Abdication Totally Explained

Abdication (from the Latin abdicatio, disowning, renouncing, from ab, from, and dicare, to declare, to proclaim as not belonging to one) is the act of renouncing and resigning from a formal office, especially from the supreme office of state. In Roman law the term was also applied to the disowning of a family member, as the disinheriting of a son. The term commonly applies to monarchs, or those who have been formally crowned. A similar term for an elected or appointed official is resignation.

Abdications in Classical Antiquity

Among the most memorable abdications of antiquity were those of Lucius Cornelius Sulla the Dictator in 79 BC, Emperor Diocletian in AD 305, and Emperor Romulus Augustulus in AD 476.

The British Crown

Probably the most famous abdication in recent memory is that of King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom in 1936. Edward abdicated the British throne in order to marry American divorcée Wallis Simpson, over the objections of the British establishment, the governments of the Commonwealth, the royal family and the Church of England. (See Abdication Crisis of Edward VIII.) This was also the first time in history that the British crown was surrendered entirely voluntarily. Richard II of England, for example, was forced to abdicate after the throne was seized by his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, while Richard was out of the country.
When James II of England, after throwing the Great Seal of the Realm into the Thames, fled to France in 1688, he didn't formally resign the crown, and the question was discussed in Parliament whether he'd forfeited the throne or had abdicated. The latter designation was agreed upon, for, in a full assembly of the Lords and Commons, it was resolved in spite of James's protest "that King James II having endeavoured to subvert the constitution of the kingdom, by breaking the original contract between king and people, and, by the advice of Jesuits and other wicked persons, having violated the fundamental laws, and having withdrawn himself out of this kingdom, has abdicated the government, and that the throne is thereby vacant." The Scottish parliament pronounced a decree of forfeiture and deposition.
Because the title to the Crown depends upon statute, particularly the Act of Settlement 1701, a Royal Abdication can only be effected by an Act of Parliament. To give legal effect to the abdication of King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936 was passed.

Modern abdications

Historically, if a monarch abdicated it was seen as a profound and shocking abandonment of royal duty. As a result, abdications usually only occurred in the most extreme circumstances of political turmoil or violence. This has changed in a small number of countries: the monarchs of the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Cambodia have abdicated as a result of old age. Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein recently made his son regent, an act which amounted to an abdication in fact if not in law.

List

The following is a list of important abdications:

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus	510 BC (Roman Monarchy dissolved)
Lucius Cornelius Sulla	79 BC
Diocletian	AD 305
Romulus Augustulus	476 (Western Roman Empire dissolved)
Pope Benedict IX	1048
Isaac I Comnenus	1059
Emperor Huizong of Song China	January 18, 1126
Albert I of Brandenburg	1169
Ladislaus III of Poland	1206
Pope Celestine V	December 13, 1294
John Baliol of Scotland	1296
John Cantacuzene, emperor of the East	1355
Richard II of England	September 29, 1399
Baldassare Cossa, Antipope John XXIII	1415
Eric VII of Denmark or Erik XIII of Sweden	1439
Amadeus VIII of Savoy	1440
Murad II, Ottoman Sultan	1444
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor ¹	1555/1556
Christina of Sweden	June 6, 1654
Mary Queen of Scots	July 24, 1567
John Casimir of Poland	1668
Frederick Augustus of Poland	September 24, 1706
Philip V of Spain	14 January 1724
Victor Amadeus of Sardinia	3 September 1730
Ahmed III, Ottoman Sultan	1 October 1730
Charles of Naples (on accession to throne of Spain)	6 October 1759
Stanislaus II of Poland	7 January 1795
Qianlong Emperor of China	February 9, 1796
Charles Emanuel IV, King of Sardinia	June 4, 1802
Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor	August 6, 1806
Charles IV, King of Spain	March 19, 1808
Joseph Napoleon, King of Naples	June 6, 1808
Gustav IV Adolf, King of Sweden	March 29, 1809
Louis Napoleon, King of Holland	July 2, 1810
Napoleon I, Emperor of the French	April 4, 1814, and again June 22, 1815
Victor Emmanuel I, King of Sardinia	March 13, 1821
Charles X, King of France	August 2, 1830
Pedro IV, King of Portugal ²	May 28, 1826
Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil ²	April 7, 1831
Miguel, King of Portugal	May 26, 1834
William I, King of the Netherlands	October 7, 1840
Louis Philippe, King of the French	February 24, 1848
Ludwig I, King of Bavaria	March 21, 1848
Ferdinand, Emperor of Austria	December 2, 1848
Charles II, Duke of Parma	March 14, 1849
Charles Albert, King of Sardinia	March 23, 1849
Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany	July 21, 1859
Isabella II, Queen of Spain	June 25, 1870
Amadeo I, King of Spain	February 11, 1873
Alexander, Prince of Bulgaria	September 7, 1886
Milan, King of Serbia	March 6, 1889
Liliuokalani, Queen of Hawaii	January 17, 1893 (monarchy abolished)
Sunjong, Emperor of Korea	August 29, 1910 (monarchy abolished)
Xuantong Emperor of China	February 12, 1912 (monarchy abolished)
Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia	March 15, 1917 (monarchy abolished)
Ferdinand I, Tsar of the Bulgarians	October 3, 1918
William II, German Emperor	November 9, 1918 (monarchy abolished)
Prajadhipok, King of Siam	March 2, 1935
Edward VIII, King of Great Britain and Ireland	December 11, 1936
Carol II, King of Romania	September 6, 1940
Victor Emmanuel III, King of Italy	May 9, 1946
Michael, King of Romania	December 30, 1947 (monarchy abolished)
Wilhelmina, Queen of the Netherlands	September 4, 1948
Léopold III, King of the Belgians	July 16, 1951
Farouk, King of Egypt	July 26, 1952
Talal, King of Jordan	August 11, 1952
Fuad II, King of Egypt	June 18, 1953 (Monarchy abolished)
Saud, King of Saudi Arabia	November 2, 1964
Omar Ali Saifuddin, Sultan of Brunei	October 4, 1967
Juliana, Queen of the Netherlands	April 30, 1980
Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg	October 7, 2000
Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein³	August 15, 2004 (Made his son regent)
Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia	October 7, 2004
Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait	January 23, 2006
Jigme Singye Wangchuck, King of Bhutan	December 15, 2006 (Made his son King)

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