Ahereditary monarchy is a type ofgovernment in which usually a king or a queen becomes themonarch by being related to the last monarch. That is the most common sort ofmonarchy and is the form used by almost all of the world's monarchies today.
In ahereditary monarchy, the monarchs come from the same family, and thecrown is passed down from one member of the family to another. The hereditary system can be more stable and can command loyalty, but at other times, great bloodshed happened over the question ofsuccession.
When the king or queen of a hereditary monarchy dies or quits the throne (abdicates), the crown is generally passed to one of his or her children, often the oldest. When that child dies, the crown will be then passed to his or her child, or, if he or she has no child, to a sister, brother, niece, nephew, cousin, or some other relative. Hereditary monarchies most usually arrange the succession by a law that creates anorder of succession. That way, it is known beforehand who will be the next monarch.
The order of succession in hereditary monarchies is now often based on the idea ofprimogeniture (oldest born), but other methods used to be much more common.
In the past, there were differences in systems ofsuccession, often depending on whether only men can succeed or whether both men and women could succeed.
Agnatic succession means that women are not allowed to succeed or pass the succession from their fathers to their children.Agnates are relatives who have a common ancestor in an unbroken male line from father to father.
Cognatic succession means that both men and women can succeed. Women usually are allowed to succeed only if they have no brother alive. For example, in theUnited Kingdom, Princess Anne came after her younger brothers (and her nephews and nieces) in the line of succession.
In the 1970s,Sweden changed from agnatic succession to "fully-cognatic" succession. That means the line of succession is based on age, notsex. Therefore,Princess Victoria of Sweden was born, she could never become queen, and when her younger brother was born, he becamecrown prince (heir to the throne), but the law changed, and Victoria became crown princess.
Anelective monarchy can sometimes seem like a hereditary monarch. For example, only members of one family may be allowed to be elected, or before the monarch dies, the chosen heir (son, daughter, brother, sister, or other relative) might be elected.
InEurope, theHoly Roman Empire was an elective monarchy, but for many hundreds of years, only the head of theHabsburg family was elected. In1806, the Holy Roman Emperor abolished the empire and instead became the Emperor of Austria, a hereditary monarch.
The only true example of an elective monarchy today isMalaysia, where a rulingSultan of aMalaysian state, is elected as theYang di-Pertuan Agong for a term of five years.[1]