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Western Europe is the western region of Europe . The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean world, the Roman Empire (both Western and Eastern ), and medieval " Christendom ". Beginning with the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery , roughly from the 15th century, the concept of Europe as "the West " slowly became distinguished from and eventually replaced the dominant use of "Christendom" as the preferred endonym within the area. By the Age of Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution , the concepts of " Eastern Europe " and "Western Europe" were more regularly used. The distinctiveness of Western Europe became most apparent during the Cold War , when Europe was divided for 40 years by the Iron Curtain into the Western Bloc and Eastern Bloc , each characterised by distinct political and economical systems.

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92-501: (Redirected from Imperial Standard ) The imperial standard is the flag used by an emperor and sometimes the members of his family. Today only Japan has a monarch with the imperial title. Imperial Standard of Austria (1806–1918) Imperial Standard of Byzantium (c. 1350) Flags of the Empire of China (1862–1912) Imperial Standard of Germany (1871–1918) Imperial Standard of

184-430: A contemporary source. King Sancho III of Navarre conquered Leon in 1034 and began using it. His son, Ferdinand I of Castile also took the title in 1039. Ferdinand's son, Alfonso VI of León and Castile took the title in 1077. It then passed to his son-in-law, Alfonso I of Aragon in 1109. His stepson and Alfonso VI's grandson, Alfonso VII was the only one who actually had an imperial coronation in 1135. The title

276-478: A dynastic succession started when the title Empress of India was created for Queen Victoria . The government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli , conferred the additional title upon her by an Act of Parliament, reputedly to assuage the monarch's irritation at being, as a mere Queen, notionally inferior to the emperors of Russia, Germany, and Austria. That included her own daughter ( Princess Victoria , who

368-500: A kingdom or empire may determine precedence in international diplomatic relations, but currently, precedence among heads of state who are sovereigns—whether they be kings, queens, emperors, empresses, princes, princesses and presidents may be determined by the size and scope or time that each one has been continuously in office . Outside the European context, "emperor" was the translation given to holders of titles who were accorded

460-835: A mild, generally humid climate, influenced by the North Atlantic Current . Western Europe is a heatwave hotspot, exhibiting upward trends that are three-to-four times faster compared to the rest of the northern midlatitudes. Western European languages mostly fall within two Indo-European language families: the Romance languages , descended from the Latin of the Roman Empire ; and the Germanic languages , whose ancestor language ( Proto-Germanic ) came from southern Scandinavia . Romance languages are spoken primarily in

552-530: A very high and in some cases increasing measure of control from Moscow. Although some countries were officially neutral , they were classified according to the nature of their political and economic systems. This division largely defines the popular perception and understanding of Western Europe and its borders with Eastern Europe . The world changed dramatically with the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989. West Germany peacefully absorbed East Germany , in

644-735: Is a multilingual thesaurus maintained by the Publications Office of the European Union . In this thesaurus, the countries of Europe are grouped into sub-regions. The following countries are included in the sub-group Western Europe: The Western European and Others Group is one of several unofficial Regional Groups in the United Nations that act as voting blocs and negotiation forums. Regional voting blocs were formed in 1961 to encourage voting to various UN bodies from different regional groups. The European members of

736-418: Is a strict definition of emperor, it is that an emperor has no relations implying the superiority of any other ruler and typically rules over more than one nation. Therefore, a king might be obliged to pay tribute to another ruler, or be restrained in his actions in some unequal fashion, but an emperor should in theory be completely free of such restraints. However, monarchs heading empires have not always used

828-566: Is known as the Dominate (284 AD – 527 AD), during which Emperor Diocletian tried to put the empire on a more formal footing. Diocletian sought to address the challenges of the Empire's now vast geography and the instability caused by the informality of succession by the creation of co-emperors and junior emperors. At one point, there were as many as five sharers of the imperium (see: Tetrarchy ). In 325 AD Constantine I defeated his rivals and restored single emperor rule, but following his death

920-758: Is the largest religion in Western Europe. According to a 2018 study by the Pew Research Center , 71.0% of Western Europeans identified as Christians. In 1054, the East–West Schism divided Christianity into Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity . This split Europe in two, with Western Europe primarily under the Catholic Church , and Eastern Europe primarily under the Eastern Orthodox Church . Ever since

