British Emperor
Encyclopedia
Although in the past the style of British Emperor has been (retroactively) applied to a few mythical and historical rulers of Great Britain
or the United Kingdom
, it is sometimes used as a colloquialism to designate either Plantagenet and Tudor
caesaropapism
or, more frequently, the British sovereign during the period of the Raj
.
, is referred to in medieval Welsh texts as ameraudur (meaning 'Emperor').
The Welsh poem Geraint, son of Erbin, written in the 10th or 11th century, describes a battle at a port-settlement and mentions Arthur in passing. The work is a praise-poem and elegy for the 6th-century king Geraint
, provides the earliest known reference to Arthur as "emperor."
Henry V
.
Europe the use of the title emperor was more than an affectation. A king recognises that the church
is an equal or superior in the religious sphere, emperors do not. This was illustrated by Henry VIII
of England
who started to use the word imperium
in his dispute with Pope Clement VII over the annulment
of his first marriage. The distinction began to blur when kings began to claim divine rights
.
thought it important enough to request and get a Papal blessing for his conquest
of England. Richard I of England
refused to show deference to Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor
when held prisoner by him, declaring "I am born of a rank which recognizes no superior but God". After Henry I
agreed to the Concordat of London in 1107 the English kings recognised the supremacy of the Pope in matters spiritual. For example, when Thomas Becket
was murdered, King Henry II of England
was forced to recognise that, although he ruled temporal matters, spiritual matters came under the authority of the Church in Rome.
This changed with the dispute between Henry VIII of England
and Pope Clement VII
over Henry's wish to have his marriage to Catherine of Aragon
annulled. The Act in Restraint of Appeals (1533) explicitly stated that
The next year the First Act of Supremacy (1534) explicitly tied the head of church to the imperial crown:
The Crown of Ireland Act
, passed by the Irish Parliament in 1541, (effective 1542) changed the traditional title used by the Monarchs of England for the reign over Ireland, from Lord of Ireland to King of Ireland
and naming Henry head of the Church of Ireland
, for similar reasons.
During the reign of Mary I
the First Act of Supremacy was annulled, but during the reign of Elizabeth I
the Second Act of Supremacy, with simiar wording to the First Act, was passed in 1559. During the English Interregnum
the laws were annulled, but the acts which caused the laws to be in abeyance were themselves, deemed to be null and void by the Parliaments of the English Restoration
, so by act of Parliament The Crown
of England and (later the British and UK crowns) are imperial crowns.
was created after the merging of the British and Irish parliaments. It was suggested that George III
be declared Emperor of the British Isles. The King declined and became king of "the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland."
Parliament used the terms "empire" and "imperial." Blackstone commented in 1765 "The meaning...of the legislature, when it uses these terms of empire and imperial, and applies them to the realm and crown of England, is only to assert that our king is equally sovereign and independent within these his dominions, as any emperor is in his empire."
would be outranked by her own daughter who would someday become German Empress, the British government led by Prime Minister
Benjamin Disraeli
, conferred the additional title Empress of India by an Act of Parliament, reputedly to assuage the monarch's irritation at being, as a mere Queen, notionally inferior to her own daughter (Princess Victoria was the wife of the reigning German Emperor); the Indian Imperial designation was also formally justified as the expression of Britain succeeding as paramount ruler
of the subcontinent the former Mughal 'Padishah
of Hind', using indirect rule through hundreds of princely state
s formally under protection, not colonies, but accepting the British Sovereign as their 'feudal' suzerain.
The Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927
in which it was agreed that the United Kingdom and the dominions were "equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations
". This in effect along with the Statute of Westminster, 1931 marked the beginning of the end of the British Empire and set the basis for the continuing relationship between the Commonwealth Realms and the structure of the Crown.
The title of Emperor of India was not immediately relinquished by George VI
when India
and Pakistan
gained independence on 15 August 1947, as he continued to be king of each of the two new dominion
s, but he abandoned the title with effect from 22 June 1948.
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
or the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, it is sometimes used as a colloquialism to designate either Plantagenet and Tudor
Tudor dynasty
The Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor was a European royal house of Welsh origin that ruled the Kingdom of England and its realms, including the Lordship of Ireland, later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1485 until 1603. Its first monarch was Henry Tudor, a descendant through his mother of a legitimised...
caesaropapism
Caesaropapism
Caesaropapism is the idea of combining the power of secular government with, or making it superior to, the spiritual authority of the Church; especially concerning the connection of the Church with government. The term caesaropapism was coined by Max Weber, who defined it as follows: “a secular,...
or, more frequently, the British sovereign during the period of the Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
.
Mythical British kings
Mythical British ruler, King ArthurKing Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
, is referred to in medieval Welsh texts as ameraudur (meaning 'Emperor').
The Welsh poem Geraint, son of Erbin, written in the 10th or 11th century, describes a battle at a port-settlement and mentions Arthur in passing. The work is a praise-poem and elegy for the 6th-century king Geraint
Geraint
Geraint is a character from Welsh folklore and Arthurian legend, a king of Dumnonia and a valiant warrior. He may have lived during or shortly prior to the reign of the historical Arthur, but some scholars doubt he ever existed...
