 October 1056, Henry was placed under his mother's guardianship. She made grants to German aristocrats to secure their support. Unlike her late husband, she could not control the election of the popes, thus the idea of the "liberty of the Church" strengthened during her rule. Taking advantage of her weakness, Archbishop Anno II of Cologne kidnapped Henry in April 1062. He administered Germany until Henry came of age in 1065.

Henry endeavoured to recover the royal estates that had been lost during his minority. He employed low-ranking officials to carry out his new policies, causing discontent in Saxony and Thuringia. Henry crushed a riot in Saxony in 1069 and overcame the rebellion of the Saxon aristocrat Otto of Nordheim in 1071. The appointment of commoners to high office offended German aristocrats, and many of them withdrew from Henry's court. He insisted on his royal prerogative to appoint bishops and abbots, although the reformist clerics condemned this practice as simony (a forbidden sale of church offices). Pope Alexander II blamed Henry's advisors for his acts and excommunicated them in early 1073. Henry's conflicts with the Holy See and the German dukes weakened his position and the Saxons rose up in open rebellion in the summer of 1074. Taking advantage of a quarrel between the Saxon aristocrats and peasantry, he forced the rebels into submission in October 1075. (Full article...)

More featured articles

edit

Featured picture

Credit: Myrabella

The Hall of Mirrors is the central gallery of the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France. As the principal and most remarkable feature of King Louis XIV of France's third building campaign of the Palace of Versailles (1678–1684), construction of the Hall of Mirrors began in 1678. To provide for the Hall of Mirrors as well as the salon de la guerre and the salon de la paix, which connect the grand appartement du roi with the grand appartement de la reine, architect Jules Hardouin Mansart appropriated three rooms from each apartment as well as the terrace that separated the two apartments.

More selected pictures

Read more

Did you know (auto-generated)

... that the Dutch edition of Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival was recalled?

edit

More Did you know...

... that Britain's King George IV specifically requested George Haden (pictured) to design and install the new heating system for Windsor Castle in 1826?
... that the 2006 visit by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to India was officially described as "heralding a new era in Indo-Saudi Arabian relations"?
... that the military prowess of the Tulunid dynasty of Arab Egypt was due to its multi-ethnic army composed of the Turkish, Sudanese, and Greek soldiers?

More did you know facts

Good articles - load new batch

These are Good articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

Image 1
John Komnenos (Greek: Ἰωάννης Κομνηνός, romanized: Iōannēs Komnēnos; born c. 1112), later surnamed Tzelepes (Τζελέπης, Tzelepēs), was the son of the sebastokrator Isaac Komnenos and grandson of the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos. As a young man he followed his father during his exile and wanderings across Asia Minor and the Levant, when for a short time he was married to a daughter of Leo I, ruler of Armenian Cilicia. After the reconciliation between his father and his uncle, Emperor John II Komnenos, in 1138, he returned to the Byzantine court, but defected in the next year to the Danishmendid Turks during a siege of Neocaesarea. From there he moved to the court of the Sultan of Rum, one of whose daughters he married. According to later, and likely invented, tradition, the Ottoman dynasty hailed from one of his offspring. (Full article...)
Image 2

Relief of King Pharnavaz I^[where?]

Pharnavaz I (/fɑːrnɑːvɑːz/; Georgian: ფარნავაზ I, romanized: parnavaz I Georgian pronunciation: [pʰaɾnavaz]) was a king (mepe) of Kartli, an ancient Georgian kingdom known as Iberia in classical antiquity. The Georgian Chronicles credits him with being the first monarch founding the kingship of Kartli and the Pharnavazid dynasty, while other independent chronicles, such as The Conversion of Kartli make him the second Georgian monarch. Based on the medieval evidence, most scholars locate Pharnavaz's rule in the 3rd century BC: 302–237 BC according to Prince Vakhushti of Kartli, 299–234 BC according to Cyril Toumanoff and 284–219 BC according to Pavle Ingoroqva. Pharnavaz's rise, advent and imperial expansion of the Iberian monarchy was directly tied to the victory of Alexander the Great over the Achaemenid Empire. Pharnavaz ruled under the suzerainty of the Seleucid Empire. (Full article...)
Image 3

Marble statue of a young Marcus in military garb, wearing the muscle cuirass, Altes Museum, Berlin

The early life of Marcus Aurelius (r. 161–180) spans the time from his birth on 26 April 121 until his accession as Roman emperor on 8 March 161.