1012-694: The Athenian Empire of the late 5th century BC, the Angevin Empire of the Plantagenets and the Soviet and American "empires" of the Cold War era. However, such "empires" did not need to be headed by an "emperor". "Empire" became identified instead with vast territorial holdings rather than the title of its ruler by the mid-18th century. For purposes of protocol, the size and scope of

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1104-676: The Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe . Warsaw , Berlin , Prague , Vienna , Budapest , Belgrade , Bucharest and Sofia ; all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to

1196-569: The Byzantine Empire after Byzantium , the original name of the town that Constantine I would elevate to the Imperial capital as New Rome in AD 330. (The city is more commonly called Constantinople and is today named Istanbul ). Although the empire was again subdivided and a co-emperor sent to Italy at the end of the fourth century, the office became unitary again only 95 years later at

1288-684: The Despotate of Epirus . In 1248, Epirus recognized the Nicaean emperors, who subsequently recaptured Constantinople in 1261. The Trapezuntine emperor formally submitted in Constantinople in 1281, but frequently flouted convention by styling themselves emperor back in Trebizond thereafter. Byzantium 's close cultural and political interaction with its Balkan neighbors Bulgaria and Serbia , and with Russia (Kievan Rus', then Muscovy) led to

1380-591: The Eastern Roman Empire or (after the Battle of Yarmouk in 636 AD) the Later Roman or Byzantine Empire . The subdivisions and co-emperor system were formally abolished by Emperor Zeno in 480 AD following the death of Julius Nepos last Western Emperor and the ascension of Odoacer as the de facto King of Italy in 476 AD. Historians generally refer to the continuing Roman Empire in the east as

1472-674: The German Empire with the proclamation of the Prussian king Wilhelm I as German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles , to the humiliation of the French, who ceased to resist only days later. After his death he was succeeded by his son Frederick III who was only emperor for 99 days. In the same year his son Wilhelm II became the third emperor within a year. He was

1564-880: The German reunification . Comecon and the Warsaw Pact were dissolved, and in 1991, the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Several countries which had been part of the Soviet Union regained full independence. In 1948 the Treaty of Brussels was signed between Belgium , France , Luxembourg , the Netherlands and the United Kingdom . It was further revisited in 1954 at the Paris Conference , when

1656-607: The Habsburg Archdukes of Austria and, following the Thirty Years' War , their control over the states (outside the Habsburg monarchy , i.e. Austria , Bohemia and various territories outside the empire) had become nearly non-existent. However, Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned Emperor of the French in 1804 and was shortly followed by Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor , who declared himself Emperor of Austria in

1748-584: The Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen (Hungary) were given self-government in 1867, the non-Hungarian portions were called the Empire of Austria. They were officially known as the "Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council ( Reichsrat )". The title of Emperor of Austria and the associated Empire were both abolished at the end World War I in 1918, when German Austria became a republic and

1840-582: The Latin Empire of Constantinople , installing Baldwin IX , Count of Flanders , as Emperor. However, Byzantine resistance to the new empire meant that it was in constant struggle to establish itself. Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos succeeded in recapturing Constantinople in 1261. The Principality of Achaea , a vassal state the empire had created in Morea (Greece) intermittently continued to recognize

1932-639: The Middle Ages , considered in those times equal or almost equal in dignity to that of Pope due to the latter's position as visible head of the Church and spiritual leader of the Catholic part of Western Europe . The emperor of Japan is the only currently reigning monarch whose title is translated into English as "Emperor". Both emperors and kings are monarchs or sovereigns, both emperor and empress are considered monarchical titles. In as much as there

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2024-734: The Ottoman Empire in 1908, its monarch, who was previously styled Knyaz , Prince , took the traditional title of Tsar , this time translated as King . Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha is the former Tsar Simeon II of Bulgaria. The kings of the Ancien Régime and the July Monarchy used the title Empereur de France in diplomatic correspondence and treaties with the Ottoman emperor from at least 1673 onwards. The Ottomans insisted on this elevated style while refusing to recognize

2116-695: The Patriarch of Constantinople and Imperial regent Nicholas Mystikos outside the Byzantine capital. In its final expanded form, under the Second Bulgarian Empire the title read "Emperor and Autocrat of all Bulgarians and Greeks" (Цар и самодържец на всички българи и гърци, Car i samodăržec na vsički bălgari i gărci in the modern vernacular). The Roman component in the Bulgarian imperial title indicated both rule over Greek speakers and

