Havana and Puerto Rico, and at longer intervals to the Río de la Plata, where an additional viceroyalty was created in The contraband trade that was the lifeblood of the Habsburg empire declined in proportion to registered shipping a shipping registry having been established in Two upheavals registered unease within Spanish America and at the same time demonstrated the renewed resiliency of the reformed system the Tupac Amaru uprising in Peru in and the rebellion of the comuneros of New Granada, both in part reactions to tighter, more efficient control th century prosperity edit San Felipe de Barajas Fortress Cartagena de Indias In the Spanish defeated a vast British invasion fleet and army from this fortress in present day Colombia during the Battle of Cartagena de Indias The th century was a century of prosperity for the overseas Spanish Empire as trade within grew steadily, particularly in the second half of the century, under the Bourbon reforms Spain's crucial victory in the Battle of Cartagena de Indias against a massive British fleet and army in the Caribbean port of Cartagena de Indias, one of a number of successful battles, helped Spain secure its dominance of America until the th century With a Bourbon monarchy came a repertory of Bourbon mercantilist ideas based on a centralized state, put into effect in America slowly at first but with increasing momentum during the century Rapid shipping growth from the mid s until the Seven Years' War – , reflecting in part the success of the Bourbons in bringing illicit trade under control With the loosening of trade controls after the Seven Years' War, shipping trade within the empire once again began to expand, reaching an extraordinary rate of growth in the s The ending of Cádiz's trade monopoly with America brought about a rebirth of Spanish manufactures Most notable was the rapidly growing textile industry of Catalonia which by the mid s saw the first signs of industrialisation This saw the emergence of a small, politically active commercial class in Barcelona This isolated pocket of advanced economic development stood in stark contrast to the relative backwardness of most of the country Most of the improvements were in and around some major coastal cities and the major islands such as Cuba, with its plantations, and a renewed growth of precious metals mining in America On the other hand, most of rural Spain and its empire, where the great bulk of the population lived, lived in relatively backward conditions by th century West European standards, reinforced old customs and isolation Agricultural productivity remained low despite efforts to introduce new techniques to what was for the most part an uninterested, exploited peasant and labouring groups Governments were inconsistent in their policies Though there were substantial improvements by the late th century, Spain was still an economic backwater

Under the mercantile trading arrangements it had difficulty in providing the goods being demanded by the strongly growing markets of its empire, and providing adequate outlets for the return trade Overseas expansion edit A Spanish army captures British Pensacola in In the Treaty of Paris returns all of Florida to Spain for the return of the Bahamas The Bourbon institutional reforms were to bear fruit militarily when Spanish forces easily retook Naples and Sicily from the Austrians in during War of the Polish Succession, and during the War of Jenkins' Ear – thwarted British efforts to seize the strategic cities of Cartagena de Indias and Santiago de Cuba by defeating a massive British army and navy led by Edward Vernon, which ended Britain's ambitions in the Spanish Main Moreover, though Spain was severely defeated during the invasion of Portugal and lost some territories to British forces towards the end of the Seven Years' War – , she was to recover these losses and seize the British naval base in the Bahamas during the American Revolutionary War – The greater part of what is the territory of today's Brazil had been claimed as Spanish when exploration began with the navigation of the length of the Amazon River in – by Francisco de Orellana Many Spanish expeditions explored large parts of this vast region, especially those close to Spanish settlements During the th and th centuries, Spanish soldiers, missionaries and adventurers also established pioneering communities, primarily in Paraná, Santa Catarina, and São Paulo, and forts on the northeastern coast threatened by the French and Dutch As Portuguese Brazilian settlement expanded, following in the trail of the Bandeirantes exploits, these isolated Spanish groups were eventually integrated into Brazilian society Only some Castilians who were displaced from the disputed areas of the Pampas of Rio Grande do Sul have left a significant influence on the formation of the gaucho, when they mixed with Indian groups, Portuguese and blacks who arrived in the region during the th century The Spanish were barred by their laws from slaving of indigenous people, leaving them without a commercial interest deep in the interior of the Amazon basin The Laws of Burgos and the New Laws had been intended to protect the interests of indigenous people While in spirit they were often abused, as through forced exploitative labour of locals, they did prevent widespread formal enslavement of indigenous people in Spanish territories The Portuguese Brazilian slavers, the Bandeirantes, had the advantage of access from the mouth of the Amazon River, which was on the Portuguese side of the line of Tordesillas One famous attack upon a Spanish mission in resulted in the enslavement of about , indigenous people In time, there were in effect a self funding force of occupation By the th century, much of the Spanish territory was under de facto control of Portuguese Brazil This reality was recognised with the legal transfer of sovereignty in of most of the Amazon basin and surrounding areas to Portugal in the Treaty of Madrid This settlement sowed the seeds of the Guarani War in The California mission planning was begun in The Nootka Crisis – involved a dispute between Spain and Great Britain about the British settlement in Oregon to British Columbia In , the king of Spain gave Alessandro Malaspina an order to search for a Northwest Passage Spanish territorial claims in the West Coast of North America, th century Spanish Empire at its greatest extent The Spanish empire had still not returned to first rate power status, but it had recovered considerably from the dark days at the beginning of the th century when it was, and particularly in continental matters, at the mercy of other powers' political deals The relatively more peaceful century under the new monarchy had allowed it to rebuild and start the long process of modernizing its institutions and economy The demographic decline of the th century had been reversed It was a middle ranking power with great power pretensions that could not be ignored But time was to be against it The growth of trade and wealth in the colonies caused increasing political tensions as frustration grew with the improving but still restrictive trade with Spain Malaspina's recommendation to turn the empire into a looser confederation to help improve governance and trade so as to quell the growing political tensions between the élites of the empire's periphery and centre was suppressed by a monarchy afraid of losing control All was to be swept away by the tumult that was to overtake Europe at the turn of the th century with the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars Twilight of the Global Empire – edit Churruca's Death, oil on canvas about the Battle of Trafalgar by Eugenio Álvarez Dumont, Prado Museum The Second of May The Charge of the Mamelukes, by Francisco de Goya The first major territory Spain was to lose in the th century was the vast and wild Louisiana Territory, which stretched north to Canada and was ceded by France in under the terms of the Treaty of Fontainebleau The French, under Napoleon, took back possession as part of the Treaty of San Ildefonso in and sold it to the United States Louisiana Purchase, The destruction of the main Spanish fleet, under French command, at the Battle of Trafalgar undermined Spain's ability to defend and hold on to its empire The British invasions of the Río de la Plata attempt to seize the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in The viceroy retreated hastily to the hills when defeated by a small British force However, the Criollos militias and colonial army eventually repulsed the British The later intrusion of Napoleonic forces into Spain in see Peninsular War cut off effective connection with the empire But it was internal tensions that ultimately ended the empire in the Americas Napoleon's sale in of the Louisiana Territory to the United States caused border disputes between the United States and Spain that, with rebellions in West Florida and in the remainder of Louisiana at the mouth of the Mississippi, led to their eventual cession to the United States, along with the sale of all of Florida in the Adams–Onís Treaty In Baron Nikolai Rezanov attempted to negotiate a treaty between the Russian American Company and Viceroyalty of New Spain but his unexpected death in ended any treaty hopes In , Napoleon forced the abdication of the Spanish King Abdications of Bayonne and placed his brother, Joseph Bonaparte, on the throne, however this provoked an uprising from the Spanish people and a grinding guerrilla warfare, which Napoleon dubbed his ulcer the Peninsular War, famously depicted by the painter Goya ensued, followed by a power vacuum lasting up to a decade and turmoil