Oldest to Newest Monarchy?

[BritishRoyalist]

For the last couple Days I been making a list of the Oldest to Newest Monarchy that still exist in the World Today:

1. Japanese Monarchy 600 BC-Present 2,600 Years
2. Cambodia Monarchy 69-Present 1,444 Years
3. Oman Monarchy 751-Present 1,262Years
4. British Monarchy 800-Present 1,200 Years
5. Norway Monarchy 862-Present 1151 Years
6. Luxembourg 922-Present 1,081 Years
7. Denmark Monarchy 935-Present 1068 Years
8. Sweden Monarchy 970-Present 1,043 Years
9. Thailand Monarchy 1238-Present 775 Years
10. Andorra Monarchy 1278-Present 735 Years
11. Brunei Monarchy 1363-Present 650 Years
12. Spain Monarchy 1479-Present 534 Years
13. Monaco Monarchy 1604-Present 409 Years
14. Liechtenstein Monarchy 1627-Present 386 Years
15. Bhutan Monarchy 1650-Present 363 Years
16. Kuwait Monarchy 1718-Present 295 Years
17. Saudi Arabia Monarchy 1744-Present 269 Years
18. Swaziland Monarchy 1780-Present 233 Years
19. Bahrain Monarchy 1783-Present 230'Year
20. Netherlands Monarchy 1815-Present 197 Years
21. Lesotho Monarchy 1822-Present 191 Years
22. Belgian Monarchy 1831-Present 182 Years
23. Tonga Monarchy 1875 138 Years
24. Qatar Monarchy 1868 Present 142 Years
25. Jordan Monarchy 1921-Present 92 Years
26. Malaysia Monarchy 1957-Present 58 Years
27. United Arabs Emirates Monarchy 1971-Present 42 Years

These are by the Date they were Founded/Formed. Some might be wrong off a little but I tried to get them as right as possible.
For example I have Read that the British Monarchy is somewhere between 1200-1500 Years old depending if you start with the Anglo Saxon Kings.

[Muhler]

The Danish monarchy is considerably older than AD 935. It has been officially decided that the Danish line of kings starts there, because a stone was raised commemmorating the fact that Denmark was one nation under one king. (*)
But Danmark was de facto a nation under one king long before that, which is evident by border fortifications and road building which required funding and organisation on a nationwide scale.
The current Queen Margrethe is not the first female Regent, she was preceeded not only by the formidable Queen Margrethe I, but long before that by the equally formidable Queen Thyra, who was instrumental in keeping the approaching Carolingians at bay, both by ways of diplomacy and by constructing border fortifications.
That was way before King Gorm the Old, who is officially considered the first king in the current line starting in 935.

King Gorm the Old's body was recently dug up, examined and reburied, with QMII's permission. - It turns out that he wasn't that old.

On top of that. The King who raised the stone I keep referring to, Harald Bluetooth, may have been Christian. His son, Svend Forkbeard was not! He wanted a reversal to the good old days where you raided your neighbors in the time honored fashion of the Vikings. However, his son, Knud the Great in England better known as King Canute was very much a Christian king, and king of England, Norway and Danmark at the same time. So in a way he belongs on the list of English monarchs, who reigned before William the Conqueror. But being a king of a multinational empire, it is perhaps questionable whether you can label him a pure English king.

(*) That stone, raised by King Harald Bluetooth, son of King Gorm the Old, was also very much a foreign political statement since it basically stated that Denmark was a Christian nation and big daddy here is in control, - so no excuse for Carolingian crusades going up here, thank you!

[Muhler]

Looking at your list there are a number of things that makes it difficult to say when a country became a monarchy.
Do you define a contemporary monarchy as one being ruled by a king since XX, or by the length of the current line of monarchs?
Because practially all European monarchies, and I'd say all other monarchies as well, were ruled by minor kings before they became a nation under one uniting king. And that point is often shrowded in legend and very unclear to define historically.

The origins of the Japanese monarchy is somewhat shrowded in legend.
Luxembourg is not a monarchy per se, but a principality, - which for a period belonged under the German Leaque. and before that was a part of the German Roman Empire.
Sweden was ruled by ethnic Swedish as well at ethnic Danish and Norwegian kings, before they got their first genuine Swedish king in the 1200's. - Incidently after a rebellion against their king at that time, who was Danish.

The current line of British monarchs go back to 1066, that is if you overlook the period in the 1600's where England wasn't a monarchy. But more a kind of dictatorship under Cromwell.