Following the death of his father, Marcus Annius Verus (III), Marcus Aurelius was raised by his grandfather, Marcus Annius Verus (II). Educated at home, Marcus became an adherent of Stoicism at a young age. In 138 he was adopted by Titus Aurelius Antoninus, himself the adopted heir of Emperor Hadrian. Hadrian died later that year, and his adoptive son succeeded him under the name Antoninus Pius. (Full article...)
Image 4

Seal of Boniface

Boniface of Verona (Italian: Bonifacio da Verona, died late 1317 or early 1318) was a Lombard Crusader lord in Frankish Greece during the late 13th and early 14th century. A third son from a junior branch of his family, he sold his castle to equip himself as a knight, became a protégé of Guy II de la Roche, Duke of Athens, expelled the Byzantines from Euboea in 1296, and advanced to become one of the most powerful lords of Frankish Greece. Following Guy II's death, he served as regent for the Duchy of Athens in 1308–09, and was captured by the Catalan Company in the Battle of Halmyros in March 1311. The Catalans held Boniface in high regard, and offered to make him their leader. Boniface refused, but retained close relations with them, sharing their hostility towards the Republic of Venice and its own interests in Euboea. Boniface died in late 1317 or early 1318, leaving his son-in-law, the Catalan vicar-general Alfonso Fadrique, as the heir of his domains. (Full article...)
Image 5

Coin of a Parthian ruler, possibly Phraates I. Minted at Hecatompylos between 185–132 BC

Phraates I (Parthian: 𐭐𐭓𐭇𐭕‎, romanized: Frahāt) was king of the Arsacid dynasty from 170/168 BC to 165/64 BC. He subdued the Mardians, conquered their territory in the Alborz mountains, and reclaimed Hyrcania from the Seleucid Empire. He died in 165/64 BC, and was succeeded by his brother Mithridates I (r. 165 – 132 BC), whom he had appointed his heir. (Full article...)
Image 6

Coin of Phraates IV, Mithradatkert mint

Phraates IV (also spelled Frahad IV; Parthian: 𐭐𐭓𐭇𐭕 Frahāt) was King of Kings of the Parthian Empire from 37 to 2 BC. He was the son and successor of Orodes II (r. 57–37 BC), and was given the throne after the death of his brother Pacorus I. Phraates IV soon murdered all his brothers, and also possibly his father. His actions alienated the Armenians and also some of his nobles, including the distinguished Monaeses, who fled to the Roman triumvir Mark Antony, but shortly returned and reconciled with Phraates IV.

Phraates IV was attacked in 36 BC by Mark Antony, who marched through Armenia into Media Atropatene, and was defeated and lost the greater part of his army. Antony, believing himself betrayed by Artavasdes II, king of Armenia, invaded his kingdom in 34 BC, took him prisoner, and concluded a treaty with Artavasdes I, king of Media Atropatene. But when the war with Octavian broke out, Antony could not maintain his conquests; Phraates IV recovered Media Atropatene and made Artaxias, the son of Artavasdes II, king of Armenia. (Full article...)
Image 7

Coin of Michael Shishman

Michael Asen III (Bulgarian: Михаил Асен III, romanized: Mihail Asen III), commonly known as Michael Shishman (Bulgarian: Михаил Шишман, romanized: Mihail Shishman), ruled as tsar of Bulgaria from 1323 to 1330. The exact year of his birth is unknown but it was between 1280 and 1292. He was the founder of the last ruling dynasty of the Second Bulgarian Empire, the Shishman dynasty. After he was crowned, however, Michael used the name Asen to emphasize his connection with the Asen dynasty, the first one to rule over the Second Empire.