for several decades, civil wars on succession disputes, a republic, and finally a liberal democracy Resistance coalesces around juntas, emergency ad hoc governments A Supreme Central and Governing Junta of the Kingdom, ruling in the name of Ferdinand VII, is created on September to coordinate efforts among the various juntas Spanish American independence edit In North America, Mexico, led by Agustin de Iturbide and Vicente Guerrero, declared its independence in The Battle of Ayacucho, December The defeat of the Spanish army at Ayacucho in Peru signaled the end of Spain's empire in South America Main articles Spanish American wars of independence and Junta Peninsular War Juntas emerged in Spanish America as a result of Spain facing a political crisis due to the abdication of Ferdinand VII and Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion Spanish Americans reacted in much the same way the Peninsular Spanish did, legitimizing their actions through traditional law, which held that sovereignty retroverted to the people in the absence of a legitimate king The majority of Spanish Americans continued to support the idea of maintaining a monarchy under Ferdinand VII, but did not support retaining absolute monarchy citation needed Spanish Americans wanted self government The juntas in the Americas did not accept the governments of the Europeans – neither the government set up for Spain by the French nor the various Spanish Governments set up in response to the French invasion The juntas did not accept the Spanish regency, isolated under siege in the city of Cadiz – They also rejected the Spanish Constitution of although the Constitution gave Spanish citizenship to natives of the territories that had belonged to the Spanish monarchy in both hemispheres The Constitution of recognised indigenous peoples of the Americas as Spanish citizens But the acquisition of citizenship for any casta of Afro American peoples of the Americas was through naturalization – excluding slaves A long period of wars followed in America from to In South America this period of wars led to the freedom and independence of Argentina , Paraguay and Uruguay , but subsequently ruled by Brazil until José de San Martín campaigned for independence in Chile and in Peru Further north, Simón Bolívar led forces that won independence between and for the area that became Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú and Bolivia then Alto Perú In North America, a free thinking secular priest, Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, declared Mexican freedom in in the Grito de Dolores Independence actually won in by royalist army officer turned insurgent, Agustín de Iturbide, in alliance with insurgent Vicente Guerrero and under the Plan of Iguala The conservative Catholic hierarchy in New Spain supported Mexican independence largely because the liberal Spanish Constitution of was abhorrent to it Central America became independent via Mexico's independence in and joined Mexico for a brief time – , but chose their own path when Mexico became a republic Panama declared independence in and merged with the Republic of Gran Colombia from to Royalist guerrillas continued the war in several countries, and Spain launched attempts to retake Venezuela in and Mexico in Spain finally abandoned all plans of military re conquest at death of King Ferdinand VII in Santo Domingo likewise declared independence in and began negotiating for inclusion in Bolivar's Republic of Gran Colombia, but was quickly occupied by Haiti, which ruled it until an revolution Then after years of independence, in , Santo Domingo was again made a colony due to Haitian aggressions, yet by Santo Domingo again declared independence, making it the only territory which Spain recolonized After , then, only Cuba and Puerto Rico – and on the far side of the globe, the Philippines, Guam and nearby Pacific islands – remained in Spanish hands in the New World Changes and Reaction edit See also Spanish–American War Vizcaya explodes in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba The Spanish Empire in In devastated Spain, the post Napoleonic era created a political vacuum, broke apart any traditional consensus on sovereignty, fragmented the country politically and regionally and unleashed wars and disputes between progressives, liberals and conservatives The instability inhibited Spain's development, which had started fitfully gathering pace in the previous century A brief period of improvement occurred in the s when the capable Alfonso XII of Spain and his thoughtful ministers succeeded in restoring some vigour to Spanish politics and prestige, but this was cut short by Alfonso's early death An increasing level of nationalist, anti colonial uprisings in various colonies culminated with the Spanish–American War of , fought primarily over Cuba Military defeat was followed by the independence of Cuba and the cession, for US$ million, of Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam to the United States On June , the second expeditionary battalion Cazadores of Philippines the last Spanish garrison in the Philippines, located in Baler, Aurora, was pulled out, effectively ending around years of Spanish hegemony in the archipelago Its American and Asian presence ended, Spain then sold its remaining Pacific Ocean possessions to Germany in , retaining only its African territories Territories in Africa – edit By the end of the th century, only Melilla, Alhucemas, Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera which had been taken again in , Ceuta part of the Portuguese Empire since , has chosen to retain its links to Spain once the Iberian Union ended the formal allegiance of Ceuta to Spain was recognized by the Treaty of Lisbon in , Oran and Mazalquivir remained as Spanish territory in Africa The latter cities were lost in , reconquered in and sold by Charles IV in A map of Equatorial Guinea In , Fernando Poo Island now Bioko , adjacent islets, and commercial rights to the mainland between the Niger and Ogooué Rivers were ceded to Spain by the Portuguese in exchange for territory in South America Treaty of El Pardo In the th century, some Spanish explorers and missionaries would cross this zone, among them Manuel de Iradier In , Spanish troops conquered the Islas Chafarinas In , after the Tetuan War, Morocco ceded Sidi Ifni to Spain as a part of the Treaty of Tangiers, on the basis of the old outpost of Santa Cruz de la Mar Pequeña, thought to be Sidi Ifni The following decades of Franco Spanish collaboration resulted in the establishment and extension of Spanish protectorates south of the city, and Spanish influence obtained international recognition in the Berlin Conference of Spain administered Sidi Ifni and Western Sahara jointly Spain claimed a protectorate over the coast of Guinea from Cape Bojador to Cap Blanc, too Río Muni became a protectorate in and a colony in Conflicting claims to the Guinea mainland were settled in by the Treaty of Paris Following a brief war in , Spain expanded its influence south from Melilla Morocco and Spanish territories The empire on which the sun never sets From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The phrase the empire on which the sun never sets has been used with variations to describe certain global empires that were so extensive that there was always at least one part of their territory that was in daylight It was originally used for the Spanish Empire, mainly in the th and th centuries, and for the British Empire, mainly in the th and early th centuries Especially in the th century, the phrase usually without the word Empire has been transferred to refer to American power Georg Büchmann traces the idea to a speech in Herodotus' Histories, made by Xerxes I before invading Greece Contents hide Spain United Kingdom United States See also Notes King of Kings is a title that has been used by several monarchies and empires throughout history The title originates in the Ancient Near East It is sometimes used as the equivalent of the later title Emperor Contents hide History Religious Judaism Christianity Islam Hinduism Buddhism Rastafari Political Persian Empire Great Armenia India Hellenistic World Africa Popular culture An emperor through Old French empereor from Latin 'imperator' is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate


