Portal:Monarchy

The Monarchy Portal The Weld-Blundell Prism is inscribed with the Sumerian King List The heraldic crown for the King of Norway (1905 pattern) A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutional monarchy), to fully autocratic (absolute monarchy), and can span across executive, legislative, and judicial domains. The succession of monarchs has mostly been hereditary, often building dynasties. However, elective and self-proclaimed monarchies have also often occurred throughout history. Aristocrats, though not inherent to monarchies, often serve 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. 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. Monarchies were the most common form of government until the 20th century, by which time republics had replaced many monarchies. Today 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 the monarch, exercising limited or no political power, similar to heads of state in a parliamentary republic. (Full article...) Featured articles - Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia. Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Spencer and then Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986) was an American socialite and wife of former king Edward VIII. Their intention to marry and her status as a divorcée caused a constitutional crisis that led to Edward's abdication. Wallis grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. Her father died shortly after her birth, and she and her widowed mother were partly supported by their wealthier relatives. Her first marriage, to United States Navy officer Win Spencer, was punctuated by periods of separation and eventually ended in divorce. In 1931, during her second marriage, to Ernest Simpson, she met Edward, then Prince of Wales. Five years later, after Edward's accession as King of the United Kingdom, Wallis divorced Ernest to marry Edward. (Full article...) Satellite image of northern Britain and Ireland showing the approximate area of Dál Riata (shaded) Áedán mac Gabráin (Old Irish pronunciation: [ˈaiðaːn mak ˈɡaβraːnʲ]; Irish: Aodhán mac Gabhráin), also written as Aedan, was a king of Dál Riata from c. 574 until c. 609 AD. The kingdom of Dál Riata was situated in modern Argyll and Bute, Scotland, and parts of County Antrim, Ireland. Genealogies record that Áedán was a son of Gabrán mac Domangairt. He was a contemporary of Saint Columba, and much that is recorded of his life and career comes from hagiography such as Adomnán of Iona's Life of Saint Columba. Áedán appears as a character in Old Irish and Middle Irish language works of prose and verse, some now lost. (Full article...) The remains of King Richard III as discovered in situ at the site of Grey Friars Priory, Leicester The remains of Richard III, the last English king killed in battle and last king of the House of York, were discovered within the site of the former Grey Friars Priory in Leicester, England, in September 2012. Following extensive anthropological and genetic testing, the remains were reinterred at Leicester Cathedral on 26 March 2015. Richard III, the final ruler of the Plantagenet dynasty, was killed on 22 August 1485 in the Battle of Bosworth Field, the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses. His body was taken to Greyfriars, Leicester, where it was buried in a crude grave in the friary church. Following the friary's dissolution in 1538 and subsequent demolition, Richard's tomb was lost. An erroneous account arose that Richard's bones had been thrown into the River Soar at the nearby Bow Bridge. (Full article...) Head of a gneiss statue of Sahure in the gallery 103 of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. Sahure (also Sahura, meaning "He who is close to Re") was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the second ruler of the Fifth Dynasty (c. 2465 – c. 2325 BC). He reigned for about 13 years in the early 25th century BC during the Old Kingdom Period. Sahure's reign marks the political and cultural high point of the Fifth Dynasty. He was probably the son of his predecessor Userkaf with Queen Neferhetepes II, and was in turn succeeded by his son Neferirkare Kakai. During Sahure's rule, Egypt had important trade relations with the Levantine coast. Sahure launched several naval expeditions to modern-day Lebanon to procure cedar trees, slaves and exotic items. His reign may have witnessed the flourishing of the Egyptian navy, which included a high-seas fleet as well as specialized racing boats. Relying on this, Sahure ordered the earliest attested expedition to the land of Punt, which brought back large quantities of myrrh, malachite and electrum. Sahure is shown celebrating the success of this venture in a relief from his mortuary temple which shows him tending a myrrh tree in the garden of his palace named "Sahure's splendor soars up to heaven". This relief is the only one in Egyptian art depicting a king gardening. Sahure sent further expeditions to the turquoise and copper mines in Sinai. He also ordered military campaigns against Libyan chieftains in the Western Desert, bringing back livestock to Egypt. (Full article...) Statue of Menkauhor wearing the dress of the Sed festival from Memphis Menkauhor Kaiu (also known as Ikauhor and in Greek as Mencherês, Μεγχερῆς) was an Ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Old Kingdom period. He was the seventh ruler of the Fifth Dynasty at the end of the 25th century BC or early in the 24th century BC (circa 2399–2390 BC). Menkauhor ruled for possibly eight or nine years, following king Nyuserre Ini, and was succeeded in turn by Djedkare Isesi. Although Menkauhor is well attested by historical