Abdication
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Abdication (from the Latin abdicatio disowning, renouncing, from ab, from, and dicare, to declare, to proclaim as not belonging to one), the act whereby a person in office renounces and gives up the same before the expiry of the time for which it is held. In Roman law, the term is especially applied to the disowning of a member of a family, as the disinheriting of a son, but in more recent times, the word is seldom used except in the sense of surrendering the supreme power in a state. A similar term for an elected or appointed official is resignation.
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Abdications in classical antiquity
Among the most memorable abdications of antiquity may be mentioned that of Sulla the dictator, 79 BC, and that of the Emperor Diocletian, AD 305.
The British Crown
Probably the most famous abdication in recent memory is that of King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom in 1936, who abdicated the British throne in order to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson, over the objections of the British establishment, the governments of the Commonwealth, the royal family and the Church of England. (See Abdication Crisis of Edward VIII.) This was also the first time in history that the British crown was surrendered entirely voluntarily. Richard II of England, for example, was forced to abdicate after the throne was seized by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, while Richard was out of the country.
When James II of England, after throwing the Great Seal of the Realm into the Thames, fled to France in 1688, he did not formally resign the crown, and the question was discussed in Parliament whether he had forfeited the throne or had abdicated. The latter designation was agreed upon, for in a full assembly of the Lords and Commons, met in convention, it was resolved in spite of James's protest "that King James II having endeavoured to subvert the constitution of the kingdom, by breaking the original contract between king and people, and, by the advice of Jesuits and other wicked persons, having violated the fundamental laws, and having withdrawn himself out of this kingdom, has abdicated the government, and that the throne is thereby vacant." The Scottish parliament pronounced a decree of forfeiture and deposition.
A Royal Abdication can only be effected by an Act of Parliament. To give legal effect to the abdication of King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 was passed.
Modern abdications
Historically, if a monarch abdicated it was seen as a profound and shocking abandonment of royal duty. As a result, abdications usually only occurred in the most extreme circumstances of political turmoil or violence. This has changed in a small number of countries: the monarchs of the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Cambodia have abdicated as a result of old age, and the prince of Liechtenstein has recently made his son regent.
List
The following is a list of the important abdications:
Notes
1Charles abdicated as king of the Netherlands (October 25, 1555) and of Spain (January 16, 1556), in favor of his son Philip II of Spain. Also in 1556 he separately voluntarily abdicated his German possessions and the title of Holy Roman Emperor.
2Pedro IV of Portugal and Pedro I of Brazil were the same person. He was already Emperor of Brazil when he succeeded to the throne of Portugal in 1826, but abdicated it at once in favour of his daughter Maria II of Portugal. Later he abdicated the throne of Brazil in favor of his son Pedro II.
3Hans-Adam II made his son Alois regent, effectively abdicating; however, he still remains the formal Head of State.
See also
- Lists of incumbents
- List of monarchs who lost their thrones or abdicated in the 20th century
- Papal abdication
References
- Public domain 1911 edition of The New Century Book of Facts published by the King-Richardson Company, Springfield, Massachusetts.
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