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124-439: In elective 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." (for Latin rexit ) after a sovereign's name, such as the following: Notable reigns have included the following. A reign can be ended in several ways: Elective monarchy Philosophers Works An elective monarchy

248-575: A supermajority for election. The Regency of Algiers (from the seventeenth century to the nineteenth century) was an elective monarchy, whose dey was elected, depending on the period, by the Divan of Algiers or by the Taïfa of the raïs (Assembly of the corsairs). The elected deys also bore the title of governor-sultan of Algiers or sultan of Algiers. In Africa, the Mali Empire functioned as both

372-625: A European acting on their behalf. He later proclaimed himself as the King of Araucanía and Patagonia . Anglo-Saxon England Anglo-Saxon England or Early Medieval England covers the period from the end of Roman Britain in the 5th century until the Norman Conquest in 1066. It consisted of various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms until 927, when it was united as the Kingdom of England by King Æthelstan (r. 927–939). It became part of

496-716: A King at their discretion, despite having already elected Ferdinand II as king, and bestowed the Bohemian Crown on Frederick V, Elector Palatine – "The Winter King". However, the Habsburgs regarded this as an act of rebellion, re-imposed their rule over Bohemia in the Battle of the White Mountain and in the aftermath abolished the Bohemian Elective Monarchy and made exclusive Habsburg rule

620-643: A church; so in 597 Augustine built the church and founded the See at Canterbury. Æthelberht was baptised by 601, and he then continued with his mission to convert the English. Most of the north and east of England had already been evangelised by the Irish church. However, Sussex and the Isle of Wight remained mainly pagan until the arrival of Saint Wilfrid , the exiled Archbishop of York , who converted Sussex around 681 and

744-454: A conference of tribal and village elders in 57 BC. Unified Silla 's kings were elected by the aristocracy whose powers were on par with the king. In the kingdom of Goguryeo, the ruler was originally chosen from among the heads of the five tribes, most often the Sono tribe. There were several occasions that the Kingdom of Siam and Thailand turned to a semi-elective monarchy system to settle

868-551: A constitutional and elective monarchy. The mansa , or emperor, had to be approved by the Great Assembly known as the Gbara , despite hereditary claims. The Kingdom of Kongo was a purer example of an elective monarchy, where blood claims had even less influence. Nobles elected a king's successor, and it was common for the successor to be of a different family than his predecessor. This form of elective monarchy existed in

992-457: A democratically elected monarch was needed in Spain. The debates regarding Isabella's succession took place until October 1869, when Amadeo I was finally chosen. Nevertheless, his reign lasted until 11 October 1873, when he abdicated citing his inability to solve the problems Spain was going through, after which the parliament proclaimed a republic . Portugal's monarchy contained the remnants of

1116-770: A different king than Denmark and Norway upon succession. The election was usually contested through a Danish invasion of Sweden until Christian II of Denmark after his reconquest of Sweden had many of those voting against him executed in the Stockholm Bloodbath (1520), which ended much of the support for the Danish king on the Swedish throne. In 1810, the Swedish Riksdag elected the French Marshall and Prince of Pontecorvo Jean Bernadotte to be

1240-554: A field in Wola , today a district in Warsaw . Since in Poland, all sons of a noble were nobles, and not only the eldest, every one of an estimated 500,000 nobles could potentially have participated in such elections in person – by far the most extensive franchise of any European country at the time. During the election period, the function of the king was performed by an interrex (usually in

1364-576: A non-binding referendum was held, in which William Charles Lunalilo won; he was subsequently elected king by the legislature in 1873. King Kalākaua was elected by the legislature in 1874, after Lunalilo's death. However, when Kalākaua died in 1891, the crown demised to the collateral line of his sister, Queen Liliʻuokalani . Prior to 1864, the Hawaiian King-in-Council appointed the heir to the Hawaiian throne. The Tlatoanimeh of

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1488-625: A pertaining territory. Since medieval times, the King of Bohemia was elected by the Estates of Lands of the Bohemian Crown . Since 1526, when Ferdinand I assumed the Bohemian Crown, it was always held by the Habsburg branch who later became Holy Roman Emperor and who expected this situation to go on indefinitely. In 1618 the Bohemians chose to exercise in practice their legal right to choose

1612-536: A safe haven, and they provided a safe place for the king's moneyers and mints. A new wave of Danish invasions commenced in 891, beginning a war that lasted over three years. Alfred's new system of defence worked, however, and ultimately it wore the Danes down: they gave up and dispersed in mid-896. Alfred is remembered as a literate king. He or his court commissioned the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , which

1736-680: A time of great prosperity followed. But, despite the lull, the Anglo-Saxons took control of Sussex, Kent, East Anglia and part of Yorkshire; while the West Saxons founded a kingdom in Hampshire under the leadership of Cerdic , around 520. However, it was to be 50 years before the Anglo-Saxons began further major advances. In the intervening years the Britons exhausted themselves with civil war, internal disputes, and general unrest, which

1860-414: Is a monarchy ruled by a monarch who is elected , in contrast to a hereditary monarchy in which the office is automatically passed down as a family inheritance. The manner of election, the nature of candidate qualifications, and the electors vary from case to case. Historically, it was common for elective monarchies to transform into hereditary ones (whether legally or de facto ) by repeated election of

1984-548: Is often used for Scandinavian culture in England. Edgar died in 975, sixteen years after gaining the throne, while still only in his early thirties. Some magnates supported the succession of his younger son, Æthelred , but his elder half-brother, Edward was elected, aged about twelve. His reign was marked by disorder, and three years later, in 978, he was assassinated by some of his half-brother's retainers. Æthelred succeeded, and although he reigned for thirty-eight years, one of