, provides the earliest known reference to Arthur as "emperor."
Imperial ambitions 930 - 1066
Kings of England displayed imperial ambition in the period from 930 to 1066:- Athelstan (c.895 – 939) was a collector of imperial relics had himself proclaimed "imperator" in 930, six years after the death of the last CarolingianCarolingianThe Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name "Carolingian", Medieval Latin karolingi, an altered form of an unattested Old High German *karling, kerling The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the...
emperor. His successors adopted increasingly grander imperial titles until the Norman conquest in 1066. Because there was no set title, the monarchs styled themselves as they please which peaked with Ethelred the UnreadyEthelred the UnreadyÆthelred the Unready, or Æthelred II , was king of England . He was son of King Edgar and Queen Ælfthryth. Æthelred was only about 10 when his half-brother Edward was murdered...
. The most common imperial appendage was basileusBasileusBasileus is a Greek term and title that has signified various types of monarchs in history. It is perhaps best known in English as a title used by the Byzantine Emperors, but also has a longer history of use for persons of authority and sovereigns in ancient Greece, as well as for the kings of...
but imperatorImperatorThe Latin word Imperator was originally a title roughly equivalent to commander under the Roman Republic. Later it became a part of the titulature of the Roman Emperors as part of their cognomen. The English word emperor derives from imperator via Old French Empreur...
, princepsPrincepsPrinceps is a Latin word meaning "first in time or order; the first, chief, the most eminent, distinguished, or noble; the first man, first person."...
, augustusAugustus (honorific)Augustus , Latin for "majestic," "the increaser," or "venerable", was an Ancient Roman title, which was first held by Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus , and subsequently came to be considered one of the titles of what are now known as the Roman Emperors...
, and caesarCaesar (title)Caesar is a title of imperial character. It derives from the cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator...
were all used sporadically.
- Canute the GreatCanute the GreatCnut the Great , also known as Canute, was a king of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden. Though after the death of his heirs within a decade of his own and the Norman conquest of England in 1066, his legacy was largely lost to history, historian Norman F...
(994/995 – 1035): according to his biographer, Canute ruled as an emperor over the lands he acquired (DenmarkDenmarkDenmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and NorwayNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
).
Norman Era: Empress Maud (Matilda)
In this case the epithet "Empress" was rather used to distinguish this person from other royals called Matilda or Maud. Matilda was not Empress of Britain - she took her title from her previous marriage to Holy Roman EmperorHoly Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
Henry V
Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry V was King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor , the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. Henry's reign coincided with the final phase of the great Investiture Controversy, which had pitted pope against emperor...
.
The "Imperium Maius" issue
Although several English monarchs flirted with the idea of "imperial" power, this never led to an official change of the title of "King/Queen" to that of "Emperor/Empress".Imperium maius
In ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
Europe the use of the title emperor was more than an affectation. A king recognises that the church
Christian Church
The Christian Church is the assembly or association of followers of Jesus Christ. The Greek term ἐκκλησία that in its appearances in the New Testament is usually translated as "church" basically means "assembly"...
is an equal or superior in the religious sphere, emperors do not. This was illustrated by Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
who started to use the word imperium
Imperium
Imperium is a Latin word which, in a broad sense, translates roughly as 'power to command'. In ancient Rome, different kinds of power or authority were distinguished by different terms. Imperium, referred to the sovereignty of the state over the individual...
in his dispute with Pope Clement VII over the annulment
Annulment
Annulment is a legal procedure for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost as if it had never taken place...
of his first marriage. The distinction began to blur when kings began to claim divine rights
Divine Right of Kings
The divine right of kings or divine-right theory of kingship is a political and religious doctrine of royal and political legitimacy. It asserts that a monarch is subject to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the will of God...
.
English kings and the imperium maius
King William I of EnglandWilliam I of England
William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...
thought it important enough to request and get a Papal blessing for his conquest
Norman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
of England. Richard I of England
Richard I of England
Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
refused to show deference to Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry VI was King of Germany from 1190 to 1197, Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 to 1197 and King of Sicily from 1194 to 1197.-Early years:Born in Nijmegen,...
when held prisoner by him, declaring "I am born of a rank which recognizes no superior but God". After Henry I
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
agreed to the Concordat of London in 1107 the English kings recognised the supremacy of the Pope in matters spiritual. For example, when Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...
was murdered, King Henry II of England
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
was forced to recognise that, although he ruled temporal matters, spiritual matters came under the authority of the Church in Rome.
