"Regency" redirects here. For the period in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland between 1811 and 1820, seeRegency era. For other uses, seeRegency (disambiguation).
"Queen regent" redirects here; not to be confused withqueen regnant.
In amonarchy, aregent (from Latinregens[1]'ruling, governing')[2][3] is a person appointed to execute the office of the monarch temporarily. Regencies may arise for a number of reasons, including the monarch being aminor, ill, absent from the country, or otherwise unavailable. A regent may also be appointed in cases where thethrone is vacant, or the identity of the legitimate monarch is disputed.[2][4]
The rule of a regent or regents is called aregency. A regent or regency council may be formed as anad hoc measure, or there may be a formal and regular appointment process.Regent in some countries has also been used as a formal title granted to a monarch's most trusted advisor orpersonal assistant. If the regent is holding the position due to their being in theline of succession, the compound termprince regent is often used; if the regent of a minor is their mother, and she is wife orwidow of a king, she would be referred to asqueen regent.
If the formally appointed regent is unavailable or cannot serve on a temporary basis, aregent ad interim may be appointed to fill the gap.
A regent may also be appointed to govern, sometimes for an extended period of time, when there is no established ruling house. This was the case in theKingdom of Hungary in theaftermath of World War I, where the royal line was considered extinct. The reverse situation, where a regent is appointed because a newly formed state has not yet chosen a monarch, has occurred many times, notably inFinland in 1918 andBelgium in 1830.
Famous regency periods include that of the Prince Regent, laterGeorge IV of theUnited Kingdom, giving rise to many terms such asRegency era andRegency architecture. Strictly, this period lasted from 1811 to 1820, when his fatherGeorge III was insane, though when used as a period label it generally covers a wider period.Philippe II, Duke of Orléans was Regent of France from the death ofLouis XIV in 1715 untilLouis XV came of age in 1723; this is also used as a period label for many aspects of French history, asRégence in French, again tending to cover a rather wider period than the actual regency. In the 16th century, QueenCatherine de Medici's acts as regent caused her to become arguably the most important woman in Europe, giving her name to an age. The equivalent Greek term isepitropos (επίτροπος), meaning overseer.[citation needed]
A similar institution, the office ofGovernor-General, exists in theCommonwealth realms, which share the monarch of the United Kingdom as their head of state. Like regents, governors-general exercise the powers of the crown in the name of an absent monarch. However, unlike a regency, the office of governor-general is permanent; the oldest, the office ofGovernor General of Canada has exercised almost all the powers of theCanadian monarch since 1867 with only brief interruptions.
The term “regent” may also refer to positions lower than that of a state’s ruler. The term may be used in the governance of organisations, typically as an equivalent of "director", and held by all members of a governing board rather than just the equivalent of the chief executive.
In theSociety of Jesus, a regent is an individual training to be a Jesuit and who has completed hisnovitiate and philosophy studies but has not yet progressed to theology studies. A regent among the Jesuits is often assigned to teach in schools or some other academic institution.
The term "regent" is also used for members of governing bodies of institutions such as the national banks ofFrance andBelgium.
In theDutch Republic, the members of the ruling class, not formally hereditary but forming ade factopatrician class, were informally known collectively asregenten (theDutch plural forregent) because they typically held positions as "regent" on the boards of town councils, as well as charitable and civic institutions. Theregents group portrait,regentenstuk orregentessenstuk for female boards inDutch, literally "regents' piece", is a group portrait of the board of trustees, called regents or regentesses, of acharitable organization orguild. This type of group portrait was popular inDutch Golden Age painting during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Again in Belgium and France[citation needed] (régent in French, or in Dutch), "regent" is the official title of a teacher in a lower secondary school (junior high school), who does not require acollege degree but is trained in a specializedécole normale (normal school).
In the formerDutch East Indies, a regent was a native prince allowed to rule ade facto colonized state as aregentschap. Consequently, in the successor state ofIndonesia, the term is used as the English translation ofbupati, the head of akabupaten (second level local government).
In thePhilippines – specifically, theUniversity of Santo Tomas – the Father Regent, who must be aDominican priest and is often also a teacher, serves as the institution's spiritual head. They also form the Council of Regents that serves as the highest administrative body of the university.
InLagos, Nigeria, the subnationalErelu Kuti rules the kingdom as regent whenever there is noOba of Lagos. Much like in Eswatini, succession to the throne of Lagos is not immediate, and the Erelu Kuti (a high ranking functionary in her own right) is charged with serving as custodian until a successor is crowned. The use of a regency is also common in Southwestern states, predominantlyOndo andEkiti.
^Harper, Douglas."regency".Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved2014-08-18. "early 15c., "government by regents," from Medieval Latinregentia, from Latinregens (see regent). Notable instances were: France 1715–1723 (under Philip, Duke of Orleans), Britain 1811–1820 (under George, Prince of Wales, Prince Regent)..."
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