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Joshua A. Norton

Joshua A. Norton

Joshua Abraham Norton (ca. 1815 – January 8, 1880), also known as His Imperial Majesty Emperor Norton I, was a celebrated citizen of San Francisco who proclaimed himself "Emperor of these United States and Protector of Mexico" in 1859. Some sources list his date of birth as February 14, 1819. Although he had no political power, and his influence extended only so far as he was humored by those around him, he was treated deferentially in San Francisco, and currency issued in his name was honored in the establishments he frequented. Norton also corresponded with Queen Victoria, and he was referred to as His Imperial Majesty by local citizens and in the newspaper obituaries announcing his death. Though he was generally considered insane, or at least highly eccentric, the citizens of San Francisco (and the world at large) in the mid-to-late 19th century celebrated his presence, his humor, and his deeds—among the most notorious being his "order" that the U.S. Congress be dissolved by force, and his numerous decrees calling for a bridge to be built across San Francisco Bay. The King in Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is reportedly modeled after him. He is considered a saint by the followers of Discordianism and is referenced repeatedly in the seminal work of the religion, the Principia Discordia.

Early life

Norton was born in England. Records vary as to the date and place of birth. His obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle, "following the best information obtainable," cited the silver plate on his coffin which said he was "aged about 65." This suggests 1814 as his year of birth. Other, non-primary sources have his birth on February 14, 1819 in London. According to Drury (1986), immigration records indicate that he was two years old in 1820 when his parents emigrated to South Africa. [http://www.jewishgen.org/SAfrica/norden/#EMPEROR Southern African genealogies] suggest his father was John Norton (d. August 1848) and his mother was Sarah Norden. Sarah was the daughter of Abraham Norden and niece of Benjamin Norden, a successful Jewish merchant, who displayed his eccentric side by frequently suing family members. This is supported by [http://www.emperornorton.net/NortonI-Cowan.html Cowan (1923)] who stated that Emperor Norton I "was of Hebrew [Jewish] parentage." Norton emigrated from South Africa to San Francisco in 1849 after receiving a gift of $40,000 from his father (possibly his inheritance after his father's death). He accumulated a fortune of $250,000 by 1853 ([http://www.emperornorton.net/NortonI-Cowan.html Cowan 1923]). He enjoyed some highly impressive initial success in the real estate market when China, facing a severe famine, placed a ban on the export of rice. The price of rice in San Francisco skyrocketed from 4¢ per pound to 36¢ per pound (9¢/kg to 79¢/kg). When Norton heard that a ship holding 200,000 pounds (100 tons) of rice was coming from Peru, he bought all the rice, hoping to corner the rice market. Unfortunately, shipload after shipload of rice came from Peru, and the price of rice plummeted. There was extensive litigation over the incident amongst Norton and his financial partners between 1853 and 1857. Although resulting in a victory for Norton in the lower courts, the cases eventually resulted in a defeat for Norton in the Supreme Court (Cowan 1923). Norton declared bankruptcy in 1858. He then left the city for a few years, and shortly after returning announced his title to the offices of the Bulletin. There are no known documents noting an eccentric personality or unusual behavior of Norton prior to the loss of his fortune, so it is not known whether his pronounced eccentricity was a permanent aspect of his psychology, or arose as a result of the stressful financial events of the 1850s. Nonetheless, after his sudden loss of financial stability, Norton seemed to become (in the absence of a proper diagnosis) somewhat "odd," and began exhibiting delusions of grandeur, but it is entirely likely that all his declarations and behavior were the result of successful creative response to the pressure of poverty.

Self-proclamation

Having become fully disgruntled with the inadequacies of the political structure and state and federal governments of the United States, Norton took matters into his own hands on September 17, 1859, when, in letters to the various newspapers of the area, he summarily proclaimed himself "Emperor of These United States":
At the pre-emptory request of a large majority of the citizens of these United States, I Joshua Norton, formerly of Algoa Bay, Cape of Good Hope, and now for the last nine years and ten months past of San Francisco, California, declare and proclaim myself the Emperor of These United States.
He would, on occasion, add "Protector of Mexico" to this title. Thus commenced his unprecedented, whimsical, and almost entirely inconsequential 21-year "reign" over America.

