Facts about Monarch
Most monarchies are associated with political or sociocultural hereditary rule, in which monarchs rule for life and pass the responsibilities and power of the position to their children or family when they die.
Germanic peoples had elective monarchies, and the Holy Roman Emperors were elected by prince-electors, although this often was merely a formalization of what was in reality, hereditary rule.
Absolute monarchies are not necessarily authoritarian; the enlightened absolutists of the Enlightenment were monarchs who allowed various freedoms.
Primogeniture, in which the eldest child of the monarch is first in line to become monarch, is the most common system.
From these roots, the claim by monarchs to be gods or descendants or representatives of God was readily accepted by their subjects.
Military domination of the monarch has occurred in modern Thailand and in medieval Japan (where a hereditary military chief, the shogun was the de facto ruler, although the Japanese emperor nominally ruled.
In China, monarchs legitimized their rule by family connections to divine power.
Constitutional monarchs have limited political power, and are constituted by tradition and precedent, popular opinion, or by legal codes or statutes.
Female monarchs typically have the title “queen regnant,” while a “queen consort” may refer to the wife of a reigning king.
Most monarchs, both historically and in the modern day, have been born and brought up within a royal family, the center of the royal household and court.
Many monarchs have been styled Fidei defensor (Defender of the Faith); some hold official positions relating to the state religion or established church.
The English monarch also is Head of the Commonwealth, Supreme Governor of the Church of England, Duke of Normandy, Lord of Mann, and Paramount Chief of Fiji.
Appointment by the current monarch is another system, used in Jordan.
Monarchs also were heavily dependent on their nobleman, who were given honors and privilege within the state in exchange for loyalty and cooperation.
At the start of the twenty-first century, 44 nations in the world had monarchs as heads of state, 16 of them Commonwealth realms that recognize Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state.
Many monarchs also are distinguished by styles, such as "Royal Highness" or "By the Grace of God."
Growing up in a royal family (when present for several generations it may be called a dynasty), and future monarchs were often trained for the responsibilities of expected future rule.
Sometimes religion is affected; under the Act of Settlement 1701 all Roman Catholics are ineligible to be the British monarch and are skipped in the order of succession.
Early monarchs were the embodiment of community power, ruled by strength and cultivated mystique and loyalty from their subjects.
Three elective monarchies exists today, Malaysia, Samoa, and the United Arab Emirates are twentieth-century creations, while one (the papacy) is ancient.
Still, many constitutional monarchs retain certain privileges (inviolability, sovereign immunity, an official residence) and powers (to grant pardons, to appoint titles of nobility).
Monarchs were a civil counterpart to religious leaders, whether priest, shaman, sorcerer or prophet.
A regent may rule when the monarch is a minor, absent, or debilitated.
Growing up in a royal family (when present for several generations it may be called a dynasty), and future monarchs were often trained for the responsibilities of expected future rule.