sources, few artefacts from his reign have survived. Consequently, his familial relation to his predecessor and successor is unclear, and no offspring of his have been identified. Khentkaus III may have been Menkauhor's mother, as indicated by evidence discovered in her tomb in 2015. (Full article...) Dinar minted in Yusuf I's name Abu al-Hajjaj Yusuf ibn Ismail (Arabic: أبو الحجاج يوسف بن إسماعيل; 29 June 1318 – 19 October 1354), known by the regnal name al-Muayyad billah (المؤيد بالله, "He who is aided by God"), was the seventh Nasrid ruler of the Emirate of Granada on the Iberian Peninsula. The third son of Ismail I (r. 1314–1322), he was Sultan between 1333 and 1354, after his brother Muhammad IV (r. 1325–1333) was assassinated. Coming to the throne at age fifteen, he was initially treated as a minor and given only limited power by his ministers and his grandmother Fatima. In February 1334, his representatives secured a four-year peace treaty with Granada's neighbours Castile and the Marinid Sultanate. Aragon joined in the treaty in May. After gaining more control of the government, in 1338 or 1340 he expelled the Banu Abi al-Ula family, who had masterminded the murder of his brother and had been the leaders of the Volunteers of the Faith—North African soldiers who fought for Granada. After the treaty expired, he allied himself with Abu al-Hasan Ali (r. 1331–1348) of the Marinids against Alfonso XI of Castile (r. 1312–1350). After winning a major naval victory in April 1340, the Marinid–Granadan alliance was decisively defeated on 30 October in the disastrous Battle of Río Salado. In its aftermath, Yusuf was unable to prevent Castile from taking several Granadan castles and towns, including Alcalá de Benzaide, Locubín, Priego and Benamejí. In 1342–1344, Alfonso XI besieged the strategic port of Algeciras. Yusuf led his troops in diversionary raids into Castilian territory, and later engaged the besieging army, but the city fell in March 1344. A ten-year peace treaty with Castile followed. (Full article...) Gustave Doré's portrait of Baron Munchausen Baron Munchausen (/ˈmʌntʃaʊzən, ˈmʊntʃ-/; German: [ˈmʏnçˌhaʊzn̩]) is a fictional German nobleman created by the German writer Rudolf Erich Raspe in his 1785 book Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia. The character is loosely based on baron Hieronymus Karl Friedrich, Freiherr von Münchhausen. Born in Bodenwerder, Hanover, the real-life Münchhausen fought for the Russian Empire during the Russo-Turkish War of 1735–1739. After retiring in 1760, he became a minor celebrity within German aristocratic circles for telling outrageous tall tales based on his military career. After hearing some of Münchhausen's stories, Raspe adapted them anonymously into literary form, first in German as ephemeral magazine pieces and then in English as the 1785 book, which was first published in Oxford by a bookseller named Smith. The book was soon translated into other European languages, including a German version expanded by the poet Gottfried August Bürger. The real-life Münchhausen was deeply upset at the development of a fictional character bearing his name, and threatened legal proceedings against the book's publisher. Perhaps fearing a libel suit, Raspe never acknowledged his authorship of the work, which was only established posthumously. (Full article...) A Serbian Orthodox icon of Prince Jovan Vladimir, who was recognized as a saint shortly after his death Jovan Vladimir or John Vladimir (Serbian Cyrillic: Јован Владимир; c. 990 – 22 May 1016) was the ruler of Duklja, the most powerful Serbian principality of the time, from around 1000 to 1016. He ruled during the protracted war between the Byzantine Empire and the Bulgarian Empire. Vladimir was acknowledged as a pious, just, and peaceful ruler. He is recognized as a martyr and saint, with his feast day being celebrated on 22 May. Jovan Vladimir had a close relationship with Byzantium but this did not save Duklja from the expansionist Tsar Samuel of Bulgaria, who conquered the principality around 1010 and took Vladimir prisoner. A medieval chronicle asserts that Samuel's daughter, Theodora Kosara, fell in love with Vladimir and begged her father for his hand. The tsar allowed the marriage and returned Duklja to Vladimir, who ruled as his vassal. Vladimir took no part in his father-in-law's war efforts. The warfare culminated with Tsar Samuel's defeat by the Byzantines in 1014 and death soon after. In 1016, Vladimir fell victim to a plot by Ivan Vladislav, the last ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire. He was beheaded in front of a church in Prespa, the empire's capital, and was buried there. He was soon recognized as a martyr and saint. His widow, Kosara, reburied him in the Prečista Krajinska Church, near his court in southeastern Duklja. In 1381, his remains were preserved in the Church of St Jovan Vladimir near Elbasan, and since 1995 they have been kept in the Orthodox cathedral of Tirana, Albania. The saint's remains are considered Christian relics, and attract many believers, especially on his feast day, when the relics are taken to the church near Elbasan for a celebration. (Full article...) Edgar in the early fourteenth-century Genealogical Roll of the Kings of England Edgar (or Eadgar; c. 944  – 8 July 975) was King of the English from 959 until his death. He became king of all England on his brother's death. He was the younger son of King Edmund I and his first wife Ælfgifu. A detailed account of Edgar's reign is not possible, because only a few events were recorded by chroniclers and monastic writers were more interested in recording the activities of the leaders of