Emperor

An emperor is the male ruler of an empire. The word comes from Latin imperator and passed through Old French as empereor. Empress is the female version. It can mean an emperor's wife (empress consort), a mother or grandmother of an emperor (empress dowager or grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules in her own right (empress regnant or suo jure). Emperors are usually seen as having the highest rank of any monarch, higher than kings.

In Europe, the title of Emperor was used from the Middle Ages onward. It was thought to be equal or almost equal in importance to that of the Pope, because the Pope was the leader of the Church and the spiritual head of the Catholic part of Western Europe. Today, the emperor of Japan is the only reigning monarch whose title is translated into English as "Emperor."

A king might have to pay tribute to another ruler or have his choices limited in unfair ways. An emperor, in theory, should be free of such limits. However, rulers of empires did not always use the title in every situation. For example, the British sovereign did not take the title Empress of the British Empire even during the incorporation of India, though she was declared Empress of India.

In Western Europe, the Holy Roman Emperor was the only ruler who used the title of Emperor. The emperor's power came from the idea of translatio imperii, which meant that he claimed to follow on from the authority of the Roman emperors. The Holy Roman Emperor first ruled much of Central Europe and northern Italy. By the 19th century, though, the emperor had little power beyond the German-speaking states. In Eastern Europe, the rulers of Russia also used this idea to claim imperial authority, but they are better known by the Russian title Tsar.

Historians have often used the words "emperor" and "empire" to describe any large state from the past or present, even outside their Roman and European context. Some rulers' titles are translated as "emperor," such as the Khalifa and the Great Khan. Over time, "empire" came to mean a vast territory rather than the title of its ruler.

Roman Empire

Main articles: Roman emperor and Imperator

When Republican Rome became a monarchy in the late 1st century BC, the Romans did not have a name for this new kind of ruler. They did not like the word "king," so they kept the old forms of republican rule. Julius Caesar had been Dictator, but that title became unpopular after he died. Augustus is considered the first Roman emperor. He took many of the old offices and honours for himself. The title Imperator, meaning "commander," became the one his successors liked best. Names like Caesar and Augustus also came to mean emperor. The name Caesar later turned into words like "Kaiser" and "Tsar." Later, the empire had hard times. Emperor Diocletian tried to help by sharing power among several emperors. In the end, the empire was split into a Western part and an Eastern part. The Western Empire ended in the late 400s.

Main article: Byzantine Emperor

Historians call the Roman Empire that continued in the east the Byzantine Empire. It is named after the town of Byzantium, which Constantine I made the capital and called New Rome. Later emperors in the east had complete power. The Greek word Basileus, which meant "king," became the usual word for the emperor. The Byzantine emperors also claimed authority over the Church. Eastern church leaders accepted this, but bishops in the West did not. In 1204, the Venetians and the Franks took Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. They set up a new Latin Empire there. Byzantine forces won the city back in 1261.

Main article: Latin Emperor

Europe

Byzantium had close ties with its neighbours Bulgaria, Serbia, and Russia. Because of this, many of these countries took on Byzantine imperial traditions. Over time, several European rulers used the title of emperor. The Holy Roman Empire was ruled by emperors from the House of Habsburg. In 1804, Napoleon made himself Emperor of the French. Bulgaria's ruler Simeon I was crowned emperor in 913. Serbia's king Stefan Uroš IV Dušan called himself emperor in 1345. Later, Russian rulers took the title of tsar and, in 1721, the title of emperor.

Some titles changed over the years. After the old Holy Roman Empire ended in 1806, Francis II became Francis I, Emperor of Austria. The German Empire was formed in 1871, with a Prussian king as emperor. It ended after World War I. In Britain, Queen Victoria was given the title Empress of India. That title was later dropped after India became independent.

The Americas

The Aztec and Inca traditions are not related to each other. Both were conquered during the reign of King Charles I of Spain, who was also emperor-elect of the Holy Roman Empire when the Aztecs fell and became full emperor when the Incas fell. The only pre-Columbian North American rulers commonly called emperors were the Huey Tlatoani of the Tenochtitlan, Tlacopan and Texcoco city-states. Together with their allies, these are known as the Aztec Empire (1375–1521). Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés had Emperor Cuauhtémoc killed and put in rulers who obeyed Spain. The only pre-Columbian South American rulers commonly called emperors were the Sapa Inca of the Inca Empire (1438–1533). Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca for Spain, had Emperor Atahualpa killed, and also put in rulers who obeyed Spain.

After Napoleon ordered the invasion of Portugal in 1807, the Portuguese Braganzas moved their capital to Rio de Janeiro. In 1822, Prince Pedro I declared himself Emperor of Brazil. The empire ended in 1889, when Emperor Pedro II was removed from power and the Brazilian republic was proclaimed. Haiti was made an empire by Jean-Jacques Dessalines on 20 May 1805. It was an empire again from 1849 to 1859 under Faustin Soulouque.

In Mexico, the First Mexican Empire was the first of two empires created after the declaration of independence on 15 September 1821. Agustín de Iturbide was proclaimed emperor as Agustín I on 12 July 1822. In 1863, the French, under Napoleon III, helped create the Second Mexican Empire and invited Archduke Maximilian of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine to become Maximilian I of Mexico. After French support was withdrawn in 1867, Maximilian was captured and killed by the forces of Benito Juárez.

Middle East

Further information: King of Kings

The term "king of kings" is used for the "emperor." The title King of Kings takes different forms in different languages. It was used in Iran and nearby lands, such as Assyria and Babylonia. Persian rulers used the title shahanshah, which means "King of Kings." It showed that they ruled over lesser kings, called shahs. The Achaemenid, Arsacid, and Sasanian dynasties all used it. The Achaemenid Empire was very large. It stretched from the Indian subcontinent to parts of Greece and Egypt. In the Sasanian dynasty, the female version of the title was banbishnan banbishn. The last Iranian ruler to hold the title was Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. He lost power in the Iranian Revolution in 1979. His wife, Farah Pahlavi, was the only person to hold the title Shahbanu.

