Abdication

Abdication is the act of formally relinquishing monarchical authority. Abdications have played various roles in the succession procedures of monarchies. While some cultures have viewed abdication as an extreme abandonment of duty, in other societies (such as pre-Meiji Restoration Japan), abdication was a regular event and helped maintain stability during political succession.

Historically, abdications have occurred both by force (where the regnant was forced to abdicate on pain of death or other severe consequences) and voluntarily. Some rulers are deemed to have abdicated in absentia, vacating the physical throne and thus their position of power, although these judgements were generally pronounced by successors with vested interests in seeing the throne abdicated, and often without or despite the direct input of the abdicating monarch.

Recently, due to the largely ceremonial nature of the regnant in many constitutional monarchies, many monarchs have abdicated due to old age, such as the monarchs of Belgium, Denmark, Cambodia, the Netherlands and Japan.

Terminology

In certain cultures, the abdication of a monarch was seen as a profound and shocking abandonment of royal duty. As a result, abdications usually only occurred in the most extreme circumstances of political turmoil or violence. For other cultures, abdication was a much more routine element of succession.

Roman Empire

Among the most notable abdications of antiquity are those of

Due to the complex nature of the office of pope (head of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church and sovereign of the Papal States from 754 to 1870 and of Vatican City since 1929), a papal abdication involves both the spiritual and the secular sphere. Technically, the correct term for a reigning pope voluntarily stepping down as bishop of Rome is renunciation or resignation, as regulated in Canon 332 §2 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law.

The debate is open about some disputed resignations in the early Middle Ages: the last three popes to resign were

One of the most well-known abdications in recent history is that of King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom and the Dominions. In 1936 Edward abdicated to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson, over the objections of the royal family, the British establishment, the governments of the Commonwealth and the Church of England.

During the

In Scotland, Mary, Queen of Scots, was forced to abdicate in 1567 in favour of her one-year-old son, James VI.

Today, because the title to the Crown depends upon statute, particularly the

In Japanese history, abdication was used very often, and in fact occurred more often than death on the throne. In those days,^[when?] most executive authority resided in the hands of regents (see Sesshō and Kampaku), and the emperor's chief task was priestly, containing so many repetitive rituals that it was deemed the incumbent emperor deserved pampered retirement as an honoured retired emperor after a service of around ten years. A tradition developed that an emperor should accede to the throne relatively young. The high-priestly duties were deemed possible for a walking child; and a dynast who had passed his toddler years was regarded as suitable and old enough; reaching the age of legal majority was not a requirement. Thus, many Japanese emperors have acceded as children, some only 6 or 8 years old. Childhood apparently helped the monarch to endure tedious duties and to tolerate subjugation to political power brokers, as well as sometimes to cloak the truly powerful members of the imperial dynasty. Almost all Japanese empresses and dozens of emperors abdicated and lived the rest of their lives in pampered retirement, wielding influence behind the scenes, often with more power than they had had while on the throne (see Cloistered rule). Several emperors abdicated while still in their teens. These traditions show in Japanese folklore, theatre, literature and other forms of culture, where the emperor is usually described or depicted as an adolescent.

Before the Meiji Restoration, Japan had eleven reigning empresses. Over half of Japanese empresses abdicated once a suitable male descendant was considered to be old enough to rule. There is also no provision for abdication in the Imperial Household Law, the Meiji Constitution, or the current 1947 Constitution of Japan.

After the defeat of Japan in

On 13 July 2016, national broadcaster NHK reported that Emperor Akihito intended to abdicate in favour of his eldest son Crown Prince Naruhito within a few years, citing his age; an abdication within the Imperial Family had not occurred since Emperor Kōkaku abdicated in 1817. However, senior officials within the Imperial Household Agency denied that there was any official plan for the monarch to abdicate. A potential abdication by the Emperor required an amendment to the Imperial Household Law, which at that time had no provisions for such a move.^[4][5] On 8 August 2016, the Emperor gave a rare televised address, where he emphasized his advanced age and declining health;^[6] this address was interpreted as an implication of his intention to abdicate.^[7] On 1 December 2017, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that Emperor Akihito would step down on 30 April 2019. The announcement came after a meeting of the Imperial Household Council.^[8]

On 19 May 2017, the bill that would allow Akihito to abdicate was issued by the Japanese government's cabinet. On 8 June 2017, the National Diet passed a one-off bill allowing Akihito to abdicate, and for the government to begin arranging the process of handing over the position to Crown Prince Naruhito.^[9] The abdication officially occurred at the end of 30 April 2019.^[10][11]

India

According to Jain sources written almost 800 years after his reign,

When Germany invaded Belgium in 1940, Leopold III, instead of fleeing to London like his Dutch and Norwegian counterparts in a similar predicament, surrendered to the invaders. This made him unpopular both at home and abroad, and after the war, in July 1951, the Belgian government ordered Leopold III to abdicate.

In recent decades, the monarchs or leaders of

In June 2014, Juan Carlos I of Spain abdicated in favour of his son, Felipe VI.^[12][13]

• Lists of office-holders
• List of monarchs who lost their thrones in the 20th century
• List of monarchs who lost their thrones in the 21st century
• Papal renunciation
• List of resignations from government – republic equivalent

References

• ISBN 978-0-06-019314-0
  .

• This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: The New Century Book of Facts. Springfield, Massachusetts: King-Richardson Company. 1911.

External links

Look up abdication in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

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• Texts on Wikisource:
  • "Abdication" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. I (9th ed.). 1878. p. 30.
  • "Abdication". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). 1911. p. 33.
  • "Abdication". Catholic Encyclopedia. 1913.
  • "Abdication". Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921.
  • Napoleon Bonaparte, Speech of Abdication
  • Napoleon's Proclamation to the French People on His Second Abdication
  • Wilhelm II of Germany, Statement of Abdication
  • Abdication of King Edward VIII
  • O. Henry, "The Higher Abdication"