2108-490: Is perhaps the best-known example of an elective monarchy. However, from 1440 to 1740, a Habsburg was always elected emperor , the throne becoming unofficially hereditary. During that period, the emperor was elected from within the House of Habsburg by a small council of nobles called prince-electors . The secular electoral seats were hereditary. However, spiritual electors (and other prince-(arch)bishops) were usually elected by

2232-403: Is to be believed, the various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms which eventually merged to become England were founded when small fleets of three or five ships of invaders arrived at various points around the coast of England to fight the sub-Roman British, and conquered their lands. The language of the migrants, Old English , came over the next few centuries to predominate throughout what is now England , at

2356-555: The simite . Sabhā was a sort of rural council. In India they are referred to as Samiti and Sabha . The Parthian Empire (248 BC–224 AD), also known as the Arsacid Empire, is considered to be the oldest elective monarchy in Asia. The King of Kings has been required to undergo an assembly of the nobles called Mahestān , as a vote of approval before being allowed to ascend to the imperial throne or to be removed from

2480-400: The 1575/1576 Polish–Lithuanian royal election as the most significant for several reasons. First, 'the citizens of the commonwealth were forced to de facto depose their first elected king  – thus applying the right of disobedience they had inscribed in their public records only two years before.' Second, it resulted in two candidates being proclaimed the winner, and in subsequent events

2604-624: The Act of Succession , whose effect was to disinherit the Stuarts and replace them by the Hanoverians , whose dynastic claim was far more remote. William III and Mary II were chosen by Parliament to replace James II . (Mary was James' daughter, William was James' nephew, and William and Mary were succeeded by Mary's younger sister Anne .) Parliament passed laws in the late 17th and early 18th centuries which explicitly excluded Catholics (and thus

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2728-683: The Aztec Empire were chosen by a council of elders, nobles, and priests. He would be selected from a pool of four candidates. The mánkeme (king) of the Kingdom of Nicoya was elected by a council of elders known as the monéxico . French explorer Orélie-Antoine de Tounens claimed to be elected by the Mapuche to be the Great Toqui , Supreme Chieftain of the Mapuches, possibly in the belief that their cause might be better served with

2852-626: The Battle of Ellendun by Egbert of Wessex . Christianity had been introduced into the British Isles during the Roman occupation. The early Christian Berber author, Tertullian , writing in the 3rd century, said that "Christianity could even be found in Britain". The Roman Emperor Constantine (306–337) granted official tolerance to Christianity with the Edict of Milan in 313. Then, in

2976-469: The Battle of Hatfield Chase in 633. Their success was short-lived, as Oswald (one of the sons of the late King of Northumbria, Æthelfrith) defeated and killed Cadwallon at Heavenfield near Hexham. In less than a decade Penda again waged war against Northumbria, and killed Oswald in the Battle of Maserfield in 642. Oswald's brother Oswiu was chased to the northern extremes of his kingdom. However, Oswiu killed Penda soon afterwards, and Mercia spent

3100-864: The Early Middle Ages or, more controversially, as the Dark Ages . Although heptarchy suggests the existence of seven kingdoms, the term is just used as a label of convenience and does not imply the existence of a clear-cut or stable group of seven kingdoms. The number of kingdoms and sub-kingdoms fluctuated rapidly during this period as competing kings contended for supremacy. The four main kingdoms in Anglo-Saxon England were East Anglia , Mercia , Northumbria (originally two kingdoms, Bernicia and Deira ), and Wessex . Minor kingdoms included Essex , Kent , and Sussex . Other minor kingdoms and territories are mentioned in sources such as

3224-614: The Ecclesia of the Demos , the assembly of all free Athenian citizens. Military service often was linked with citizenship among the male members of the royal house. In the ancient Roman Kingdom the kings were elected by the Roman assemblies . When a king died, the senate would appoint an interrex to oversee the election for a new king. Once the Roman kings were overthrown, there remained an absolute prohibition for royal establishment in

3348-823: The First French Republic . The Order is ruled by the Prince and Grand Master , who is elected for life by the Council Complete of State. The Prince and Grand Master holds the rank of Prince, bestowed by the Holy Roman Emperor in 1607 and holds the precedence of a cardinal of the Church since 1630. The Council that elects the prince includes members of the Sovereign Council and other high-ranking office-holders and representatives of

3472-662: The Humber . His son, Æthelstan , annexed Northumbria in 927 and thus became the first king of all England. At the Battle of Brunanburh in 937, he defeated an alliance of the Scots, Danes, Vikings and Strathclyde Britons. Along with the Britons and the settled Danes, some of the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms disliked being ruled by Wessex. Consequently, the death of a Wessex king would be followed by rebellion, particularly in Northumbria. Alfred's great-grandson, Edgar , who had come to

3596-552: The Norman Conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066. The Normans persecuted the Anglo-Saxons and overthrew their ruling class to substitute their own leaders to oversee and rule England. However, Anglo-Saxon identity survived beyond the Norman Conquest, came to be known as Englishry under Norman rule , and through social and cultural integration with Romano-British Celts , Danes and Normans became

3720-648: The Tribal Hideage : At the end of the 6th century the most powerful ruler in England was Æthelberht of Kent , whose lands extended north to the River Humber . In the early years of the 7th century, Kent and East Anglia were the leading English kingdoms. After the death of Æthelberht in 616, Rædwald of East Anglia became the most powerful leader south of the Humber. Following the death of Æthelfrith of Northumbria , Rædwald provided military assistance to

3844-421: The cathedral chapters as religious leaders, but simultaneously ruled as monarch (prince) of a territory of imperial immediacy (which usually comprised a part of their diocesan territory). Thus the prince-bishoprics were elective monarchies too. The same holds true for prince-abbacies, whose princess-abbesses or prince-abbots were elected by a college of clerics and imperially appointed as princely rulers in

