Editing Elective monarchy (section)

===Europe===
====Ancient Greece====
The kings of [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedon]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Richard |first1=Gabriel A. |title=Philip II of Macedonia: Greater Than Alexander |date=2010 |publisher=Potomac Books, Inc |isbn=978-1597975193 |page=45}}</ref> and of [[Epirus (ancient state)|Epirus]] were elected by the army, which was similar in composition to the [[Ecclesia (ancient Athens)|Ecclesia]] of the ''[[Athenian democracy#Etymology|Demos]]'', the assembly of all free [[classical Athens|Athenian]] citizens. Military service often was linked with citizenship among the male members of the royal house.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

====Ancient Rome and Byzantium====
In the ancient [[Roman Kingdom]] the kings were elected by the [[Roman assemblies]]. When a king died, the senate would appoint an ''interrex'' to oversee the election for a new king.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Allen M. Ward, Fritz M. Heichelheim, Cedric A. Yeo |title=History of the Roman People |date=2016 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9780205846795 |page=36}}</ref> Once the Roman kings were overthrown, there remained an absolute prohibition for royal establishment in the Roman constitution, a prohibition which formally remained in place during imperial times,{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} both classical [[Roman Empire|Roman]] and [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]]. In practice, however, Imperial Rome was a monarchy. During the [[Principate]] (27 BC to 284 AD), which was the foundational stage of Roman imperialism, Roman monarchs would often take care to disguise their ''de facto'' position with the ''de jure'' apparatus of republicanism.  This was particularly the case for [[Augustus]], the first Emperor, who established the Principate. Whilst given many titles (including "Augustus", i.e. "majestic") he described himself as ''princeps senatus'', or merely "first among senators". The illusion of being elected from the [[Roman Senate|Senate]] continued.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Adrastos Omissi |title=Emperors and Usurpers in the Later Roman Empire Civil War, Panegyric, and the Construction of Legitimacy |date=2018 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=9780192558268 |pages=13–14}}</ref> Over time the principle weakened as [[Roman Republic|republican government]] passed into distant history, and the Empire became functionally an absolute monarchy. The office of Roman and Byzantine emperor remained vaguely elective (albeit with the election procedure never strictly defined, but generally understood to be a matter for the Senate). For instance, whilst the first five Emperors were all [[Julio-Claudian dynasty|descended from Julius Caesar]], in each case their position was proclaimed, not inherited as of right. [[Claudius]], the fourth Emperor, in particular stands out, being "elected" to office once the [[Praetorian Guard]] had made it clear he was their candidate.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

Accordingly, heredity never was, and could never be, formally established in law. And whilst the later, more overtly authoritarian [[Dominate]] period further stripped the republican veneer from the constitution, Emperors succeeded by a mixture of proclamation by the Legions or Senate as much as by blood (though sons did succeed fathers).{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

In order to bypass the prohibition on heredity and ensure dynastic continuity, many reigning Byzantine emperors had their heirs crowned co-emperor so that the throne could not be considered vacant at their own death and thus the need for succession by election would not arise.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

====United Kingdom====
A system of elective monarchy existed in [[Anglo-Saxon England]] (see [[Witenagemot]]).<ref name=halden/>

[[John of England]] was chosen as King of England by a council of nobles and royal advisors at the death of his brother, [[Richard I]], in 1199 because the heir by strict primogeniture, [[Arthur of Brittany]], was a child at that time. This affirmed the principle of elective monarchy.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Figgis |first1=John Neville |title=The Divine Right of Kings |date=1914 |publisher=CUP Archive |pages=79–80}}</ref>

In 14th, 15th, late 17th and early 18th century England, the evolving relations between the Crown and [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] resulted in a monarchy with both hereditary and quasi-elective elements<ref>{{cite book |last1=Christopher Edward Taucar |title=The British System of Government and Its Historical Development |date=2014 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press |isbn=978-0773596566 |pages=275–276}}</ref> – at least as between various contenders with some dynastic claim for the throne. [[Henry IV of England]] was chosen by Parliament in 1399 to replace [[Richard II of England|Richard II]]. Richard was childless, and the [[Edmund Mortimer, 5th Earl of March|Earl of March]], the next in line to the throne, was a young child at the time, so Parliament bypassed him in favour of Henry, who had led a revolt against Richard. Parliament also confirmed depositions during the [[Wars of the Roses]], as well as Henry VIII's settlements of the crown. During the [[Exclusion Crisis]], King Charles II strongly opposed any such idea.

