Queenregnant

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Aqueenregnant(plural:queensregnant)isafemalemonarchwhoreignsinherownright,incontrast
toaqueenconsort,whoisthewifeofareigningking,oraqueenregent,whoistheguardianofachild
monarchreigningtemporarilyintheirstead.Anempressregnantisafemalemonarchwhoreignsinher
ownrightoveranempire.
Aqueenregnantpossessesandexercisessovereignpowers.Aqueenconsortsharesherhusband'srank
andtitles,butdoesnotsharethesovereigntyofherhusband.Thehusbandofaqueenregnant
traditionallydoesnotsharehiswife'srank,titleorsovereignty.Howevertheconceptofa"King
Consort"isnotunheardofincontemporaryorclassicalperiods.
Aqueendowageristhewidowofaking.Aqueenmotherisaqueendowagerwhoisalsothemotherof
areigningsovereign.

Contents
1History
1.1EastAsia
2Currentqueensregnant
3Listofallqueensregnant
4Seealso
5References
6Furtherreading
7Externallinks

History
InAncientEgypt,AncientPersia(IranKingdom),AsianandPacificcultures,andevensomeEuropean
countries,asnotedbelow,femalemonarchshavebeengiventhetitlekingoritsequivalent,suchas
pharaoh,whengenderisirrelevanttotheoffice,orelsehaveusedthemasculineformofthewordin
languageswheregenderisneeded.TheByzantineEmpressIrenesometimescalledherselfbasileus
(),'emperor',ratherthanbasilissa(),'empress'andJadwigaofPolandwascrowned
asRexPoloniae,KingofPoland.
AmongtheDavidicMonarchsoftheKingdomofJudah,thereismentionedasinglequeenregnant,
Athaliah,thoughtheHebrewBibleregardshernegativelyasausurper.ThemuchlaterHasmonean
QueenSalomeAlexandra(ShlomTzion)washighlypopular.
Accessionofaregnantoccursasanation'sorderofsuccessionpermits.Methodsofsuccessionto
queendoms,kingdoms,tribalchiefships,andsuchincludenominationwhenthesittingmonarchora
councilnamesanheir,primogeniturewhenthechildrenofamonarchorchiefbecomeregentsinorder
ofbirthfromeldesttoyoungest,andultimogeniturewhenthechildrenbecomeregentsinthereverse
orderofbirthfromyoungesttoeldest.Thescopeofsuccessionmaybematrilineal,patrilineal,orboth

or,rarely,opentogeneralelectionwhennecessary.Therightof
successionmaybeopentomenandwomen,orlimitedtomen
onlyorwomenonly.
Themosttypical
successioninEuropean
monarchiesfromtheLate
MiddleAgesthrough
mostofthetwentieth
centurywasmale
preferenceprimogeniture
i.e.,theorderof
successioncycledthrough
thesonsofthemonarch
inorderoftheirbirth,
followedbythedaughters
ElizabethII,queenregnantofthe
orgrandsons.
CommonwealthRealms,herewith
Historically,manyrealms
herhusbandontheoccasionofher
forbadesuccessionby
coronationin1953.
womenorthrougha
femalelineinobedience
totheSaliclaw,andsomestilldo.Noqueenregnanteverruled
France,forexample.Onlyonewoman,MariaTheresa,ruled
Austria.Asnotedinthelistbelowofwidelyknownruling
queens,manyruledinEuropeanmonarchies.

MargaretIruledDenmark,Sweden
andNorwayinthelate14thandearly
15thcenturies.

Inthewaningdaysofthe20thcenturyandearlydaysofthe21st,Sweden,Norway,Belgium,the
NetherlandsandDenmarkamendedtheiractsofsuccessiontoabsoluteprimogeniture.Insomecasesthe
changedoesnottakeeffectduringthelifetimesofpeoplealreadyinthelineofsuccessionatthetimethe
lawwaspassed.
In2011,the16RealmsoftheBritishCommonwealthagreedtoremovetheruleofmalepreference
primogeniture.Oncethenecessarylegislationispassed,thismeansthathadPrinceWilliamhada
daughterfirst,ayoungersonwouldnotbecomeheirapparent.[1]

EastAsia
InChina,WuZetianbecametheChineseempressregnantandestablishedtheZhouDynastyafter
dismissinghersons.Itshouldbenoted,however,thatEmpressWuusedthetitlehuangdi(,
"emperor")asopposedtohuanghou(,"empress")andwasoftenreferredto,inbothAsianand
Europeansources,asafemaleemperorratherthananempressregnant.Similarly,afewdecadesearlier
inKorea,QueenSeondeokofSillaandJindeokofSilladevelopedthetermyeowang(,"female
king")torefertothemselvesinsteadofthetermhwanghu(),whichisusuallytranslatedas"queen"
andreferstothewifeofakingoremperor.
AlthoughtheChrysanthemumThroneofJapaniscurrentlybarredtowomen,thishasnotalwaysbeen
thecasethroughoutJapanesehistorytherehavebeeneightempressesregnant.Again,theJapanese
languageusesthetermjoseitenn(,"femaleimperialruler")forthepositionwhichwouldbe
"empressregnant"inEnglish,withkg()beingthetermreservedforanempressconsort.

Currentqueensregnant

Queen

ElizabethII

Countries

Date

AntiguaandBarbuda

1November1981

Australia

6February1952

Barbados

30November1966

Belize

21September1981

Canada

6February1952

Grenada

7February1974

Jamaica

6August1962

NewZealand

6February1952

PapuaNewGuinea

16September1975

SaintKittsandNevis

19September1983

SaintLucia

22February1979

SaintVincentandtheGrenadines

27October1979

SolomonIslands

7July1978

Tuvalu

1October1978

UnitedKingdomofGreatBritainandNorthernIreland 6February1952
MargretheII
Denmark

FaroeIslands

14January1972

Greenland

Listofallqueensregnant
Seealso
Monarch
Orderofsuccession
Queenconsort
Rani
Regent
Saliclaw

References
1. ^Bloxham,Andy(28October2011)."CenturiesoldruleofprimogenitureinRoyalFamilyscrapped"

(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/8854981/Centuriesoldruleofsuccessionin
BritishRoyalfamilyscrappedbyCommonwealth.html).Telegraph(London).Retrieved20111231.

Furtherreading
Monter,William.TheRiseofFemaleKingsinEurope,13001800(YaleUniversityPress2012)
271pagesstudies30womenwhoexercisedfullsovereignauthorityinEurope.

Externallinks
QueensRegnantthroughoutthetimes
(http://guide2womenleaders.com/women_state_leaders.htm)
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Categories: Positionsofauthority Queensregnant Empressesregnant Gender Royaltitles
Matriarchy
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