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3968-497: The 10th century Western Frankish royal elections switched between different lineages before settling on the Capetians. Medieval France was an elective monarchy at the time of the first Capetian kings; the kings however took the habit of, during their reign, having their son elected as co-king and successor during their reigns. The election soon became a mere formality and vanished after the reign of Philip II . After declaring

4092-417: The 18th century) and finally to transform it into a full-fledged monarchy – as it was in 1815. The Gallic tribes were each ruled by a rix , which can be translated as king, who were elected for terms of one year or longer. Candidates were drawn from relatives of past kings. The Frankish kingdom was at least partly elective. Merovingian kings were elected, while Carolingian kings were elected at times. In

4216-470: The 540s and 550s; the 460s migration is thought to be a reaction to the fighting during the Anglo-Saxon mutiny between about 450 to 500, as was the migration to Britonia (modern-day Galicia , in northwest Spain) at about the same time. The historian Peter Hunter-Blair expounded what is now regarded as the traditional view of the Anglo-Saxon arrival in Britain. He suggested a mass immigration, with

4340-498: The 8th century (probably by Paul the Deacon ) to distinguish English Saxons from continental Saxons ( Ealdseaxan , 'old' Saxons). The historian James Campbell suggested that it was not until the late Anglo-Saxon period that England could be described as a nation-state. It is certain that the concept of "Englishness" only developed very slowly. As the Roman occupation of Britain was coming to an end, Constantine III withdrew

4464-444: The 980s the kings of Wessex had a powerful grip on the coinage of the realm. It is reckoned there were about 300 moneyers, and 60 mints, around the country. Every five or six years the coinage in circulation would cease to be legal tender and new coins were issued. The system controlling the currency around the country was extremely sophisticated; this enabled the king to raise large sums of money if needed. The need indeed arose after

4588-522: The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms fell to the invaders: Northumbria in 867, East Anglia in 869, and nearly all of Mercia in 874–77. Kingdoms, centres of learning, archives, and churches all fell before the onslaught from the invading Danes. Only the Kingdom of Wessex was able to survive. In March 878, the Anglo-Saxon King of Wessex, Alfred , with a few men, built a fortress at Athelney , hidden deep in

4712-692: The Anglo-Saxons mutinied, apparently because they had not been paid. The Romano-British responded by appealing to the Roman commander of the Western empire, Magister militium Aetius , for help (a document known as the Groans of the Britons ), even though Honorius , the Western Roman Emperor, had written to the British civitas in or about 410 telling them to look to their own defence. There then followed several years of fighting between

4836-543: The Archbishop of Canterbury, was chosen to deliver the news to Godwin and his family. The Godwins fled rather than face trial. Norman accounts suggest that at this time Edward offered the succession to his cousin, William (duke) of Normandy (also known as William the Conqueror , William the Bastard, or William I), though this is unlikely given that accession to the Anglo-Saxon kingship was by election, not heredity –

4960-520: The British and the Anglo-Saxons. The fighting continued until around 500, when, at the Battle of Mount Badon , the Britons inflicted a severe defeat on the Anglo-Saxons. There are records of Germanic infiltration into Britain that date before the collapse of the Roman Empire. It is believed that the earliest Germanic visitors were eight cohorts of Batavians attached to the 14th Legion in

5084-552: The Britons), while the Danes held East Anglia and the North. After the victory at Edington and resultant peace treaty, Alfred set about transforming his Kingdom of Wessex into a society on a full-time war footing. He built a navy, reorganised the army, and set up a system of fortified towns known as burhs . He mainly used old Roman cities for his burhs, as he was able to rebuild and reinforce their existing fortifications. To maintain

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5208-579: The Danes, but the success was short-lived: at the Battle of Ashingdon , the Danes were victorious, and many of the English leaders were killed. Cnut and Edmund agreed to split the kingdom in two, with Edmund ruling Wessex and Cnut the rest. In 1017, Edmund died in mysterious circumstances, probably murdered by Cnut or his supporters, and the English council ( the witan ) confirmed Cnut as king of all England. Cnut divided England into earldoms : most of these were allocated to nobles of Danish descent, but he made an Englishman earl of Wessex. The man he appointed

5332-647: The Deiran Edwin in his struggle to take over the two dynasties of Deira and Bernicia in the unified kingdom of Northumbria. Upon the death of Rædwald, Edwin was able to pursue a grand plan to expand Northumbrian power. The growing strength of Edwin of Northumbria forced the Anglo-Saxon Mercians under Penda into an alliance with the Welsh king Cadwallon ap Cadfan of Gwynedd, and together they invaded Edwin's lands and defeated and killed him at

5456-517: The Elder succeeded him. When Æthelred died in 911, Æthelflæd succeeded him as "Lady of the Mercians", and in the 910s she and her brother Edward recovered East Anglia and eastern Mercia from Viking rule. Edward and his successors expanded Alfred's network of fortified burhs, a key element of their strategy, enabling them to go on the offensive. When Edward died in 924 he ruled all England south of

5580-610: The English coast. The result was that the courts of England and Normandy became increasingly hostile to each other. Eventually, Æthelred sought a treaty with the Normans, and ended up marrying Emma , daughter of Richard I, Duke of Normandy in the Spring of 1002, which was seen as an attempt to break the link between the raiders and Normandy. Then, on St. Brice's day in November 1002, Danes living in England were slaughtered on

5704-520: The English pay a ransom, but the English commander Byrhtnoth refused; he was killed in the ensuing Battle of Maldon , and the English were easily defeated. From then on the Vikings seem to have raided anywhere at will; they were contemptuous of the lack of resistance from the English. Even the Alfredian systems of burhs failed. Æthelred seems to have just hidden, out of range of the raiders. By

