In modern Europe and West Asia, there are still a certain number of royal families, and in some countries there are also some people with aristocratic titles. For example, now everyone can often see the Queen of England, the King of Spain, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, the Prince of Monaco, the Emir of Qatar and other royal family members in the media. So what are the origins of these titles? What do they mean literally?
The word emperor in the history of European countries is, of course, entirely paraphrased. In European history, the word Imperator, which represents the emperor, first originated in ancient Rome. In the late Roman Republic, the commander of the army who led the Roman army to victory in an important battle would have been given the title of Imperator, which should have originally meant "triumphant general" if translated literally. However, this title soon evolved during the Roman Empire into the exclusive title of the Roman monarch, that is, a title equivalent to "emperor". Therefore, it was later translated into Chinese as emperor. Because this title comes from the Roman Empire that spanned nationalities, only monarchs with relatively large and powerful territories across nationalities in European history generally had the title of Imperator (commonly written in English as emperor). For example, the monarchs of the Holy Roman Empire. Russian monarchs were also called Imperator after 1721 AD, but after the fall of Tsarist Russia in 1917, the title was no longer used in European countries.
In Europe, the Roman Empire gave birth to the concept of an imperator
Tsar and Caesar
Some friends will definitely disagree when they see the peach blossom stone gossip that no one in Europe has used the title of emperor after 1917, because at least the German emperor and the Austro-Hungarian emperor lasted at least until 1918. But when the Peach Blossom Stone Miscellany talks about emperors, they all add imperator annotations to the back, so what we are talking about is the emperor who is called the imperator in European languages. The monarchs of Germany and Austria-Hungary, although translated into Chinese, were also translated as emperors, but their title in this Chinese is not Imperator, but Kaiser, that is, Caesar. Caesar was a key figure in the transformation of the Roman Republic into an empire, and it can be said that he once became a real emperor. Therefore, in the later Roman Empire, Caesar also became the title of The Roman Emperor or the heir to the throne, so in later Europe, this title also evolved into the title of some national monarchs. In addition to Germany and Austria, the title Tsar, which monarchs of Russia (before 1721 AD) and Bulgaria once had, is another transliteration of Caesar, so the two titles actually mean exactly the same. After the abdication of the Bulgarian Tsar in 1946, no monarch in the world used the titles of Caesar and Tsar.
Group photo of The Last Emperor of Europe, Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, and William II, the last Kaiser de Kaiser of Europe
The word king corresponds to king in English, which is derived from the ancient Germanic word and probably means "offspring of noble births." However, modern research suggests that the term should have originated in Finnish at the earliest. The word was first used as the title of some Germanic tribal chiefs, and later became the title of ruler of these kingdoms along with the large number of kingdoms established by the Germans in Europe. So the word later became the name of the monarch of Europe who ruled over a single people or two or three peoples. Because most of the European countries are now nation-states, most of the monarchs of modern European countries have the title of king, and most monarchs of modern West Asia also have the title of king. The word Queen, which is derived from the ancient Germanic words for "woman" and "wife" in English, has evolved into the exclusive title for the spouse of a male monarch and a female monarch.
The situation in Europe before the First World War, the period when the kingdoms were the most numerous
Grand Duke corresponds to Grand Duke in English, and Duke means Duke, and Grand Duke is Grand Duke, which is also translated as Grand Duke in Chinese. Therefore, the word grand duke was first derived from the duke, and the duke was a title given to the princes who owned the land under the early European feudal system. But because the title of duke was later used, in the 16th century Europeans invented the title of grand duke, which was given to nobles who owned relatively large land but were not large enough to establish a kingdom. There have been many grand duchies in European history, but only Luxembourg has existed to modern times.
The most famous grand duchy in history, the Grand Duchy of Moscow
In English, prince and prince are the same word, both prince. The word also has the meaning of a fief, because in the feudal period in Europe, the prince would generally get a fief. For example, in modern Britain, Prince Charles and the title of Prince of Wales. However, the title of modern England is only nominal, and Charles does not have any real power over Wales. Historically, several of the fiefdoms of some european princes developed into states in modern times, such as Monaco, Andorra and Liechtenstein, which are generally translated into princely states or principalities in Chinese.
One of the main modern principalities, the Principality of Liechtenstein
Caliph is a title that has appeared in the history of West Asia and North Africa. Its literal meaning is "heir" or "God-chosen successor." Because the earliest regime of the Islamic system was the theocratic Arab Empire, its rulers considered themselves the successor of Muhammad, who founded Islam, and thus his title became caliph. Historically, the monarchs of the Arab Empire and the various dynasties of the Arab Empire that they considered to have inherited, such as the Umayyad, Abbasid, and Fatimid regimes, were called caliphs. Later monarchs of the Ottoman Empire also called themselves caliphs. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1924, no monarch in the world used the title of caliph anymore.
The early Arab Empire
Sudan is derived from the Arabic language, which originally meant "tough", "strong", and later used to represent "strength", especially spiritual and moral strength. Later, in the 10th century, because the Arab world was extremely divided and the authority of the caliphate became smaller and smaller, the de facto self-reliant regional warlords and regional rulers began to use the term "sultan" as their title. Historically, many monarchs of the West Asian regimes have been referred to as sultans, such as the Mamluk kingdom of Egypt and the early Ottoman monarchs. The official title of monarch in modern Oman is also Sultan.
The historical Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt
The word emir is also derived from arabic, which originally meant "lord" or "commander-in-chief." During the Arab Empire, emir became the official name of a local governor appointed by the caliphate, and later with the collapse of the Arab Empire, this title also became the title of some regional rulers. The term emir and prince are generally considered synonymous in Europe and can be used both to refer to the heirs of the monarchs of the kingdom (i.e., princes in Chinese) and to the chiefs of certain people or regions (i.e., princes in Chinese). In modern Western Asia, the official title of the monarch of Kuwait and Qatar is emir. In addition, the word "chief" in the United Arab Emirates is also translated from the emir, and the monarchs of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates are also titled emirs.
7 emirates (emirs) of the UAE
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