Decrees

In accordance with his self-appointed role of emperor, Norton issued numerous decrees on matters of state. Deeming that he had assumed power, he saw no further need for a legislature, and on October 12, 1859, he issued a decree that formally "dissolved" the United States Congress. He also observed that
"…fraud and corruption prevent a fair and proper expression of the public voice; that open violation of the laws are constantly occurring, caused by mobs, parties, factions and undue influence of political sects; that the citizen has not that protection of person and property which he is entitled."
As a result, the Emperor ordered that "all interested parties" gather at Platt's Music Hall in San Francisco in February 1860 so as to "remedy the evil complained of." In another imperial "decree" of January 1860, Emperor Norton I summoned the army to depose the elected officials of Congress: :WHEREAS, a body of men calling themselves the National Congress are now in session in Washington City, in violation of our Imperial edict of the 12th of October last, declaring the said Congress abolished; :WHEREAS, it is necessary for the repose of our Empire that the said decree should be strictly complied with; :NOW, THEREFORE, we do hereby Order and Direct Major-General Scott, the Command-in-Chief of our Armies, immediately upon receipt of this, our Decree, to proceed with a suitable force and clear the Halls of Congress. Norton's "orders" had no effect on the army, and the Congress likewise continued in its activities unperturbed. Norton issued further "decrees" in 1860 that purported to dissolve the republic and to forbid the assembly of any members of the Congress. These, like all of Norton's decrees, passed unnoticed by the government in Washington, and by the nation at large. Norton's battle against the elected leaders of America was to persist throughout his "reign," though it appears that Norton eventually, if somewhat grudgingly, accepted that Congress would continue to exist without his permission. His attempts to overthrow the elected government of America by force having been frustrated, Norton turned his attention and his proclamations to other matters, both political and social. On August 12, 1869, "being desirous of allaying the dissensions of party strife now existing within our realm," he "abolished" both the Democratic and Republican parties. On another occasion, the failure to refer to his adopted home city with appropriate respect was the subject of a particularly stern edict in 1872:
Whoever after due and proper warning shall be heard to utter the abominable word "Frisco," which has no linguistic or other warrant, shall be deemed guilty of a High Misdemeanor, and shall pay into the Imperial Treasury as penalty the sum of twenty-five dollars.
After examining a number of his "Imperial Edicts," it is tempting to conjecture on the mental condition of America's only sovereign monarch. Unfortunately, diagnosing the precise psychological condition of Norton is an impossibility, due to the anecdotal nature of all the documents that relate his behavior. It has been suggested that he may have been schizophrenic, as "delusions of grandeur" is a symptom frequently associated with that condition. However, it is also possible that he suffered from some other mental illness, or even that he was sane. For all of his quirks and regardless of the precise nature of his psychological condition, it cannot be denied that Norton was, on some occasions, a visionary, and a number of his "Imperial Decrees" exhibited a profound wisdom. Among his many edicts were instructions to form a League of Nations, and he explicitly forbade any form of discord or conflict between religions or their sects. The Emperor also saw fit on a number of occasions to decree the construction of a suspension bridge connecting Oakland and San Francisco, his later decrees becoming increasingly irritated at the lack of prompt obedience being exhibited by the authorities: :WHEREAS, we issued our decree ordering the citizens of San Francisco and Oakland to appropriate funds for the survey of a suspension bridge from Oakland Point via Goat Island; also for a tunnel; and to ascertain which is the best project; and whereas the said citizens have hitherto neglected to notice our said decree; and whereas we are determined our authority shall be fully respected; now, therefore, we do hereby command the arrest by the army of both the Boards of City Fathers if they persist in neglecting our decrees. :Given under our royal hand and seal at San Francisco, this 17th day of September, 1872. This decree, unlike most, concerned events that eventually came to pass. Construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge began in 1933 and was completed in 1936. BART's Transbay Tube was completed in 1969 and opened in 1972.