5828-529: The Estates designated the heirs of King Gustav Vasa as the heirs to the throne. The Danish monarchy was also officially elective, although the eldest son of the reigning monarch was usually elected. This continued until 1660, when a hereditary and absolute monarchy was instituted by Frederick III . Though the monarchy of Norway was originally hereditary, it too became elective in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Candidates had to be of royal blood, but

5952-418: The German homelands. This practice also extended to the army serving in Britain, and graves of these mercenaries, along with their families, can be identified in the Roman cemeteries of the period. The migration continued with the departure of the Roman army, when Anglo-Saxons were recruited to defend Britain; and also during the period of the Anglo-Saxon first rebellion of 442. If the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

6076-490: The Isle of Wight in 683. It remains unclear what "conversion" actually meant. The ecclesiastical writers tended to declare a territory as "converted" merely because the local king had agreed to be baptised, regardless of whether, in reality, he actually adopted Christian practices; and regardless, too, of whether the general population of his kingdom did so. When churches were built, they tended to include pagan as well as Christian symbols, evidencing an attempt to reach out to

6200-404: The Order's worldwide entities. The Sovereign Council, including the Grand Commander, the Grand Chancellor, the Grand Hospitaller, and the Receiver of the Common Treasure, aid the prince in governing the order. The Republic of Venice was ruled from 697 to 1797 by a doge , who normally ruled for life, though a few were forced from office. His powers were never those of an absolute monarch, but he

6324-412: The Roman constitution, a prohibition which formally remained in place during imperial times, both classical Roman and Byzantine . In practice, however, Imperial Rome was a monarchy. During the Principate (27 BC to 284 AD), which was the foundational stage of Roman imperialism, Roman monarchs would often take care to disguise their de facto position with the de jure apparatus of republicanism. This

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6448-509: The Roman rites by force. Between the 8th and 11th centuries, raiders and colonists from Scandinavia, mainly Danish and Norwegian, plundered western Europe, including the British Isles. These raiders came to be known as the Vikings ; the name is believed to derive from Scandinavia, where the Vikings originated. The first raids in the British Isles were in the late 8th century, mainly on churches and monasteries (which were seen as centres of wealth). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that

6572-519: The aftermath of 1383–1385 Crisis , the Council of the Kingdom elected John I , then Master of the Order of Aviz , as King of Portugal . His half-brother Ferdinand I had died without a male heir in October 1383, and different factions made strenuous efforts to secure the throne for Princess Beatrice , Ferdinand's only daughter and Queen consort of Castile and León , or for either of her uncles Infante John, Duke of Valencia de Campos and Infante Denis, Lord of Cifuentes . The Council elected instead

6696-422: The army that live in that earldom". There are over 3,000 words in modern English that have Scandinavian roots, and more than 1,500 place-names in England are Scandinavian in origin; for example, topographic names such as Howe, Norfolk and Howe, North Yorkshire are derived from the Old Norse word haugr meaning hill, knoll, or mound. In archaeology and other academic contexts the term Anglo-Scandinavian

6820-438: The battle of Maldon, as Æthelred decided that, rather than fight, he would pay ransom to the Danes in a system known as Danegeld . As part of the ransom, a peace treaty was drawn up that was intended to stop the raids. However, rather than buying the Vikings off, payment of Danegeld only encouraged them to come back for more. The Dukes of Normandy were quite happy to allow these Danish adventurers to use their ports for raids on

6944-489: The burhs, and the standing army, he set up a taxation system known as the Burghal Hidage . These burhs (or burghs) operated as defensive structures. The Vikings were thereafter unable to cross large sections of Wessex: the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that a Danish raiding party was defeated when it tried to attack the burh of Chichester. Although the burhs were primarily designed as defensive structures, they were also commercial centres, attracting traders and markets to

7068-416: The childless King Louis II died after the Battle of Mohács . Visigothic Hispania elected the king from the relatives of past kings, in accordance with the Germanic traditions. In practice, the Visigoth kings appointed their eldest sons to manage the kingdom's affairs, so that when the king died the eldest son was politically skilled enough to secure the throne. In the 5th century, hereditary succession

7192-400: The de jure as well as de facto situation. The attempt to make Frederick V King of Bohemia is regarded as a catalyst for the Thirty Years War . Hungary was an elective monarchy until 1687. This elective right carried on for another two more decades in the Principality of Transylvania which de jure continued to belong to the Lands of the Hungarian Crown but had split from Hungary when

7316-430: The descendants of a previous king, which was connected to descent from gods. There could also be joint rule between multiple kings. Disputed succession was common because of a large number of sons sired by kings. However, when single rule appeared in the 9th century, civil wars grew in frequency throughout the region. Later, Christianisation led to the promulgation of primogeniture in Norway in 1163 and Denmark in 1170, but

7440-420: The earl's daughter. This arrangement was seen as expedient, however, as Godwin had been implicated in the murder of Alfred, the king's brother. In 1051 one of Edward's in-laws, Eustace, arrived to take up residence in Dover; the men of Dover objected and killed some of Eustace's men. When Godwin refused to punish them, the king, who had been unhappy with the Godwins for some time, summoned them to trial. Stigand,

7564-510: The election procedure never strictly defined, but generally understood to be a matter for the Senate). For instance, whilst the first five Emperors were all descended from Julius Caesar , in each case their position was proclaimed, not inherited as of right. Claudius , the fourth Emperor, in particular stands out, being "elected" to office once the Praetorian Guard had made it clear he was their candidate. Accordingly, heredity never was, and could never be, formally established in law. And whilst

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7688-401: The elective idea still persisted in the requirement to be certified by a local assembly and subsequently the magnates would still elect the new king, albeit while the incumbent king was still alive. This demonstrated the enduring power of the nobles. Originally, the Kings of Sweden were elected by all free men at the Mora Thing . Elective monarchy continued until 1544, when the Riksdag of