Following the [[Glorious Revolution]], Parliament enacted the [[Succession to the Crown Act 1707|Act of Succession]], whose effect was to disinherit the Stuarts and replace them by the [[Hanoverians]], whose dynastic claim was far more remote. [[William III of England|William III]] and [[Mary II of England|Mary II]] were chosen by Parliament to replace [[James II of England|James II]]. (Mary was James' daughter, William was James' nephew, and William and Mary were succeeded by Mary's younger sister [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Anne]].) Parliament passed [[Act of Settlement 1701|laws]] in the late 17th and early 18th centuries which explicitly excluded Catholics (and thus the male descendants of James II) from the [[succession to the British throne|order of succession]]. The [[Succession to the Crown Act 2013]], replaced male-preference primogeniture with absolute primogeniture and ended disqualification of a person who married a Roman Catholic from succession.

In Scotland, the [[Declaration of Arbroath]] of 1320 asserted the rights of the nobles to choose a king if required, which implied elective monarchy.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bob Harris |last2=Alan R. MacDonald |title=Scotland: the making and unmaking of the nation, {{circa|1100-1707}}, Volume 2 |date=2007 |publisher=Dundee University Press |isbn=978-1845860288 |page=71}}</ref> [[Tanistry]] was also the system of royal succession until King Malcolm II in the early 11th century introduced direct inheritance. The Isle of Man also used tanistry.<ref>{{cite book |last1=James Panton |title=Historical Dictionary of the British Monarchy |date=2011 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0810874978 |page=471}}</ref>

====Ireland====
{{main|Tanistry}}
In Ireland, from the beginning of recorded history<ref>In ''Early Irish laws and institution'' (1934) Eoin MacNeill stated that, according to the annal evidence, tanistry originated only about a century after the Anglo-Norman invasion, p. 148.</ref> until the mid-16th/early 17th century,<ref>''Case of Tanistry'' (1608), Davis 28 180 E.R 516</ref> succession was determined by an elective system based on patrilineal relationship known as [[tanistry]].<ref name=EB1911-Tanistry>
{{EB1911 |inline=y
 |wstitle=Tanistry
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</ref>

====Dutch Republic====
In the [[Dutch Republic]] of the 17th and 18th centuries there was the office of the [[Stadtholder]], whose powers fell short of those of a monarch, and which was elective. Each of the seven Dutch provinces could separately elect its own Stadtholder, and it did not have to be the same person in all of them. In theory anyone could be elected Stadtholder, though in practice it was restricted to members of the [[House of Orange]]. There was no obligation to elect a Stadtholder at all, and the leaders of the Dutch Republican faction, such as [[Johan van Oldenbarnevelt|Oldenbarnevelt]] and [[Johan de Witt|De Witt]], repeatedly tried to abolish the office of Stadtholder or leave it vacant – which it was for several decades of Dutch history. Conversely, the House of Orange and its adherents tried to increase the powers of the Stadtholder to approximate those of a monarch, to make it officially hereditary (which it became in the later part of the 18th century) and finally to transform it into a full-fledged monarchy – as it was in 1815.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

====Gaul/France====
The [[Gauls|Gallic tribes]] were each ruled by a ''rix'', which can be translated as king, who were elected for terms of one year or longer. Candidates were drawn from relatives of past kings.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Freeman |first1=Philip |title=The Philosopher and the Druids: A Journey Among the Ancient Celts |date=2006 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=0743289064 |page=95}}</ref>

The Frankish kingdom was at least partly elective. Merovingian kings were elected, while Carolingian kings were elected at times. In the 10th century Western Frankish royal elections switched between different lineages before settling on the Capetians.<ref name="halden">{{cite book |last1=Halden |first1=Peter |title=Family Power: Kinship, War and Political Orders in Eurasia, 500–2018 |date=2020 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1108495929 |pages=66–67}}</ref> [[Medieval France]] was an elective monarchy at the time of the first [[House of Capet|Capet]]ian kings; the kings however took the habit of, during their reign, having their son elected as co-king and successor during their reigns. The election soon became a mere formality and vanished after the reign of [[Philip II of France|Philip II]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Walker |first1=Williston |title=On the Increase of Royal Power in France Under Philip Augustus, 1179-1223 |date=1888 |publisher=Gressner & Schramm |pages=4–7}}</ref>