Life as Emperor

Transbay Tube Norton had a fairly well documented routine. His days consisted of him inspecting his "dominion" (the streets of San Francisco) in an elaborate blue uniform with tarnished gold-plated epaulets (given to him by officers of the United States Army post at the Presidio of San Francisco), and wearing a beaver hat decorated with a peacock feather and a rosette. Frequently he enhanced this regal posture with a cane or umbrella. During his ministrations Norton would examine the condition of the sidewalks and cable cars, the state of repair of public property, the appearance of police officers, and attend to the needs of his subjects as they arose. He would frequently give lengthy philosophical expositions on a variety of topics to anyone within earshot at the time. It was during one of his "Imperial inspections" that Norton is reputed to have performed one of his most famous acts. During the 1860s and 1870s there were an unpleasant number of anti-Chinese demonstrations in the poorer districts of San Francisco, and ugly and fatal riots broke out on several occasions. During one such incident, Norton is alleged to have positioned himself between the rioters and their Chinese targets, and with a bowed head began to recite the Lord's Prayer repeatedly. Shamed, the rioters dispersed without incident. Norton was clearly much loved and revered by the citizens of San Francisco. Although penniless, he regularly frequented the finest restaurants in San Francisco, and the proprietors of these establishments took it upon themselves to add brass plaques in their entrances that declared "By Appointment to his Imperial Majesty, Emperor Norton I of the United States." This vanity appears to have been tolerated without complaint by Norton. By all accounts, such "Imperial seals of approval" were much prized and a substantial boost to trade for such businesses. No play or musical performance in San Francisco would dare to open without reserving balcony seats for Norton and his two mongrel dogs, Lazarus and Bummer. (As a side note, the death of Lazarus, in an 1863 accident with a vehicle belonging to the Fire Department of San Francisco, led to a period of public mourning. In 1865, when Bummer died, Mark Twain was sufficiently moved to write an epitaph for the Imperial Canine, saying that he'd died "full of years, and honor, and disease, and fleas.") A scandal occurred in 1867 when a police officer named Armand Barbier arrested Norton, for the purpose of committing him to involuntary treatment for a mental disorder. This caused monumental outrage amongst the citizens of San Francisco and sparked a number of scathing editorials in the newspapers. Police Chief Patrick Crowley speedily rectified matters by ordering the "Emperor" released and issuing a formal apology on behalf of the Police Force. The Commissioner of Lunacy observed of the self-styled monarch "that he had shed no blood; robbed no one; and despoiled no country; which is more than can be said of his fellows in that line." ([http://www.emperornorton.net/NortonI-Cowan.html Cowan 1923]). Norton was magnanimous enough to grant an "Imperial Pardon" to the errant young police officer who had committed the (perceived) act of treason. Possibly as a result of this scandal, all police officers of San Francisco thereafter would salute Norton as he passed in the street. Norton did receive some small tokens of formal recognition for his station; the census of 1870 records a Joshua Norton residing at 624 Commercial St, and lists him with the occupation of "Emperor." Norton would also issue his own money on occasion in order to pay for certain debts, and this was an effective local currency, generally accepted as legal tender by San Francisco businesses. (Typically these notes came in denominations from 50¢ to five dollars, and the few notes still extant have fetched thousands of dollars at recent auctions [http://www.zpub.com/sf/history/nortm3.html]). Certainly the city of San Francisco honored Norton; when Norton's uniform began to look shabby, the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco, with a great deal of ceremony, appropriated enough money to buy him a suitably regal replacement. In return, Norton sent them a gracious note of thanks and a "patent of nobility in perpetuity" for each Supervisor.