7812-460: The elective principle in requiring reciprocal oaths, the assent of the Cortes and acclamation before acceding to the throne. Portugal's first king Afonso I followed Visigothic precedent by appointing his son as co-ruler to establish a hereditary line of succession, but whenever there was doubt on succession, the elective principle would resume. The Cortes affirmed the crown as elective when it elevated King John in 1385. In Portugal, on 6 April 1385 in

7936-428: The establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the 5th and 6th centuries (conventionally identified as seven main kingdoms : Northumbria , Mercia , East Anglia , Essex , Kent , Sussex , and Wessex ); their Christianisation during the 7th century; the threat of Viking invasions and Danish settlers ; the gradual unification of England under the Wessex hegemony during the 9th and 10th centuries; and ending with

8060-417: The event of the extinction of the royal line, the Legislature would elect a "native aliʻi " as the new monarch and stirps of a new dynasty. In practice, however, during the entire time from 1864 until the abolition of the monarchy, the throne was never passed from parent to child, as every Hawaiian monarch who reigned during that period died without leaving issue. Following the 1872 death of King Kamehameha V ,

8184-504: The expense of British Celtic and British Latin . The arrival of the Anglo-Saxons into Britain can be seen in the context of a general movement of Germanic peoples around Europe between the years 300 and 700, known as the Migration period (also called the Barbarian Invasions or Völkerwanderung). In the same period there were migrations of Britons to the Armorican peninsula ( Brittany and Normandy in modern-day France ): initially around 383 during Roman rule, but also c. 460 and in

8308-423: The faith to the Angles or Saxons. Pope Gregory I sent Augustine in 597 to convert the Anglo-Saxons, but Bede says the British clergy refused to help Augustine in his mission. Despite Bede's complaints, it is now believed that the Britons played an important role in the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons . On arrival in the south east of England in 597, Augustine was given land by King Æthelberht of Kent to build

8432-414: The holy island of Lindisfarne was sacked in 793. The raiding then virtually stopped for around 40 years; but in about 835, it started becoming more regular. In the 860s, instead of raids, the Danes mounted a full-scale invasion. In 865, an enlarged army arrived that the Anglo-Saxons described as the Great Heathen Army . This was reinforced in 871 by the Great Summer Army. Within ten years nearly all of

8556-461: The incomers fighting and driving the sub-Roman Britons off their land and into the western extremities of the islands, and into the Breton and Iberian peninsulas. This view is based on sources such as Bede, who mentions the Britons being slaughtered or going into "perpetual servitude". According to Härke the more modern view is of co-existence between the British and the Anglo-Saxons. He suggests that several modern archaeologists have now re-assessed

8680-450: The king was considered a primus inter pares (first among equals), and in his absence his duties were performed by his seneschal . The tradition of electing the country's ruler, which occurred when there was no clear heir to the throne, dates to the very beginning of Polish statehood. The election privilege, exercised during the gatherings known as wiec , was usually limited to the most powerful nobles ( magnates ) or officials, and

8804-418: The kingdom from its inception around 1400 until its complete disintegration in the early 20th century. In the pre-colonial period, a number of West African rulers, such as the kings and chieftains of the Ashanti Empire and those of Ife and the Oyo Empire , were elected from amongst the various royal families of their polities by colleges of noblemen known as kingmakers . This practice has continued to

8928-477: The kingship was elected by a council of noblemen, rather than automatically passing to the eldest son. In 1905 Prince Carl was elected King of the newly independent Norway by the Storting after a referendum resolved in favor of monarchy. The Scandinavian kingdoms were united under the Danish crown by Margaret I of Denmark in 1389, but many of her successors had the united kingdoms split up as Sweden elected

9052-458: The later, more overtly authoritarian Dominate period further stripped the republican veneer from the constitution, Emperors succeeded by a mixture of proclamation by the Legions or Senate as much as by blood (though sons did succeed fathers). In order to bypass the prohibition on heredity and ensure dynastic continuity, many reigning Byzantine emperors had their heirs crowned co-emperor so that

9176-593: The leaders of the Dutch Republican faction, such as Oldenbarnevelt and De Witt , repeatedly tried to abolish the office of Stadtholder or leave it vacant – which it was for several decades of Dutch history. Conversely, the House of Orange and its adherents tried to increase the powers of the Stadtholder to approximate those of a monarch, to make it officially hereditary (which it became in the later part of

9300-550: The longest reigns in English history, he earned the name "Æthelred the Unready", as he proved to be one of England's most disastrous kings. William of Malmesbury , writing in his Chronicle of the kings of England about one hundred years later, was scathing in his criticism of Æthelred, saying that he occupied the kingdom, rather than governed it. Just as Æthelred was being crowned, the Danish Harald Gormsson

9424-534: The male descendants of James II) from the order of succession . The Succession to the Crown Act 2013 , replaced male-preference primogeniture with absolute primogeniture and ended disqualification of a person who married a Roman Catholic from succession. In Scotland, the Declaration of Arbroath of 1320 asserted the rights of the nobles to choose a king if required, which implied elective monarchy. Tanistry

9548-502: The marshes of Somerset. He used this as a base from which to harry the Vikings. In May 878 he put together an army formed from the populations of Somerset, Wiltshire, and Hampshire, which defeated the Viking army in the Battle of Edington . The Vikings retreated to their stronghold, and Alfred laid siege to it. Ultimately the Danes capitulated, and their leader Guthrum agreed to withdraw from Wessex and to be baptised. The formal ceremony

9672-404: The matter; Saint Wilfrid was an advocate for the Roman rites and Bishop Colmán for the Irish rites. Wilfrid's argument won the day and Colmán and his party returned to Ireland in their bitter disappointment. The Roman rites were adopted by the English church, although they were not universally accepted by the Irish church until Henry II of England invaded Ireland in the 12th century and imposed