After declaring the throne vacant, the French Chamber of Deputies voted 229–33 to declare [[Louis-Philippe of France]] as [[King of the French]] during the [[July Revolution]] of 1830,<ref>{{cite book |last1=John S.C. Abbott |title=Louis Philippe |date=2019 |publisher=BoD – Books on Demand |isbn=978-3734074752 |pages=151–152}}</ref> creating an elective monarchy.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gino Raymond |title=Historical Dictionary of France |date=2008 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0810862562 |page=52 |edition=2, revised}}</ref> France briefly had again a kind of elective monarchy<ref>{{cite book |last1=John Burley Waring |title=The state, a sequel to the 'Universal Church'; together with a suppl. 'Record of thoughts', and some essays |date=1874 |page=2}}</ref> when [[Napoleon III]] was first elected President of France and then transformed himself into an Emperor.

====Holy Roman Empire====
{{Further|Imperial election}}
The [[Holy Roman Empire]], beginning with its predecessor Eastern Francia,<ref name=halden/> is perhaps the best-known example of an elective monarchy. However, from 1440 to 1740, a Habsburg was always elected [[Holy Roman Emperor|emperor]], the throne becoming unofficially hereditary.<ref name="The Emperor: Qualifications"/> During that period, the emperor was elected from within the [[House of Habsburg]] by a small council of nobles called [[prince-elector]]s. The secular electoral seats were hereditary.  However, spiritual electors (and other prince-(arch)bishops) were usually elected by the [[cathedral chapter]]s as religious leaders, but simultaneously ruled as monarch (prince) of a territory of [[imperial immediacy]] (which usually comprised a part of their diocesan territory). Thus the [[prince-bishopric]]s were elective monarchies too. The same holds true for prince-abbacies, whose princess-abbesses or [[prince-abbot]]s were elected by a [[college (canon law)|college]] of clerics and imperially appointed as princely rulers in a pertaining territory.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

====Bohemia====
Since medieval times, the [[King of Bohemia]] was elected by the [[Estate (land)|Estate]]s of [[Lands of the Bohemian Crown]]. Since 1526, when [[Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand I]] assumed the Bohemian Crown, it was always held by the [[Habsburg]] branch who later became [[Holy Roman Emperor]] and who expected this situation to go on indefinitely. In 1618 the Bohemians chose to exercise in practice their legal right to choose a King at their discretion, despite having already elected [[Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor|Ferdinand II]] as king, and bestowed the Bohemian Crown on [[Frederick V, Elector Palatine]] – "The Winter King". However, the Habsburgs regarded this as an act of rebellion, re-imposed their rule over Bohemia in the [[Battle of the White Mountain]] and in the aftermath abolished the Bohemian Elective Monarchy and made exclusive Habsburg rule the de jure as well as de facto situation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mahoney |first1=William |title=The History of the Czech Republic and Slovakia |date=2011 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0313363061 |pages=73–74}}</ref> The attempt to make Frederick V King of Bohemia is regarded as a catalyst for the [[Thirty Years War]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

====Hungary====
[[Kingdom of Hungary|Hungary]]<ref>{{cite book |title=Austria in 1848-49: being a history of the late political movements in Vienna, Milan, Venice, and Prague; with details of the campaigns of Lombardy and Novara; a full account of the Revolution in Hungary; and Historical sketches of the Austrian Government and the princes of the empire: 2 |date=1852 |publisher=Low |page=23}}</ref> was an elective monarchy until 1687. This elective right carried on for another two more decades in the [[Principality of Transylvania (1571–1711)|Principality of Transylvania]] which ''de jure'' continued to belong to the [[Lands of the Hungarian Crown]] but had split from Hungary when the childless King [[Louis II of Hungary|Louis II]] died after the [[Battle of Mohács]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Roșu |first1=Felicia |title=Elective Monarchy in Transylvania and Poland-Lithuania, 1569-1587 |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0192506436 |pages=24–31}}</ref>