Waning years

During the latter years of Norton's reign, he was the subject of considerable rumor and speculation. One popular story suggested that he was actually the son of Emperor Louis Napoleon and that his claims of coming from South Africa were simply a ruse to prevent persecution. (To have been an illegitimate son of Louis Napoleon, he would have had to have been conceived when the French Emperor was only three; Louis Napoleon's actual son, Napoleon Eugene, Prince Imperial, died fighting in the Zulu War in 1879.) Another popular story suggested that the emperor was planning to marry Queen Victoria. While this is completely without foundation, the emperor did actually correspond with the queen on several occasions and he is reported to have met the real Emperor Pedro II of Brazil ([http://www.emperornorton.net/NortonI-Cowan.html Cowan 1923]). A final rumor was that Norton was in fact supremely wealthy, and only affected poverty due to miserly inclinations. In addition to the rumors, a number of "decrees" that were probably fraudulent were submitted and duly printed in the newspapers, and there is suspicion that in at least a few cases, the editors of the newspapers themselves drafted fictitious edicts to suit their own agendas. The Museum of the City of San Francisco maintains a listing of all the decrees it believes to be genuine [http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/norton.html]. Pedro II of Brazil On the evening of January 8, 1880, Joshua Norton collapsed on the corner of California Street and Dupont Street (now Grant Avenue) while on his way to a lecture at the Academy of Sciences. His collapse was immediately noticed by another citizen who raised the alarm, and, according to one newspaper, "the police officer on the beat hastened for a carriage to convey him to the City Receiving Hospital" [http://www.notfrisco.com/colmatales/norton/nobit.html]. Norton died before the carriage could arrive. The following day the San Francisco Chronicle published [http://www.emperornorton.net/mirror/http/www.notfrisco.com_80/colmatales/norton/nobit.html his obituary] on its front page under the headline "Le Roi est Mort" ("the King is Dead"). In a tone tinged with sadness, the article respectfully reported that, "On the reeking pavement, in the darkness of a moon-less night under the dripping rain…, Norton I, by the grace of God, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, departed this life". The Morning Call, another leading San Francisco newspaper, published a front-page article using an almost identical sentence as a headline: "Norton the First, by the grace of God Emperor of these United States and Protector of Mexico, departed this life." Contrary to the rumors, it quickly became evident that Norton had died in complete poverty, and his entire estate amounted to no more than a few dollars. Five or six dollars in small change had been found on his person, and a search of his room at the boarding house on Commercial Street turned up only a single sovereign worth around $2.50, his collection of walking sticks, his rather battered sabre, his correspondence with Queen Victoria and 1,098,235 shares of stock in a worthless gold mine. When the initial funeral arrangements were made a pauper's coffin of simple redwood had been procured for the departed. However, the members of the Pacific Club (a San Franciscan businessmen's association) deemed this to be completely unacceptable. After establishing a funeral fund, the members rapidly raised a sufficient amount to purchase a handsome rosewood casket and arranged a suitably dignified farewell. [http://www.zpub.com/sf/history/nort3.html Reports indicated] that respects were paid "…by all classes from capitalists to the pauper, the clergyman to the pickpocket, well-dressed ladies and those whose garb and bearing hinted of the social outcast." Norton's funeral was a solemn, mournful and large affair. Some accounts report that as many as 30,000 people lined the streets to pay homage, and that the funeral cortege was two miles long. He was buried at the Masonic Cemetery, at the expense of the City of San Francisco. The day after his funeral, January 11, 1880, the San Francisco skies were blackened with a total solar eclipse. In 1934, Norton's remains were transferred, again at the expense of the City of San Francisco, to a grave-site of moderate splendor at Woodlawn Cemetery, in Colma. His story faded somewhat after his death, and his resting place was marked by a small worn stone; however, his story became more popular during the 1960s and his present gravestone refers to him as "Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico" (Gorman 1998). Political activist and drag queen José Sarria declared herself Her Royal Majesty, Empress One of San Francisco, Jose I, the Widow Norton and holds an annual memorial celebration, complete with continental breakfast, for her long-dead "husband" that helped to repopularize his legend and prompted Woodlawn Cemetery to provide a more substantial gravestone at their own expense (Gorman 1998). In January 1980, numerous ceremonies and memorials were conducted in San Francisco to honor the 100th anniversary of the passing of the one and only "Emperor of the United States."