An energetic and ambitious ruler, Michael Shishman led an aggressive but opportunistic and inconsistent foreign policy against the Byzantine Empire and the Kingdom of Serbia, which ended in the disastrous Battle of Velbazhd that claimed his own life. He was the last medieval Bulgarian ruler who aimed at military and political hegemony of the Bulgarian Empire over the Balkans and the last one who attempted to seize Constantinople. He was succeeded by his son Ivan Stephen and later by his nephew Ivan Alexander, who reversed Michael Shishman's policy by forming an alliance with Serbia. (Full article...)
Image 8
Godscall Paleologue or Paleologus (12 January 1694 – ?) was the last recorded living member of the Paleologus family, and through them possibly the last surviving member of the Palaiologos dynasty, rulers of the Byzantine Empire from 1259 to its fall in 1453. The posthumous daughter of privateer Theodore Paleologus, the only surviving source on Godscall is her baptismal records. Nothing is known of her life.

The meaning of her name is unknown. It might be an English equivalent of the Greek name Theocletiane (Θεοκλητιανή), a reference to the child possibly being sickly, a surname derived from one of her mother's ancestors, or might derive from one or both of her parents being Puritans (though there is no evidence that they were), who in the 17th century commonly gave godly names to their children. (Full article...)
Image 9

Idealized portrait painted around 1905 by Ramanankirahina

Andrianampoinimerina (Malagasy pronunciation: [anˈɖʐianˌmpuʲnˈmerʲnə̥]) (c. 1745–1810) ruled the Kingdom of Imerina on Madagascar from 1787 until his death. His reign was marked by the reunification of Imerina following 77 years of civil war, and the subsequent expansion of his kingdom into neighboring territories, thereby initiating the unification of Madagascar under Merina rule. Andrianampoinimerina is a cultural hero and holds near mythic status among the Merina people, and is considered one of the greatest military and political leaders in the history of Madagascar.

Andrianampoinimerina (whose name means "the king in the heart of Imerina") took power upon deposing his uncle, King Andrianjafy, who had ruled over Imerina Avaradrano (Northern Imerina). Prior to Andrianampoinimerina's reign, Imerina Avaradrano had been locked in conflict with the three other neighboring provinces of the former kingdom of Imerina that had last been unified under King Andriamasinavalona a century before. Andrianampoinimerina established his capital at the fortified town of Ambohimanga, a site of great spiritual, cultural and political significance that was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001. The king's original royal lodgings can still be visited at Ambohimanga today. From this position, he progressively extended his domain first over all Imerina and then over the greater Highlands, absorbing the Betsileo, Sihanaka, Bezanozano and Bara territories. Having reigned for 23 years at the time of his death, Andrianampoinimerina had successfully reunited Imerina and vastly expanded the Merina kingdom, with the intent to ultimately unify all of Madagascar under Merina rule. His son and heir, Radama I, continued the conquests Andrianampoinimerina had begun, and over the next two decades largely achieved his father's vision. (Full article...)
Image 10
Bust, Art Institute of Chicago

The reign of Marcus Aurelius began with his accession on 7 March 161 following the death of his adoptive father, Antoninus Pius, and ended with his own death on 17 March 180. Marcus first ruled jointly with his adoptive brother, Lucius Verus. They shared the throne until Lucius' death in 169. Marcus was succeeded by his son Commodus, who had been made co-emperor in 177.

Under Marcus, Rome fought the Roman–Parthian War of 161–66 and the Marcomannic Wars. The so-called Antonine plague occurred during his reign. In the last years of his rule, Marcus composed his personal writings on Stoic philosophy known as Meditations. (Full article...)
Image 11
Ajtony, Ahtum or Achtum (Hungarian: Ajtony, Bulgarian: Охтум, Romanian: Ahtum, Serbian: Ахтум) was an early-11th-century ruler in the territory now known as Banat in present Romania and Serbia. His primary source is the Long Life of Saint Gerard, a 14th-century hagiography. Ajtony was a powerful ruler who owned many horses, cattle and sheep and was baptised according to the Orthodox rite in Vidin. He taxed salt which was transferred to King Stephen I of Hungary on the Mureș River. The king sent Csanád, Ajtony's former commander-in-chief, against him at the head of a large army. Csanád defeated and killed Ajtony, occupying his realm. In the territory, at least one county and a Roman Catholic diocese were established.