2208-769: The Reformation in the 16th century, Protestantism has also been a major denomination in Europe, with Eastern Protestant and Eastern Catholic denominations also emerging in Central and Eastern Europe . During the four decades of the Cold War , the definition of East and West was simplified by the existence of the Eastern Bloc . A number of historians and social scientists view the Cold War definition of Western and Eastern Europe as outdated or relegating. During

2300-524: The Roman conquest, a large part of Western Europe had adopted the newly developed La Tène culture . As the Roman domain expanded, a cultural and linguistic division appeared between the mainly Greek -speaking eastern provinces, which had formed the highly urbanised Hellenistic civilisation , and the western territories, which in contrast largely adopted the Latin language. This cultural and linguistic division

2392-765: The Second Mexican Empire (headed by his choice of Maximilian I of Mexico , a member of the House of Habsburg ), to regain France's hold in the Americas and to achieve greatness for the 'Latin' race. Napoleon III was deposed on 4 September 1870, after France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War . The Third Republic followed and after the death of his son Napoleon (IV), in 1879 during the Zulu War,

2484-514: The Soviet Union . With the onset of the Cold War, Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain . This term had been used during World War II by German Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and, later, Count Lutz Schwerin von Krosigk in the last days of the war; however, its use was hugely popularised by Winston Churchill, who used it in his famous "Sinews of Peace" address on 5 March 1946 at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri : From Stettin in

2576-597: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland , is according to English law an Empire ruled by a King endowed with the imperial dignity. However, this has not led to the creation of the title of Emperor in England, nor in Great Britain , nor in the United Kingdom. In 1801, George III rejected the title of Emperor when offered. The only period when British monarchs held the title of Emperor in

2668-740: The Western European Union was established. It was declared defunct in 2011 after the Treaty of Lisbon , and the Treaty of Brussels was terminated. When the Western European Union was dissolved, it had 10 member countries. Additionally, it had 6 associate member countries, 7 associate partner countries and 5 observer countries. The United Nations geoscheme is a system devised by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) which divides

2760-650: The " Far West ". The term Far West became synonymous with Western Europe in China during the Ming dynasty . The Italian Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci was one of the first writers in China to use the Far West as an Asian counterpart to the European concept of the Far East . In Ricci's writings, Ricci referred to himself as "Matteo of the Far West". The term was still in use in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Christianity

2852-756: The Bonapartist movement split, and the Third Republic was to last until 1940. The role of head of the House of Bonaparte is claimed by Jean-Christophe Napoléon and Charles Napoléon . The origin of the title Imperator totius Hispaniae ( Latin for Emperor of All Spain ) is murky. It was associated with the Leonese monarchy perhaps as far back as Alfonso the Great ( r. 866–910). The last two kings of its Astur-Leonese dynasty were called emperors in

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2944-400: The Byzantine Empire. This idea was represented more emphatically in the composition the monk Filofej addressed to their son Vasili III . In 1480, after ending Muscovy's dependence on its overlords of the Great Horde , Ivan III began the usage of the titles Tsar and Autocrat ( samoderzhets ). His insistence on recognition as such by the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire since 1489 resulted in

3036-457: The Byzantine imperial title evolved from simply "emperor" ( basileus ) to "emperor of the Romans" ( basileus tōn Rōmaiōn ) in the 9th century, to "emperor and autocrat of the Romans" ( basileus kai autokratōr tōn Rōmaiōn ) in the 10th. In fact, none of these (and other) additional epithets and titles had ever been completely discarded. One important distinction between the post Constantine I (reigned AD 306–337) emperors and their pagan predecessors

3128-452: The CIA classification a little more liberally and including "South-Western Europe", would give the following calculation of Western Europe's population. The Hague is the seat of government The climate of Western Europe varies from Mediterranean in the coasts of Italy , Portugal and Spain to alpine in the Pyrenees and the Alps . The Mediterranean climate of the south is dry and warm. The western and northwestern parts have