Recent recognition

Norton's early work at promoting a bridge between San Francisco and Oakland was commemorated on Tuesday, December 14th, 2004, when the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a resolution calling for the new span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to be named after Norton. The resolution was introduced by Supervisor Aaron Peskin (the supervisor currently elected from the district where Norton lived) after the idea was publicized by San Francisco Chronicle cartoonist Phil Frank in his comic strip Farley.

Legitimacy and debate

comic strip More than a century after Norton's death, some people claim that Norton was, in actuality, the Emperor of the United States. Despite the fact that the Constitution of the United States, as the "supreme law of the land," vests the ultimate executive governmental power in the President, and the fact that citizens generally have accepted this and all that comes with it (with exceptions: the American Civil War, civil disobedience, etc.), defenders of Norton's claim say that the assumption of a title is confirmed and made legitimate by the affirmation and recognition of other people. If that is to be the primary criterion, they claim, Norton was indeed emperor, at least in San Francisco, just as the monarchs of the Three Kingdoms of China all were Emperor of China in their separate kingdoms simultaneously. (See Three Kingdoms: Tripartite of China.) Although there was no vacant position of "Emperor of the United States," it is claimed that the acknowledgement of his status and title by the citizens of the San Francisco area made his claims valid. This can be seen as a form of traditional or charismatic authority: Norton created the position and its power simply by acting as though they existed. Whether or not he had any legal or legitimate authority is irrelevant to the fact that things were done at his behest, because people wanted to do what he wanted them to do. It remains the case that Norton had no empire, subjects, authority, or political power; any person who humored Norton by choosing to follow his edicts, accept his "currency," or acknowledge his chosen title as "Emperor" did so only by volition and not because it was legitimate or legal. Supporters of Norton accede this as true and dismiss it as irrelevant. Many more people consider this entire debate to be moot at best, and point out that he was a friendly, interesting old man with a number of good ideas, who liked to be the emperor, and that was no problem to anyone. Although the semantics might raise some interesting questions as to what is needed to lay claim to a title and exercise power, the real-world consequences of his imperial tenure were far less serious. His unparalleled audacity inspired the founders of the religion of Discordianism. For further discussion, see authority, legitimacy, and power (sociology).

Norton as part of the public imagination

Food


- Emperor Norton's is an Italian restaurant at [http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?searchtype=address&country=US&addtohistory=&searchtab=home&address=7058+Santa+Teresa+Blvd.&city=San+Jose&state=CA&zipcode= Bernal and Santa Teresa] in south San Jose, California.
- Ghirardelli, a chocolatier in San Francisco, used to offer a sundae called "The Emperor Norton" which has as its primary garnishes two bananas and a handful of nuts. The company also produced a 5-oz. "Emperor Norton Non-Pareils" candy.
- The Oakland-based San Francisco Bread Company produces the "Emperor Norton Sourdough Snack Chips" in 5.5-oz. or 12-oz. bags. Varieties include original flavor and ranch. The product is marketed through deli shelves, and according to vice-president of operations Jill Schuster, it has a very loyal following around the country.
- In North Beach, the San Francisco Brewing Company produces the "Emperor Norton Ale," a Munich-style amber lager with a distinctive malt character. The beer is always on tap and can be shipped within the state. [http://www.sfbrewing.com/beers/beers.html]

Internet


- Others have tried to co-opt Norton's image for their own use: In 1999, it was reported (via a spiritual medium) that Emperor Norton had issued a new decree which (among other things) established that his Imperial Domain now extends to include the Usenet.
WHEREAS, We have been specifically resurrected for the purpose of observing and commenting on the great commotion, called by some a "flame war", now occurring in rec.skiing.alpine;

WHEREAS, such exchanges of invective and rudeness disturb the peace of mind of those who come to said association seeking relaxation and gentle conversation upon the sport of skiing;

AND WHEREAS, the ongoing and aggravating vendettas, accusations, and legal action that have been spawned by this dispute do little to resolve it and much to expand it beyond the reaches of the fair City of Seattle;

THEREFORE, We, Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico and the USENet, do decree that all participants in this ongoing confrontation (including the judge) do rebel and riot against the Emperor's good order and command that they be denied InterNet access and electrical service until they have ended their insurrection.