the church. Edgar mainly followed the political policies of his predecessors, but there were major changes in the religious sphere. The English Benedictine Reform, which he strongly supported, became a dominant religious and social force. It is seen by historians as a major achievement, and it was accompanied by a literary and artistic flowering, mainly associated with Æthelwold, Bishop of Winchester. Monasteries aggressively acquired estates from lay landowners with Edgar's assistance, leading to disorder when he died and former owners sought to recover their lost property, sometimes by force. Edgar's major administrative reform was the introduction of a standardised coinage in the early 970s to replace the previous decentralised system. He also issued legislative codes which mainly concentrated on improving procedures for enforcement of the law. (Full article...) Scarab seal inscribed with "the son of Ra, Sheshi, given life" Maaibre Sheshi (also Sheshy) was a ruler of areas of Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period. The dynasty, chronological position, duration and extent of his reign are uncertain and subject to ongoing debate. The difficulty of identification is mirrored by problems in determining events from the end of the Middle Kingdom to the arrival of the Hyksos in Egypt. Nonetheless, Sheshi is, in terms of the number of artifacts attributed to him, the best-attested king of the period spanning the end of the Middle Kingdom and the Second Intermediate period; roughly from c. 1800 BC until 1550 BC. Hundreds of scaraboid seals bearing his name have been found throughout the Levant, Egypt, Nubia, and as far away as Carthage, where some were still in use 1,500 years after his death. Three competing hypotheses have been put forth for the dynasty to which Sheshi belonged. The first hypothesis is supported by Egyptologists such as Nicolas Grimal, William C. Hayes, and Donald B. Redford, who believe that he should be identified with Salitis, founder of the 15th Dynasty according to historical sources and king of the Hyksos during their invasion of Egypt. Salitis is credited with 19 years of reign and would have lived sometime between c. 1720 BC and 1650 BC. The second hypothesis is supported by Egyptologist William Ayres Ward and the archaeologist Daphna Ben-Tor, who propose that Sheshi was a Hyksos king and belongs to the second half of the 15th Dynasty, reigning between Khyan and Apophis. Alternatively, Manfred Bietak has proposed that Sheshi was a vassal of the Hyksos, ruling over some part of Egypt or Canaan. The very existence of such vassals is debated. The final hypothesis says Sheshi could be a ruler of the early 14th Dynasty, a line of kings of Canaanite descent ruling over of the Eastern Nile Delta immediately before the arrival of the Hyksos. Proponents of this theory, such as Kim Ryholt and Darrell Baker, credit Sheshi with 40 years of reign starting ca. 1745 BC. (Full article...) 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...) Marble head found at Pergamon dated to the 3rd century BC, currently at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin; hypothesized to be depicting Attalus I. Attalus I (Ancient Greek: Ἄτταλος 'Attalos'), surnamed Soter (Greek: Σωτήρ, 'Savior'; 269–197 BC), was the ruler of the Ionian Greek polis of Pergamon (modern-day Bergama, Turkey) and the larger Pergamene Kingdom from 241 BC to 197 BC. He was the adopted son of King Eumenes I, whom he succeeded, and was the first of the Attalid dynasty to assume the title of king, sometime around 240 to 235 BC. He was the son of Attalus and his wife Antiochis. Attalus won an important victory, the Battle of the Caecus River, over the Galatians, a group of migratory Celtic tribes from Thrace, who had been plundering and exacting tribute throughout most of Asia Minor for more than a generation. The victory was celebrated with a triumphal monument at Pergamon (The Dying Gaul) and Attalus taking the surname "Soter" and the title of king. He participated in the first and second Macedonian Wars against Philip V of Macedon as a loyal ally of the Roman Republic, although Pergamene participation was ultimately rather minor in these wars. He conducted numerous naval operations throughout the Aegean, gained the island of Aegina for Pergamon during the first war and Andros during the second, twice narrowly escaping capture at the hands of Philip V. During his reign, Pergamon also repeatedly struggled with the neighboring Seleucid Empire to the east, resulting in both successes and setbacks. (Full article...) Edmund in the late thirteenth-century Genealogical Chronicle of the English Kings Edmund I or Eadmund I (920/921 – 26 May 946) was King of the English from 27 October 939 until his death. He was the elder son of King Edward the Elder and his third wife, Queen Eadgifu, and a grandson of King Alfred the Great. After Edward died in 924, he was succeeded by his eldest son, Edmund's half-brother Æthelstan. Edmund was crowned after Æthelstan died childless in 939. He had two sons, Eadwig and Edgar, by his first wife Ælfgifu, and none by his second wife Æthelflæd. His sons were young children when he was killed in a brawl with an outlaw at Pucklechurch in Gloucestershire, and he was succeeded by his younger brother Eadred, who died in 955 and was followed by Edmund's sons in succession. Æthelstan had succeeded as the king of England south of the Humber and he became the first king of all England when he conquered Viking-ruled York in 927, but after his death Anlaf Guthfrithson was accepted as King of York and extended Viking rule to the Five Boroughs of north-east Mercia. Edmund was initially forced to