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lise-pinson little-oral-annie liza-dwyer liza-harper lizzy-borden logan-labrent lois-ayres lola-cait long-jean-silver loni-bunny loni-sanders loona-luxx lorelei-lee lorelei-rand lorena-sanchez lori-alexia lori-blue lorrie-lovett luci-diamond lucie-doll lucie-theodorova lucy-van-dam lydia-baum lynn-franciss lynn-lemay lynn-ray lynn-stevens lynx-canon lysa-thatcher madelina-ray madison-parker magdalena-lynn maggie-randall mai-lin mandi-wine mandy-bright mandy-malone mandy-may mandy-mistery mandy-starr marcia-minor maren margit-ojetz margitta-hofer margo-stevens margot-mahler mariah-cherry marianne-aubert maria-tortuga marie-anne marie-christine-chireix marie-christine-veroda marie-claude-moreau marie-dominique-cabannes marie-france-morel marie-luise-lusewitz marie-sharp marilyn-chambers marilyne-leroy marilyn-gee marilyn-jess marilyn-martyn marilyn-star marina-hedman marion-webb marita-ekberg marita-kemper marlena marlene-willoughby marry-queen martine-grimaud martine-schultz maryanne-fisher mary-hubay mary-ramunno mary-stuart mascha-mouton maud-kennedy mauvais-denoir maxine-tyler maya-black maya-france megan-leigh megan-martinez megan-reece mei-ling melanie-hotlips melanie-scott melba-cruz melinda-russell melissa-bonsardo melissa-del-prado melissa-golden melissa-martinez melissa-melendez melissa-monet mercedes-dragon mercedes-lynn merle-michaels mesha-lynn mia-beck mia-lina mia-smiles michele-raven michelle-aston michelle-ferrari michelle-greco michelle-maren michelle-maylene michelle-monroe micki-lynn mika-barthel mika-tan mikki-taylor mimi-morgan mindy-rae ming-toy miranda-stevens miss-bunny miss-meadow miss-pomodoro missy missy-graham missy-stone missy-vega misti-jane mistress-candice misty-anderson misty-dawn misty-rain misty-regan mona-lisa mona-page moni monica-baal monica-swinn monika-peta monika-sandmayr monika-unco monique-bruno monique-cardin monique-charell monique-demoan monique-gabrielle monique-la-belle morgan-fairlane morrigan-hel moxxie-maddron mulani-rivera mysti-may nadege-arnaud nadia-styles nadine-bronx nadine-proutnal nadine-roussial nadi-phuket nanci-suiter nancy-hoffman nancy-vee natacha-delyro natalia-wood natalli-diangelo natascha-throat natasha-skyler naudia-nyce nessa-devil nessy-grant nesty nicki-hunter nicky-reed nicole-berg nicole-bernard nicole-black nicole-grey nicole-london nicole-parks nicole-scott nicole-taylor nicolette-fauludi nicole-west nika-blond nika-mamic niki-cole nikita-love nikita-rush nikki-charm nikki-grand nikki-king nikki-knight nikki-randall nikki-rhodes nikki-santana nikki-steele nikki-wilde niko nina-cherry nina-deponca nina-hartley nina-preta oana-efria obaya-roberts olesja-derevko olga-cabaeva olga-conti olga-pechova olga-petrova olivia-alize olivia-del-rio olivia-flores olivia-la-roche olivia-outre ophelia-tozzi orchidea-keresztes orsolya-blonde paige-turner paisley-hunter pamela-bocchi pamela-jennings pamela-mann pamela-stanford pamela-stealt pandora paola-albini pascale-vital pat-manning pat-rhea patricia-dale patricia-diamond patricia-kennedy patricia-rhomberg patrizia-predan patti-cakes patti-petite paula-brasile paula-harlow paula-morton paula-price paula-winters pauline-teutscher penelope-pumpkins penelope-valentin petra-hermanova petra-lamas peyton-lafferty phaedra-grant pia-snow piper-fawn pipi-anderson porsche-lynn porsha-carrera precious-silver priscillia-lenn purple-passion queeny-love rachel-ashley rachel-love rachel-luv rachel-roxxx rachel-ryan rachel-ryder racquel-darrian rane-revere raven reagan-maddux rebecca-bardoux regan-anthony regine-bardot regula-mertens reina-leone reka-gabor renae-cruz renee-foxx renee-lovins renee-morgan renee-perez renee-summers renee-tiffany rhonda-jo-petty rikki-blake riley-ray rio-mariah rita-ricardo roberta-gemma roberta-pedon robin-byrd robin-cannes robin-everett robin-sane rochell-starr rosa-lee-kimball rosemarie roxanne-blaze roxanne-hall roxanne-rollan ruby-richards sabina-k sabre sabrina-chimaera sabrina-dawn sabrina-jade sabrina-johnson sabrina-love-cox sabrina-mastrolorenzi sabrina-rose sabrina-scott sabrina-summers sacha-davril sahara sahara-sands sai-tai-tiger samantha-fox samantha-ryan samantha-sterlyng samantha-strong samueline-de-la-rosa sandra-cardinale sandra-de-marco sandra-kalermen sandra-russo sandy-lee sandy-pinney sandy-reed sandy-samuel sandy-style sandy-summers sara-brandy-canyon sara-faye sarah-bernard sarah-cabrera sarah-hevyn sarah-mills sarah-shine sara-sloane sasha sasha-hollander sasha-ligaya sasha-rose satine-phoenix satin-summer savannah-stern savanna-jane scarlet-scarleau scarlet-windsor seka selena serena serena-south severine-amoux shana-evans shanna-mccullough shannon-kelly shannon-rush shantell-day sharon-da-vale sharon-kane sharon-mitchell shaun-michelle shawna-sexton shawnee-cates shay-hendrix shayne-ryder sheena-horne sheer-delight shelby-star shelby-stevens shelly-berlin shelly-lyons sheri-st-clair sheyla-cats shonna-lynn shyla-foxxx shy-love sierra-sinn sierra-skye sigrun-theil silver-starr silvia-bella silvia-saint silvie-de-lux silvy-taylor simone-west sindee-coxx sindy-lange sindy-shy siobhan-hunter skylar-knight skylar-price skyler-dupree smokie-flame smoking-mary-jane solange-shannon sonya-summers sophia-santi sophie-call sophie-duflot sophie-evans sophie-guers stacey-donovan stacy-lords stacy-moran stacy-nichols stacy-silver stacy-thorn starla-fox starr-wood stefania-bruni stella-virgin stephanie-duvalle stephanie-rage stephanie-renee stevie-taylor summer-knight summer-rose sunny-day sunset-thomas sunshine-seiber susan-hart susanne-brend susan-nero susi-hotkiss suzanne-mcbain suzan-nielsen suzie-bartlett suzie-carina suzi-sparks sweet-nice sweety-pie sybille-rossani sylvia-benedict sylvia-bourdon sylvia-brand sylvia-engelmann syreeta-taylor syren-de-mer syvette szabina-black szilvia-lauren tai-ellis taija-rae taisa-banx talia-james tamara-lee tamara-longley tamara-n-joy tamara-west tami-white tammy tammy-lee tammy-reynolds tania-lorenzo tantala-ray tanya-danielle tanya-fox tanya-foxx tanya-lawson tanya-valis tara-aire tasha-voux tatjana-belousova tatjana-skomorokhova tawnee-lee tawny-pearl tayla-rox taylor-wane teddi-austin teddi-barrett tera-bond tera-heart tera-joy teresa-may teresa-orlowski teri-diver teri-weigel terri-dolan terri-hall tess-ferre tess-newheart thais-vieira tia-cherry tianna tiara tiffany-blake tiffany-clark tiffany-duponte tiffany-rayne tiffany-rousso tiffany-storm tiffany-towers tiffany-tyler tiger-lily tigr timea-vagvoelgyi tina-blair tina-burner tina-evil tina-gabriel tina-loren tina-marie tina-russell tish-ambrose tommi-rose tonisha-mills topsy-curvey tori-secrets tori-sinclair tori-welles tracey-adams traci-lords traci-topps traci-winn tracy-duzit tracy-love tracy-williams tricia-devereaux tricia-yen trinity-loren trisha-rey trista-post trixie-tyler ultramax ursula-gaussmann ursula-moore uschi-karnat valentina valerie-leveau valery-hilton vanessa-chase vanessa-del-rio vanessa-michaels vanessa-ozdanic vanilla-deville velvet-summers veri-knotty veronica-dol veronica-hart veronica-hill veronica-rayne veronica-sage veronika-vanoza via-paxton vicky-lindsay vicky-vicci victoria-evans victoria-gold victoria-knight victoria-luna victoria-paris victoria-slick victoria-zdrok viper virginie-caprice vivian-valentine vivien-martines wendi-white wendy-divine whitney-banks whitney-fears whitney-wonders wonder-tracey wow-nikki xanthia-berstein yasmine-fitzgerald yelena-shieffer yvonne-green zara-whites zsanett-egerhazi zuzie-boobies

an emperor's wife empress consort , mother empress dowager , or a woman who rules in her own right empress regnant Emperors are generally recognized to be of a higher honour and rank than kings In Europe the title of Emperor was, since the Middle Ages, considered equal or almost equal in dignity to that of Pope, due to the latter's position as visible head of the Church and spiritual leader of Western Europe The Emperor of Japan is the only currently reigning monarch whose title is translated into English as Emperor Both kings and emperors are monarchs, but emperor and empress are considered the higher monarchical titles In so far as there is a strict definition of emperor, it is that an emperor has no relations implying the superiority of any other ruler, and typically rules over more than one nation Thus a king might be obliged to pay tribute to another ruler, or be restrained in his actions in some unequal fashion, but an emperor should in theory be completely free of such restraints However monarchs heading empires have not always used the title—the British sovereign did not assume the title until the incorporation of India into the British Empire, and even then used it only in a limited context For purposes of protocol, emperors were once given precedence over kings in international diplomatic relations currently, however, precedence amongst heads of state – whether they be Kings, Queens, Emperors, or Presidents – is determined by the duration of time that each one has been continuously in office Outside the European context, emperor was the translation given to holders of titles who were accorded the same precedence as European emperors in diplomatic terms In reciprocity, these rulers might accredit equal titles in their native languages to their European peers Through centuries of international convention, this has become the dominant rule to identifying an emperor in the modern era Some empires, such as the Holy Roman Empire and the Russian Empire, derived their office from the authority of the Roman Emperors translatio imperii The title was a conscious attempt by monarchs to link themselves to the institutions and traditions of the Romans as part of state ideology Historians have liberally used emperor and, especially so, empire anachronistically and out of its Roman and European context to describe any large state in the past and present sometimes even to refer to non monarchically ruled states and their spheres of influence such examples include the Athenian Empire of the late th century BC, the Angevin Empire of the Plantagenets, or the Soviet and American empires of the Cold War era However such empires did not need to be headed by an emperor Empire became identified with vast territorial holdings rather than the title of its ruler by the mid th century Contents hide Roman tradition Ancient Roman empire and Byzantine emperors Classical Antiquity Byzantine period Before the th Crusade Latin emperors After the th Crusade Ottoman Empire Holy Roman Empire Austrian Empire Emperors of Europe Bulgaria France First French Empire Elba Second French Empire Iberian Peninsula Britain England United Kingdom German Empire Russia Serbia Emperors in the Americas Pre Columbian traditions Aztec Empire Inca Empire Post Columbian Americas Brazil Haiti Mexico Persia Iran Indian subcontinent Africa Ethiopia Central African Empire East Asian tradition China Korea Japan Mongolia Vietnam Oceania Fictional uses See