A reign is the period of a person's or
dynasty's occupation of the office of
monarch of a nation (e.g.,
Saudi Arabia,
Belgium,
Andorra), of a people (e.g.,
the Franks,
the Zulus) or of a spiritual community (e.g.,
Catholicism,
Tibetan Buddhism,
Nizari Ismailism).[1] In most hereditary monarchies and some elective monarchies (e.g.,
Holy Roman Empire) there have been no limits on the duration of a sovereign's reign or
incumbency, nor is there a
term of office. Thus, a reign usually lasts until the monarch dies, unless the monarchy itself is abolished or the monarch abdicates or is deposed.
In
elective monarchies, there may be a fixed period of time for the duration of the monarch's tenure in office (e.g.,
Malaysia).
The term of a reign can be indicated with the abbreviation "r." (for
Latinrexit) after a sovereign's name,[2] such as the following:
Queen
Wilhelmina of the Netherlands reigned from 1890 to 1948, before abdicating in favor of her daughter, Queen
Juliana who then reigned until 1980 when she abdicated in favor of her daughter, Queen
Beatrix of the Netherlands. Beatrix followed suit and abdicated in 2013 in favor of her son and heir apparent, King
Willem-Alexander.
Abolition of monarchy
King
Louis XVI of France reigned from the 1770s until the overthrow of the monarchy in 1792 and his execution the following year.
Emperor
Haile Selassie I of
Ethiopia reigned for over 40 years (1930-1974) until the
Derg forced him to abdicate and abolished the 3,000 year old monarchy, making him not only the 225th Emperor of Ethiopia but the final as well.