====Iberia====
[[Visigothic kingdom|Visigothic Hispania]] elected the king from the relatives of past kings, in accordance with the Germanic traditions.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Keefe |first1=Eugene K. |title=Area Handbook for Spain |date=1976 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |isbn=0160015677 |page=16}}</ref> In practice, the Visigoth kings appointed their eldest sons to manage the kingdom's affairs, so that when the king died the eldest son was politically skilled enough to secure the throne.<ref name=afon>{{cite book |last1=E. Olsen |title=The Calabrian Charlatan, 1598–1603 Messianic Nationalism in Early Modern Europe |date=2002 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK |isbn=9780230597143 |page=41}}</ref> In the 5th century, hereditary succession was increasingly stable until the Frankish invasions against the Visigoths led to a period of crisis in which the Visigoths reverted to elections. After the crisis was over in the 6th century, the family of Leovigild attempted to revive hereditary succession until Swintila was overthrown and the Fourth Council of Toledo formally declared elective succession as the principle of succession in 633.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Joseph F. O'Callaghan |title=A History of Medieval Spain |date=1983 |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=9780801492648 |page=58}}</ref>

The Kingship of Aragon was initially elected by the "rich men" barons. Later this right was limited to the Cortes confirming the succession of the heir.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Thomas Henry Dyer |title=Modern Europe: From the Fall of Constantinople to the Establishment of the German Empire, A.D. 1453-1871 |date=1877 |publisher=Bell |page=63 |edition=2}}</ref>

During the 19th century, more precisely between 1870 and 1873, an attempt of such a system took place in Spain. After the [[Glorious Revolution (Spain)|Glorious Revolution]] and [[Isabella II of Spain|Isabella II]]'s subsequent deposition in 1868 a new parliament was constituted through direct male suffrage. It was then decided that a democratically elected monarch was needed in Spain. The debates regarding Isabella's succession took place until October 1869, when [[Amadeo I of Spain|Amadeo I]] was finally chosen. Nevertheless, his reign lasted until 11 October 1873, when he abdicated citing his inability to solve the problems Spain was going through, after which the parliament proclaimed a [[First Spanish Republic|republic]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

Portugal's monarchy contained the remnants of the elective principle in requiring reciprocal oaths, the assent of the Cortes and acclamation before acceding to the throne.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Malyn Newitt |title=The Braganzas: The Rise and Fall of the Ruling Dynasties of Portugal and Brazil, 1640–1910 |date=2019 |publisher=Reaktion Books |isbn=978-1789141658 |page=14}}</ref> Portugal's first king Afonso I followed Visigothic precedent by appointing his son as co-ruler to establish a hereditary line of succession, but whenever there was doubt on succession, the elective principle would resume.<ref name=afon/> The Cortes affirmed the crown as elective when it elevated King John in 1385.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Encyclopaedia Britannica, Volume XIX |date=1890 |page=544}}</ref> In Portugal, on 6 April 1385 in the aftermath of [[1383–1385 Crisis]], the [[Portuguese Cortes|Council of the Kingdom]] elected [[John I of Portugal|John I]], then Master of the [[Order of Aviz]], as [[King of Portugal]]. His half-brother [[Ferdinand I of Portugal|Ferdinand I]] had died without a male heir in October 1383, and different factions made strenuous efforts to secure the throne for [[Beatrice of Portugal|Princess Beatrice]], Ferdinand's only daughter and [[Queen consort of Castile]] and [[Queen consort of Leon|León]], or for either of her uncles [[Infante John, Duke of Valencia de Campos]] and [[Infante Denis, Lord of Cifuentes]]. The Council elected instead the younger (and illegitimate) son of [[Peter I of Portugal|Peter I]], thus avoiding a ''[[jure uxoris]]'' Castilian king.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

====Kingdom of Jerusalem====
In the Crusader [[Kingdom of Jerusalem]], the kingship was partially elected and partially hereditary. During the height of the kingdom in the mid-12th century there was a royal family and a relatively clear line of succession. Nevertheless, the king was elected, or at least recognized, by the [[Haute Cour of Jerusalem|Haute Cour]]. Here the king was considered a {{lang|la|[[primus inter pares]]}} (first among equals), and in his absence his duties were performed by his [[officers of the Kingdom of Jerusalem|seneschal]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

====Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth====
{{main|Royal elections in Poland}}
[[File:Potega Rzeczypospolitej u zenitu Zlota wolnosc Elekcja 1573.JPG|thumb|300px|right|''The Republic at the Zenith of Its Power. [[Golden Liberty]]. The [[Royal elections in Poland|Royal Election]] of 1573'', by [[Jan Matejko]]]]
The tradition of electing the country's ruler, which occurred when there was no clear heir to the throne, dates to the very beginning of Polish statehood. The election privilege, exercised during the gatherings known as ''[[wiec]]'', was usually limited to the most powerful nobles ([[Magnates of Poland and Lithuania|magnates]]) or officials, and was heavily influenced by local traditions and strength of the ruler.<ref name="bardach6263">Juliusz Bardach, Boguslaw Lesnodorski, and Michal Pietrzak, ''Historia panstwa i prawa polskiego'' (Warsaw: Paristwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1987), p.62-63</ref>

In [[Poland]], after the death of the last [[Piast]] in 1370, Polish kings were initially elected by a small council; gradually, this privilege was granted to all members of the ''[[szlachta]]'' (Polish nobility). Kings of Poland and Grand Dukes of Lithuania during the times of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] (1569–1795) were elected by gatherings of crowds of nobles at a field in [[Wola]], today a district in [[Warsaw]]. Since in Poland, all sons of a noble were nobles, and not only the eldest, every one of an estimated 500,000 nobles could potentially have participated in such elections in person – by far the most extensive franchise of any European country at the time. During the election period, the function of the king was performed by an [[Interrex (Poland)|interrex]] (usually in the person of the [[primate of Poland]]). This unique Polish election was termed the [[Free election (Polish throne)|free election]] (''wolna elekcja'').{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}} Although the elective principle was already established in Polish political culture in the late Middle Ages, the rules changed significantly in the 1570s, and the principles developed in that period lasted until the [[Partitions of Poland]].{{sfn|Roșu|2017|p=10}} There have been thirteen royal elections in Poland–Lithuania from 1573 to 1764.{{sfn|Roșu|2017|p=10}} Roșu (2017) marked the [[1576 Polish–Lithuanian royal election|1575/1576 Polish–Lithuanian royal election]] as the most significant for several reasons. First, 'the citizens of the commonwealth were forced to ''de facto'' depose their [[Henry III of France|first elected king]]&nbsp;– thus applying the right of disobedience they had inscribed in their public records only two years before.' Second, it resulted in two candidates being proclaimed the winner, and in subsequent events the nobility was able to confirm their majority choice for [[Stephen Báthory]] and have it recognised, while avoiding war with [[Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian II of Habsburg]].{{sfn|Roșu|2017|p=12}}

====Scandinavia====
Scandinavian kingship, according to the Germanic tradition, was elected upon the death of the previous king.<ref name="63–84"/> The selection was not always limited to the heirs of the previous king (e.g. in Sweden when the royal house was changing between the houses of Eric and Sverker between generations). Originally, kings were supposed to be elected from among the descendants of a previous king, which was connected to descent from gods. There could also be [[Diarchy|joint rule]] between multiple kings. Disputed succession was common because of a large number of sons sired by kings. However, when single rule appeared in the 9th century, civil wars grew in frequency throughout the region. Later, Christianisation led to the promulgation of primogeniture in Norway in 1163 and Denmark in 1170, but the elective idea still persisted in the requirement to be certified by a local assembly and subsequently the magnates would still elect the new king, albeit while the incumbent king was still alive. This demonstrated the enduring power of the nobles.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Phillip Pulsiano |last2=Kirsten Wolf |title=Routledge Revivals: Medieval Scandinavia (1993): An Encyclopedia |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1351665018 |page=621}}</ref>

Originally, the [[Monarchy of Sweden|Kings of Sweden]] were elected by all free men at the [[Stones of Mora|Mora]] [[Thing (assembly)|Thing]]. Elective monarchy continued until 1544, when the [[Riksdag of the Estates]] designated the [[House of Vasa|heirs]] of King [[Gustav I of Sweden|Gustav Vasa]] as the heirs to the throne. The [[Monarchy of Denmark|Danish monarchy]] was also officially elective, although the eldest son of the reigning monarch was usually elected. This continued until 1660, when a hereditary and [[absolute monarchy]] was instituted by [[Frederick III of Denmark|Frederick III]]. Though the [[monarchy of Norway]] was originally hereditary, it too became elective in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Candidates had to be of royal blood, but the kingship was elected by a council of noblemen, rather than automatically passing to the eldest son. In 1905 [[Haakon VII of Norway|Prince Carl]] was elected King of the newly independent Norway by the [[Storting]] after [[1905 Norwegian monarchy referendum|a referendum]] resolved in favor of monarchy.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

