An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next (coming from Latin ''inter-'', "between" and ''rēgnum'', "reign"
rom ''rex, rēgis'', "king", and the concepts of interregnum and
regency therefore overlap. Historically, the longer and heavier interregna were typically accompanied by widespread unrest,
civil and
succession wars between
warlords, and
power vacuums filled by foreign invasions or the emergence of a new power. A
failed state is usually in interregnum.
The term also refers to the periods between the election of a new parliament and the establishment of a new government from that parliament in parliamentary democracies, usually ones that employ some form of proportional representation that allows small parties to elect significant numbers, requiring time for negotiations to form a government. In the UK, Canada and other "
first past the post" electoral systems, this period is usually very brief, except in the rare occurrence of a
hung parliament as occurred both
in the UK in 2017 and
in Australia in 2010. In parliamentary interregnums, the previous government usually stands as a
caretaker government until the new government is established.
Similarly, in some
Christian denominations, "interregnum" (interim) describes the time between vacancy and appointment of
priest or
pastors to various roles. Additionally, the term has been applied to the period of time between the election of a new
President of the United States and his or her inauguration, during which the outgoing president remains in power, but as a
lame duck.
Historical periods of interregnum
Particular historical periods known as interregna include:
* The period of 206–202 BC in China, after the death of Emperor
Qin Er Shi, when there was a contest to the throne. It ended with the accession of
Liu Bang, ushering in the
Han dynasty and ending the
Qin dynasty.
* The
Crisis of the Third Century (235–284) in the
Roman Empire, when it was split into multiple realms and chaos (invasion, civil war,
Cyprian Plague, and
economic depression) was a constant threat until
Aurelian and
Diocletian restored the empire. The crisis forced Diocletian to partition the Empire and marked the beginning of the
fall of the Western Roman Empire.
* From 423 to 425 in the Roman Empire, between the death of
Honorius and the accession of
Valentinian III. A usurper called
Joannes seized power.
* The ten-year period after the death of
King Cleph from 574/575 to 584/585 in the
Kingdom of the Lombards, known as the
Rule of the Dukes. Marked by increasing domination of the
Italian Peninsula by the
Franks and the
Byzantine Empire. Ended with the election of Authari as king.
* The
Sasanian Interregnum (628–632), a conflict that broke out after the death of
Khosrau II between the
Sasanian nobles of different factions. Ended with the victory of
Yazdegerd III and contributed to the
fall of the Sasanian Empire.
* The 1022–1072 period in Ireland, between the death of
Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill and the accession of
Toirdhealbhach Ua Briain, is sometimes regarded as an interregnum, as the
High Kingship of Ireland was disputed throughout these decades. The interregnum may even have extended to 1121, when
Toirdhealbhach Ua Conchobhair acceded to the title.
* From 1097 to 1102 in the
Croatia, between death of king
Petar Svačić and when
Coloman,
king of Hungary is crowned
king of Croatia in 1102.
* From 13 April 1204 to 25 July 1261 in the
Byzantine Empire. Following the
Sack of Constantinople during the
Fourth Crusade, the Byzantine Empire was dissolved, to be replaced by
several Crusader states and
several Byzantine states. It was re-established by Nicean general
Alexios Strategopoulos who placed
Michael VIII Palaiologos back on the throne of a united Byzantine Empire.
* From 21 May 1254 to 29 September 1273, The
Great Interregnum in the
Holy Roman Empire after the deposition of the last
Hohenstaufen emperor
Frederick II by
Pope Innocent IV and the death of his son King
Conrad IV of Germany until the
election of the
Habsburg scion
Rudolph as ''
Rex Romanorum''.
*
First Interregnum in Scotland, which lasted from either 19 March 1286 or 26 September 1290 until 17 November 1292. The exact dating of the interregnum depends on whether the uncrowned
Margaret, Maid of Norway was officially queen before her death in 1290. It lasted until
John Balliol was crowned King of Scots.
*
Second Interregnum in Scotland, from 10 July 1296, when
John Balliol was deposed, until 25 March 1306, when
Robert the Bruce was crowned.
* From 14 January 1301 until 1308 in the
Kingdom of Hungary between the extinction of the
Árpád dynasty and when
Charles I of Hungary secured the throne for himself against several pretenders.