3220-440: The Eastern Orthodox Church, by the Muslim Ottoman Empire in the 15th century, and the gradual fragmentation of the Holy Roman Empire (which had replaced the Carolingian Empire ), the division between Roman Catholic and Protestant became more important in Europe than that with Eastern Orthodoxy. In East Asia , Western Europe was historically known as taixi in China and taisei in Japan, which literally translates as

3312-410: The Eastern Roman Empire, mostly known as the Greek or Byzantine Empire , survived and even thrived for another 1000 years. The rise of the Carolingian Empire in the west, and in particular the Great Schism between Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism , enhanced the cultural and religious distinctiveness between Eastern and Western Europe. After the conquest of the Byzantine Empire , center of

3404-458: The French ( Empereur des Français ) on 18 May 1804, thus creating the French Empire ( Empire Français ). Napoleon relinquished the title of Emperor of the French on 6 April and again on 11 April 1814. Napoleon's infant son, Napoleon II , was recognized by the Council of Peers, as Emperor from the moment of his father's abdication, and therefore reigned (as opposed to ruled) as Emperor for fifteen days, 22 June to 7 July 1815. Since 3 May 1814,

3496-500: The Holy Roman Empire (12th Century-1806) Imperial Standards of Iran (1926–1979) Imperial Standard of Japan Imperial Standard of the Ottoman Empire (Late 19th Century-1923) Imperial Standard of Russia (19th Century-1917) See also [ edit ] Imperial units  – standards for weights and measures in the British Empire Presidential standard Royal standard List of royal standards [REDACTED] Index of articles associated with

3588-411: The Holy Roman emperors or the Russian tsars because of their rival claims of the Roman crown . In short, it was an indirect insult by the Ottomans to the HRE and the Russians. The French kings also used it for Morocco (1682) and Persia (1715). Napoleon Bonaparte , who was already First Consul of the French Republic ( Premier Consul de la République française ) for life, declared himself Emperor of

3680-705: The Russian emperors are better known by their Russian-language title of Tsar even after Peter the Great adopted the title of Emperor of All Russia in 1721. Historians have liberally used "emperor" and "empire" anachronistically and out of its Roman and European context to describe any large state from the past or the present. Some titles are considered equivalent to "emperor" or are translated as "emperor". Examples of that are Roman emperors' titles, King of Kings , Khalifa , Huangdi , Cakravartin , Great Khan , Aztec monarchs' title, Inca monarchs' title, etc. Sometimes this reference has even extended to non-monarchically ruled states and their spheres of influence, such as

3772-501: The Sovereign Principality of Elba was created as a miniature non-hereditary monarchy under the exiled French Emperor Napoleon I. According to the Treaty of Fontainebleau (1814) , Napoleon I was allowed to enjoy the imperial title for life. The islands were not restyled an empire. On 26 February 1815, Napoleon abandoned Elba for France, reviving the French Empire for a Hundred Days ; the Allies declared an end to Napoleon's sovereignty over Elba on 25 March 1815, and on 31 March 1815 Elba

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3864-408: The act of accession to the head of state . Other honorifics used by the Roman emperors have also come to be synonyms for Emperor: After the turbulent Year of the Four Emperors in 69, the Flavian dynasty reigned for three decades. The succeeding Nervan-Antonian dynasty , ruling for most of the 2nd century, stabilised the empire. This epoch became known as the era of the Five Good Emperors , and

3956-409: The adoption of Byzantine imperial traditions in all of these countries. The Emperor of the Romans' title was a reflection of the translatio imperii ( transfer of rule ) principle that regarded the Holy Roman emperors as the inheritors of the title of Emperor of the Western Roman Empire , despite the continued existence of the Roman Empire in the east, hence the problem of two emperors . From

4048-413: The authority of the Roman emperors , thus linking themselves to Roman institutions and traditions as part of state ideology. Although initially ruling much of Central Europe and northern Italy, by the 19th century, the emperor exercised little power beyond the German-speaking states. Although technically an elective title, by the late 16th century, the imperial title had in practice come to be inherited by

4140-408: The authority of the crusader emperors for another half century. Pretenders to the title continued among the European nobility until circa 1383. With Constantinople occupied, claimants to the imperial succession styled themselves as emperor in the chief centers of resistance: The Laskarid dynasty in the Empire of Nicaea , the Komnenid dynasty in the Empire of Trebizond and the Doukid dynasty in