accept the reverse, the first major setback for the West Saxon dynasty since Alfred's reign, but he was able to recover his position following Anlaf's death in 941. In 942 Edmund took back control of the Five Boroughs and in 944 he regained control over the whole of England when he expelled the Viking kings of York. Eadred had to deal with further revolts when he became king, and York was not finally conquered until 954. Æthelstan had achieved a dominant position over other British kings and Edmund maintained this, perhaps apart from Scotland. The north Welsh king Idwal Foel may have allied with the Vikings as he was killed by the English in 942. The British kingdom of Strathclyde may also have sided with the Vikings as Edmund ravaged it in 945 and then ceded it to Malcolm I of Scotland. Edmund also continued his brother's friendly relations with Continental rulers, several of whom were married to his half-sisters. (Full article...) Portrait by William Scrots, c. 1550 Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his third wife, Jane Seymour, Edward was the first English monarch to be raised as a Protestant. During his reign, the realm was governed by a regency council because Edward never reached maturity. The council was first led by his uncle Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset (1547–1549), and then by John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland (1550–1553). Edward's reign was marked by economic problems and social unrest that in 1549 erupted into riot and rebellion. An expensive war with Scotland, at first successful, ended with military withdrawal from Scotland and Boulogne-sur-Mer in exchange for peace. The transformation of the Church of England into a recognisably Protestant body also occurred under Edward, who took great interest in religious matters. His father, Henry VIII, had severed the link between the English Church and Rome, but continued to uphold most Catholic doctrine and ceremony. It was during Edward's reign that Protestantism was established for the first time in England with reforms that included the abolition of clerical celibacy and the Mass, and the imposition of compulsory English in church services. (Full article...) Photograph by Mathew Brady, c. 1876 Dom Pedro II (2 December 1825 – 5 December 1891), nicknamed the Magnanimous (Portuguese: O Magnânimo), was the second and last monarch of the Empire of Brazil, reigning for over 58 years. Pedro II was born in Rio de Janeiro, the seventh child of Emperor Dom Pedro I of Brazil and Empress Dona Maria Leopoldina and thus a member of the Brazilian branch of the House of Braganza (Portuguese: Bragança). His father's abrupt abdication and departure to Europe in 1831 left the five-year-old as emperor and led to a lonely childhood and adolescence, obliged to spend his time studying in preparation for rule. His experiences with court intrigues and political disputes during this period greatly affected his later character; he grew into a man with a strong sense of duty and devotion toward his country and his people, yet increasingly resentful of his role as monarch. (Full article...) Featured picture Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China. The fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, his reign officially began 11 October 1735, lasting for 60 years. Named Hongli, he chose the era name Qianlong, meaning "heavenly prosperity". Although his early years saw the continuation of an era of prosperity and great military success in China, his final years saw troubles at home and abroad converge on the Qing Empire. Qianlong abdicated the throne at the age of 85, to his son, the Jiaqing Emperor, fulfilling his promise not to reign longer than his grandfather, the Kangxi Emperor. Did you know (auto-generated) No recent additions More Did you know... ... that future King Henry IV of England and Marshal of France Jean Le Maingre took part in the Lithuanian Civil War? ... that African slave Abu al-Misk Kafur’s rise to power in 946 as the ruler of Egypt and southern Syria is one of the first examples in Islamic history of a sovereign with the lowliest of origins? ... that Luan Da of the Han Dynasty was granted 2,000 households to rule over due to his practice of mediumship? Good articles - These are Good articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards. Likelike in 1885; photograph by James J. Williams Likelike (Hawaiian pronunciation: [likeːlikeː]; Miriam Likelike Kekāuluohi Keahelapalapa Kapili; January 13, 1851 – February 2, 1887) was a princess of the Hawaiian Kingdom and member of the reigning House of Kalākaua. She was born in Honolulu, on the island of Oʻahu. Likelike's parents were Analea Keohokālole and Caesar Kapaʻakea, and the family were members of the aliʻi class of the Hawaiian nobility. Before the age of six, she was raised on the island of Hawaii for her health. Likelike later returned to Honolulu, where she was educated by Roman Catholic and Congregationalist teachers in the city's girls' schools. She married Scottish businessman Archibald Scott Cleghorn in 1870 and was the mother of Princess Kaʻiulani, the last heir to the throne before the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Likelike was the first mistress of the ʻĀinahau estate, which became associated with her daughter. She was Governor of the island of Hawaii from 1879 to 1880 and was in the line of succession to the throne after her sister, Liliʻuokalani. Likelike died under mysterious circumstances in 1887, with rumors that she was malevolently "prayed" to death. She and her siblings are recognized by the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame as Na Lani ʻEhā (The Heavenly Four) for their patronage and enrichment of Hawaii's musical culture and history. (Full article...) A silver dirham of Nasr ibn Salih, minted in Aleppo in 1033/34 Abu Kamil Nasr ibn Salih ibn Mirdas (Arabic: نصر بن صالح بن مرداس, romanized: Abū Kāmil Naṣr ibn Ṣāliḥ ibn Mirdās) (died 22 May 1038), also known by his laqab (honorific epithet) of Shibl al-Dawla ('Lion cub of the Dynasty'), was the second Mirdasid emir of Aleppo, ruling between May 1029 until his death. He was the eldest son of Salih ibn Mirdas, founder of the Mirdasid dynasty. Nasr fought alongside his father in the Battle of al-Uqhuwana near Tiberias in 1029, where Salih was killed by a Fatimid army led by Anushtakin al-Dizbari. Afterward, Nasr ruled the emirate jointly with his brother Thimal. The young emirs soon after faced a large-scale Byzantine offensive led by Emperor Romanos III. Commanding a much smaller force of Bedouin horsemen, Nasr routed the Byzantines at the Battle of Azaz in 1030. After his victory, Nasr ousted Thimal from Aleppo and entered into Byzantine vassalage, while maintaining ties with the Fatimids. He nominally recognized Fatimid suzerainty in 1037 and was concurrently given control of Hims, which the Mirdasids had lost to the Fatimids several years prior. Anushtakin, who had become governor of Syria, objected to Nasr's acquisition of Hims. In 1038, his forces marched against Nasr and killed him in a battle in the environs of Hama. Nasr was succeeded by Thimal, but Aleppo fell to Anushtakin weeks later. Mirdasid rule was restored in 1042 and continued with some interruptions until 1080. (Full article...) The House of Lancaster was a cadet branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. The first house was created when King Henry III of England created the Earldom of Lancaster—from which the house was named—for his second son Edmund Crouchback in 1267. Edmund had already been created Earl of Leicester in 1265 and was granted the lands and privileges of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, after de Montfort's death and attainder at the end of the Second Barons' War. When Edmund's son Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, inherited his father-in-law's estates and title of Earl of Lincoln he became at a stroke the most powerful nobleman in England, with lands throughout the kingdom and the ability to raise vast private armies to wield power at national and local levels. This brought him—and Henry, his younger brother—into conflict with their cousin King Edward II, leading to Thomas's execution. Henry inherited Thomas's titles and he and his son, who was also called Henry, gave loyal service to Edward's son King Edward III. The second house of Lancaster was descended from John of Gaunt, who married the heiress of the first house, Blanche of Lancaster. Edward III married all his sons to wealthy English heiresses rather than following his predecessors' practice of finding continental political marriages for royal princes. Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, had no male heir so Edward married his son John to Henry's heiress daughter and John's third cousin Blanche of Lancaster. This gave John the vast wealth of the House of Lancaster. Their son Henry usurped the throne in 1399, creating one of the factions in the Wars of the Roses. There was an intermittent dynastic struggle between the descendants of Edward III. In these wars, the term Lancastrian became a reference to members of the family and their supporters. The family provided England with three kings: Henry IV (r. 1399–1413), Henry V (r. 1413–1422), and Henry VI (r. 1422–1461 and 1470–1471). (Full article...) Lead seal of John Komnenos as kouropalates and Domestic of the Schools John Komnenos (Greek: Ἰωάννης Κομνηνός, Iōannēs Komnēnos; c. 1015 – 12 July 1067) was a Byzantine aristocrat and military leader. The younger brother of Emperor Isaac I Komnenos, he served as Domestic of the Schools during Isaac's brief reign (1057–59). When Isaac I abdicated, Constantine X Doukas became emperor and John withdrew from public life until his death in 1067. Through his son Alexios I Komnenos, who became emperor in 1081, he was the progenitor of the Komnenian dynasty that ruled the Byzantine Empire from 1081 until 1185, and the Empire of Trebizond from 1204 until 1461. (Full article...) Gold tetarteron of Isaac I Komnenos, showing the Emperor wielding a globus cruciger and holding a sheathed sword Isaac I Komnenos or Comnenus (Greek: Ἰσαάκιος Κομνη­νός, Isaakios Komnēnos; c. 1007 – 1 June 1060) was Byzantine emperor from 1057 to 1059, the first reigning member of the Komnenian dynasty. The son of the general Manuel Erotikos Komnenos, he was orphaned at an early age, and was raised under the care of Emperor Basil II. He made his name as a successful military commander, serving as commander-in-chief of the eastern armies between c. 1042 and 1054. In 1057 he became the head of a conspiracy of the dissatisfied eastern generals against the newly crowned Michael VI Bringas. Proclaimed emperor by his followers on 8 June 1057, he rallied sufficient military forces to defeat the loyalist army at the Battle of Hades. While Isaac was willing to accept a compromise solution by being appointed Michael's heir, a powerful faction in Constantinople, led by the ambitious Patriarch of Constantinople, Michael Keroularios, pressured Michael to abdicate. After Michael abdicated on 30 August 1057, Isaac was crowned emperor in the Hagia Sophia on 1 September. (Full article...) Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson's name as it appears on folio 47r of British Library Cotton Julius A VII (the Chronicle of Mann): "Reginaldus Olavi filius". Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson (died 30 May 1249) was a mid-thirteenth-century King of Mann and the Isles who was assassinated after a reign of less than a month. As a son of Óláfr Guðrøðarson, King of Mann and the Isles, Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson was a member of the Crovan dynasty. When his father died in 1237, the kingship was assumed by Haraldr Óláfsson. The latter was lost at sea late in 1248, and the following year Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson succeeded him as king. Only weeks after gaining the kingship, Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson was slain by a knight named Ívarr and his accomplices. The kingship was then seized by Haraldr Guðrøðarson, Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson's first cousin once removed, suggesting that the killers and the new king had colluded together. The assassination, therefore, appears to have been a continuation of the vicious family feud that had engulfed the Crovan dynasty since the late twelfth century, when Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson's father and Haraldr Guðrøðarson's grandfather first contested the kingship of the Isles. (Full article...) Nikephoros III Botaneiates (Greek: Νικηφόρος Βοτανειάτης, 1002–1081), Latinized as Nicephorus III Botaniates, was Byzantine Emperor from 7 January 1078 to 1 April 1081. He was born in 1002, and became a general during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX Monomachos, serving in the Pecheneg revolt of 1048–1053. His actions in guiding his forces away from the Pechenegs following the Battle of Zygos Pass, in which they suffered eleven days of harassment before finally reaching the Byzantine city of Adrianople, attracted the attention of fellow officers, and he received the title of magistros as a reward. Nikephoros served in the revolt of Isaac I Komnenos against the Byzantine Emperor Michael VI Bringas, leading forces at the decisive Battle of Petroe. Under the Emperor Constantine X Doukas he was made doux of Thessalonica. He later served as doux of Antioch. While doux of Antioch, he repelled numerous incursions from the Emirate of Aleppo. When Constantine X died in 1067, his wife, Empress Eudokia Makrembolitissa, considered taking Nikephoros as husband and emperor but instead chose Romanos IV Diogenes. The need for an immediate successor was made pressing by the constant Seljuk raids into Byzantine Anatolia, and Eudokia, Patriarch John VIII of Constantinople, and the Byzantine Senate agreed that their top priority was the defense of the empire and that they needed an emperor to lead troops to repel the Turks. Nikephoros was the favorite candidate of the senate, but was in the field leading troops in Antioch and was still married. Romanos, once chosen to be emperor, exiled Nikephoros to his holdings in the Anatolic Theme, where he remained until he was brought out of retirement by the Emperor Michael VII and made kouropalates and governor of the Anatolic Theme. Nikephoros came into conflict with Michael in 1078 when he pleaded with the emperor to address the worsening situation in Byzantine Anatolia, insulting Michael with his frankness. In order to protect himself, Nikephoros gathered an army of native troops and Turkish mercenaries and declared himself emperor in July or October 1077. Nikephoros gathered a strong support base due to his military acumen and family renown and was later recognized by the Byzantine Senate on 7 January 1078, after which he seized the throne with the help of the citizens of Constantinople. As emperor, Nikephoros faced numerous revolts, including those of Nikephoros Bryennios, Nikephoros Basilakes, and Constantine Doukas, as well as an attempted assassination by the Varangian Guard. Nikephoros embraced the trappings of an emperor, performing many acts to increase his legitimacy and support, such as spending large amounts on donatives for the army and his supporters, forgiving all debt in arrears, and instituting minor legal reforms. Diplomatically, Nikephoros secured the submission of Theodore Gabras and Philaretos Brachamios, governors of Trebizond and Antioch, respectively, who had become de facto independent of the Byzantine Empire due to the constant incursions of the Seljuks into Byzantine Anatolia. (Full article...) Echmarcach's name as it appears on folio 17r of Oxford Bodleian Library Rawlinson B 488 (the Annals of Tigernach): "Eachmarcach". Echmarcach mac Ragnaill (died 1064/1065) was a dominant figure in the eleventh-century Irish Sea region. At his height, he reigned as king over Dublin, the Isles, and perhaps the Rhinns of Galloway. The precise identity of Echmarcach's father, Ragnall, is uncertain. One possibility is that this man was one of two eleventh-century rulers of Waterford. Another possibility is that Echmarcach's father was an early eleventh-century ruler of the Isles. If any of these identifications are correct, Echmarcach may have been a member of the Uí Ímair kindred. Echmarcach first appears on record in about 1031, when he was one of three kings in northern Britain who submitted to Knútr Sveinnsson, ruler of the Anglo-Scandinavian Empire. Echmarcach is recorded to have ruled over Dublin in 1036–1038 and 1046–1052. After losing Dublin for the final time, he appears to have been seated in the Isles on Mann. In 1061, about a decade after his final defeat in Dublin, Echmarcach appears to have been expelled from the Isles, and may have then fallen back into Galloway. (Full article...) The reverse side of the Uruk King List (IM 65066). The first line on this side of the tablet is the