Main articles: Shahanshah, Banbishn, Shahbanu, List of monarchs of Iran, Achaemenid Empire, List of monarchs of Parthia, and List of monarchs of the Sasanian Empire

Main article: List of Sultans of the Ottoman Empire

Ottoman rulers had many titles that showed their imperial status. These included Sultan of Sultans, Padishah, and Hakan. After the Ottoman capture of Constantinople in 1453, the Ottoman sultans began calling themselves Kaysar-i Rum, meaning "Caesar of the Romans." They saw themselves as the heirs of the Roman Empire. Western writers rarely called the Ottoman sultan an "emperor," but they generally accepted that he had imperial status. Harun Osman is currently the head of the Ottoman dynasty.

Indian subcontinent

Further information: hi:सम्राट् and Chakravartin

In the Vedic period, there was a federal imperial system called the Samrajya system. Its emperor was called Samrat (hi:सम्राट्). Rulers who brought many other rulers under their control could claim the title of Samrat. Samrajni means empress.

Another kind of Indian empire was called the Chakravarti system. Emperors wanted to be called Chakravarti, which means "universal monarch." Cakravartini means empress. One of the first known rulers called a Chakravartin was Ashoka of the Maurya Empire. The Gupta emperors also used the titles Samrat and Chakravartin. The Imperial Cholas used Chakravartigal and Tribhuvana-Chakravartin, which means "emperor of the three worlds."

Mughal Empire

From the 16th century until the early 18th century, the Mughals ruled much of the Indian subcontinent. Their rulers used the titles Shahenshah and Padishah (or Badshah) of Hindustan.

British Raj

When British monarchs ruled over India, they also took the title Kaisar-i-Hind (meaning Emperor of India).

Africa

From 1270, the Solomonic dynasty of Ethiopia used the title Nəgusä Nägäst, which means "King of Kings." Kings of Aksum had used this title for about a thousand years before that, starting with Sembrouthes in the 3rd century. The dynasty also used Itegue Zetopia. Itegue means Empress. The only empress to rule, Zewditu, used this title. She also held the title Negiste Negest, which means "Queen of Kings."

In 1936, the Italian king Victor Emmanuel III claimed the title of emperor after Italy took over Ethiopia during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. In 1941, the Italians were defeated by the British and the Ethiopians. Then Haile Selassie was put back on the throne. Victor Emmanuel did not give up his claim until 1943, even though he had no right to the title. The current head of the Solomonic dynasty is Zera Yacob Amha Selassie.

In 1976, President Jean-Bédel Bokassa of the Central African Republic declared the country an Central African Empire and made himself emperor, known as Bokassa I. The cost of his coronation ceremony was so high that it nearly ruined the country. He was removed from power three years later, and the republic was restored.

East Asia

See also: Emperor at home, king abroad

Huángdì in Chinese, Hwangje in Korean, Hoàng đế in Vietnamese, and Kōtei in Japanese all come from the same Chinese characters, 皇帝, which mean "emperor." Other titles, such as Tennō, are variations of these characters. People in the West have always called the rulers of China, and later Japan, emperors. In 221 BC, Ying Zheng declared himself Shi Huangdi, or "first emperor." China kept this title until the Qing dynasty was overthrown in 1912. Wu Zetian was the only woman to rule China in her own right. She ruled for about 15 years. In Japan, Emperor Jimmu is the earliest emperor in the old Japanese histories. Japan's emperors were often little more than figureheads. Emperor Naruhito is the 126th monarch in the traditional order of succession. In 1897, Gojong announced the founding of the Korean Empire, which lasted until 1910. In Mongolia, Genghis Khan formally took the Chinese title huangdi, or "Genghis Emperor." In 968, Đinh Bộ Lĩnh became the first ruler of Vietnam to use the title Hoàng Đế (Emperor).

Religion

Main article: Pontifex maximus

Main articles: Khalifa, List of caliphs, and List of Abbasid caliphs

Popes use the title Pontifex maximus, which was also a title of the Roman emperors. Guglielmo Ferrero said that the Pope is a direct successor to the Roman Emperor. In East Asia, the title Pope is translated as 教皇, which means "emperor of the religion." In the Islamosphere, Khalifa is the equivalent of emperor. During the Crusades, Abbasid khalifa came to be called "emperor."

Some Buddhist or Hindu kings of East and Southeast Asia were called Chakravarti, a title meaning wheel-turning king. Some Chinese rulers used the Wheel-Turning King title, such as Emperor Wu of Liang, and Empress Wu Zetian used the Cakravartin of the Golden Wheel. The title Emperor Manjushri, linked to the wheel-turning king, was given to the Chinese Qing emperors in Tibetan Buddhism. Mongol rulers such as Kublai Khan and Altan Khan also used the Wheel-Turning King title. Some Korean rulers, such as Jinheung of Silla and Seong of Baekje, used the Wheel-Turning Sacred King title, and Mun of Balhae and the Goryeo rulers used the Cakravartin of the Golden Wheel. Japanese rulers such as Emperor Shōmu and Emperor Go-Daigo also used these titles. Rulers in Southeast Asia used similar titles too. These included Ramkhamhaeng, Tilokarat, and Maha Chakkraphat of Siam, Anawrahta and Bayinnaung of Burma, Chakkaphat Phaen Phaeo of Laos, Jayavarman II of the Khmer people, and Airlangga and Hayam Wuruk of Java.