4232-406: The complex of Habsburg lands as a whole) had been part of the Archduchy of Austria since the 15th century, and most of the other territories of the Empire had their own institutions and territorial history. There were some attempts at centralization, especially during the reign of Maria Theresa and her son Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor . These efforts were finalized in the early 19th century. When

4324-508: The countries of the world into regional and subregional groups, based on the M49 coding classification . The partition is for statistical convenience and does not imply any assumption regarding political or other affiliation of countries or territories. In the UN geoscheme, the following countries are classified as Western Europe: The CIA classifies seven countries as belonging to "Western Europe": The CIA also classifies three countries as belonging to "Southwestern Europe": EuroVoc

4416-439: The derivation of the imperial tradition from the Romans, however this component was never recognised by the Byzantine court. Byzantine recognition of Simeon's imperial title was revoked by the succeeding Byzantine government. The decade 914–924 was spent in destructive warfare between Byzantium and Bulgaria over this and other matters of conflict. The Bulgarian monarch, who had further irritated his Byzantine counterpart by claiming

4508-443: The emperor as a semi-republican official to the emperor as an absolute monarch . Of particular note was the translation of the Latin Imperator into the Greek Basileus , after Emperor Heraclius changed the official language of the empire from Latin to Greek in AD 620. Basileus, a title which had long been used for Alexander the Great was already in common usage as the Greek word for the Roman emperor, but its definition and sense

4600-436: The empire was divided among his sons. For a time the concept was of one empire ruled by multiple emperors with varying territory under their control, however following the death of Theodosius I the rule was divided between his two sons and increasingly became separate entities. The areas administered from Rome are referred to by historians the Western Roman Empire and those under the immediate authority of Constantinople called

4692-448: The end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 (except in the years 1742 to 1745) only members of the House of Habsburg were Holy Roman emperors. Karl von Habsburg is currently the head of the House of Habsburg. The first Austrian Emperor was the last Holy Roman Emperor, Franz II . In the face of aggressions by Napoleon , Francis feared for the future of the Holy Roman Empire . He wished to maintain his and his family's Imperial status in

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4784-544: The event that the Holy Roman Empire should be dissolved, as it indeed was in 1806 when an Austrian-led army suffered a humiliating defeat at the Battle of Austerlitz . After which, the victorious Napoleon proceeded to dismantle the old Reich by severing a good portion from the empire and turning it into a separate Confederation of the Rhine . With the size of his imperial realm significantly reduced, Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor became Francis I, Emperor of Austria . The new imperial title may have sounded less prestigious than

4876-405: The fall of the Byzantine Empire, the legitimate heir to the throne, Andreas Palaiologos , willed away his claim to Ferdinand and Isabella in 1503. After the independence and proclamation of the Empire of Brazil from the Kingdom of Portugal by Prince Pedro , who became Emperor, in 1822, his father, King John VI of Portugal briefly held the honorific style of Titular Emperor of Brazil and

4968-430: The final stages of World War II , the future of Europe was decided between the Allies in the 1945 Yalta Conference , between the British Prime Minister , Winston Churchill , the U.S. President , Franklin D. Roosevelt , and the Premier of the Soviet Union , Joseph Stalin . Post-war Europe was divided into two major spheres: the Western Bloc , influenced by the United States , and the Eastern Bloc , influenced by

5060-421: The first Roman emperor , established his hegemony by collecting on himself offices, titles, and honours of Republican Rome that had traditionally been distributed to different people, concentrating what had been distributed power in one man. One of these offices was princeps senatus , ("first man of the Senate") and became changed into Augustus' chief honorific, princeps civitatis ("first citizen") from which

5152-477: The granting of this recognition in 1514 by Emperor Maximilian I to Vasili III. His son Ivan IV emphatically crowned himself Tsar of Russia on 16 January 1547. The word "Tsar" derives from Latin Caesar , but this title was used in Russia as equivalent to "King"; the error occurred when medieval Russian clerics referred to the biblical Jewish kings with the same title that was used to designate Roman and Byzantine rulers — "Caesar". Western Europe Prior to

5244-402: The group are: In addition, Australia , Canada , Israel and New Zealand are members of the group, with the United States as observer. Using the CIA classification strictly would give the following calculation of Western Europe's population. All figures based on the projections for 2018 by the Population Division of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs . Using