also Notes External links Roman tradition edit The title was first used as an honorific for a military leader in ancient Rome, meaning commander or general In the Roman tradition a large variety in the meaning and importance of the imperial form of monarchy developed in intention it was always the highest office, but it could as well fall down to a redundant title for nobility that had never been near to the Empire they were supposed to be reigning Also the name of the position split in several branches of Western tradition, see below The importance and meaning of coronation ceremonies and regalia also varied within the tradition for instance Holy Roman Emperors could only be crowned emperor by the Pope, which meant the coronation ceremony usually took place in Rome, often several years after these emperors had ascended to the throne as king in their home country The first Latin Emperors of Constantinople on the other hand had to be present in the newly conquered capital of their empire, because that was the only place where they could be granted to become emperor Early Roman Emperors avoided any type of ceremony or regalia different from what was already usual for republican offices in the Roman Republic the most intrusive change had been changing the color of their robe to purple Later new symbols of worldly and or spiritual power, like the orb, became an essential part of the imperial accessories Rules for indicating successors also varied there was a tendency towards male inheritance of the supreme office, but as well election by noblemen, as ruling empresses for empires not too strictly under salic law are known Ruling monarchs could additionally steer the succession by adoption, as often occurred in the two first centuries of Imperial Rome Of course, intrigue, murder and military force could also mingle in for appointing successors the Roman imperial tradition made no exception to other monarchical traditions in this respect Probably the epoch best known for this part of the imperial tradition is Rome's third century rule Ancient Roman empire and Byzantine emperors edit Classical Antiquity edit Main articles Roman Emperor and Imperator A statue of the dictator Julius Caesar Augustus, the first emperor of the Roman Empire When Republican Rome turned into a de facto monarchy in the second half of the st century BC, at first there was no name for the title of the new type of monarch Ancient Romans abhorred the name Rex king citation needed , and it was critical to the political order to maintain the forms and pretenses of republican rule Julius Caesar had been Dictator, an acknowledged and traditional office in Republican Rome Caesar was not the first to hold it, but following his assassination the term was abhorred in Rome citation needed Augustus, considered the first Roman Emperor, established his by collecting on himself offices, titles, and honours of Republican Rome that had traditionally been distributed to different people, concentrating what had been distributed power in one man One of these offices was princeps senatus, first man of the Senate and became changed into Augustus' chief honorific, princeps civitatis first citizen from which the modern English word and title prince is descended The first period of the Roman Empire, from BC – AD, is called the principate for this reason However, it was the informal descriptive of Imperator commander that became the title increasingly favored by his successors Previously bestowed on high officials and military commanders who had imperium, Augustus reserved it exclusively to himself as the ultimate holder of all imperium Imperium is Latin for the authority to command, one of a various types of authority delineated in Roman political thought Beginning with Augustus, Imperator appeared in the title of all Roman monarchs through the extinction of the Empire in After the reign of Augustus' immediate successor Tiberius, being proclaimed imperator was transformed into the act of accession to the head of state Other honorifics used by the Roman Emperors have also come to be synonyms for Emperor Caesar as, for example, in Suetonius' Twelve Caesars This tradition continued in many languages in German it became Kaiser in certain Slavic languages it became Tsar in Hungarian it became Császár , and several more variants The name derived from Julius Caesar's cognomen Caesar this cognomen was adopted by all Roman emperors, exclusively by the ruling monarch after the Julio Claudian dynasty had died out In this tradition Julius Caesar is sometimes described as the first Caesar emperor following Suetonius This is one of the most enduring titles, Caesar and its transliterations appeared in every year from the time of Caesar Augustus to Tsar Symeon II of Bulgaria's removal from the throne in Augustus was the honorific first bestowed on Emperor Augustus after him all Roman emperors added it to their name Although it had a high symbolical value, something like elevated or sublime , it was generally not used to indicate the office of Emperor itself Exceptions include the title of the Augustan History, a semi historical collection of Emperors' biographies of the nd and rd century Augustus had by his last will granted the feminine form of this honorific Augusta to his wife Since there was no title of Empress consort whatsoever, women of the reigning dynasty sought to be granted this honorific, as the highest attainable goal Few were however granted the title, and certainly not as a rule all wives of reigning Emperors Imperator as, for example, in Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historia In the Roman Republic Imperator meant military commander In the late Republic, as in the early years of the new monarchy, Imperator was a title granted to Roman generals by their troops and the Roman Senate after a great victory, roughly comparable to field marshal head or commander of the entire army For example, in AD Germanicus was proclaimed Imperator during the reign of his adoptive father Tiberius Soon thereafter Imperator became however a title reserved exclusively for the ruling monarch This led to Emperor in English and, among other examples, Empereur in French and Mbreti in Albanian The Latin feminine form Imperatrix only developed after Imperator had taken on the connotation of Emperor Autokrator ??t????t?? or Basileus ßas??e?? although the Greeks used equivalents of Caesar ?a?sa?, Kaisar and Augustus in two forms transliterated as ?????st??, Augoustos or translated as Seßast??, Sebastos these were rather used as part of the name of the Emperor than as an indication of the office Instead of developing a new name for the new type of monarchy, they used a?t????t?? autokrator, only partly overlapping with the modern understanding of autocrat or ßas??e?? basileus, until then the usual name for sovereign Autokrator was essentially used as a translation of the Latin Imperator in Greek speaking part of the Roman Empire, but also here there is only partial overlap between the meaning of the original Greek and Latin concepts For the Greeks Autokrator was not a military title, and was closer to the Latin dictator concept the one with unlimited power , before it came to mean Emperor Basileus appears not to have been used exclusively in the meaning of emperor and specifically, the Roman Byzantine emperor before the th century, although it was a standard informal designation of the Emperor in the Greek speaking East After the turbulent Year of the four emperors in , the Flavian Dynasty reigned for three decades The succeeding Nervan Antonian Dynasty, ruling for most of the nd century, stabilised the Empire This epoch became known as the era of the Five Good Emperors, and was followed by the short lived Severan Dynasty During the Crisis of the rd century, Barracks Emperors succeeded one another at short intervals Three short lived secessionist attempts had their own emperors the Gallic Empire, the Britannic Empire, and the Palmyrene Empire though the latter used rex more regularly The Principate BC – AD period was succeeded by what is known as the Dominate AD – AD , during which Emperor Diocletian tried to put the Empire on a more formal footing Diocletian sought to address the challenges of the Empire's now vast geography and the instability caused by the informality of succession by the creation of co emperors and junior emperors At one point, there were as many as five sharers of the imperium see Tetrarchy In AD Constantine I defeated his rivals and restored single emperor rule, but following his death the empire was divided among his sons For a time the concept was of one empire ruled by multiple emperors with varying territory under their control, however following the death of Theodosius I the rule was divided between his two sons and increasingly became separate entities The areas administered from Rome are referred to by historians the Western Roman Empire and those under the immediate authority of Constantinople called the Eastern Roman Empire or after the Battle of Yarmouk in AD the Later Roman or Byzantine Empire The subdivisions and co emperor system were formally abolished by Emperor Zeno in AD following the death of Julius Nepos last Western Emperor and the ascension of Odoacer as the de facto King of Italy in AD Byzantine period edit Main article Byzantine Emperor Before the th Crusade edit Under Justinian I, reigning in the th century, parts of Italy were for a few decades re conquered from the Ostrogoths thus, this famous mosaic, featuring the Byzantine emperor in the center, can be admired at Ravenna Historians generally refer to the continuing Roman Empire in the east as the Byzantine