Reign
Areignis the period of a person's ordynasty's occupation of the office ofmonarchof a nation (e.g.,Saudi Arabia,Belgium,Andorra), of a people (e.g.,the Franks,the Zulus) or of a spiritual community (e.g.,Catholicism,Tibetan Buddhism,Nizari Ismailism).[1]In most hereditary monarchies and some elective monarchies (e.g.,Holy Roman Empire) there have been no limits on the duration of a sovereign's reign orincumbency,nor is there aterm of office.Thus, a reign usually lasts until the monarch dies, unless the monarchy itself is abolished or the monarch abdicates or is deposed.
Inelective monarchies,there may be a fixed period of time for the duration of the monarch's tenure in office (e.g.,Malaysia).
The term of a reign can be indicated with the abbreviation "r." (forLatinrexit) after a sovereign's name,[2]such as the following:
Regnal periods
[edit]Notable[clarification needed]reigns have included the following.
- QueenVictoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of Indiareigned from 1837 to 1901.
- KingVictor Emmanuel III of Italyreigned from 1900 to 1946.
- KingBhumibol Adulyadejof Thailand reigned from 1946 to 2016.
- QueenElizabeth IIof the Commonwealth realms reigned from 1952 to 2022.
- Pope John XXIIIreigned from 1958 to 1963.
- EmperorAkihitoof Japan reigned from 1989 to 2019.
End of reign
[edit]A reign can be ended in several ways:
Abdication
[edit]- EmperorFerdinand I of Austria,King ofHungaryandBohemia,King ofLombardy-Venetia(r. 1835–1848) was abdicated due to his disabilities (feeble-mindednessandepilepsy). His successor, EmperorFranz Josef(r. 1848–1916) reigned for 68 years.
- KingEdward VIIIof England reigned from January to December 1936 before he abdicated the throne. After his abdication he became known as theDuke of Windsor.No other monarch of theKingdom of Great Britain(1707–1800), theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,or anyDominionorCommonwealth realmhas ever abdicated, though forced abdications did occur on rare occasions in theKingdom of Englandand theKingdom of Scotlandprior to their merger in 1707.
- QueenWilhelmina of the Netherlandsreigned from 1890 to 1948, before abdicating in favor of her daughter, QueenJulianawho then reigned until 1980 when she abdicated in favor of her daughter, QueenBeatrix of the Netherlands.Beatrix followed suit and abdicated in 2013 in favor of her son and heir apparent, KingWillem-Alexander.
Abolition of monarchy
[edit]- KingLouis XVI of Francereigned from the 1770s until the overthrow of the monarchy in 1792 and his execution the following year.
- Xuantong EmperorofChinaabdicated in 1912 following theXinhai Revolution,marking the end of theChinese monarchy.
- KingHumbert II of Italyreigned for only a few weeks in 1946 before the abolition of theItalianMonarchy.
- KingConstantine II of Greecereigned from 1964 until the abolition of the Greek monarchy in 1973.
- TsarNicholas II of Russiareigned from 1894 until 1917 when he was forced to abdicate and theRussian Empirewas overthrown during theRussian Revolution.
- EmperorHaile Selassie IofEthiopiareigned for over 40 years (1930-1974) until theDergforced him to abdicate and abolished the 3,000 year old monarchy, making him not only the 225th Emperor of Ethiopia but the final as well.
- ShahMohammad Reza PahlaviofIranreigned for more than 37 years (1941–1979) until theIranian Revolution,which superseded the 2,500 years of monarchy with anIslamic republicsystem of government. The Shah died the following year and is buried inCairo.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"reign - definition of reign in English | Oxford Dictionaries".Oxford Dictionaries | English.Archived fromthe originalon September 25, 2016.Retrieved2017-04-09.
- ^Robbins, John Fonseca (2015-08-31).Fonseca Robbins´Lexicon.Joinville:Clube de Autores.p. 238.