9796-555: The modern English people . Bede completed his book Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum ( Ecclesiastical History of the English People ) in around 731. Thus, the term for English people ( Latin : gens Anglorum ; Old English : Angelcynn ) was in use by then to distinguish Germanic groups in Britain from those on the continent (Old Saxony in Northern Germany). The term ' Anglo-Saxon ' came into use in

9920-677: The most remote of dynastic claims to the Swedish throne – his being chosen derived solely from urgent political and military considerations of the crisis time of the Napoleonic Wars . The Sovereign Military Order of Malta , formerly known as the Knights Hospitaller or the Knights of Malta, remains a sovereign subject of international law since it was exiled to Rome from Malta during the French occupation of Malta under

10044-453: The new Crown Prince , since it was apparent that the Swedish branch of the House of Holstein-Gottorp would die with the childless King Charles XIII . Bernadotte eventually ascended the throne as Charles XIV John of Sweden and founded the still current House of Bernadotte . In this case the elective aspect in the choice of Monarch was especially prominent, since Bernadotte had been a French commoner with no previous connection to Sweden and not

10168-614: The nobility was able to confirm their majority choice for Stephen Báthory and have it recognised, while avoiding war with Maximilian II of Habsburg . Scandinavian kingship, according to the Germanic tradition, was elected upon the death of the previous king. The selection was not always limited to the heirs of the previous king (e.g. in Sweden when the royal house was changing between the houses of Eric and Sverker between generations). Originally, kings were supposed to be elected from among

10292-589: The orders of Æthelred. In mid-1013, Sven Forkbeard , King of Denmark, brought the Danish fleet to Sandwich, Kent. From there he went north to the Danelaw, where the locals immediately agreed to support him. He then struck south, forcing Æthelred into exile in Normandy (1013–1014). However, on 3 February 1014, Sven died suddenly. Capitalising on his death, Æthelred returned to England and drove Sven's son, Cnut , back to Denmark, forcing him to abandon his allies in

10416-579: The original invasion force under Aulus Plautius in AD ;43. There is a recent hypothesis that some of the native tribes , identified as Britons by the Romans, may have been Germanic-language speakers, but most scholars disagree with this due to an insufficient record of local languages in Roman-period artefacts. It was quite common for Rome to swell its legions with foederati recruited from

10540-475: The pagan Anglo-Saxons, rather than demonstrating that they were already converted. Even after Christianity had been set up in all of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, there was friction between the followers of the Roman rites and the Irish rites, particularly over the date on which Easter fell and the way monks cut their hair. In 664, a conference was held at Whitby Abbey (known as the Whitby Synod ) to decide

10664-629: The person of the primate of Poland ). This unique Polish election was termed the free election ( wolna elekcja ). Although the elective principle was already established in Polish political culture in the late Middle Ages, the rules changed significantly in the 1570s, and the principles developed in that period lasted until the Partitions of Poland . There have been thirteen royal elections in Poland–Lithuania from 1573 to 1764. Roșu (2017) marked

10788-495: The position is not hereditary, in practice every Māori monarch thus far has been a child of the previous monarch. The Hawaiian Kingdom could be considered a de facto example. From 1864 until the monarchy was overthrown in 1893, it was constitutionally a hereditary monarchy utilizing male-preference primogeniture . However, the Constitutions of 1864 and 1887 , and the draft constitution of 1893, all provided that, in

10912-586: The power. Other monarchs, such as the former Shahs of Iran , have been required to undergo a parliamentary vote of approval before being allowed to ascend to the throne. In the Mongol Empire , the Great Khan was chosen by the Kurultai . This was often convened in the capital. Other critical leadership positions were also assigned. The ancient Korean kingdom of Silla elected its first king by

11036-606: The present day. In Afghanistan , loya jirgas have been reportedly organized since at least the early 18th century when the Hotaki and Durrani dynasties rose to power. The ancient Aryan tribes, who are hypothesized to have spoken Proto-Indo-Iranian , came down in intermittent waves from Central Asia and Afghanistan which is a common myth. They practiced a sort of jirga system with two types of councils – simite and sabhā . The simite (summit) comprised elders and tribal chiefs. The king also joined sessions of

11160-425: The previous rulers' children, or for hereditary monarchies to acquire elective or semi-elective succession laws, particularly following dynastic crises. Many kingdoms were officially elective historically, though the candidates were typically only from the family of the deceased monarch. Eventually, however, most elected monarchies introduced hereditary succession , guaranteeing that the title and office stayed within

11284-450: The process. In 1015, Cnut launched a new campaign against England. Edmund fell out with his father, Æthelred, and struck out on his own. Some English leaders decided to support Cnut, so Æthelred ultimately retreated to London. Before engagement with the Danish army, Æthelred died and was replaced by Edmund. The Danish army encircled and besieged London, but Edmund was able to escape and raised an army of loyalists. Edmund's army routed

11408-499: The reign of Emperor Theodosius "the Great" (379–395), Christianity was made the official religion of the Roman Empire. It is not entirely clear how many Britons would have been Christian when the pagan Anglo-Saxons arrived. There had been attempts to evangelise the Irish by Pope Celestine I in 431. However, it was Saint Patrick who is credited with converting the Irish en masse . A Christian Ireland then set about evangelising

11532-734: The remains of the army in reaction to the Germanic invasion of Gaul with the Crossing of the Rhine in December 406. The Romano-British leaders were faced with an increasing security problem from seaborne raids, particularly by Picts on the east coast of England. The expedient adopted by the Romano-British leaders was to enlist the help of Anglo-Saxon mercenaries (known as foederati ), to whom they ceded territory. In about 442

