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:

Some of the longest reigning monarchs of all time are:

Shortest Reigning Monarchs in History

Some of the shortest reigns in history are:

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "reign". Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Michael Jones, A Handbook of Dates: For Students of British History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004), p. 21
  3. 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. 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. 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.