Empire after Byzantium, the original name of the town that Constantine I would elevate to the Imperial capital as New Rome in AD The city is more commonly called Constantinople and is today named Istanbul Although the empire was again subdivided and a co emperor sent to Italy at the end of the fourth century, the office became unitary again only years later at the request of the Roman Senate and following the death of Julius Nepos, last Western Emperor This change was a recognition of the reality that little remained of Imperial authority in the areas that had been the Western Empire, with even Rome and Italy itself now ruled by the essentially autonomous Odoacer These Later Roman Byzantine Emperors completed the transition from the idea of the Emperor as a semi republican official to the Emperor as an absolute monarch Of particular note was the translation of the Latin Imperator into the Greek Basileus, after Emperor Heraclius changed the official language of the empire from Latin to Greek in AD Basileus, a title which had long been used for Alexander the Great was already in common usage as the Greek word for the Roman emperor, but its definition and sense was King in Greek, essentially equivalent with the Latin Rex Byzantine period emperors also used the Greek word autokrator , meaning one who rules himself , or monarch , which was traditionally used by Greek writers to translate the Latin dictator Essentially, the Greek language did not incorporate the nuances of the Ancient Roman concepts that distinguished imperium from other forms of political power In general usage, the Byzantine imperial title evolved from simply emperor basileus , to emperor of the Romans basileus ton Romaion in the th century, to emperor and autocrat of the Romans basileus kai autokrator ton Romaion in the th In fact, none of these and other additional epithets and titles had ever been completely discarded One important distinction between the post Constantine I reigned AD – emperors and their pagan predecessors was cesaropapism, the assertion that the Emperor or other head of state is also the head of the Church Although this principle was held by all emperors after Constantine, it met with increasing resistance and ultimately rejection by bishops in the west after the effective end of Imperial power in there This concept became a key element of the meaning of emperor in the Byzantine and Orthodox east, but went out of favor with in the west with the rise of Roman Catholicism The Byzantine empire also produced three women who effectively governed the state the Empress Irene and the Empresses Zoe and Theodora Latin emperors edit In Constantinople fell to the Venetians and the Franks in the Fourth Crusade Following the tragedy of the horrific sacking of the city, the conquerors declared a new Empire of Romania , known to historians as the Latin Empire of Constantinople, installing Baldwin IX, Count of Flanders, as Emperor However, Byzantine resistance to the new empire meant that it was in constant struggle to establish itself Byzantine Emperor Michael VII Palaiologos succeeded in recapturing Constantinople in The Principality of Achaea, a vassal state the empire had created in Morea Greece intermittently continued to recognize the authority of the crusader emperors for another half century Pretenders to the title continued among the European nobility until circa After the th Crusade edit With Constantinople occupied, claimants to the imperial succession styled themselves as emperor in the chief centers of resistance The Laskarid dynasty in the Empire of Nicaea, the Komnenid dynasty in the Empire of Trebizond and the Doukid dynasty in the Despotate of Epirus In , the Epirus recognized the Nicaean Emperors, who then recaptured Constantinople in The Trebizond emperor formally submitted in Constantinople in , but frequently flouted convention by styling themselves emperor back in Trebizond thereafter Ottoman Empire edit Agostino Veneziano's engraving of Ottoman emperor Suleiman the Magnificent Note the four tiers on the helmet, which he had commissioned from Venice, symbolizing his imperial power, and excelling the three tiered papal tiara This tiara was made for , ducats and offered to Suleiman by the French ambassador Antonio Rincon in This was a most atypical piece of headgear for a Turkish sultan, which he probably never normally wore, but which he placed beside him when receiving visitors, especially ambassadors It was crowned with an enormous feather Ottoman rulers held several titles denoting their Imperial status These included citation needed Sultan, Khan, Sovereign of the Imperial House of Osman, Sultan of Sultans, Khan of Khans, Commander of the Faithful and Successor of the Prophet of the Lord of the Universe, Protector of the Holy Cities of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem, Emperor of The Three Cities of Constantinople, Adrianopole and Bursa as well as many other cities and countries After the Ottoman capture of Constantinople in , the Ottoman sultans began to style themselves Kaysar i Rum Emperor of the Romans as they asserted themselves to be the heirs to the Roman empire by right of conquest The title was of such importance to them that it led them to eliminate the various Byzantine successor states — and therefore rival claimants — over the next eight years Though the term emperor was rarely used by Westerners of the Ottoman sultan, it was generally accepted by Westerners that he had imperial status Holy Roman Empire edit Main article Holy Roman Emperor The Roman of the Emperor's title was a reflection of the translatio imperii transfer of rule principle that regarded the Holy Roman Emperors as the inheritors of the title of Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, despite the continued existence of the Roman Empire in the east From the time of Otto the Great onward, much of the former Carolingian kingdom of Eastern Francia became the Holy Roman Empire The prince electors elected one of their peers as King of the Romans and King of Italy before being crowned by the Pope The Emperor could also pursue the election of his heir usually a son as King, who would then succeed him after his death This junior King then bore the title of Roman King King of the Romans Although technically already ruling, after the election he would be crowned as emperor by the Pope The last emperor to be crowned by the pope was Charles V all emperors after him were technically emperors elect, but were universally referred to as Emperor Austrian Empire edit Main article Emperor of Austria The first Austrian Emperor was the last Holy Roman Emperor Francis II In the face of aggressions by Napoleon, Francis feared for the future of the Holy Roman Empire He wished to maintain his and his family's Imperial status in the event that the Holy Roman Empire should be dissolved, as it indeed was in when an Austrian led army suffered a humiliating defeat at the Battle of Austerlitz After which, the victorious Napoleon proceeded to dismantle the old Reich by severing a good portion from the empire and turning it into a separate Confederation of the Rhine With the size of his imperial realm significantly reduced, Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor became Francis I, Emperor of Austria The new imperial title may have sounded less prestigious than the old one, but Francis' dynasty continued to rule from Austria and a Habsburg monarch was still an emperor Kaiser , and not just merely a king König , in name The title lasted just a little over one century until , but it was never clear what territory constituted the Empire of Austria When Francis took the title in , the Habsburg lands as a whole were dubbed the Kaisertum Österreich Kaisertum might literally be translated as emperordom on analogy with kingdom or emperor ship the term denotes specifically the territory ruled by an emperor , and is thus somewhat more general than Reich, which in carried connotations of universal rule Austria proper as opposed to the complex of Habsburg lands as a whole had been an Archduchy since the th century, and most of the other territories of the Empire had their own institutions and territorial history, although there were some attempts at centralization, especially during the reign of Marie Therese and her son Joseph II and then finalized in the early th century When Hungary was given self government in , the non Hungarian portions were called the Empire of Austria and were officially known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council Reichsrat The title of Emperor of Austria and the associated Empire were both abolished at the end of the First World War in , when German Austria became a republic and the other kingdoms and lands represented in the Imperial Council established their independence or adhesion to other states Emperors of Europe edit Byzantium's close cultural and political interaction with its Balkan neighbors Bulgaria and Serbia, and with Russia Kievan Rus', then Muscovy led to the adoption of Byzantine imperial traditions in all of these countries Bulgaria edit In , Simeon I of Bulgaria was crowned Emperor Tsar by the Patriarch of Constantinople and imperial regent Nicholas Mystikos outside of the Byzantine capital In its final simplified form, the title read Emperor and Autocrat of all Bulgarians and Romans Tsar i samodarzhets na vsichki balgari i gartsi in the modern vernacular The Roman component in the Bulgarian imperial title indicated both rulership over Greek speakers and the derivation of the imperial tradition from the Romans, however this component was never recognised by the Byzantine court Byzantine recognition