5336-411: The last German emperor. After the empire's defeat in World War I the empire, called the German Reich , had a president as head of state instead of an emperor. The use of the word Reich was abandoned following World War II . In 1472, the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, Sophia Palaiologina , married Ivan III , grand prince of Moscow, who began championing the idea of Russia being the successor to

5428-426: The male ruler of an empire . Empress , the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort ), mother/grandmother ( empress dowager / grand empress dowager ), or a woman who rules in her own right and name ( empress regnant or suo jure ). Emperors are generally recognized to be of the highest monarchic honour and rank , surpassing kings . In Europe , the title of Emperor has been used since

5520-480: The meantime, the Bulgarian imperial title may have been also tacitly confirmed by the pope , as claimed in later Bulgarian diplomatic correspondence. The Bulgarian imperial title "tsar" was adopted by all Bulgarian monarchs up to the fall of Bulgaria under Ottoman rule. Despite the attempt of Pope Innocent III to limit the Bulgarian monarch to the title of King ( Rex ), Kaloyan of Bulgaria considered himself an Emperor ( Imperator ) and his successor Boril of Bulgaria

5612-429: The modern English word and title prince is descended. The first period of the Roman Empire , from 27 BC to AD 284, is called the principate for this reason. However, it was the informal descriptive of Imperator ("commander") that became the title increasingly favored by his successors. Previously bestowed on high officials and military commanders who had imperium , Augustus reserved it exclusively to himself as

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5704-439: The old one, but Francis' dynasty continued to rule from Austria and a Habsburg monarch was still an emperor ( Kaiser ), and not just merely a king ( König ), in name. According to the historian Friedrich Heer, the Austrian Habsburg emperor remained an "auctoritas" of a special kind. He was "the grandson of the Caesars", he remained the patron of the Holy Church . The title lasted just a little over one century until 1918, but it

5796-476: The other kingdoms and lands represented in the Imperial Council established their independence or adhesion to other states. The Kaisers of the Austrian Empire (1804–1918) were Franz I (1804–1835), Ferdinand I (1835–1848), Franz Joseph I (1848–1916) and Karl I (1916–1918). The current head of the House of Habsburg is Karl von Habsburg . In 913, Simeon I of Bulgaria was crowned Emperor ( Tsar , originally more fully Tsesar, cěsar' ) of his own people by

5888-408: The protection of regional and minority languages are recognised political goals in Western Europe today. The Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the Council of Europe's European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages set up a legal framework for language rights in Europe. Western Europe is one of the richest regions of the world. Germany has

5980-399: The request of the Roman Senate and following the death of Julius Nepos , last Western Emperor. This change was a recognition of the reality that little remained of Imperial authority in the areas that had been the Western Empire, with even Rome and Italy itself now ruled by the essentially autonomous Odoacer . These Later Roman "Byzantine" emperors completed the transition from the idea of

6072-487: The rival German states to achieve his aim of a conservative, Prussian-dominated Germany. Three wars led to military successes and helped to convince German people to do this: the Second war of Schleswig against Denmark in 1864, the Austro-Prussian War against Austria in 1866, and the Franco-Prussian War against the Second French Empire in 1870–71. During the Siege of Paris in 1871, the North German Confederation , supported by its allies from southern Germany , formed

6164-467: The rule of Henry VIII the Statute in Restraint of Appeals declared that 'this realm of England is an Empire...governed by one Supreme Head and King having the dignity and royal estate of the imperial Crown of the same'. This was in the context of the divorce of Catherine of Aragon and the English Reformation , to emphasize that England had never accepted the quasi-imperial claims of the papacy. Hence England and, by extension its modern successor state,

6256-678: The same name This set index article includes a list of related items that share the same name (or similar names). If an internal link incorrectly led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Imperial_standard&oldid=1192415644 " Categories : Set index articles Standards (flags) Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description with empty Wikidata description All set index articles Emperor The word emperor (from Latin : imperator , via Old French : empereor ) can mean

6348-413: The same precedence as European emperors in diplomatic terms. In reciprocity, these rulers might accredit equal titles in their native languages to their European peers. Through centuries of international convention, this has become the dominant rule to identifying an emperor in the modern era. When Republican Rome turned into a de facto monarchy in the second half of the 1st century BC, at first there

