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Regicide refers to the killing of a monarch, either by assassination or legal proceedings. It has been a common practice throughout history, with varying punishments. In England, regicide specifically refers to monarchs killed after legal proceedings. Monarchs ruled by divine right, making regicide a serious crime that challenged God and the monarchy. Famous cases include Mary, Queen of Scots, Charles I, Tsar Nicholas II, and King Arthur.
The term “regicide” is used in two senses. In the former, it refers to the killing or assassination of a monarch crowned as a king. In the second sense, the word is used to describe someone who kills a monarch or participates in a regicide. History has seen large numbers of regicides as part of the complex struggle for power in nations around the world, and the practice has hardly died out; in 2001, for example, the king of Nepal was killed by his own son.
In England, most people use the term regicide to refer specifically to monarchs who have been killed after legal proceedings. The two most famous regicides are probably those of Mary, Queen of Scots, executed by order of Elizabeth I, and of Charles I, executed by a squad of conspirators during the English Civil War. Numerous other English monarchs were killed in battle or while imprisoned, but English historians do not generally call these deaths regicide.
As you might imagine, the punishments for regicide vary according to the circumstances of the regicide. In many cases, a regicide marks the beginning of a new government and era, in which case regicides can actually become celebrated leaders. In other cases, the rebellion and agitation that led to the regicide are suppressed and the participants severely punished. In the English Civil War, regicides of Charles I were punished retroactively, following the restoration of the monarchy.
Some other famous cases of regicide include Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, who was killed along with his family during the Bolshevik Revolution, Shaka, King of the Zulus, and Henry IV of France. Other monarchs have died in suspicious circumstances that could be considered regicide, such as kings who were accidentally killed on hunting expeditions and in the heat of battle. Regicide is also a theme in some myths; King Arthur, for example, was the victim of an attempted regicide in many Arthurian legends.
As monarchs historically ruled by divine right in many cultures, regicide was a serious crime, because it challenged God as well as the monarchy. The intimate relationship between monarchs and gods was an important part of the tradition of many cultures, from China to England, ensuring that monarchs ruled with God’s blessing. For this reason, attempts at regicide were often severely punished historically, for to remind restless citizens that the monarch had the powers of life and death over his people.
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