Monarchs Who Walked Away From The Crown And Why
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In 303 CE, the Roman Emperor Diocletian became "seriously ill" during a visit to Rome, which coincided with the 20th anniversary of his becoming emperor. This was most likely a stroke, but whatever the illness was, it convinced Diocletian to retire to his fortress-like palace in his hometown of Split, in modern-day Croatia.
By the time of his voluntary abdication, Diocletian had accomplished a lot. Said to be the son of a manumitted slave, he had risen through the ranks of the military to become emperor in 284 CE. When he took the throne, he realized the Roman Empire had become too large and unwieldy for one person to govern, so he divided it in half and ruled the eastern portion (then divided the empire again to form the tetrarchy). Dividing the empire brought stability to the territories and the military, putting a cap on the so-called Crisis of the Third Century that had threatened to shatter the empire, and extending its existence for almost two more centuries.
Given all those accomplishments, it's possible that Diocletian just needed a break. After retiring to his garden, his fellow co-ruler Maximian asked him to return to power. Diocletian reportedly replied, "If you could show the cabbage that I planted with my own hands to your emperor, he definitely wouldn't dare suggest that I replace the peace and happiness of this place with the storms of a never-satisfied greed."
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- Paolo Veronese
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- CC BY-SA 4.0
2Sultan Murad II Stepped Away From The Ottoman Throne - Until His Son Dragged Him Back
Sultan Murad II of the Ottoman Empire resigned in 1444 CE, handing over power to his son Mehmed II. Today, scholars believe his voluntary abdication might have been due to the fact that he wanted to help establish a peaceful continuity of power instead of the dynastic struggles that usually accompanied changes in Ottoman leadership. It's also possible that Murad II just needed a break after 23 years of fighting to preserve the empire from internal and external threats. He also (wrongly, as it turned out) believed he had reached an accommodation with the European powers after signing a peace treaty with the Polish and Hungarian king, Ladislaw III.
Whatever the reason, Murad's retirement lasted less than a year. Ladislaw broke the peace treaty and led a multinational force into Ottoman-controlled Bulgaria, with the intention of ejecting the Ottomans from Europe altogether. With the support of the Ottoman nobility, Mehmed asked his experienced father to return and lead the army against the crusaders. When Murad refused, Mehmed wrote back, "If you are Sultan, command your armies. If I am Sultan, I order you to command my armies."
Murad reluctantly returned and commanded the Ottoman army, which defeated the attackers at the Battle of Varna. He was officially reinstated as sultan in 1446 and reigned for five more years. Upon his passing in 1451, Mehmed II took over again. Now more seasoned, Mehmed went right to work planning the conquest of Constantinople, which was completed two years later.
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- Lambert Sustris
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- Public Domain
By the time Holy Roman Emperor Charles V voluntarily abdicated the last of his titles in August 1556 CE, the emperor and ruler of the Netherlands, Bohemia, Hungary, Naples, Sicily, and Sardinia had been suffering from health problems for years. These included terribly painful gout, insomnia, and severe depression.
The Habsburg ruler first handed over the day-to-day operations of the empire to his brother Ferdinand in 1554. Next, he gave the Netherlands to his son Philip of Spain in 1555, followed by Spain, Spanish territories in America, and finally the Holy Roman Empire itself.
After his resignation, Charles V spent the remainder of his life in a house near a monastery, where he enjoyed gardening and pigeon hunting.
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- Malacañang Photo Bureau
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The resignation of Japanese Emperor Akihito is an example of a modern abdication that was much less scandalous than that of Juan Carlos of Spain, but historic nonetheless. In 2019, the then-85-year-old emperor asked permission from the Japanese government to resign, pointing to his advanced age and declining health.
The government granted the figurehead the go-ahead, and he became the first Japanese emperor to step down from the Chrysanthemum Throne in 200 years. He was succeeded by his son, Prince Naruhito, who became the country's 126th monarch.
Upon his abdication, Akihito gave an address to the Japanese people, saying:
Today, I am finishing my duty as emperor. Let me express my deep appreciation for the remarks Prime Minister Abe has just given as the representative of the Japanese people.