of Simeon's imperial title was revoked by the succeeding Byzantine government The decade – was spent in destructive warfare between Byzantium and Bulgaria over this and other matters of conflict The Bulgarian monarch, who had further irritated his Byzantine counterpart by claiming the title Emperor of the Romans basileus ton Romaion , was eventually recognized, as Emperor of the Bulgarians basileus ton Boulgaron by the Byzantine Emperor Romanos I Lakapenos in Byzantine recognition of the imperial dignity of the Bulgarian monarch and the patriarchal dignity of the Bulgarian patriarch was again confirmed at the conclusion of permanent peace and a Bulgarian Byzantine dynastic marriage in In the meantime, the Bulgarian imperial title may have been also confirmed by the pope The Bulgarian imperial title tsar was adopted by all Bulgarian monarchs up to the fall of Bulgaria under Ottoman rule th century Bulgarian literary compositions clearly denote the Bulgarian capital Tarnovo as a successor of Rome and Constantinople, in effect, the Third Rome It should be noted that after Bulgaria obtained full independence from the Ottoman Empire in , its monarch, who was previously styled Knyaz , i e , Prince, took the traditional title of Tsar which in Bulgarian means King citation needed and was recognized internationally as such France edit The kings of the Ancien Régime and the July Monarchy used the title Empereur de France in diplomatic correspondence and treaties with the Ottoman emperor from at least onwards The Ottomans insisted on this elevated style while refusing to recognize the Holy Roman Emperors or the Russian tsars because of their rival claims of the Roman crown In short, it was an indirect insult by the Ottomans to the HRE and the Russians The French kings also used it for Morocco and Persia First French Empire edit See also First French Empire One of the most famous Imperial coronation ceremonies was that of Napoleon, crowning himself Emperor in the presence of Pope Pius VII who had blessed the regalia , at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris The painting by David commemorating the event is equally famous the gothic cathedral restyled style Empire, supervised by the mother of the Emperor on the balcony a fictional addition, while she had not been present at the ceremony , the pope positioned near the altar, Napoleon proceeds to crown his then wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais as Empress Napoleon Bonaparte, who was already First Consul of the French Republic Premier Consul de la République française for life, declared himself Emperor of the French Empereur des Français on May , thus creating the French Empire Empire Français Napoleon relinquished the title of Emperor of the French on April and again on April Napoleon's infant son, Napoleon II, was recognized by the Council of Peers,

as Emperor from the moment of his father's abdication, and therefore reigned as opposed to ruled as Emperor for fifteen days, June to July Elba edit Since May , the Sovereign Principality of Elba was created a miniature non hereditary Monarchy under the exiled French Emperor Napoleon I Napoleon I was allowed, by the treaty of Fontainebleau with April , to enjoy, for life, the imperial title The islands were not restyled an empire On February , Napoleon abandoned Elba for France, reviving the French Empire for a Hundred Days the Allies declared an end to Napoleon's sovereignty over Elba on March , and on March Elba was ceded to the restored Grand Duchy of Tuscany by the Congress of Vienna After his final defeat, Napoleon was treated as a general by the British authorities during his second exile to Atlantic Isle of St Helena His title was a matter of dispute with the governor of St Helena, who insisted on addressing him as General Bonaparte , despite the historical reality that he had been an emperor and therefore retained the title Second French Empire edit See also Second French Empire Napoleon I's nephew, Napoleon III, resurrected the title of emperor on December , after establishing the Second French Empire in a presidential coup, subsequently approved by a plebiscite His reign was marked by large scale public works, the development of social policy, and the extension of France's influence throughout the world During his reign, he also set about creating the Second Mexican Empire headed by his choice of Maximilian I of Mexico, a member of the House of Habsburg , to regain France's hold in the Americas and to achieve greatness for the 'Latin' race Napoleon III was deposed on September , after France's defeat in the Franco Prussian War The Third Republic followed and after the death of his son Napoleon IV , in during the Zulu War, the Bonapartist movement split, and the Third Republic was to last until Iberian Peninsula edit The origin of the title Imperator totius Hispaniae Latin for Emperor of All Spain is murky It was associated with the Leonese monarchy perhaps as far back as Alfonso the Great r – The last two kings of its Pérez Dynasty were called emperors in a contemporary source King Sancho III of Navarre conquered Leon in and began using it His son, Ferdinand I of Castile also took the title in Ferdinand's son, Alfonso VI of León and Castile took the title in It then passed to his son in law, Alfonso I of Aragon in His stepson and Alfonso VI's grandson, Alfonso VII was the only one who actually had an imperial coronation in The title was not exactly hereditary but self proclaimed by those who had, wholly or partially, united the Christian northern part of the Iberian Peninsula, often at the expense of killing rival siblings The popes and Holy Roman emperors protested at the usage of the imperial title as a usurpation of leadership in western Christendom After Alfonso VII's death in , the title was abandoned, and the kings who used it are not commonly mentioned as having been emperors , in Spanish or other historiography After the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the legitimate heir to the throne, Andreas Palaiologos, willed away his claim to Ferdinand and Isabella in This claim seems to have been forgotten or abandoned quietly for the last years Britain edit Main article British Emperor In the late rd century, by the end of the epoch of the barracks emperors in Rome, there were two Britannic Emperors, reigning for about a decade After the end of Roman rule in Britain, the Imperator Cunedda forged the Kingdom of Gwynedd in northern Wales, but all his successors were titled kings and princes England edit There was no set title for the king of England before and monarchs chose to style themselves as they pleased Imperial titles were used inconsistently beginning with Athelstan in and ended with the Norman conquest of England Empress Matilda – is the only British monarch commonly referred to as emperor or empress , but acquired her title through her marriage to Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, and had little legitimacy as Queen of England During the rule of Henry VIII an Act of Parliament declared that 'this realm of England is an Empire governed by one Supreme Head and King having the dignity and royal estate of the imperial Crown of the same' This was in the context of the divorce of Catherine of Aragon and the English Reformation, to emphasize that England had never accepted the quasi imperial claims of the papacy Hence England and, by extension its modern successor state, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is according to English law an Empire ruled by a King endowed with the imperial dignity However, this has not led to the creation of the title of Emperor in England or in the United Kingdom itself United Kingdom edit George V, King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, Emperor of India In , George III rejected the title of Emperor when offered The only period when British monarchs held the title of Emperor in a dynastic succession started when the title Empress of India was created for Queen Victoria The government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, conferred the additional title upon her 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, who was the wife of the reigning German Emperor the Indian Imperial designation was also formally justified as the expression of Britain succeeding the former Mughal Emperor as suzerain over hundreds of princely states The title was relinquished by George VI when India became independent on August The last Empress of India was George VI's wife, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother German Empire edit Main article German Empire Wilhelm II, German Emperor and the King of Prussia Under the guise of idealism giving way to realism, German nationalism rapidly shifted from its liberal and democratic character in to Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarck's authoritarian Realpolitik Bismarck wanted to unify the rival German states to achieve his aim of a conservative, Prussian dominated Germany Three wars led to military successes and helped to convince German people to do this the Second war of Schleswig against Denmark in , the Austro Prussian War against Austria in , and the Franco Prussian War against the Second French Empire in – During the Siege of Paris in , the North German Confederation, supported by its allies from southern Germany, formed the German Empire with the proclamation of the Prussian king Wilhelm I as German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles, to the humiliation of the French, who ceased to resist only days later After his death he was succeeded by his son Frederick III who was only emperor for days In