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| '''Abdication''' (from the Latin ''abdicatio'' disowning, renouncing, from ''ab'', from, and ''dicare'', to declare, to proclaim as not belonging to one), the act whereby a person in office renounces and gives up the same before the expiry of the time for which it is held. In ], the term is especially applied to the disowning of a member of a family, as the disinheriting of a son, but the word is seldom used except in the sense of surrendering the supreme power in a state. | '''Abdication''' (from the Latin ''abdicatio'' disowning, renouncing, from ''ab'', from, and ''dicare'', to declare, to proclaim as not belonging to one), the act whereby a person in office renounces and gives up the same before the expiry of the time for which it is held. In ], the term is especially applied to the disowning of a member of a family, as the disinheriting of a son, but the word is seldom used except in the sense of surrendering the supreme power in a state. | ||
| Probably the most famous abdication in recent memory is that of King ] in 1936, who abdicated the British throne in order to marry American divorcee ], over the objections of the ] and the royal family. This was also the first time in history that the British crown was surrendered entirely voluntarily. ], for example, was forced to abdicate after the throne was seized by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, while Richard was out of the country. | Probably the most famous abdication in recent memory is that of King ] in 1936, who abdicated the British throne in order to marry American divorcee ], over the objections of the ] and the royal family. This was also the first time in history that the British crown was surrendered entirely voluntarily. ], for example, was forced to abdicate after the throne was seized by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, while Richard was out of the country. | ||
| When ], after throwing the great seal into the ], fled to ] in 1688, he did not formally resign the crown, and the question was discussed in parliament whether he had forfeited the throne or had abdicated. The latter designation was agreed upon, for in a full assembly of the Lords and Commons, met in convention, it was resolved in spite of James's protest "''that King James II having endeavoured to subvert the constitution of the kingdom, by breaking the original contract between king and people, and, by the advice of ] and other wicked persons, having violated the fundamental laws, and having withdrawn himself out of this kingdom, has abdicated the government, and that the throne is thereby vacant.''" The Scottish parliament pronounced a decree of forfeiture and deposition. Among the most memorable abdications of antiquity may be mentioned that of Sulla the dictator, 79 B.C., and that of the Emperor ], A.D. 305. The following is a list of the more important abdications: | When ], after throwing the great seal into the ], fled to ] in 1688, he did not formally resign the crown, and the question was discussed in parliament whether he had forfeited the throne or had abdicated. The latter designation was agreed upon, for in a full assembly of the Lords and Commons, met in convention, it was resolved in spite of James's protest "''that King James II having endeavoured to subvert the constitution of the kingdom, by breaking the original contract between king and people, and, by the advice of ] and other wicked persons, having violated the fundamental laws, and having withdrawn himself out of this kingdom, has abdicated the government, and that the throne is thereby vacant.''" The Scottish parliament pronounced a decree of forfeiture and deposition. Among the most memorable abdications of antiquity may be mentioned that of Sulla the dictator, 79 B.C., and that of the Emperor ], A.D. 305. The following is a list of the more important abdications: | ||
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Revision as of 08:18, 31 March 2002
Abdication (from the Latin abdicatio disowning, renouncing, from ab, from, and dicare, to declare, to proclaim as not belonging to one), the act whereby a person in office renounces and gives up the same before the expiry of the time for which it is held. In Roman law, the term is especially applied to the disowning of a member of a family, as the disinheriting of a son, but the word is seldom used except in the sense of surrendering the supreme power in a state.
Probably the most famous abdication in recent memory is that of King Edward VIII in 1936, who abdicated the British throne in order to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson, over the objections of the Church of England and the royal family. This was also the first time in history that the British crown was surrendered entirely voluntarily. Richard II, for example, was forced to abdicate after the throne was seized by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, while Richard was out of the country.
When James II of England, after throwing the great seal into the Thames, fled to France in 1688, he did not formally resign the crown, and the question was discussed in parliament whether he had forfeited the throne or had abdicated. The latter designation was agreed upon, for in a full assembly of the Lords and Commons, met in convention, it was resolved in spite of James's protest "that King James II having endeavoured to subvert the constitution of the kingdom, by breaking the original contract between king and people, and, by the advice of Jesuits and other wicked persons, having violated the fundamental laws, and having withdrawn himself out of this kingdom, has abdicated the government, and that the throne is thereby vacant." The Scottish parliament pronounced a decree of forfeiture and deposition. Among the most memorable abdications of antiquity may be mentioned that of Sulla the dictator, 79 B.C., and that of the Emperor Diocletian, A.D. 305. The following is a list of the more important abdications:
| Benedict IX, pope | 1048 |
| Stephen II of Hungary | 1131 |
| Albert (the Bear) of Brandenburg | 1169 |
| Ladislaus III of Poland | 1206 |
| Celestine V, pope | Dec. 13, 1294 |
| John Baliol of Scotland | 1296 |
| John Cantacuzene, emperor of the East | 1355 |
| Richard II of England | Sept. 29, 1399 |
| John XXIII, pope | 1415 |
| Eric VII of Denmark and XIII of Sweden | 1439 |
| Murad II, Ottoman Sultan | 1444 and 1445 |
| Charles V, emperor | 1556 |
| Christina of Sweden | 1654 |
| John Casimir of Poland | 1618 |
| James II of England | 1688 |
| Frederick Augustus of Poland | 1704 |
| Philip V of Spain | 1724 |
| Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia | 1730 |
| Ahmed III, Sultan of Turkey | 1730 |
| Charles of Naples (on accession to throne of Spain) | 1759 |
| Stanislaus II of Poland | 1795 |
| Charles Emanuel IV of Sardinia | June 4, 1802 |
| Charles IV of Spain | Mar. 19, 1808 |
| Joseph Bonaparte of Naples | June 6, 1808 |
| Gustavus IV of Sweden | Mar. 29, 1809 |
| Louis Bonaparte of Holland | July 2, 1810 |
| Napoleon I, French Emperor | April 4, 1814, and June 22, 1815 |
| Victor Emanuel of Sardinia | Mar. 13, 1821 |
| Charles X of France | Aug. 2, 1830 |
| Pedro of Brazil | April 7, 1831 |
| Miguel of Portgual | May 26, 1834 |
| William I of Holland | Oct. 7, 1840 |
| Louis Philippe, king of the French | Feb. 24, 1848 |
| Louis Charles of Bavaria | Mar. 21, 1848 |
| Ferdinand of Austria | Dec. 2, 1848 |
| Charles Albert of Sardinia | Mar. 23, 1849 |
| Leopold II of Tuscany | July 21, 1859 |
| Isabella II of Spain | June 25, 1870 |
| Amadeus I of Spain | Feb. 11, 1873 |
| Alexander of Bulgaria | Sept. 7, 1886 |
| Milan of Servia | Mar. 6, 1889 |
| Edward VIII of England | Dec. 11, 1936 |
Pedro had succeeded to the throne of Portugal in 1826, but abdicated it at once in favor of his daughter.