Majesty

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Majesty

Majesty is an English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
word derived ultimately from the Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
Maiestas, meaning Greatness.

inally, during the Roman republic

Roman Republic

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Encyclopedia

Majesty is an English

English language

Latin

Origin

Originally, during the Roman republic

Roman Republic

The Roman Republic was the phase of the Ancient Rome characterized by a republican form of government; a period which began with the overthrow of the Roman Roman Kingdom, c....
, the word maiestas was the legal term for the supreme status and dignity of the state, to be respected above everything else. This was crucially defined by the existence of a specific crime, called laesa maiestatis, literally "Violated Majesty" (in English law Lese majesty, via the French Lèse-majesté), consisting of the violation of this supreme status. Various acts such as celebrating a party on a day of public mourning, contempt of the various rites of the state and disloyalty in word or act were punished as crimes against the majesty of the republic. However, later, under the Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, it came to mean an offence against the dignity of the Emperor

Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
. Even indirect actions such as paying for a service in a brothel

Brothel

A brothel, also known as a bordello, cathouse or whorehouse, is an establishment specifically dedicated to prostitution, providing the prostitutes a place to meet and to have sex with clients....
with a coin bearing the portrait of the emperor could be punished as an act against this "maiestas".

Western style monarch's address

After the fall of Rome, Majesty was used to describe a Monarch of the very highest rank - indeed, it was generally applied to God

God

God is a deity in theism and deism religions and other belief systems, representing either the sole deity in monotheism, or a principal deity in polytheism....
. The title was then also assumed by Monarchs of great powers as an attempt at self-praise and despite a supposed lower royal

Regalia

Regalia is Latin plurale tantum for the privileges and the insignia characteristic of a Sovereignty.The word stems from the Latin substantivation of the adjective regalis, 'regal', itself from Rex, 'king'....
style as a King or Queen, who would thus often be called "His or Her Royal Majesty." The first English king to be styled Majesty was Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lordship of Ireland and claimant to the Early Modern France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII of England....
- earlier monarchs had used the form His Grace. Eventually the title became enshrined in law, and it was thus that all of the Kings and Queens of Europe

Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
bear the title to this day. Variations include His Catholic Majesty for Spain

Spain

Spain or the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in Southern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though Espa?a , Estado espa?ol and Naci?n espa?ola are used interchangeably....
and Her Britannic Majesty for the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, when used to distinguish between Monarchs of different countries.

The Monarchs of Principalities

Principality

A principality is a monarchy feudatory or sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a monarch with the title of prince or princess, or a monarch with another title within the generic use of the term prince....
were considered lesser, so they generally did not take the title, opting for either "His Highness

Highness

Highness, often used with a personal possessive pronoun is an attribute referring to the Nobility of the dynasty in an Style . It is literally the quality of being lofty or high, a term and style used, as are so many abstractions, as a style of dignity and honour, to signify exalted rank or station....
" or "His Serene Highness

Serene Highness

Serene Highness is a style used today by the reigning families of Monaco and Liechtenstein. It also preceded the princely titles of members of some German ruling families until 1917, and it was also the form of address used for cadet members of the dynasties of France, Italy, Russia and Ernestine duchies under their monarchy....
". On a similar note almost all rulers of princely states in the British Empire

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, and other Dependent territory ruled or administered by the United Kingdom , that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries....
were denied the Majesty style, only being recognised as His Highness, a style commonly used for sons (and other relatives) of a Majesty, since they were not sovereigns in their own right.

The United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, several derivatives of Majesty have been or are used, either to distinguish the British sovereign from continental kings and queens or as further exalted forms of address for the monarch in official documents or the most formal situations.

Most Gracious Majesty is only used in the most formal of occasions. Around 1519 King Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lordship of Ireland and claimant to the Early Modern France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII of England....
decided Majesty should become the style of the sovereign of England. "Majesty", however, was not used exclusively; it arbitrarily alternated with both "Highness

Highness

Grace (style)

His Grace or Her Grace is a style used for various high ranking personages. It was the Style used to address the List of Scottish monarchs of Scotland up to the Act of Union of 1707, which merged the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, and to address monarchs of England prior to Henry VIII....
", even in official documents. For example, one legal judgement issued by Henry VIII uses all three indiscriminately; Article 15 begins with "the Kinges Highness hath ordered," Article 16 with "the Kinges Majestie" and Article 17 with "the Kinges Grace."

In pre-Union Scotland Sovereigns were only addressed as Your Grace. During the reign of James I & VI

James I of England

James VI and I was List of monarchs of Scotland as James VI, and List of English monarchs and King of Ireland as James I. He ruled in Kingdom of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567, when he was only one year old, succeeding his mother Mary I of Scotland....
, Majesty became the official style, to the exclusion of others. In full, the Sovereign is still referred to as "His (or Her) Most Gracious Majesty", actually a merger of both the Scottish Grace and the English Majesty.

Britannic Majesty is the style used for the monarch and the crown in diplomacy

Diplomacy

Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states. It usually refers to international diplomacy, the conduct of international relations through the intercession of professional diplomats with regard to issues of peace-making, trade, war, economics and culture....
, the law of nations, and international relations

International relations

International relations represents the study of foreign affairs and global issues among states within the international system, including the roles of states, international organization , non-governmental organizations , and multinational corporations ....
. For example, in the Mandate for Palestine of the League of Nations

League of Nations

The League of Nations was an inter-governmental organization founded as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919?1920. At its greatest extent from 28 September 1934 to 23 February 1935, it had 58 members....
, it was His Britannic Majesty who was designated as the Mandatory for Palestine

Palestine

Palestine is a name which has been widely used since Roman times to refer to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. It is derived from a name used already much earlier for a narrower geographical region, mainly along the coastal region....
. Britannic Majesty is famously used in all British Passports

British passport

British passports may be issued to people holding any of the various forms of British nationality law....
, where the following sentence is used:

Most Excellent Majesty is mainly used in Acts of Parliament, where the phrase "The King's (or Queen's) Most Excellent Majesty" is used in the enacting clause. The standard is as follows:

Usage in Africa

In most of Africa where there may be Kings and Queens or Chiefs, they use His/Her Majesty, instead of Highness or Royal Highness regardless of whether the Kings or Chiefs are sovereign over any land or not, since most are heads of the tribes within the various countries of Africa.

Imperial monarch's address

In the case of Emperor

Emperor

An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress is the female equivalent. As a title, "empress" may indicate the wife of an emperor or a woman who rules in her own right ....
s and Empresses, the style "His (or Her) Imperial Majesty" is used instead, where there may be several monarchs (Kings or Queens) that are considered to be under the jurisdiction of the Emperor/Empress.