The Scandinavian kingdoms were united under the Danish crown by [[Margaret I of Denmark]] in 1389, but many of her successors had the united kingdoms split up as Sweden elected a different king than Denmark and Norway upon succession. The election was usually contested through a Danish invasion of Sweden until [[Christian II of Denmark]] after his reconquest of Sweden had many of those voting against him executed in the [[Stockholm Bloodbath]] (1520), which ended much of the support for the Danish king on the Swedish throne.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

In 1810, the Swedish [[Riksdag of the Estates|Riksdag]] elected the French Marshall and [[Principality of Pontecorvo#Princes of Pontecorvo|Prince of Pontecorvo]] [[Jean Bernadotte]] to be the new [[Crown Prince]], since it was apparent that the Swedish branch of the House of Holstein-Gottorp would die with the childless King [[Charles XIII of Sweden|Charles XIII]]. Bernadotte eventually ascended the throne as [[Charles XIV John of Sweden]] and founded the still current [[House of Bernadotte]]. In this case the elective aspect in the choice of Monarch was especially prominent, since Bernadotte had been a French commoner with no previous connection to Sweden and not the most remote of dynastic claims to the Swedish throne – his being chosen derived solely from urgent political and military considerations of the crisis time of the [[Napoleonic Wars]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}

====Sovereign Military Order of Malta====
The [[Sovereign Military Order of Malta]], formerly known as the [[Knights Hospitaller]] or the Knights of Malta, remains a [[Sovereignty|sovereign subject]] of [[international law]] since it was exiled to Rome from Malta during the [[French occupation of Malta]] under the [[First French Republic]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Theutenberg |first=Bo J. |author-link=:sv:Bo Johnson Theutenberg |date=2003 |title=The Holy See, the Order of Malta and International Law |publisher=Johnny Hagberg and Skara stiftshistoriska sällskap |url=http://www.theutenberg.se/pdf/the_holy_see_the_order_of_malta_and_international_law.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151123151822/http://www.theutenberg.se/pdf/the_holy_see_the_order_of_malta_and_international_law.pdf |archive-date=2015-11-23 |isbn=91-974235-6-4}}</ref> The Order is ruled by the [[List of Princes and Grand Masters of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta|Prince and Grand Master]], who is elected for life by the Council Complete of State. The Prince and Grand Master holds the rank of Prince, bestowed by the Holy Roman Emperor in 1607 and holds the precedence of a cardinal of the Church since 1630.<ref>{{cite book |last= Sire |first= H.J.A. |date= 1994 |title= The Knights of Malta |publisher= Yale University Press |page= 221 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=KhLJcYiV3YAC&pg=PA221 |isbn= 0300068859 |access-date= 2020-09-23 |archive-date= 2022-05-15 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220515032800/https://books.google.com/books?id=KhLJcYiV3YAC&pg=PA221 |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Noonan Jr. | first=James-Charles | date=1996 | title=The Church Visible: The Ceremonial Life and Protocol of the Roman Catholic Church | publisher=Viking | page=[https://archive.org/details/churchvisiblecer0000noon/page/135 135] | isbn=0-670-86745-4 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/churchvisiblecer0000noon/page/135 }}</ref> The Council that elects the prince includes members of the Sovereign Council and other high-ranking office-holders and representatives of the Order's worldwide entities. The Sovereign Council, including the Grand Commander, the Grand Chancellor, the Grand Hospitaller, and the Receiver of the Common Treasure, aid the prince in governing the order.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Sovereign Council of the Order of Malta |url=https://www.orderofmalta.int/government/sovereign-council/ |website=Order of Malta |language=en-US |access-date=2018-02-23 |archive-date=2018-10-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181020073202/https://www.orderofmalta.int/government/sovereign-council/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Venice====
The [[Republic of Venice]] was ruled from 697 to 1797 by a [[Doge of Venice|doge]], who normally ruled for life, though a few were forced from office. His powers were never those of an absolute monarch, but he was the Republic's [[Chief magistrate|highest official]] and powerful within restrictions and levels of oversight that varied in different periods. The election process began with the [[Great Council of Venice|Great Council]] of more than 2000 Venetian aristocrats and employed an elaborate system designed to prevent one family or alliance from dominating the process. It used smaller nominating groups that were reduced in number by the drawing of lots and required a [[supermajority]] for election.{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}}