11656-500: The rest of the 7th and all of the 8th century fighting the Welsh kingdom of Powys . The war reached its climax during the reign of Offa of Mercia, who is remembered for the construction of a 150-mile-long dyke which formed the Wales/England border. It is not clear whether this was a boundary line or a defensive position. The ascendency of the Mercians came to an end in 825, when they were soundly beaten under Beornwulf at

11780-627: The rest of the British Isles, and Columba founded a religious community in Iona , off the west coast of Scotland. Then Aidan was sent from Iona to set up his see in Northumbria, at Lindisfarne , between 635 and 651. Hence Northumbria was converted by the Celtic (Irish) church . Bede is very uncomplimentary about the indigenous British clergy: in his Historia ecclesiastica he complains of their "unspeakable crimes", and that they did not preach

11904-420: The royal family and specifying, more or less precisely, the order of succession. Today, almost all monarchies are hereditary monarchies in which the monarchs come from one royal family with the office of sovereign being passed from one family member to another upon the death or abdication of the incumbent. The kings of Macedon and of Epirus were elected by the army, which was similar in composition to

12028-519: The seven principal Anglo-Saxon kingdoms ( Heptarchy is a literal translation from the Greek: hept – seven; archy – rule). By convention, the Heptarchy period lasted from the end of Roman rule in Britain in the 5th century, until most of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms came under the overlordship of Egbert of Wessex in 829. This approximately 400-year period of European history is often referred to as

12152-473: The short-lived North Sea Empire of Cnut , a personal union between England , Denmark and Norway , in the 11th century. The Anglo-Saxons migrated to Britain from mainland northwestern Europe after the Roman Empire 's withdrawal from Britain at the beginning of the 5th century. Anglo-Saxon history thus begins during the period of sub-Roman Britain following the end of Roman control , and traces

12276-457: The size of the migration, and whether it was a small elite band of Anglo-Saxons who came in and took over the running of the country, or mass migration of peoples who overwhelmed the Britons. An emerging view is that two scenarios could have co-occurred, with large-scale migration and demographic change in the core areas of the settlement and elite dominance in peripheral regions. According to Gildas , initial vigorous British resistance

12400-459: The succession of the crown among disputed heirs: Several Māori tribes of the central North Island of New Zealand elected Pōtatau Te Wherowhero as their monarch in 1858. The Māori King movement or Kiingitanga has continued to the present. The current Māori monarch (i.e. monarch of the Kiingitanga movement, not of all Māori) is Kuīni (Queen) Ngā Wai Hono i te Pō . While in principle

12524-486: The throne could not be considered vacant at their own death and thus the need for succession by election would not arise. A system of elective monarchy existed in Anglo-Saxon England (see Witenagemot ). John of England was chosen as King of England by a council of nobles and royal advisors at the death of his brother, Richard I , in 1199 because the heir by strict primogeniture, Arthur of Brittany ,

12648-425: The throne in 959, was crowned at Bath in 973 and soon afterwards the other British kings met him at Chester and acknowledged his authority. The presence of Danish and Norse settlers in the Danelaw had a lasting impact; the people there saw themselves as "armies" a hundred years after settlement: King Edgar issued a law code in 962 that was to include the people of Northumbria, so he addressed it to Earl Olac "and all

12772-609: The throne vacant, the French Chamber of Deputies voted 229–33 to declare Louis-Philippe of France as King of the French during the July Revolution of 1830, creating an elective monarchy. France briefly had again a kind of elective monarchy when Napoleon III was first elected President of France and then transformed himself into an Emperor. The Holy Roman Empire , beginning with its predecessor Eastern Francia,

12896-418: The throne was disputed between Ælfgifu's son, Harald Harefoot , and Emma's son, Harthacnut . Emma supported her son by Cnut, Harthacnut, rather than a son by Æthelred. Her son by Æthelred, Edward, made an unsuccessful raid on Southampton, and his brother Alfred was murdered on an expedition to England in 1036. Emma fled to Bruges when Harald Harefoot became king of England, but when he died in 1040 Harthacnut

13020-479: The traditional model, and have developed a co-existence model largely based on the Laws of Ine . The laws include several clauses that provide six different wergild levels for the Britons, of which four are below that of freeman. Although the Britons could be rich freemen in Anglo-Saxon society, generally it seems that they had a lower status than that of the Anglo-Saxons. Discussions and analysis still continue on

13144-440: The two sons he had with Ælfgifu, he had a further son with Emma, who was named Harthacnut . When Cnut's brother, Harald II, King of Denmark , died in 1018, Cnut went to Denmark to secure that realm. Two years later, Cnut brought Norway under his control, and he gave Ælfgifu and their son Svein the job of governing it. One result of Cnut's marriage to Emma was to precipitate a succession crisis after his death in 1035, as

13268-534: The younger (and illegitimate) son of Peter I , thus avoiding a jure uxoris Castilian king. In the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem , the kingship was partially elected and partially hereditary. During the height of the kingdom in the mid-12th century there was a royal family and a relatively clear line of succession. Nevertheless, the king was elected, or at least recognized, by the Haute Cour . Here

13392-569: Was Godwin, who eventually became part of the extended royal family when he married the king's sister-in-law. In the summer of 1017, Cnut sent for Æthelred's widow, Emma, with the intention of marrying her. It seems that Emma agreed to marry the king on condition that he would limit the English succession to the children born of their union. Cnut already had a wife, known as Ælfgifu of Northampton , who bore him two sons, Svein and Harold Harefoot . The church, however, seems to have regarded Ælfgifu as Cnut's concubine rather than his wife. In addition to

13516-488: Was a child at that time. This affirmed the principle of elective monarchy. In 14th, 15th, late 17th and early 18th century England, the evolving relations between the Crown and Parliament resulted in a monarchy with both hereditary and quasi-elective elements – at least as between various contenders with some dynastic claim for the throne. Henry IV of England was chosen by Parliament in 1399 to replace Richard II . Richard

