Editing Consul

{{short description|Magistrate or title in various republics and city-states}}
{{About|the term "Consul" as a high-ranking government office-holder|the term "Consul" in modern diplomacy|Consul (representative)|"Consul" as a colonial or occupying administrator|Administrative consul|other uses of the word|Consul (disambiguation)}}
{{wiktionary|consul}}
'''Consul''' (abbrev. ''cos.''; [[Latin]] plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief [[Roman magistrate|magistrates]] of the [[Roman Republic]], and subsequently also an important title under the [[Roman Empire]]. The title was used in other European [[city-state]]s through antiquity and the Middle Ages, in particular in the [[Republic of Genoa|Republics of Genoa]] and [[Republic of Pisa|Pisa]], then revived in modern [[State (polity)|states]], notably in the [[First French Republic]]. The related adjective is '''consular''', from the Latin ''[[consularis]]''.

This usage contrasts with modern terminology, where a consul is a [[Consul (representative)|type of diplomat]].

==Roman consul==
{{main article|Roman consul|List of Roman consuls}}
A consul held the highest elected political office of the [[Roman Republic]] (509 to 27 BC), and ancient Romans considered the consulship the highest level of the ''[[cursus honorum]]'' (an ascending sequence of public offices to which politicians aspired). Consuls were elected to office and held power for one year. There were always two consuls in power at any time.

==Other uses in antiquity==

===Private sphere===
It was not uncommon for an organization under Roman private law to copy the terminology of state and city institutions for its own statutory agents. The founding statute, or contract, of such an organisation was called ''lex'', 'law'. The people elected each year were [[Patrician (ancient Rome)|patricians]], members of the upper class.

===City-states===
While many cities, including the Gallic states and the [[Carthaginian Republic]], had a double-headed chief magistracy, another [[title]] was often used, such as the [[Punic]] ''[[sufet]]'',<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bell |first1=Brenda |title=Roman Literary Attitudes to Foreign Terms and the Carthaginian 'sufetes' |journal=Classical Association of South Africa |date=1989 |volume=32 |pages=29–36 |jstor=24591869 }}</ref> ''Duumvir'', or native styles like ''Meddix''.

==Medieval city-states, communes and municipalities==
[[File:Caffaro di Rustico da Caschifellone - Villetta Di Negro (Genoa) - DSC02421.JPG|thumb|[[Caffaro di Rustico da Caschifellone]], statesman of the [[Genoese Republic]] in the 12th century, for which he served eight terms as a consul.|282x282px]]
=== Republic of Genoa ===
The city-state of [[Republic of Genoa|Genoa]], unlike ancient Rome, bestowed the title of ''consul'' on various state officials, not necessarily restricted to the highest. Among these were Genoese officials stationed in various Mediterranean ports, whose role included helping Genoese merchants and sailors in difficulties with the local authorities. Great Britain reciprocated by appointing [[List of diplomats of Great Britain to the Republic of Genoa|consuls]] to Genoa from 1722. This institution, with its name, was later emulated by other powers and is reflected in the modern usage of the word (see [[Consul (representative)]]).

=== Republic of Pisa ===
In addition to the Genoese Republic, the [[Republic of Pisa]] also took the form of "Consul" in the early stages of its government. The Consulate of the Republic of Pisa was the major government institution present in Pisa from 1087 to 1189. Despite losing space within the government since 1190 in favor of the [[Podestà]], for some periods of the 13th century some citizens were again elected as consuls.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ceccarelli Lemut|first=Maria Luisa|title=I consoli e i magistrati del comune di Pisa dalla comparsa del consolato (1080/1085) al 1189|language=it}}</ref>

=== Other uses in the Medieval period ===
[[File:Alphonse de Poitiers 01.jpg|thumb|left|In this painting, [[Alphonse, Count of Poitiers]] and Count of Toulouse takes an oath before the Consuls of the town of [[Agen]], with his right hand on the town ordinances, committing himself to recognize the autonomy of the town's commune, while sitting on a pedestal. The consul administering the oath is forced to go on his knees, symbolizing Alphonse's lordship and the town's loyalty.]]
Throughout most of southern [[Kingdom of France|France]], a consul ({{langx|fr|consul}} or ''{{lang|fr|consule}}'') was an office equivalent to the {{Interlanguage link multi|Échevin (France)|fr|3=Échevin|lt=échevins}} of the north and roughly similar with [[Kingdom of England|English]] [[alderman|aldermen]]. The most prominent were those of [[Bordeaux]] and [[Toulouse]], which came to be known as [[jurat]]s and [[capitoul]]s, respectively. The capitouls of Toulouse were granted transmittable nobility. In many other smaller towns the first consul was the equivalent of a mayor today, assisted by a variable number of secondary consuls and jurats. His main task was to levy and collect tax.

The [[Duke]]s of [[Duchy of Gaeta|Gaeta]] often used also the title of "consul" in its Greek form "[[Hypatos]]" (see [[List of Hypati and Dukes of Gaeta]]).



==French Revolution==

===French Republic 1799–1804===
{{main article|French Consulate}}
[[File:3consuls.jpg|thumb|right|220px|A portrait of the three consuls, [[Jean-Jacques-Régis de Cambacérès]], [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon Bonaparte]] and [[Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance|Charles-François Lebrun]] (left to right)]]

After [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] [[18 Brumaire|staged a coup]] against the [[French Directory|Directory]] government in November 1799, the French Republic adopted a [[Constitution of the Year VIII|constitution]] which conferred executive powers upon three consuls, elected for a period of ten years. In reality, the first consul, Bonaparte, dominated his two colleagues and held supreme power, soon making himself consul for life (1802) and eventually, in 1804, [[First French Empire|emperor]].