fragmentary line which references Nidin-Bel. Nidin-Bel (Babylonian cuneiform: Nidin-Bêl) might have been a rebel king of Babylon who in the autumn of 336 BC and/or the winter of 336–335 BC attempted to restore Babylonia as an independent kingdom and end the rule of the Persian Achaemenid Empire in the region. The only known surviving reference which points to there being a ruler by this name in Babylon is the Uruk King List, which records rulers of Babylon from the 7th to 3rd centuries BC. In this list, the rule of Darius III (r. 336–330 BC), the last Achaemenid king, is immediately preceded by a fragmentary reference to Nidin-Bel. (Full article...) Tiglath-Pileser III (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: [] Error: {{Lang}}: no text (help) Tukultī-apil-Ešarra, meaning "my trust belongs to the son of Ešarra"; Biblical Hebrew: תִּגְלַת פִּלְאֶסֶר‎ Tīglaṯ Pīlʾeser) was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 745 BC to his death in 727. One of the most prominent and historically significant Assyrian kings, Tiglath-Pileser ended a period of Assyrian stagnation, introduced numerous political and military reforms and more than doubled the lands under Assyrian control. Because of the massive expansion and centralization of Assyrian territory and establishment of a standing army, some researchers consider Tiglath-Pileser's reign to mark the true transition of Assyria into an empire. The reforms and methods of control introduced under Tiglath-Pileser laid the groundwork for policies enacted not only by later Assyrian kings but also by later empires for millennia after his death. (Full article...) (Vipsania) Agrippina the Elder (also, in Latin, Agrippina Germanici, "Germanicus's Agrippina"; c. 14 BC – AD 33) was a prominent member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (a close supporter of the first Roman emperor, Augustus) and Augustus' daughter, Julia the Elder. Her brothers Lucius and Gaius Caesar were the adoptive sons of Augustus, and were his heirs until their deaths in AD 2 and 4, respectively. Following their deaths, her second cousin Germanicus was made the adoptive son of Tiberius, Augustus' stepson, as part of the succession scheme in the adoptions of AD 4 (in which Tiberius was adopted by Augustus). As a result of the adoption, Agrippina was wed to Germanicus in order to bring him closer to the Julian family. Agrippina the Elder is known to have traveled with Germanicus throughout his career, taking her children wherever they went. In AD 14, Germanicus was deployed in Gaul as a governor and general, and, while there, the late Augustus sent her son Gaius to stay with her. Agrippina liked to dress him in a little soldiers' outfit for which Gaius earned the nickname "Caligula" ("little soldier's boots"). After three years in Gaul, they returned to Rome, and her husband was awarded a triumph on 26 May AD 17 to commemorate his victories. The following year, Germanicus was sent to govern over the eastern provinces. While Germanicus was active in his administration, the governor of Syria Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso began feuding with him. During the feud, her husband died of illness on 10 October AD 19. (Full article...) Silver dirham minted c. 1366–1367 in Hınıs. Ala al-Din Ali (January 1353 – August 1380) was the third Sultan of the Eretnids ruling from 1366 until his death. He inherited the throne at a very early age and was removed from administrative matters. He was characterized as particularly keen on personal pleasures, which later discredited his authority. During his rule, emirs under the Eretnids enjoyed considerable autonomy, and the state continued to shrink as neighboring powers captured several towns. The capital, Kayseri, temporarily came under Karamanid control. Kadi Burhan al-Din rose to power as the new vizier and dispatched Ali to lead several campaigns, most of which were unsuccessful. Ali died of the plague in Kazova in an expedition to subdue Shadgeldi, the emir of Amasya. (Full article...) Æthelwold, also known as Æthelwald or Æþelwald (Old English: Æþelwald "noble ruler"; reigned c. 654 – 664), was a 7th-century king of East Anglia, the long-lived Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. He was a member of the Wuffingas dynasty, which ruled East Anglia from their regio (centre of royal authority) at Rendlesham. The two Anglo-Saxon cemeteries at Sutton Hoo, the monastery at Iken, the East Anglian see at Dommoc and the emerging port of Ipswich were all in the vicinity of Rendlesham. Æthelwold lived during a time of political and religious upheaval in East Anglia, whose Christian kings in the decades prior to his succession all died violent deaths, having proved unequal to the task of defending the newly converted kingdom against attacks from its neighbouring kingdom, Mercia, led by its pagan king, Penda. Æthelwold was the last of the nephews of Rædwald to rule East Anglia. He died in 664 and was succeeded by Ealdwulf, the son of his brother Æthelric. (Full article...) Hanpu (Chinese: 函普; pinyin: Hánpǔ), later Wanyan Hanpu (Chinese: 完顏函普), was a leader of the Jurchen Wanyan clan in the early tenth century. According to the ancestral story of the Wanyan clan, Hanpu came from Goryeo when he was sixty years old, reformed Jurchen customary law, and then married a sixty-year-old local woman who bore him three children. His descendants eventually united Jurchen tribes into a federation and established the Jin dynasty in 1115. Hanpu was retrospectively given the temple name Shizu (始祖) and the posthumous name Emperor Yixian Jingyuan (懿憲景元皇帝) by the Jin dynasty. Chinese historians have long debated whether Hanpu