Reign
A reign is the period of time that a monarch (a king, queen, emperor, etc.) rules over a country.[1] It can also be the period of time that a spiritual leader rules in a particular office. For example, the reign of a pope, dalai lama, patriarch etc. A reign can also be used for an office or championship.[1] In many cases a reign lasts until the monarch (or leader) resigns, dies, or is removed. A monarch's reign was sometimes used to mark time officially. In Anglo-Saxon England for example, many royal documents were dated by the regnal year of the king.[2] This lasted until about the 10th century.[2]
Current Longest Reigning Monarchs
Some of the longest reigning current monarchs are:
- Elizabeth II, United Kingdom, 62+ years .[3]
- Sikiru Kayode Adetona, Nigeria,[3] 55+ years.
- Hassanal Bolkiah, Brunei, 47+ years.[3]
- Margrethe II of Denmark, 42+ years.[3]
- Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, United Arab Emirates, 42+ years.[3]
- Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden 41+ years.[3]
Some of the longest reigning monarchs of all time are:
- Sobhuza II, Swaziland, reigned for 82 years, 253 days.[4]
- Bernard VII, Lord of Lippe, reigned for 81 years, 234 days.[4]
- Bhagvat Singh, ruler of Gondal, India, reigned for 74 years, 87 days.[4]
- Louis XIV of France reigned for 72 years, 110 days.[4]
Shortest Reigning Monarchs in History
Some of the shortest reigns in history are:
- Louis Antoine, Duke of Angoulême as "Louis XIX of France", reigned for 20 minutes.[5]
- Dipendra of Nepal, reigned for 56 hours (in a coma).[5]
- Dục Đức reigned as Emperor of Vietnam for 3 days.[5]
- Lady Jane Grey reigned as Queen of England for 9 days.[5]
- Edward V of England was King of England for 2 months, 16 days.[5]
- Dafydd ap Gruffydd was the Prince of Wales (last independent ruler) for 6 months, 11 days.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "reign". Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Michael Jones, A Handbook of Dates: For Students of British History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), p. 21
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 "World's longest-serving monarchs – where does the Queen rank?". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Caroline Davies (9 September 2015). "UK's longest-reigning monarch, but Queen ranks only 48th in world". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Victoria Lambert (16 January 2016). "King for a day: who was the shortest-reigning monarch?". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 December 2015.