The office was held by:

* [[Napoleon Bonaparte]], [[Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès]], [[Roger Ducos]], provisional consuls (10 November – 12 December 1799)
* [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] (first consul), [[Jean Jacques Régis de Cambacérès|Jean-Jacques Cambacérès]] (second consul), [[Charles-François Lebrun, duc de Plaisance|Charles-François Lebrun]] (third consul), consuls (12 December 1799 – 18 May 1804)

===Bolognese Republic, 1796===
The short-lived [[Bolognese Republic]], proclaimed in 1796 as a [[French client republic]] in the Central Italian city of [[Bologna]], had a government consisting of nine consuls and its head of state was the ''Presidente del Magistrato'', i.e., [[chief magistrate]], a presiding office held for four months by one of the consuls. Bologna already had consuls at some parts of its Medieval history.

===Roman Republic, 1798–1800===
The French-sponsored [[Roman Republic (18th century)|Roman Republic]] (15 February 1798 – 23 June 1800) was headed by multiple consuls:
* Francesco Riganti, Carlo Luigi Costantini, Duke Bonelli-Crescenzi, Antonio Bassi, Gioacchino Pessuti, Angelo Stampa, Domenico Maggi, provisional consuls (15 February – 20 March 1798)
* [[Liborio Angelucci]], Giacomo De Mattheis, Panazzi, Reppi, [[Ennio Quirino Visconti]], consuls (20 March – September 1798)
* Brigi, Calisti, Francesco Pierelli, Giuseppe Rey, Federico Maria Domenico Michele, Zaccaleoni, consuls (September – 24 July 1799)

Consular rule was interrupted by the [[Kingdom of Naples|Neapolitan]] occupation (27 November – 12 December 1798), which installed a Provisional Government:
* Prince Giambattista [[Borghese]], Prince Paolo-Maria [[Aldobrandini]], Prince Gibrielli, Marchese Camillo Massimo, Giovanni Ricci (29 November 1798 - 12 December 1798)

Rome was occupied by France (11 July – 28 September 1799) and again by Naples (30 September 1799 – 23 June 1800), bringing an end to the Roman Republic.

==Revolutionary Greece, 1821==
Among the many petty local republics that were formed during the first year of the [[Greek Revolution]], prior to the creation of a unified Provisional Government at the [[First National Assembly at Epidaurus]], were:
* The Consulate of [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]] (from 26 May 1821, under the Senate of the [[Peloponnese]]) had a ''single'' head of state, styled consul, 28 March 1821 – 26 May 1821: Stamatellos Antonopoulos
* The Consulate of East Greece ([[Livadeia]]) (from 15 November 1821, under the [[Areopagus of Eastern Continental Greece|Areopagus of East Greece]]) was headed 1 April 1821 – 15 November 1821 by three consuls: Lambros Nakos, Ioannis Logothetis & Ioannis Filon
''Note: in [[Greek language|Greek]], the term for "consul" is "hypatos" (ὕπατος), which translates as "supreme one", and hence does not necessarily imply a joint office.''

==Paraguay, 1813–1844==
In between a series of [[Junta (governing body)|juntas]] and various other short-lived regimes, the [[Paraguay#Independence and rule of Francia|young republic]] was governed by "consuls of the republic", with two consuls alternating in power every 4 months:
* 12 October 1813 – 12 February 1814, [[José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia y Velasco]]
* 12 February 1814 – 12 June 1814, [[Fulgencio Yegros y Franco de Torres]]
* 12 June 1814 – 3 October 1814, José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia y Velasco; he stayed on as "[[Supreme Dictator|supreme dictator]]" 3 October 1814 – 20 September 1840 (from 6 June 1816 styled "perpetual supreme dictator")

After a few presidents of the [[Provisional Junta]], there were again consuls of the republic, 14 March 1841 – 13 March 1844 (ruling jointly, but occasionally styled "first consul", "second consul"): [[Carlos Antonio López Ynsfrán]] (b. 1792 – d. 1862) + [[Mariano Roque Alonzo Romero]] (d. 1853) (the lasts of the aforementioned juntistas, Commandant-General of the Army)
Thereafter all republican rulers were styled "president".

==Modern uses of the term==
{{Main|Consul (representative)}}
In modern terminology, a consul is a [[Consul (representative)|type of diplomat]]. The ''American Heritage Dictionary'' defines '''consul''' as "an official appointed by a government to reside in a foreign country and represent its interests there." ''[[The Devil's Dictionary]]'' defines '''Consul''' as "in American politics, a person who having failed to secure an office from the people is given one by the Administration on condition that he leave the country".

In most governments, the consul is the head of the consular section of an embassy, and is responsible for all consular services such as immigrant and non-immigrant [[visa (document)|visas]], [[passport]]s, and citizen services for expatriates living or traveling in the host country.

{{Main|Administrative consul}}
A less common modern usage is when the consul of one country takes a governing role in the host country.

==See also==
Differently named, but same function
* [[Captain Regent]] (similar modern position in San Marino's government)
* [[Consularis]] (Roman gubernatorial style)

Modern UN System 
* [[Consulate]]

==Sources and references==
* [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/ WorldStatesmen.org], see each present country

'''Specific'''
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Ancient Roman titles]]
[[Category:Heads of government]]
[[Category:Heads of state]]
[[Category:Military ranks of ancient Rome]]
[[Category:Latin political words and phrases]]
[[Category:Collective heads of state]]
[[Category:Cursus honorum]]
[[Category:Diplomats by role]]

[[cs:Konzul (antický Řím)]]
[[hr:Konzul]]
[[io:Konsulo]]
[[ku:Konsûl]]
[[sr:Конзул]]
[[tl:Konsulado]]