Reign
:
The term in this article relates to the term of a sovereign. It could also refer to browser-based online game located at fortyeight.net, the Reign Award, or Reign (TV series).A
reign is a period of time a person serves as a
monarch or
pope. No time limit exists on reigns, nor is there a term of office. Thus a reign usually lasts for the remainer of the monarch's life, unless the monarchy itself is abolished or the monarch abdicates.
The term of a reign can be indicated with the abbreviation "r." after a sovereign's name, such as the following:
George VI, King of the Dominion of Canada (r. 1936–1952)
* Queen
Victoria of the United Kingdom reigned from 1837 to 1901.
* King
Victor Emmanuel III of Italy reigned from 1900 to 1946.
*
Pope John XXIII reigned from 1958 to 1963.
A reign can be ended in three ways:
*
death*
abdication* abolition of the office
Abdications
* Emperor
Ferdinand I of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia, King of Lombardy-Venetia (r. 1835-1848) was abdicated due to his disabilities (
feeble-mindedness and
epilepsy). His successor, Emperor
Franz Josef (r. 1867–1918)
reigned for 68 years.
* King
Edward VIII of the United Kingdom reigned from January to December 1937 before he abdicated the throne. After his abdication he became known as the
Duke of Windsor. No other monarch of the
Kingdom of Great Britain (1707-1800), the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland or the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has ever abdicated, though abdications did occur on rare occasions in the
Kingdom of England and the
Kingdom of Scotland prior to their merger in 1707.
* Queen
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands reigned from 1890 to 1948, before abdicating in favour of her daughter, Queen
Juliana. Juliana then
reigned until 1980 when she abdicated in favour of her daughter, Queen
Beatrix of the Netherlands.
Abolitions of Monarchies
King
Constantine II of Greece reigned from 1963 until the abolition of the Greek monarchy in 1973.
King
Humbert II of Italy reigned for only a few weeks in 1946 before the abolition of the
Italian Monarchy.