Historians disagree on the year of Ajtony's defeat; it may have occurred in 1002, 1008 or between 1027 and 1030. His ethnicity is also a subject of historical debate; he may have been Hungarian, Kabar or Pecheneg. (Full article...)
Image 12

2/3 Miliaresion struck by Melissenos during his revolt

Nikephoros Melissenos (Greek: Νικηφόρος Μελισσηνός, c. 1045 – 17 November 1104), Latinized as Nicephorus Melissenus, was a Byzantine general and aristocrat. Of distinguished lineage, he served as a governor and general in the Balkans and Asia Minor in the 1060s. In the turbulent period after the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, when several generals tried to seize the throne for themselves, Melissenos remained loyal to Michael VII Doukas and was exiled by his successor Nikephoros III Botaneiates. In 1080–1081, with Turkish aid, he seized control of what remained of Byzantine Asia Minor and proclaimed himself emperor against Botaneiates. After the revolt of his brother-in-law Alexios I Komnenos, however, which succeeded in taking Constantinople, he submitted to him, accepting the rank of Caesar and the governance of Thessalonica. He remained loyal to Alexios thereafter, participating in most Byzantine campaigns of the period 1081–1095 in the Balkans at the emperor's side. He died on 17 November 1104. (Full article...)
Image 13

An inscription from Saint John Vladimir's Church records Gjergj as the most illustrious firstborn son of Prince Karl Thopia and commemorates their joint construction of the church in 1381

Gjergj Thopia (Albanian: Gjergj Topia; c. 1370 – October 1392), also known as Giorgio, Georg or George was an Albanian Prince and member of the Thopia family. He was the Prince of Albania and the Lord of Durrës from 1388 to 1392. His reign was marked by efforts to maintain control of his territories amidst increasing Ottoman pressure and internal rivalries with other Albanian noble families. Gjergj allied with Venice to protect Durrës but ultimately relinquished the city to Venetian rule due to declining health and political instability. Gjergj's death in 1392 marked the end of his lineage, with his holdings passing to his sister, Helena Thopia, and his legacy shaped by his alliances and resistance to Ottoman encroachment. (Full article...)
Image 14

Weizsäcker in 1984

Richard Karl Freiherr von Weizsäcker (German: [ˈʁɪçaʁt fɔn ˈvaɪtszɛkɐ] ; 15 April 1920 – 31 January 2015) was a German politician (CDU), who served as President of Germany from 1984 to 1994. Born into the aristocratic Weizsäcker family, who were part of the German nobility, he took his first public offices in the Protestant Church in Germany.

A member of the CDU since 1954, Weizsäcker was elected as a member of parliament at the 1969 elections. He continued to hold a mandate as a member of the Bundestag until he became Governing Mayor of West Berlin, following the 1981 state elections. In 1984, Weizsäcker was elected as President of the Federal Republic of Germany and was re-elected in 1989 for a second term. As yet, he and Theodor Heuss are the only two Presidents of the Federal Republic of Germany who have served two complete five-year-terms. On 3 October 1990, during his second term as president, the reorganized five states of the German Democratic Republic and East Berlin joined the Federal Republic of Germany, which made Weizsäcker President of a reunified Germany. (Full article...)
Image 15
Gubazes II (Georgian: გუბაზ II, Greek: Γουβάζης) was king of Lazica (modern western Georgia) from circa 541 until his assassination in 555. He was one of the central personalities of the Lazic War (541–562). He originally ascended the throne as a vassal of the Byzantine Empire, but the heavy-handed actions of the Byzantine authorities led him to seek the assistance of Byzantium's main rival, Sassanid Persia. The Byzantines were evicted from Lazica with the aid of a Persian army in 541, but the Persian occupation of the country turned out to be worse, and by 548, Gubazes was requesting assistance from Byzantium. Gubazes remained a Byzantine ally during the next few years, as the two empires fought for control of Lazica, with the fortress of Petra as the focal point of the struggle. Gubazes eventually quarrelled with the Byzantine generals over the fruitless continuation of the war, and was assassinated by them. (Full article...)

More good articles

edit

Featured portrait

Credit: Louis de Silvestre

Maria Amalia of Saxony (1724–60) was a German princess who married the future Charles III of Spain in 1738, the year of this painting. She was Queen of Naples and Sicily from 1738 until 1759, then Queen of Spain from 1759 until her death.

More featured portraits

Read more

edit

Selected quote

What is important is not to live in fear. The most dangerous [thing to do] is to give up and lose hope. The main enemy is not terrorism or extremism, but ignorance.