Norway is even more complicated. It has been ruled by Norwegian, Swedish and Danish kings. - And then there is the question of the Nordic Union in 1300's, where Denmark, Sweden and Norway joined up to become a federation of three kingdoms under one ruler.

There is also Scotland, who had their own kings, before being conquered by the English. - Only to retaliate by King James taking over from Queen Elizabeth. Some Scotch, may object to Scotland not being included on the list.

- It's a complicated task you have embarked on...

[BritishRoyalist]

Originally Posted by Muhler

Looking at your list there are a number of things that makes it difficult to say when a country became a monarchy.
Do you define a contemporary monarchy as one being ruled by a king since XX, or by the length of the current line of monarchs?
Because practially all European monarchies, and I'd say all other monarchies as well, were ruled by minor kings before they became a nation under one uniting king. And that point is often shrowded in legend and very unclear to define historically.

The origins of the Japanese monarchy is somewhat shrowded in legend.
Luxembourg is not a monarchy per se, but a principality, - which for a period belonged under the German Leaque. and before that was a part of the German Roman Empire.
Sweden was ruled by ethnic Swedish as well at ethnic Danish and Norwegian kings, before they got their first genuine Swedish king in the 1200's. - Incidently after a rebellion against their king at that time, who was Danish.

The current line of British monarchs go back to 1066, that is if you overlook the period in the 1600's where England wasn't a monarchy. But more a kind of dictatorship under Cromwell.

Norway is even more complicated. It has been ruled by Norwegian, Swedish and Danish kings. - And then there is the question of the Nordic Union in 1300's, where Denmark, Sweden and Norway joined up to become a federation of three kingdoms under one ruler.

There is also Scotland, who had their own kings, before being conquered by the English. - Only to retaliate by King James taking over from Queen Elizabeth. Some Scotch, may object to Scotland not being included on the list.

- It's a complicated task you have embarked on...

The Norman Conquest was in 1066 but you can go further back. I have seen some sites go back to Alfred the Great in 802ad like The Royal Family History website. The British Monarchy Website go back to the Anglo Saxon Kings in 602ad

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by BritishRoyalist

The Norman Conquest was in 1066 but you can go further back. I have seen some sites go back to Alfred the Great in 802ad like The Royal Family History website. The British Monarchy Website go back to the Anglo Saxon Kings in 602ad

Oh, yes, but what I'm saying is that the current monarchies were often monarchies before the historical markers that often define their origins. In the case of Denmark, King the Gorm the Old and 940.

As you know Alfred the Great's kingdom consisted of a few square kilometres of marshland, before his rebellion against King Guthrum (who was Danish).
In a sense you can say King Guthrum was also an English king. - But in contrast to William the Conqueror, to whom he can be compared, he lost the final battle - and became Guthrum the Loser, instead of Guthrum the Conqueror.

[NGalitzine]

I must say some of those dates seem rather arbitrary so I would like to know the standard being used. The Grimaldis date their rule in Monaco to 1297 under various titles and protectors. The UAE was made up of monarchic sheikdoms before uniting into the UAE. Saudi Arabia was part of the Ottoman Empire so again under monarchic governments prior to its constituent parts being united under Saud after WW1 and actually becoming Saudi Arabia.

[cepe]

I think what is a level benchmark is what each Monarchy/country states. The first king of England is generally held to be Alfred - so 802.

[Baron Brockdorf]

there are a few things which I disagree with. first of all the kingdom of england and scotland(britain) was formed in 1707
the first kings of sweden ruled in the year 90AD this was before the unification of sweden, they were called the kings of the suiones meaning that before the 1200's sweden was consisted of several smaller kingdoms just like england and denmark. however when speaking in terms if one unified country, the kingdom which has the longest and continuous monarchy in europe is that of denmark followed by sweden. the monarchy in england was abolished during the reign of charles the 1st and restored by charles the 2nd in 1649.

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by cepe

I think what is a level benchmark is what each Monarchy/country states. The first king of England is generally held to be Alfred - so 802.

Indeed, Alfred the Great, "reconguered" England from Guthrum. A nice marker.
Only complicated later on by the fact that King Canute wasn't English. William the Conqueror wasn't English. King James was Scottish. Charles I lost his head. William of Orange was imported and the Georgian kings were German. - Oh my head.

Most other monarchies have similar problems. At times they were conquered, united with other kingdoms, became temporary republics and so on.
There is a tendency towards stretching the difinition of when a particular monarchy became a monarchy very wide based on nationalist reasons rather than historical. And that of course makes it difficult to pinpoint exactly when a monarchy became a monarchy.

