Regent
- For the insecticide 'Regent', see Regent (insecticide)
- For the New York State standardized tests, see Regents (Examinations)
- For the hockey team in Laval, QC 'The Regents', see Les Regents
High public office
A regent, from the Latin regens 'who reigns' is anyone who acts of head of state, especially if not the Monarch (who has higher titles). Thus the common use is for an acting deputy governor. In a monarchy, a regent usually rules due to the actual monarch's absence, incapacity or minority, and may also be elected to rule during the sede vacante when the royal line has died out. This was the case in Finland and Hungary, where the royal line was considered extinct in the aftermath of World War I. In Iceland, the regent represented the King of Denmark as sovereign of Iceland until the country became a republic in 1944.In San Marino, an ancient independent miniature republic surrounded within Italy, the "Captains Regent", or Capitani Reggenti, are two officials elected annually as joint heads of state and of government.
In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth kings were elected, which often led to relatively long interregna periods. It was the Polish primate who served as a regent, known at that time as an Interrex (ruler between kings, as in ancient Rome).
Examples of regents in various Monarchies
It should be noted that those who held a regency briefly, for example during Surgery, are not necessarily listed, particularly if they performed no official acts; this list is also not complete.Belgium
- Prince Charles of Belgium, regent of Belgium from 1944 to 1950
Bulgaria
- Prince Kyril de Preslav, during the minority of his dead brother (Boris III)'s son, Simeon II.
China
- See Empress Dowager and Grand Empress Dowager
- 2nd Prince Chun between 1908 and 1911 for Emperor Xuantong (aka Puyi)
Egypt
- Hatshepsut of Egypt for Thutmose III of Egypt
- Sherif Pasha Sabri for King Farouk I of Egypt
- Prince Mohamed Ali for King Fuad II of Egypt
Finland
After the abdication of Nicholas II of Russia, the throne of the Grand Duke of Finland was vacant and according to the constitution of 1772, a regent was installed by the Finnish Parliament during the first two years of Finnish independence, before the country was declared a Republic.- Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, installed in January 1918, resigned in late 1918.
- General C.G.E. Mannerheim, resigned 1919 with the passing of the new constitution.
France
- Anne of Kiev, during the minority of her son Philip I
- Catherine de Medici:
- While her husband Henry II of France left the kingdom for the campaign of Metz.
- Later during the minority of her son Francis II of France
- Again during the minority of her second son, Charles IX of France.
- Anne of Austria, during the minority of Louis XIV
- Philippe II of Orléans (1715-1723), during the minority of Louis XV; often called "the Regent", since he was the last regent of France. **The related era and style are commonly referred to as the Régence (analogous to the British Regency period).
- A 136 carat (27.2 g) diamond he aquired in 1717 is known as 'le régent'
- Louis-Stanislas-Xavier, while living in exile, self-declared Regent for his nephew Louis XVII of France after the 1793 guillotining of King Louis XVI.
- Empress Eugenie, three times for her husband, Napoleon III
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Japan
- Fujiwara Regents as Kanpaku or Sessho
- Hojo Regents as Shikken, regents of the Kamakura shogunate
- Prince Regent Hirohito or Showa Tenno
Korea
- Daewon-gun, Lord Regent for his son King Gojong of Joseon
Liechtenstein
- Prince Alois is Regent from August 15, 2004.
Monaco
- Prince Albert was Regent from March 31, 2005 to April 6, 2005, when he succeeded his father as Albert II of Monaco
Netherlands
- Queen Emma, during the minority of her daughter Wilhelmina of the Netherlands
Norway
- King Magnus Eriksson after stepping down from the throne in favour of his son Haakon Magnusson
- Crown Prince Haakon, during the illness of his father King Harald
Scotland
- Mary of Guise, during the minority of her daughter Mary Stuart
- James Stuart, 1st Earl of Moray, during the absence of his half-sister Mary Stuart
- James Stuart, 1st Earl of Moray, then Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox, then John Erskine, 1st Earl of Mar then James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, all during the minority of James VI of Scotland
Spain
- Cardinal Cisneros, twice regent of Spain in the late 15th and early 16th century.
- Maria Christina of Austria, regent for the infant Alfonso XIII of Spain in the early 20th century.
Sweden
- Sten Sture the Elder the longest serving regent during the Kalmar Union
- Duke Charles after ousting the Catholic king Sigismund
- Axel Oxenstierna during the minority of Christina of Sweden
- Crown Prince Charles (Bernadotte) for his adoptive father Charles XIII
United Kingdom
- George IV, Prince Regent during the incapacity of his father, George III.
Other uses
Occasionally, the term regent refers to positions lower than the ruler of a country.- In the Dutch republic of the United Provinces, the members of the ruling class, not formally hereditary but de facto patricians, were known collectively as regenten (the Dutch plural for regent)
- In the Dutch Indies, a regent was a native prince allowed to rule de facto colonized 'state' as a regentschap (see that term)
- Also used in private spheres, for instance, some university managers in North America are called regents, or the members of certain governing bodies of lofty institutions, such as the national banks, in France and (imitating) Belgium.
- Again in Belgium and France, but far lower on the social ladder, (Régént in French; or in Dutch) Regent is the official title of a secondary school teacher of the lower years (equivalent to junior high school), who does not require a college degree but is trained solely for education in a specialized écôle normale = normaalschool.