This changed with the dispute between Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
and Pope Clement VII
Pope Clement VII
Clement VII , born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici, was a cardinal from 1513 to 1523 and was Pope from 1523 to 1534.-Early life:...
over Henry's wish to have his marriage to Catherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon , also known as Katherine or Katharine, was Queen consort of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII of England and Princess of Wales as the wife to Arthur, Prince of Wales...
annulled. The Act in Restraint of Appeals (1533) explicitly stated that
- Where by divers sundry old authentic histories and chronicles it is manifestly declared and expressed that this realm of England is an empire, and so hath been accepted in the world, governed by one supreme head and king, having the dignity and royal estate of the imperial crownImperial crownAn Imperial Crown is a crown used for the coronation of emperors.- Imperial Crowns with Mitre :-Legal usage:Throughout the Commonwealth Realms, The Crown is an abstract concept which represents the legal authority for the existence of any government...
of the same.
The next year the First Act of Supremacy (1534) explicitly tied the head of church to the imperial crown:
- The only supreme head in earth of the Church of EnglandChurch of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
called Anglicana Ecclesia, and shall have and enjoy annexed and united to the imperial crown of this realm.
The Crown of Ireland Act
Crown of Ireland Act 1542
The Crown of Ireland Act 1542 is an Act of the Parliament of Ireland , declaring that King Henry VIII of England and his successors would also be Kings of Ireland. Since 1171 the monarch of England had held the title Lord of Ireland...
, passed by the Irish Parliament in 1541, (effective 1542) changed the traditional title used by the Monarchs of England for the reign over Ireland, from Lord of Ireland to King of Ireland
King of Ireland
A monarchical polity has existed in Ireland during three periods of its history, finally ending in 1801. The designation King of Ireland and Queen of Ireland was used during these periods...
and naming Henry head of the Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
, for similar reasons.
During the reign of Mary I
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
the First Act of Supremacy was annulled, but during the reign of Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
the Second Act of Supremacy, with simiar wording to the First Act, was passed in 1559. During the English Interregnum
English Interregnum
The English Interregnum was the period of parliamentary and military rule by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the Commonwealth of England after the English Civil War...
the laws were annulled, but the acts which caused the laws to be in abeyance were themselves, deemed to be null and void by the Parliaments of the English Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
, so by act of Parliament The Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
of England and (later the British and UK crowns) are imperial crowns.
George III as Emperor
In 1801 the United Kingdom of Great Britain and IrelandUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
was created after the merging of the British and Irish parliaments. It was suggested that George III
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...
be declared Emperor of the British Isles. The King declined and became king of "the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland."
Parliament used the terms "empire" and "imperial." Blackstone commented in 1765 "The meaning...of the legislature, when it uses these terms of empire and imperial, and applies them to the realm and crown of England, is only to assert that our king is equally sovereign and independent within these his dominions, as any emperor is in his empire."
British monarchs with the title Emperor/Empress of India (1877-1948)
When a royal marriage made it obvious to the British in 1877 that their Queen VictoriaVictoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
would be outranked by her own daughter who would someday become German Empress, the British government led by Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Benjamin Disraeli
Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield
Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, KG, PC, FRS, was a British Prime Minister, parliamentarian, Conservative statesman and literary figure. Starting from comparatively humble origins, he served in government for three decades, twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom...
, conferred the additional title Empress of India by an Act of Parliament, reputedly to assuage the monarch's irritation at being, as a mere Queen, notionally inferior to her own daughter (Princess Victoria was the wife of the reigning German Emperor); the Indian Imperial designation was also formally justified as the expression of Britain succeeding as paramount ruler
Paramount Ruler
The term Paramount Ruler, or sometimes Paramount King, is a generic description, though occasionally also used as an actual title, for a number of rulers' position in relative terms, as the summit of a feudal-type pyramid of rulers of lesser polities in a given historical and geographical context,...
of the subcontinent the former Mughal 'Padishah
Padishah
Padishah, Padshah, Padeshah, Badishah or Badshah is a superlative royal title, composed of the Persian pād "master" and the widespread shāh "king", which was adopted by several monarchs claiming the highest rank, roughly equivalent to the ancient Persian notion of "The Great" or "Great King", and...
of Hind', using indirect rule through hundreds of princely state
Princely state
A Princely State was a nominally sovereign entitity of British rule in India that was not directly governed by the British, but rather by an Indian ruler under a form of indirect rule such as suzerainty or paramountcy.-British relationship with the Princely States:India under the British Raj ...
s formally under protection, not colonies, but accepting the British Sovereign as their 'feudal' suzerain.
The Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927
Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927
The Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 [17 & 18 Geo. 5 c. 4] was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that authorised the alteration of the British monarch's royal style and titles, and altered the formal name of the British Parliament, in recognition of much of Ireland separating from...
in which it was agreed that the United Kingdom and the dominions were "equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
". This in effect along with the Statute of Westminster, 1931 marked the beginning of the end of the British Empire and set the basis for the continuing relationship between the Commonwealth Realms and the structure of the Crown.
The title of Emperor of India was not immediately relinquished by George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
when India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
gained independence on 15 August 1947, as he continued to be king of each of the two new dominion
Dominion
A dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of autonomous polities that were nominally under British sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and British Commonwealth, beginning in the latter part of the 19th century. They have included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland,...
s, but he abandoned the title with effect from 22 June 1948.