Europe Ancient Greece The kings of
Macedon and of
Epirus were elected by the army, which was similar in composition to the
Ecclesia of the
Demos, the assembly of all free
Athenian citizens.
Ancient Rome and Byzantium 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. Whilst given many titles (including "Augustus", i.e. "majestic") Octavian described himself as
princeps senatus, or merely "first among senators". Thus he portrayed an illusion of being elected from the
Senate.
Great Britain A system of elective monarchy existed in
Anglo-Saxon England (see
Witenagemot). 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 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, a
Convention Parliament enacted the
Bill of Rights 1689, which chose
William III and
Mary II to replace
James II. (Mary was James's elder daughter, and William was his nephew.) They were succeeded by Mary's younger sister
Anne, and parliament enacted the
Act of Settlement 1701 and the
Succession to the Crown Act 1707, whose effect was to disinherit the Stuarts and replace them by the
Hanoverians, whose dynastic claim was far more remote. These Acts explicitly excluded "Papists" (Roman Catholics), and thus 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 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.
Ireland 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.
Gaul/France 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 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 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.
Holy Roman Empire The
Holy Roman Empire, beginning with its predecessor Eastern Francia, However, spiritual electors (and other prince-(arch)bishops) were usually elected by the
cathedral chapters as religious leaders, but simultaneously ruled as monarch (prince) of a territory of
imperial immediacy.
Bohemia Since medieval times, the
King of Bohemia was elected by the
Estates of the
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 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 the de jure as well as de facto situation.
Hungary 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 the childless King
Louis II died after the
Battle of Mohács.
Iberia 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 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 was initially elected by the "rich men" barons. Later this right was limited to the Cortes confirming the succession of the heir.
Crown of the Kingdom of Poland After
Jadwiga Anjou inherited the throne of
Kingdom of Poland in 1384, nobles elected
Jogaila of Lithuania to be her husband and
co-king in 1386. As the Queen was hereditary monarch, it was expected the royal pair's offspring will be the new heir; however, the succession line was broken when Jadwiga and her only daughter, Princess Elizabeth, both died in 1399. While Polish noblemen continued to recognize Jogaila as the King (under the name of Ladislaus II), his children by next wives were not automatically viewed as heirs, though he ultimately managed to secure their election as future rulers of Poland. His descendants in
male line were being chosen to reign over the kingdom until the death
Sigismund II Augustus in 1572 (and again in female line from 1575 to 1668 during
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth [see below]). Nobles were supportive of continuation of dynasty, however they wished to have control over who ascends the throne, believing it would lead to the royal children being raised as more competent than in case they would inherit automatically. This politics continued into time when Crown of the Kingdom of Poland was
united with
Grand Duchy of Lithuania, creating
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, where the ruling King's children were considered primary candidates as successors, but the throne remained elective.
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . The
Royal Election of 1573'', by
Jan Matejko 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 was heavily influenced by local traditions and strength of the ruler. 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 were thirteen royal elections in Poland–Lithuania from 1573 to 1764. Roșu (2017) marked 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 the nobility was able to confirm their majority choice for
Stephen Báthory and have it recognised, while avoiding war with
Maximilian II of Habsburg.
Scandinavia Scandinavian kingship, according to the Germanic tradition, was elected upon the death of the previous king.
Sovereign Military Order of Malta 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 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 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.
Asia Afghanistan In
Afghanistan, jirgas have been reportedly organized since at least the early 18th century when the
Hotaki and
Durrani dynasties rose to power.
Persia/Iran The
Parthian Empire (248 BC–224 AD), also known as the Arsacid Empire, is considered to be the first elective monarchy in Asia.
Mongol Empire 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.
Korea The ancient Korean kingdom of
Silla elected its first king by 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.
Siam/Thailand There were several occasions that the
Kingdom of Siam and
Thailand turned to a semi-elective monarchy system to settle the succession of the crown among disputed heirs: • In 1824, Phutthaloetla Naphalai died suddenly without having named a successor to
viceroy Maha Senanurak, who had died 16 July 1817. According to the traditions of royal succession, the viceroy or
uparaja was
heir presumptive. If there were none, then an
ad hoc senabodi consisting of senior officials present at the death of a king, would elect a successor. • On 2 March 1935, Prince Ananda Mahidol was elected by the National Assembly and the Thai government to succeed his uncle, King
Prajadhipok, as the eighth king of the Chakri dynasty, because
Prajadhipok, the previous king, had not named an heir before his abdication.
Oceania 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. King Tuheitia's daughter and youngest child, Nga wai hono i te po, was announced by the Tekau-ma-Rua as the next monarch on 5 September 2024, the last day of his
tangi. She is the second queen of the Kīngitanga, after her grandmother Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu.
The Americas United States An attempt to create an elective monarchy in the
United States failed.
Alexander Hamilton argued in a long speech before the
Constitutional Convention of 1787 that the
President of the United States should be an elective monarch, ruling for "good behavior" (i.e.,
for life, unless
impeached) and with extensive powers. Hamilton believed that elective monarchs had sufficient power domestically to resist foreign corruption, yet there was enough domestic control over their behavior to prevent tyranny at home. == Other elections ==