6440-422: The same year. The position of Holy Roman Emperor nonetheless continued until Francis II abdicated that position in 1806. In Eastern Europe , the monarchs of Russia also used translatio imperii to wield imperial authority as successors to the Eastern Roman Empire . Their status was officially recognized by the Holy Roman Emperor in 1514, although not officially used by the Russian monarchs until 1547. However,

6532-430: The southern and central part of Western Europe, Germanic languages in the northern part (the British Isles and the Low Countries ), as well as a large part of Northern and Central Europe . Other Western European languages include the Celtic group (that is, Irish , Scottish Gaelic , Manx , Welsh , Cornish and Breton ) and Basque , the only currently living European language isolate . Multilingualism and

6624-580: The time of Otto the Great onward, much of the former Carolingian kingdom of Eastern Francia became the Holy Roman Empire . The prince-electors elected one of their peers as King of the Romans and King of Italy before being crowned by the Pope . The emperor could also pursue the election of his heir (usually a son) as King, who would then succeed him after his death. This junior king then bore

6716-644: The title " Emperor of India " by the British monarch , but this was not executed by King George VI until a royal proclamation on 22 June 1948. Despite this, George VI continued as king of India until 1950 and as king of Pakistan until his death in 1952. The last Empress of India was George VI's wife, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother . Under the guise of idealism giving way to realism, German nationalism rapidly shifted from its liberal and democratic character in 1848 to Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarck 's authoritarian Realpolitik . Bismarck wanted to unify

6808-634: The title "Emperor of the Romans" ( basileus tōn Rōmaiōn ), was eventually recognized, as "Emperor of the Bulgarians" ( basileus tōn Boulgarōn ) by the Byzantine Emperor Romanos I Lakapenos in 924. Byzantine recognition of the imperial dignity of the Bulgarian monarch and the patriarchal dignity of the Bulgarian patriarch was again confirmed at the conclusion of permanent peace and a Bulgarian-Byzantine dynastic marriage in 927. In

6900-534: The title in all contexts—the British sovereign did not assume the title Empress of the British Empire even during the incorporation of India , though she was declared Empress of India . In Western Europe , the title of Emperor was used exclusively by the Holy Roman Emperor , whose imperial authority was derived from the concept of translatio imperii , i.e., they claimed succession to

6992-430: The title of King of the Romans. Although technically already ruling, after the election he would be crowned as emperor by the pope. The last emperor to be crowned by the pope was Charles V ; all emperors after him were technically emperors-elect , but were universally referred to as emperor . The Holy Roman emperor was considered the first among those in power. He was also the first defender of Christianity. From 1452 to

7084-479: The title. Napoleon I's nephew, Napoleon III , resurrected the title of emperor on 2 December 1852, after establishing the Second French Empire in a presidential coup , subsequently approved by a plebiscite. His reign was marked by large scale public works, the development of social policy, and the extension of France's influence throughout the world. During his reign, he also set about creating

7176-543: The treatment of His Imperial and Royal Majesty under the 1825 Treaty of Rio de Janeiro , by which Portugal recognized the independence of Brazil. The style of Titular Emperor was a life title, and became extinct upon the holder's demise. John VI held the imperial title for a few months only, from the ratification of the Treaty in November 1825 until his death in March 1826. During those months, however, as John's imperial title

7268-405: The ultimate holder of all imperium . ( Imperium is Latin for the authority to command, one of a various types of authority delineated in Roman political thought.) Beginning with Augustus, Imperator appeared in the title of all Roman monarchs through the extinction of the Empire in 1453. After the reign of Augustus' immediate successor Tiberius , being proclaimed imperator was transformed into

7360-714: The west with the rise of Roman Catholicism . The Byzantine Empire also produced three women who effectively governed the state: the Empress Irene and the Empresses Zoe and Theodora . In 1204 Constantinople fell to the Venetians and the Franks in the Fourth Crusade . Following the tragedy of the horrific sacking of the city, the conquerors declared a new "Empire of Romania", known to historians as

7452-429: Was cesaropapism , the assertion that the emperor (or other head of state) is also the head of the Church. Although this principle was held by all emperors after Constantine, it met with increasing resistance and ultimately rejection by bishops in the west after the effective end of Imperial power there. This concept became a key element of the meaning of "emperor" in the Byzantine and Orthodox east, but went out of favor in