the same year his son Wilhelm II became the third emperor within a year He was the last German emperor After the empire's defeat in World War I the empire ceased to exist Russia edit Empress of Russia Catherine the Great In , the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, Sophia Palaiologina, married Ivan III, grand prince of Moscow, who began championing the idea of Russia being the successor to the Byzantine Empire This idea was represented more emphatically in the composition the monk Filofej addressed to their son Vasili III After ending Muscovy's dependence on its Mongol overlords in , Ivan III began the usage of the titles Tsar and Autocrat samoderzhets His insistence on recognition as such by the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire since resulted in the granting of this recognition in by Emperor Maximilian I to Vasili III His son Ivan IV emphatically crowned himself Tsar of Russia on January The word Tsar derives from Latin Caesar, but this title was used in Russia as equivalent to King the error occurred when medieval Russian clerics referred to the biblical Jewish kings with the same title that was used to designate Roman and Byzantine rulers — Caesar On October , Peter I was proclaimed Emperor by the Senate The title used was Latin Imperator , which is a westernizing form equivalent to the traditional Slavic title Tsar He based his claim partially upon a letter discovered in written in from Maximilian I to Vasili III, in which the Holy Roman Emperor used the term in referring to Vasili A formal address to the ruling Russian monarch adopted thereafter was 'Your Imperial Majesty' The crown prince was addressed as 'Your Imperial Highness' The title has not been used in Russia since the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II on March Imperial Russia produced four reigning Empresses, all in the eighteenth century Serbia edit Main article Emperor of Serbia In , the Serbian King Stefan Uroš IV Dušan proclaimed himself Emperor Tsar and was crowned as such at Skopje on Easter by the newly created Patriarch of Serbia, and by the Patriarch of Bulgaria and the autocephalous Archbishop of Ohrid His imperial title was recognized by Bulgaria and various other neighbors and trading partners but not by the Byzantine Empire In its final simplified form, the Serbian imperial title read Emperor of Serbs and Greeks ??? ???? ? ???? in modern Serbian It was only employed by Stefan Uroš IV Dušan and his son Stefan Uroš V in Serbia until his death in , after which it became extinct A half brother of Dušan, Simeon Uroš, and then his son Jovan Uroš, claimed the same title, until the latter's abdication in , while ruling as dynasts in Thessaly The Greek component in the Serbian imperial title indicates both rulership over Greeks and the derivation of the imperial tradition from the Romans Emperors in the Americas edit Pre Columbian traditions edit The Aztec and Inca traditions are unrelated to one another Both were conquered under the reign of King Charles I of Spain who was simultaneously emperor elect of the Holy Roman Empire during the fall of the Aztecs and fully emperor during the fall of the Incas Incidentally by being king of Spain, he was also Roman Byzantine emperor in pretence through Andreas Palaiologos The translations of their titles were provided by the Spanish Aztec Empire edit The only pre Columbian North American rulers to be commonly called emperors were the Hueyi Tlatoani of the Aztec Empire – It was an elected monarchy chosen by the elite Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés slew Emperor Cuauhtémoc and installed puppet rulers who became vassals for Spain Mexican Emperor Maximilian built his palace, Chapultepec Castle, over the ruins of an Aztec one Inca Empire edit The only pre Columbian South American rulers to be commonly called emperors were the Sapa Inca of the Inca Empire – Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, conquered the Inca for Spain, killed Emperor Atahualpa, and installed puppets as well Atahualpa may actually be considered a usurper as he had achieved power by killing his half brother and he did not perform the required coronation with the imperial crown mascaipacha by the Huillaq Uma high priest Post Columbian Americas edit Brazil edit Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil, in regalia at the opening of the General Assembly oil painting by Pedro Américo When Napoleon I ordered the invasion of Portugal in because it refused to join the Continental System, the Portuguese Braganzas moved their capital to Rio de Janeiro to avoid the fate of the Spanish Bourbons Napoleon I arrested them and made his brother Joseph king When the French general Jean Andoche Junot arrived in Lisbon, the Portuguese fleet had already left with all the local elite In , under a British naval escort, the fleet arrived in Brazil Later, in , the Portuguese Prince Regent since King João VI proclaimed the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves, as a union of three kingdoms, lifting Brazil from its colonial status After the fall of Napoleon I and the Liberal revolution in Portugal, the Portuguese Royals returned to Europe Prince Pedro of Braganza King João's older son stayed in South America acting as regent of the local kingdom, but, two years later in , he proclaimed himself Pedro I, first Emperor of Brazil He did, however, recognize his father, João VI, as Titular Emperor of Brazil —a purely honorific title—until João VI's death in The empire came to an end in , with the overthrow of Emperor Pedro II Pedro I's son and successor , when the Brazilian republic was proclaimed Haiti edit Haiti was declared an empire by its ruler, Jean Jacques Dessalines, who made himself Jacques I, in May He was assassinated the next year Haiti again became an empire from to under Faustin Soulouque Mexico edit Portrait of Maximilian I of Mexico, by Franz Xaver Winterhalter In Mexico, the First Mexican Empire was the first of two empires created After the declaration of independence on September , , it was the intention of the Mexican parliament to establish a commonwealth whereby the King of Spain, Ferdinand VII, would also be Emperor of Mexico, but in which both countries were to be governed by separate laws and with their own legislative offices Should the king refuse the position, the law provided for a member of the House of Bourbon to accede to the Mexican throne Ferdinand VII, however, did not recognize the independence and said that Spain would not allow any other European prince to take the throne of Mexico By request of Parliament, the president of the regency Agustín de Iturbide was proclaimed emperor of Mexico in July as Agustín I Agustín de Iturbide was the general who helped secure Mexican independence from Spanish rule, but was overthrown by the Plan of Casa Mata In , the invading French, under Napoleon III see above , in alliance with Mexican conservatives and nobility, helped create the Second Mexican Empire, and invited Archduke Maximilian, of the House of Habsburg Lorraine, younger brother of the Austrian Emperor Franz Josef I, to become emperor Maximilian I of Mexico The childless Maximilian and his consort Empress Carlota of Mexico, daughter of Leopold I of Belgium, adopted Agustín's grandsons Agustin and Salvador as his heirs to bolster his claim to the throne of Mexico Maximilian and Carlota made Chapultepec Castle their home, which has been the only palace in North America to house sovereigns After the withdrawal of French protection in , Maximilian was captured and executed by the liberal forces of Benito Juárez This empire led to French influence in the Mexican culture and also immigration from France, Belgium, and Switzerland to Mexico Persia Iran edit Further information Shah and King of Kings In Persia, from the time of Darius the Great, Persian rulers used the title King of Kings Shahanshah in Persian since they had dominion over peoples from India to Greece and Egypt Alexander probably crowned himself shahanshah after conquering Persia citation needed , bringing the phrase basileus toon basileoon to Greek It is also known that Tigranes the Great, king of Armenia, was named as the king of kings when he made his empire after defeating the Parthians Georgian title mephet'mephe has the same meaning The last shahanshah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was ousted in following the Iranian Revolution Shahanshah is usually translated as king of kings or simply king for ancient rulers of the Achaemenid, Arsacid, and Sassanid dynasties, and often shortened to shah for rulers since the Safavid dynasty in the th century Iranian rulers were typically regarded in the West as emperors Indian subcontinent edit Main article Chakravartin The Sanskrit word for emperor is Samra? or Chakravarti word stem samraj This word has been used as an epithet of various Vedic deities, like Varuna, and has been attested in the Holy Rig Veda, possibly the oldest compiled book among the Indo Europeans Chakravarti refers to the king of kings A Chakravarti is not only a sovereign ruler but also has feudatories Typically, in the later Vedic age, a Hindu high king Maharajah was only called Samra? after performing the Vedic Rajasuya sacrifice, enabling him by religious tradition to claim superiority over the other kings and princes Another word for emperor is sarvabhauma The title of Samra? has been used by many rulers of the Indian subcontinent as claimed by the Hindu mythologies In proper history, most historians call Chandragupta Maurya the first samra? emperor of the Indian subcontinent, because of the huge empire he ruled The most famous Buddhist