In Japan for example they include more or less mythological kings, who may only have ruled smaller parts of Japan.

[Ish]

Originally Posted by BritishRoyalist

The Norman Conquest was in 1066 but you can go further back. I have seen some sites go back to Alfred the Great in 802ad like The Royal Family History website. The British Monarchy Website go back to the Anglo Saxon Kings in 602ad

Originally Posted by Muhler

As you know Alfred the Great's kingdom consisted of a few square kilometres of marshland, before his rebellion against King Guthrum (who was Danish).
In a sense you can say King Guthrum was also an English king. - But in contrast to William the Conqueror, to whom he can be compared, he lost the final battle - and became Guthrum the Loser, instead of Guthrum the Conqueror.

Alfred the Great wasn't a King of England; at the time of his rule, England was still a vague concept and was instead ruled over by various smaller kingdoms - Alfred's was Wessex. Even a single Dane didn't rule over all of "England". The first English king - a king who ruled over all of England - was Æthelstan. He was also the first individual who styled himself as King of the English, in 927.

The official British royal website sites its origins in both England and Scotland as starting somewhere are 400 A.D., however the first monarchs that they list are Offa (England, 757) and Kenneth (Scotland, 843)

[Foss]

Actually Gregor of Tours mentions a man named Hugleik from 515 AD. as the earliest danish king.

[kelly1994]

Originally Posted by Muhler

The origins of the Japanese monarchy is somewhat shrowded in legend.

Even if you take away the presumed legendary emperors; Japan is still the oldest monarchy in the world.

660 BC - present
or
98 BC - present

[CrownPrincessJava]

1. Japanese Monarchy 600 BC-Present 2,600 Years
2. Cambodia Monarchy 69-Present 1,444 Years
3. Oman Monarchy 751-Present 1,262Years
4. British Monarchy 800-Present 1,200 Years
5. Norway Monarchy 862-Present 1151 Years
6. Luxembourg 922-Present 1,081 Years
7. Denmark Monarchy 935-Present 1068 Years
8. Sweden Monarchy 970-Present 1,043 Years
9. Thailand Monarchy 1238-Present 775 Years
10. Andorra Monarchy 1278-Present 735 Years
11. Brunei Monarchy 1363-Present 650 Years
12. Spain Monarchy 1479-Present 534 Years
13. Monaco Monarchy 1604-Present 409 Years
14. Liechtenstein Monarchy 1627-Present 386 Years
15. Bhutan Monarchy 1650-Present 363 Years
16. Kuwait Monarchy 1718-Present 295 Years
17. Saudi Arabia Monarchy 1744-Present 269 Years
18. Swaziland Monarchy 1780-Present 233 Years
19. Bahrain Monarchy 1783-Present 230'Year
20. Netherlands Monarchy 1815-Present 197 Years
21. Lesotho Monarchy 1822-Present 191 Years
22. Belgian Monarchy 1831-Present 182 Years
23. Tonga Monarchy 1875 138 Years
24. Qatar Monarchy 1868 Present 142 Years
25. Bhutan Monarchy 1907 - Present: 106 years
26. Jordan Monarchy 1921-Present 92 Years
27. Malaysia Monarchy 1957-Present 58 Years
28. United Arabs Emirates Monarchy 1971-Present 42 Years

Added another....

[XeniaCasaraghi]

I'm surprised Spain is so new. I tend to ignore Spanish history but is their date when Aragon and Castile were joined?

[Ish]

Pretty much, yeah. The history of monarchy in Spain is older than that. On those grounds, the English monarchy dates are a bit misleading - it wasn't until the end of the 9th century that the Wessex monarchs began to rule the whole of England.

[LadyGabrielle]

Um, excuse me but, are we forgetting the ancient monarchy of Hawaii? Older than 600 b.c. According to the ancient text of creation, Hawaiians were the Adam and Eve of creation. It may not be well known but if you read about it, you will see. The text I am speaking of is called the Kumulipo.

[Ish]

The problem there is that the Kumulipo is a source of oral history and integrates history and mythology. Therefore we can't actually date when the Hawaiian monarchy originated in the pre-contact era.

[Blog Real]

And the Portuguese monarchy?

[Ish]

The Portugese monarchy was from 1139 to 1910, according to Wikipedia. So, 771 years.

[Blog Real]

Originally Posted by Ish

The Portugese monarchy was from 1139 to 1910, according to Wikipedia. So, 771 years.

Thank you very much. The British monarchy is the oldest in Europe?