7544-665: Was "King" in Greek, essentially equivalent with the Latin Rex . Byzantine period emperors also used the Greek word "autokrator", meaning "one who rules himself", or "monarch", which was traditionally used by Greek writers to translate the Latin dictator . Essentially, the Greek language did not incorporate the nuances of the Ancient Roman concepts that distinguished imperium from other forms of political power. In general usage,

7636-536: Was ceded to the restored Grand Duchy of Tuscany by the Congress of Vienna. After his final defeat, Napoleon was treated as a general by the British authorities during his second exile to Atlantic Isle of St. Helena . His title was a matter of dispute with the governor of St Helena, who insisted on addressing him as "General Bonaparte", despite the "historical reality that he had been an emperor" and therefore retained

7728-491: Was eventually reinforced by the later political east–west division of the Roman Empire . The Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire controlled the two divergent regions between the 3rd and the 5th centuries. The division between these two was enhanced during late antiquity and the Middle Ages by a number of events. The Western Roman Empire collapsed , starting the Early Middle Ages . By contrast,

7820-646: Was followed by the short-lived Severan dynasty . During the Crisis of the 3rd century , barracks emperors succeeded one another at short intervals. Three short lived secessionist attempts had their own emperors: the Gallic Empire , the Britannic Empire , and the Palmyrene Empire though the latter used rex more regularly. The Principate (27 BC – 284 AD) period was succeeded by what

7912-592: Was never clear what territory constituted the " Empire of Austria ". When Francis took the title in 1804, the Habsburg lands as a whole were dubbed the Kaisertum Österreich . Kaisertum might literally be translated as "emperordom" (on analogy with "kingdom") or "emperor-ship"; the term denotes specifically "the territory ruled by an emperor", and is thus somewhat more general than Reich , which in 1804 carried connotations of universal rule. Austria proper (as opposed to

8004-490: Was no consistent title for the king of England before 1066, and monarchs chose to style themselves as they pleased. Imperial titles were used inconsistently, beginning with Athelstan in 930 and ended with the Norman conquest of England . Empress Matilda (1102–1167) is the only English monarch commonly referred to as "emperor" or "empress", but she acquired her title through her marriage to Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor . During

8096-541: Was no name for the title of the new type of monarch. Ancient Romans abhorred the name Rex ("king") , and it was critical to the political order to maintain the forms and pretenses of republican rule. Julius Caesar had been Dictator , an acknowledged and traditional office in Republican Rome. Caesar was not the first to hold it, but following his assassination the term was abhorred in Rome. Augustus , considered

8188-692: Was not exactly hereditary but self-proclaimed by those who had, wholly or partially, united the Christian northern part of the Iberian Peninsula , often at the expense of killing rival siblings. The popes and Holy Roman emperors protested at the usage of the imperial title as a usurpation of leadership in western Christendom. After Alfonso VII's death in 1157, the title was abandoned, and the kings who used it are not commonly mentioned as having been "emperors", in Spanish or other historiography. After

8280-732: Was purely honorific while his son, Pedro I, remained the sole monarch of the Brazilian Empire. Duarte Pio is the current head of the House of Braganza . In the late 3rd century, by the end of the epoch of the barracks emperors in Rome, there were two Britannic emperors , reigning for about a decade. After the end of Roman rule in Britain , the Imperator Cunedda forged the Kingdom of Gwynedd in northern Wales, but all his successors were titled kings and princes. There

8372-531: Was specifically accused of improperly using the imperial title by his neighbor, the Latin Emperor Henry of Flanders . Nevertheless, the Bulgarian imperial title was recognized by its neighbors and trading partners, including Byzantium, Hungary, Serbia, Venice, Genoa, Dubrovnik. 14th-century Bulgarian literary compositions saw the Bulgarian capital ( Tarnovo ) as a successor of Rome and Constantinople . After Bulgaria obtained full independence from

8464-402: Was the wife of the reigning German Emperor ). Hence, "Queen Victoria felt handicapped in the battle of protocol by not being an Empress herself". The Indian Imperial designation was also formally justified as the expression of Britain succeeding the former Mughal Emperor as suzerain over hundreds of princely states . The Indian Independence Act 1947 provided for the abolition of the use of

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