— Queen Rania of Jordan

More selected quotes

More at Wikiquote

edit

Related portals

General images - load new batch

The following are images from various monarchy-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Postcard from 1908 showing nineteen of the world's reigning monarchs: (left to right) King Rama V/Chulalongkorn of Siam (modern Thailand), King George I of Greece, King Peter I of Serbia, King Carol I of Romania, Emperor and King Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Tsar (King) Ferdinand I of Bulgaria, Padishah (Emperor) Abdul Hamid II of the Ottoman Empire, King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, Emperor Nicholas II of the Russia, King Edward VII of the United Kingdom, Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany, King Gustav V of Sweden, King Haakon VII of Norway, King Frederik VIII of Denmark, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, Emperor Guangxu of China, Emperor Meiji of Japan, King Manuel II of Portugal and King Alfonso XIII of Spain. (from Monarch)
Image 2King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia (from Monarch)
Image 3Emperor Naruhito is the hereditary monarch of Japan. The Japanese monarchy is the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy in the world. (from Hereditary monarchy)
Image 4The administrative divisions of the British Protectorate of Uganda, including five of today's six kingdoms (from Non-sovereign monarchy)
Image 5Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (from Absolute monarchy)
Image 6Kamehameha IV, King of Hawaii (from Monarch)
Image 7Sri Lankan King Devanampiya Tissa, Queen consort Anula, and Prince Uththiya, c. 307 BC (from Monarch)
Image 8Photograph of Tsar Alexander II, 1878–81 (from Absolute monarchy)
Image 9The islands that make up Wallis and Futuna (from Non-sovereign monarchy)
Image 10Subdivisions of the United Arab Emirates (from Non-sovereign monarchy)
Image 11A map of Europe exhibiting the continent's monarchies (red) and republics (blue) (from Monarch)
Image 12Contemporary European monarchies by type of succession
  Absolute primogeniture
  Male-preference cognatic primogeniture
  Agnatic primogeniture
  Elective/appointed
(from Monarch)
Image 13Sultan Mehmed III of the Ottoman dynasty (from Monarch)
Image 14The constituent states of the German Empire (a federal monarchy). Various states were formally suzerain to the emperor, whose government retained authority over some policy areas throughout the federation, and was concurrently King of Prussia, the empire's largest state. (from Non-sovereign monarchy)
Image 15Jacques I, Emperor of Haiti, 1804 (from Monarch)
Image 16Ramesses II (r. 1279–1213 BC), the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt (from Monarch)
Image 17British India and the princely states within the Indian Empire. The princely states (in yellow) were sovereign territories of Indian princes who were practically suzerain to the Emperor of India, who was concurrently the British monarch, whose territories were called British India (in pink) and occupied a vast portion of the empire. (from Non-sovereign monarchy)
Image 18The Nine Sovereigns at Windsor for the funeral of King Edward VII, photographed on 20 May 1910. Standing, from left to right: King Haakon VII of Norway, Tsar (King) Ferdinand of the Bulgarians, King Manuel II of Portugal and the Algarve, Kaiser (Emperor) Wilhelm II of Germany, King George I of the Hellenes and King Albert I of the Belgians. Seated, from left to right: King Alfonso XIII of Spain, King George V of the United Kingdom and King Frederik VIII of Denmark. (from Monarch)
Image 19Waikato, the homeland of the Māori kings (from Non-sovereign monarchy)
Image 20Francisco Pizarro meets with the Inca emperor Atahualpa, 1532 (from Monarch)
Image 21From left to right, Japanese emperor Hirohito, crown prince Akihito, crown princess Michiko and empress Nagako, 1959 (from Monarch)
Image 22Mohamoud Ali Shire, the 26th Sultan of the Somali Warsangali Sultanate (from Monarch)
Image 23King Frederick II of Prussia, "the Great" (from Absolute monarchy)
Image 24Louis XIV of France (from Absolute monarchy)
Image 25Elizabeth II was the monarch of independent countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. (from Monarch)
Image 26alt=Portrait of Pope Leo XIV (from Absolute monarchy)
Image 27Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil, by Delfim da Câmara (from Monarch)
Image 28Dinzulu kaCetshwayo, the last king of an independent Zulu state, in 1883 (from Non-sovereign monarchy)

edit

Featured content

Extended content

This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged or categorized (e.g. Category:Royalty work group articles) correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options.