13640-479: Was able to take over as king. Harthacnut quickly developed a reputation for imposing high taxes on England. He became so unpopular that Edward was invited to return from exile in Normandy to be recognised as Harthacnut's heir, and when Harthacnut died suddenly in 1042 (probably murdered), Edward (known to posterity as Edward the Confessor ) became king. Edward was supported by Earl Godwin of Wessex and married

13764-479: Was also the system of royal succession until King Malcolm II in the early 11th century introduced direct inheritance. The Isle of Man also used tanistry. In Ireland, from the beginning of recorded history until the mid-16th/early 17th century, succession was determined by an elective system based on patrilineal relationship known as tanistry . In the Dutch Republic of the 17th and 18th centuries there

13888-732: Was childless, and the Earl of March , the next in line to the throne, was a young child at the time, so Parliament bypassed him in favour of Henry, who had led a revolt against Richard. Parliament also confirmed depositions during the Wars of the Roses , as well as Henry VIII's settlements of the crown. During the Exclusion Crisis , King Charles II strongly opposed any such idea. Following the Glorious Revolution , Parliament enacted

14012-561: Was completed a few days later at Wedmore . There followed a peace treaty between Alfred and Guthrum, which had a variety of provisions, including defining the boundaries of the area to be ruled by the Danes (which became known as the Danelaw ) and those of Wessex. The Kingdom of Wessex controlled part of the Midlands and the whole of the South (apart from Cornwall, which was still held by

14136-514: Was heavily influenced by local traditions and strength of the ruler. In Poland , after the death of the last Piast in 1370, Polish kings were initially elected by a small council; gradually, this privilege was granted to all members of the szlachta (Polish nobility). Kings of Poland and Grand Dukes of Lithuania during the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569–1795) were elected by gatherings of crowds of nobles at

14260-601: Was increasingly stable until the Frankish invasions against the Visigoths led to a period of crisis in which the Visigoths reverted to elections. After the crisis was over in the 6th century, the family of Leovigild attempted to revive hereditary succession until Swintila was overthrown and the Fourth Council of Toledo formally declared elective succession as the principle of succession in 633. The Kingship of Aragon

14384-467: Was initially elected by the "rich men" barons. Later this right was limited to the Cortes confirming the succession of the heir. During the 19th century, more precisely between 1870 and 1873, an attempt of such a system took place in Spain. After the Glorious Revolution and Isabella II 's subsequent deposition in 1868 a new parliament was constituted through direct male suffrage. It was then decided that

14508-488: Was led by a man called Ambrosius Aurelianus . From then on, victory fluctuated between the two peoples. Gildas records a "final" victory of the Britons at the Battle of Mount Badon in c. 500, and this might mark a point at which Anglo-Saxon migration was temporarily stemmed. Gildas said that this battle was "forty-four years and one month" after the arrival of the Saxons, and was also the year of his birth. He said that

14632-686: Was particularly the case for Augustus , the first Emperor, who established the Principate. Whilst given many titles (including "Augustus", i.e. "majestic") he described himself as princeps senatus , or merely "first among senators". The illusion of being elected from the Senate continued. Over time the principle weakened as republican government passed into distant history, and the Empire became functionally an absolute monarchy. The office of Roman and Byzantine emperor remained vaguely elective (albeit with

14756-540: Was the Republic's highest official and powerful within restrictions and levels of oversight that varied in different periods. The election process began with the Great Council of more than 2000 Venetian aristocrats and employed an elaborate system designed to prevent one family or alliance from dominating the process. It used smaller nominating groups that were reduced in number by the drawing of lots and required

14880-503: Was the inspiration behind Gildas's book De Excidio Britanniae (The Ruin of Britain). The next major campaign against the Britons was in 577, led by Ceawlin , king of Wessex, whose campaigns succeeded in taking Cirencester, Gloucester and Bath (known as the Battle of Dyrham ). This expansion of Wessex ended abruptly when the Anglo-Saxons started fighting among themselves, resulting in Ceawlin retreating to his original territory. He

15004-482: Was the office of the Stadtholder , whose powers fell short of those of a monarch, and which was elective. Each of the seven Dutch provinces could separately elect its own Stadtholder, and it did not have to be the same person in all of them. In theory anyone could be elected Stadtholder, though in practice it was restricted to members of the House of Orange . There was no obligation to elect a Stadtholder at all, and

15128-481: Was then replaced by Ceol (who was possibly his nephew). Ceawlin was killed the following year, but the annals do not specify by whom. Cirencester subsequently became an Anglo-Saxon kingdom under the overlordship of the Mercians, rather than Wessex. By 600, a new order was developing, of kingdoms and sub-kingdoms. The medieval historian Henry of Huntingdon conceived the idea of the Heptarchy , which consisted of

15252-546: Was trying to force Christianity onto his domain. Many of his subjects did not like this idea, and shortly before 988, Sweyn , his son, drove his father from the kingdom. The rebels, dispossessed at home, probably formed the first waves of raids on the English coast. The rebels did so well in their raiding that the Danish kings decided to take over the campaign themselves. In 991 the Vikings sacked Ipswich, and their fleet made landfall near Maldon in Essex. The Danes demanded that

15376-756: Was written in Old English (rather than in Latin, the language of the European annals). Alfred's own literary output was mainly of translations, but he also wrote introductions and amended manuscripts. From 874 to 879, the western half of Mercia was ruled by Ceowulf II , who was succeeded by Æthelred as Lord of the Mercians. Alfred the Great of Wessex styled himself King of the Anglo-Saxons from about 886. In 886/887 Æthelred married Alfred's daughter Æthelflæd . On Alfred's death in 899, his son Edward

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