emperor was his grandson Ashoka the Great Other dynasties that are considered imperial by historians are the Kushanas, Guptas, Vijayanagara, Kakatiya, Hoysala and the Cholas Rudhramadevi – was one of the most prominent rulers of the Kakatiya dynasty on the Deccan Plateau, being one of the few ruling queens empress in Indian history After India was invaded by the Mongol Khans and Turkic Muslims, the rulers of their major states on the subcontinent were titled Sultan, In this manner, the only empress regnant ever to have actually sat on the throne of Delhi was Razia Sultan The Mughal Emperors were the only Indian rulers for whom the term was consistently used by Western contemporaries For the period from to when British Emperors ruled British India as the pearl in the crown of the British Empire, see above Africa edit Ethiopia edit This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed February Main article Emperor of Ethiopia In Ethiopia, the Solomonic dynasty used, beginning in , the title of n?gusä nägäst which is literally King of Kings The use of the king of kings style began a millennium earlier in this region, however, with the title being used by the Kings of Aksum, beginning with Sembrouthes in the rd century Another title used by this dynasty was Itegue Zetopia Itegue translates as Empress, and was also used by the only female reigning Empress, Zauditu, along with the official title Negiste Negest Queen of Kings In , the Italian king Victor Emmanuel III claimed the title of Emperor of Ethiopia after Ethiopia was occupied by Italy during the Second Italo Abyssinian War After the defeat of the Italians by the Ethiopians who were assisted by soldiers from Britain in , Haile Selassie was restored to the throne but Victor Emmanuel did not relinquish his claim to the title until Central African Empire edit Main article Emperor of Central Africa In , President Jean Bédel Bokassa of the Central African Republic, proclaimed the country to be an autocratic Central African Empire, and made himself Emperor as Bokassa I The expenses of his coronation ceremony actually bankrupted the country He was overthrown three years later and the republic was restored East Asian tradition edit This section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed June The rulers of China and once Westerners became aware of the role Japan were always accepted in the West as emperors, and referred to as such The claims of other East Asian monarchies to the title may have been accepted for diplomatic purposes, but it was not necessarily used in more general contexts China edit Main article Emperor of China Qin Shi Huang The East Asian tradition is different from the Roman tradition, having arisen separately What links them together is the use of the Chinese logographs ? huáng and ? dì which together or individually are imperial Because of the cultural influence of China, China's neighbors adopted these titles or had their native titles conform in hanzi Anyone who spoke to the emperor was to address him as bìxià ??, lit the Bottom of the Steps , corresponding to Imperial Majesty shèngshàng ??, lit Holy Highness or wànsuì ??, lit You, of Ten Thousand Years In BC, Ying Zheng, who was king of Qin at the time, proclaimed himself Shi Huangdi ??? , which translates as first emperor Huangdi is composed of huang august one , ? and di sage king , ? , and referred to legendary mythological sage emperors living several millennia earlier, of which three were huang and five were di Thus Zheng became Qin Shi Huang, abolishing the system where the huang di titles were reserved to dead and or mythological rulers Since then, the title king became a lower ranked title, and later divided into two grades Although not as popular, the title ? wang king or prince was still used by many monarchs and dynasties in China up to the Taipings in the th century ? is pronounced vuong in Vietnamese, o in Japanese, and wang in Korean The imperial title continued in China until the Qing Dynasty was overthrown in The title was briefly revived from December to March by President Yuan Shikai and again in early July when General Zhang Xun attempted to restore last Qing emperor Puyi to the throne Puyi retained the title and attributes of a foreign emperor, as a personal status, until After the Japanese occupied Manchuria in , they proclaimed it to be the Empire of Manchukuo, and Puyi became emperor of Manchukuo This empire ceased to exist when it was occupied by the Soviet Red Army in citation needed In general, an emperor would have one empress Huanghou, ?? at one time, although posthumous entitlement to empress for a concubine was not uncommon The earliest known usage of huanghou was in the Han Dynasty The emperor would generally select the empress from his concubines In subsequent dynasties, when the distinction between wife and concubine became more accentuated, the crown prince would have chosen an empress designate before his reign Imperial China produced only one reigning empress, Wu Zetian, and she used the same Chinese title as an emperor Huangdi, ?? Wu Zetian then reigned for about years – AD Korea edit Emperor Gojong of the Korean Empire The rulers of Goguryeo BC AD used the title of Taewang Hangul ??, Hanja ?? , literally translated as the Greatest of the Kings Also some Silla BC AD rulers including Beopheung and Jinheung used this title for their declaration of independence from the influence of Goguryeo However, it does not signify emperor itself The rulers of Balhae – internally called themselves Seongwang Hangul ??, Hanja ?? In the th century, Gwangjong of Goryeo took the title of emperor himself as a means of enhancing the prestige of the monarchy, and it was first used in Korea Many Goryeo sovereign alternately used both supreme king and emperor After the Mongolian invasions – , however, Korea relinquished the imperial title The rulers of the Joseon Dynasty – still used the term King of the Joseon Hangul ????, Hanja ???? In the First Sino Japanese War of –' , Japan defeated the Qing Dynasty China, and the Treaty of Shimonoseki was concluded in which Japan had China recognize the independence and autonomy of Korea However, King Gojong used term of His Majesty the Great Monarch Hangul ?????, Hanja ????? not officlal imperial title In , King Gojong proclaimed the founding of the Korean Empire – , and became emperor of Korea Emperor Gojong declared the new era name Gwangmu Hangul ??, Hanja ??, Warrior of light The Korean Empire maintained their state until — though it was an Empire by name, it was in fact in the process of being absorbed by Japan Japan edit Main article Emperor of Japan Emperor Hirohito ?? , or the Showa Emperor ???? , the last Japanese Emperor having ruled with prerogative powers, combined with assumption of divinity photographed This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards The specific problem is The second paragraph contains many grammar mistakes Please help improve this section if you can June The earliest Emperor recorded in Kojiki and Nihon Shoki is Emperor Jimmu, who is said to be a descendant of Amaterasu's grandson Ninigi who descended from Heaven Tenson korin If one believes what is written in Nihon Shoki, the Emperors have an unbroken direct male lineage that goes back more than , years In ancient Japan, the earliest titles for the sovereign were either ????? ?? yamato okimi, Grand King of Yamato , ?? ??? wao wakokuo, King of Wa, used externally , or ????? amenoshita shiroshimesu okimi, Grand King who rules all under heaven, used internally As early as the th century the word ?? which can be read either as sumera no mikoto, divine order, or as tenno, Heavenly Emperor, the latter being derived from a Tang Chinese term referring to the Pole star around which all other stars revolve began to be used The earliest use of this term is found on a wooden slat, or mokkan, unearthed in Asuka mura, Nara Prefecture in The slat dated back to the reign of Emperor Temmu and Empress Jito The reading 'Tenno' has become the standard title for the Japanese sovereign up to the present age The term ? mikado, Emperor is also found in literary sources Japanese monarchs were given the official title by Chinese emperor The new Japanese monarch after coming into power would send a representative to China and receive the anointment They would receive their official title on several golden plates of several meters tall Since the Japanese monarchs changed their title to ?? Heavenly Emperor in , the Chinese emperor refused to anoint the Japanese king, thus, ending relations with Japan for the next few hundred years With Chinese emperors in titulary terms citation needed , but rarely was the Chinese style Son of Heaven term used In the Japanese language, the word tenno is restricted to Japan's own monarch kotei ?? is used for foreign emperors Historically, retired emperors often kept power over a child emperor as de facto Regent For a fairly long time, a shogun formally the imperial generalissimo, but made hereditary or regent wielded actual political power In fact, through much of Japanese history, the emperor has been little more than a figurehead Oceania UK ?o???'??ni?, ?o?s? or US ?o??i?'æni? , also known as Oceanica, is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean Opinions of what constitutes Oceania range from its three subregions of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia to, more broadly, the entire insular region between Southeast Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago The term is often used more specifically to denote a continent comprising Australia and proximate islands or biogeographically as a synonym for either