* From 5 June 1316 to 15 November 1316 in
France and
Navarre, between the death of
Louis X and the birth of his posthumous son
John I.
* From 2 August 1332 until 21 June 1340 in
Denmark when the country was mortgaged to a few German counts.
* The
Portuguese Interregnum, from 22 October 1383 until 6 April 1385, a result of the succession crisis caused by the death of
Ferdinand I without a legitimate heir. Ended when
John I's forces won the
Battle of Aljubarrota, beginning the
Aviz dynasty.
* The
Ottoman Interregnum, from 8 March 1403 until 1413, a result of the death of Sultan
Bayezid I at the hands of Central Asian warlord
Timur (Tamerlane) in the
Battle of Çamurlu. A period of civil war ensued as none of Bayezid's sons could establish primacy. The crisis was resolved when one of his sons,
Mehmed, defeated and killed his brothers and reestablished the Empire.
* From 20 January 1410 to 1412 in the
Crown of Aragon. The death of King
Martin without heir led to a succession crisis and a period of civil war, resolved ultimately by the
Compromise of Caspe.
* The 1453–1456 period of civil war in
Kingdom of Majapahit (now in
Java, Indonesia)
* From 1481 until 1483 in the
Kingdom of Norway, during a conflict over the succession of
John, during the period of the
Kalmar Union. The
Norwegian Council of the Realm initially refused to accept the hereditary succession of John; as they asserted that Norway was an elective monarchy. When no serious opposition candidate emerged, the Council relented and elected John. There was also an interregnum from 1533 to 1537, after the dead of
Frederick I and the interregnum ended with a
coup d'état by his son
Christian III.
* From 6 April 1490 to 15 July 1490 in the
Kingdom of Hungary between the death of
Matthias Corvinus and election of
Vladislaus II.
* The
Time of Troubles in Russia (1598–1613) between the
Rurikid and
Romanov dynasties, which caused a
famine and an
invasion by
Poland-Lithuania as numerous
usurpers and
false Dmitrys claimed to be the legitimate successor to the dead
Fyodor I. Ended when the Zemsky Sobor elected
Michael Romanov as the new
tsar, beginning the
Romanov dynasty.
* The
Interregnum of 1649–1660, a republican period in the three kingdoms of
England,
Ireland and
Scotland. Government was carried out by the
Commonwealth and the
Protectorate of
Oliver Cromwell after the execution of
Charles I and before the
restoration of
Charles II.
* A second English interregnum occurred between 23 December 1688, when
James II was deposed in the
Glorious Revolution, and the installation of
William III and
Mary II as joint sovereigns on 13 February 1689 pursuant to the
Declaration of Right.
*
French and British interregnum in the Dutch East Indies between 1806 and 1815 was a period of
French and then
British rule on the
Dutch East Indies after the collapse of the
Dutch East Indies Company. The
First French Empire ruled between 1806 and 1811. The
British Empire took over for 1811 to 1815, and transferred control back to the Dutch in 1815.
* The brief
Russian interregnum of 1825, caused by uncertainty over who succeeded the deceased Emperor
Alexander I, only lasted between 1 December and 26 December 1825, but was used to stage the highly resonant
Decembrist revolt. It ended when
Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich renounced his claim to throne, allowing
Nicholas I to declare himself Tsar.
*After
World War I, the
Habsburg ruler of the
Kingdom of Hungary was disposed. On 1 March 1920, the
Kingdom of Hungary was re-established. However, restoration of a Habsburg king was deemed unacceptable by to the
Entente powers. Instead, the National Assembly of Hungary appointed
Miklós Horthy as
regent.
Charles IV of Hungary made
two unsuccessful attempts to retake the throne. Horthy remained as the
Regent of Hungary until
German invasion on 15 October 1944.
* A brief interregnum occurred in Thailand between 13 October and 1 December 2016 upon the death of King
Bhumibol Adulyadej. The crown prince
Vajiralongkorn, in an unprecedented move, did not assume the throne immediately after the death of the previous monarch. He asked for time to mourn while he continued functioning in his role as the crown prince. During this period,
Prem Tinsulananda served as the
regent pro tempore.