It is fortunate that I have been able to perform my duty as emperor with profound trust in and respect for the Japanese people for 30 years since my ascension to the throne.
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In 1936, the English monarch was also the head of the Church of England. At the time, tradition dictated that the monarch couldn't be married to someone who had been divorced. This was a problem for Prince Edward of Wales, who was in a relationship with his American "mistress" Wallis Simpson when his father George V passed that year and the prince became King Edward VIII.
Edward proposed a workaround that would allow Wallis to marry him and retain the role of Duchess of Cornwall. When the British parliament refused, Edward gave up the crown for "the woman I love," as he said in his address to the nation. The throne passed to his younger brother Albert ("Bertie"), who became George VI.
Edward had a conflicted and ambivalent relationship with the royal family for the remainder of his life; the Queen Mother never forgave Simpson for her role in foisting the throne on Bertie, whose life - she believed - was shortened by the arduous task of ruling during WWII.
Edward's decision had an important knock-on effect for history. With his abdication, the line of succession shifted to George VI, whose daughter, Elizabeth, would go on to reign for 70 years. Had Edward stayed King and fathered children, Elizabeth would have remained a princess. (Although, if her uncle were childless, the throne would still have passed to her.)
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Modern monarchs are known to voluntarily leave the throne, as well. Since most modern monarchs aren't also heads of government, the stakes admittedly aren't as high, but their resignations can still be plenty scandalous.
Spain's King Juan Carlos, who had reigned since 1975 and guided the country through its post-Franco years, resigned from office in 2014. Juan Carlos resigned for several scandalous reasons: his son-in-law Iñaki Urdangarín was on trial for corruption after he was accused of running fraudulent charities, which Juan Carlos was connected to; accusations that Juan Carlos had embezzled from the government himself; and a controversial elephant hunting trip that took place during Spain's 2014 financial meltdown.
Royal mic drop?By the time the Byzantine Emperor Justin II voluntarily abdicated the throne in 574 CE, the emperor had been suffering from "derangement" for several months. This included randomly attacking his attendants, making animal noises, and bouts of self-harm.
While the emperor did have moments of lucidity, he knew the situation was untenable and stepped down that year, appointing a general named Tiberius as his successor.
However, it's difficult to know exactly what Justin II's actual mental illness was. The primary account of the symptoms was written by John of Ephesus, a member of the Monosophist Christian religious sect that Justin II persecuted during his reign. It's possible John's account was written as a cautionary tale for future rulers who might also persecute the sect. For example, John explains that Justin II's mental condition began when an "evil angel" entered his head.
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- Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov
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It's entirely possible that this example of abdication wasn't quite as sincere as others on this list. On December 3, 1594, Tsar Ivan IV, or "Ivan the Terrible," departed the capital of Moscow for a pilgrimage to the city of Alexandrova Sloboda, informing the boyars (the nobles who made up his government) that he was resigning. He claimed he'd become fed up with the boyars' embezzlement and treason against the crown.
The boyars realized that the citizens of Moscow would likely revolt without their leader, so they sent an envoy to retrieve Ivan and convince him to come back. Ivan did, under the condition that he should be allowed to execute treacherous boyars unilaterally. Upon his return, Ivan conducted purges against boyar families he deemed disloyal.
While some scholars today believe Ivan the Terrible's "voluntary abdication" was a calculated power grab, others speculate that the episode may have been due to the tsar's undiagnosed mental illness.
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The Vatican is the home of the Roman Catholic Church, but it's also a sovereign nation. The head of the Church, the pope, is considered the head of state and an absolute monarch, albeit of a really tiny monarchy: Vatican City is all of 0.17 square miles in area, about one-seventh the size of New York's Central Park.
Although the papacy is an elected position and not inherited at birth, popes still typically serve for the remainder of their lives after they're elected. But in 2013, Pope Benedict XVI broke with tradition and decided to resign. Born in 1927, Benedict claimed he was stepping aside because of his age and declining health.
He was the first pope since Gregory XII in 1415 to do so. But since his abdication occurred shortly after the Vatican Leaks scandal broke, some observers speculated that he also wanted to avoid the fallout.
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