was of Silla, Goryeo, or Jurchen ethnicity. Since the 1980s, they have chiefly argued that he was a Jurchen who had lived in Silla, the state that had dominated the Korean peninsula until it was destroyed by Goryeo in 935. Western scholars usually treat Hanpu's story as a legend, but agree that it hints to contacts between some Jurchen clans and the states of Goryeo and Balhae (a state located between Jurchen lands and Silla until it was destroyed in 926) in the early tenth century. In Korea, a recent KBS history special treated Hanpu as a native Silla man who moved north and settled in Jurchen lands during the demise of Silla. (Full article...) Zeynab Begum (Persian: زینب بیگم; died 31 May 1640) was the fourth daughter of Safavid king (shah) Tahmasp I (r. 1524–1576), is considered to be one of the most influential and powerful princesses of the Safavid era. She lived during the reigns of five successive Safavid monarchs, and apart from holding diverse functions, including at the top of the empire's bureaucratic system, she was also the leading matriarch in the royal harem for many years, and acted on occasion as kingmaker. She reached the apex of her influence during the reign of King Safi (r. 1629–1642). In numerous contemporaneous sources, she was praised as a "mainstay of political moderation and wisdom in Safavid court politics". She was eventually removed from power by Safi in 1632. (Full article...) Featured portrait Mary of Teck Mary of Teck was the queen consort of King George V as well as the Empress of India. Before her accession, she was successively Duchess of York, Duchess of Cornwall and Princess of Wales. By birth, she was a princess of Teck, in the Kingdom of Württemberg, with the style Her Serene Highness. To her family, she was informally known as May, after her birth month. Queen Mary was known for setting the tone of the British Royal Family, as a model of regal formality and propriety, especially during state occasions. She was the first Queen Consort to attend the coronation of her successors. Noted for superbly bejewelling herself for formal events, Queen Mary left a collection of jewels now considered priceless. Selected quote Related portals General images - The following are images from various monarchy-related articles on Wikipedia. Waikato, the homeland of the Māori kings (from Non-sovereign monarchy) Louis XIV of France (from Absolute monarchy) British 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) Ramesses II (r. 1279–1213 BC), the third Pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt (from Monarch) Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil, by Delfim da Câmara (from Monarch) Jacques I, Emperor of Haiti, 1804 (from Monarch) A map of Europe exhibiting the continent's monarchies (red) and republics (blue) (from Monarch) Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (from Absolute monarchy) Sultan Mehmed III of the Ottoman dynasty (from Monarch) Dinzulu kaCetshwayo, the last king of an independent Zulu state, in 1883 (from Non-sovereign monarchy) King Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia (from Monarch) The islands that make up Wallis and Futuna (from Non-sovereign monarchy) The 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) Mohamoud Ali Shire, the 26th Sultan of the Somali Warsangali Sultanate (from Monarch) Francisco Pizarro meets with the Inca emperor Atahualpa, 1532 (from Monarch) Emperor Naruhito is the hereditary monarch of Japan. The Japanese monarchy is the oldest continuous hereditary monarchy in the world. (from Hereditary monarchy) The administrative divisions of the British Protectorate of Uganda, including five of today's six kingdoms (from Non-sovereign monarchy) Sri Lankan King Devanampiya Tissa, Queen consort Anula, and Prince Uththiya, c. 307 BC (from Monarch) Subdivisions of the United Arab Emirates (from Non-sovereign monarchy) Contemporary European monarchies by type of succession   Absolute primogeniture   Male-preference cognatic primogeniture   Agnatic primogeniture   Elective/appointed (from Monarch) King Frederick II of Prussia, "the Great" (from Absolute monarchy) The 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) Kamehameha IV, King of Hawaii (from Monarch) Elizabeth II was the monarch of independent countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania and the Americas. (from Monarch) Postcard 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, Tzar (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, Guangxu Emperor of China, Meiji Emperor of Japan, King Manuel II of Portugal and King Alfonso XIII of Spain. (from Monarch) From left to right, Japanese Emperor Hirohito, Crown Prince Akihito, Crown Princess Michiko and Empress Nagako, 1959 (from Monarch) Photograph of Tsar Alexander II, 1878–81 (from Absolute monarchy) Featured content Extended content Featured articles 1937 tour of Germany by the Duke and Duchess of Windsor Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan Al-Adid Áedán mac Gabráin Ælle of Sussex Æthelbald of Mercia Æthelbald, King of Wessex Æthelberht, King of Wessex Æthelberht of Kent Æthelflæd Æthelred I of Wessex Æthelred of Mercia Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians Æthelstan Æthelwold ætheling Æthelwulf, King of Wessex Afonso, Prince Imperial of Brazil Ahmose I Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Alboin Aldfrith of Northumbria Alexander II Zabinas Alexander of Greece Alexandra of Denmark Prince Alfred of Great Britain Princess Alice of Battenberg Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia Anna of East Anglia Anne, Queen of Great Britain Anne 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