In some monarchies, such as the United Kingdom, an ''interregnum'' is usually avoided due to a rule described as "
The King is dead. Long live the King", i.e. the
heir to the throne becomes a new monarch immediately on his predecessor's death or
abdication. This famous phrase signifies the continuity of
sovereignty, attached to a personal form of power named ''
Auctoritas''. This is not so in other monarchies where the new monarch's reign begins only with
coronation or some other formal or traditional event. In the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth for instance, kings were elected, which often led to relatively long interregna. During that time it was the Polish
primate who served as an
interrex (ruler between kings). In
Belgium the heir only becomes king upon swearing before the
parliament.
Christianity
Catholicism
A ''Papal interregnum'' occurs upon the death or resignation of the
Catholic Church's
Pope, though this is generally known as a ''
sede vacante'' (literally "when the seat is vacant"). The interregnum ends immediately upon
election of a new Pope by the
College of Cardinals.
Anglicanism
"Interregnum" is the term used in the
Anglican Communion to describe the period before a new
parish priest is appointed to fill a vacancy. During an interregnum, the administration of the
parish is the responsibility of the
churchwardens.
Mormonism
In
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, when the
President of The Church dies, the
First Presidency is dissolved and the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (the Twelve) becomes the Church's presiding body. Any members of the First Presidency who were formerly members of the Twelve rejoin that quorum. The period between the death of the President and the reorganization of the First Presidency is known as an "Apostolic Interregnum".
Chess
FIDE, the world
governing body of international
chess competition, has had two
Interregnum periods of having no chess champions, both during the 1940s.
Men
* 1946–1948 —
Men's World Chess Champion Alexander Alekhine died of natural causes in 1946. Interregnum lasted until 1948, when
Mikhail Botvinnik won a FIDE-held chess tournament to decide on a successor.
Women
* 1944–1950 —
Women's World Chess Champion Vera Menchik was killed in an
air-raid during
World War II in Britain in 1944. Interregnum lasted until 1950, when
Lyudmila Rudenko won a FIDE-held chess tournament to decide on a successor.
In fiction
* The events of
Isaac Asimov's ''
Foundation Trilogy'' take place during the galactic interregnum in his Foundation Universe, taking place in the 25th millennium.
Foundation begins at the end of the Galactic Empire and notes in the novels from the
Encyclopedia Galactica imply that a Second Galactic Empire follows the 1000 year interregnum.
* In
J. R. R. Tolkien's
''legendarium'' set in
Middle-earth, the disappearance of the King Eärnur of
Gondor is followed by a 968-year interregnum (the
Steward years), which ends with the return of
Aragorn in ''
The Lord of the Rings''.
* ''
The Old Kingdom Trilogy'' takes place after 200 years of interregnum, where the reigning Queen and her two daughters were murdered by
Kerrigor, 180 years of regency first and 20 years of anarchy following the death of the last Regent.
* The
''Vlad Taltos'' series is set in a fantastical world of magic, at a time directly following a 250-year interregnum wherein traditional sorcery was impossible due to the orb being destroyed.
* In the ''
Elder Scrolls'' video games, there was an Interregnum in the Second Era when the Second Cyrodillic Empire collapsed. It led to just over four centuries of bickering between small kingdoms and petty states. The Interregnum ended when Tiber Septim, or Talos, formed the Third Empire after a decade of war. Similarly, with the sacrifice of Martin Septim during the Oblivion Crisis in the Third Era, the Septim dynasty came to an end, and a seven-year interregnum occurred before Titus Mede I restored the throne and ushered in the Fourth Era.
* In ''
Poland'' by
James A. Michener, 1983, an historical novel that spent 38 weeks on
''The New York Times'' Best Seller List, interregnum is mentioned numerous times in the ever-shifting power struggles that plagued that country, even up to the 1980s.
See also
{{Portal|Philosophy
*
Giorgio Agamben
*
Geoffrey of Monmouth
*
Imperial Vicar
*
Interrex (Poland)
*
Argentina presidential transition
*
United States presidential transition
*
Reign
Notes
References
*
Giorgio Agamben's ''State of Exception'' (2005)
*
Ernst Kantorowicz's ''The King's Two Bodies'' (1957).
* Koptev, Aleksandr
“The Five-Day Interregnum in The Roman Republic.”The Classical Quarterly 66.1 (2016): 205–21.
* Theophanidis, Philipp
“Interregnum as a Legal and Political Concept: A Brief Contextual Survey” Synthesis, Issue 9 (Fall 2016): 109–124.
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Category:Political philosophy
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