Literature


- The story of Emperor Norton was used by Neil Gaiman in "Three Septembers and a January", an issue of his comic book The Sandman included in the collection Fables and Reflections. Gaiman's Norton is a victim of Despair until Despair's brother, Morpheus, gives him a dream.
- A short story by Robert Silverberg, "The Palace at Midnight", features a post-apocalyptic California with an Empire of San Francisco. The Emperor at the time of the story is a decrepit and senile Norton the Seventh.
- Emperor Norton, Bummer and Lazarus make a brief appearance in Barbara Hambly's Ishmael, a novel set in the Star Trek universe.
- Christopher Moore's novel Bloodsucking Fiends features an apparently immortal Norton in contemporary San Francisco.
- Dianne Day's San Francisco-based "Fremont Jones" mystery series features the novel Emperor Norton's Ghost (1998), in which a friend of the intrepid investigator claims to be communicating with the late Emperor about some unfinished business.
- Probable basis for the Selma Lagerlöf novel, Kejsarn av Portugallien (The Emperor of Portugallia), a story of a rural Swedish man so disturbed by his daughter's leaving home that he goes mad and declares himself the emperor of Portugallia. The "lost" 1925 film, The Tower of Lies is based on the book.
- Emperor Norton was a "guest of honor" at the 1993 World Science Fiction Convention, held in San Francisco. He was "channeled" by an impressive local fan.
- The Lucky Luke comic book "Emperor Smith" features a local rancher-turned-Emperor named Smith. Morris acknowledges that he based Smith on Emperor Norton I.
- Emperor Norton I is the ruler of the Bear Flag Empire (encompassing the modern-day states of California, Oregon, and Washington) in R. Talsorian Games' Castle Falkenstein series of RPGs. Originally installed as a figurehead by the leaders of the Bear Flag Revolt, he was popularly asked to remain as a beloved monarch after the assassinations of the men that had originally propped him up.

Music


- A new musical based on Norton's life is slated to open at the Dark Room Theatre in San Francisco in December, 2005.
- An opera based on Norton's life was penned by Henry Mollicone and was performed by (among other companies) the West Bay Opera company in the San Francisco peninsula in the fall of 1990.
- An independent record label, Emperor Norton Records, memorializes his legacy through their dedication to Emperor Norton's history.

Religion


- In the religion of Discordianism, Emperor Norton is considered a Saint Second Class, the highest spiritual honor attainable by an actual (non-fictional) human being.
- As reported in the Principia Discordia, the Joshua Norton Cabal, a group of Discordians based in San Francisco, has as its slogan:
Everybody understands Mickey Mouse. Few understand Hermann Hesse. Only a handful understood Albert Einstein. And nobody understood Emperor Norton.

Software


- There is a collection of surreal or entertaining software (mostly for Unix systems) called the "Emperor Norton Utilities", a reference to both Joshua A. Norton and the popular commercial computer software "Norton Utilities" written by Peter Norton.

Television


- Bonanza, an American western television show, featured an episode titled, "The Emperor Norton." It first aired on February 27, 1966 as episode 225 in the seventh season. In the episode, Emperor Norton gets in trouble after calling for worker safety in the mines. As a result of his concern for the miners, his opponents attempt to have him committed. Mark Twain and the cast of Bonanza testify on Norton's behalf at a competency hearing. Norton's suspension bridge concept is also featured. [http://ponderosascenery.homestead.com/lostepisodes.html]

References


- Cowan, Robert Ernest. "Norton I, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico (Joshua A. Norton, 1819-1880)" in Quarterly of the California Historical Society. San Francisco: California Historical Society, October 1923.
- Cowan, Robert E. et al. The Forgotton Characters of Old San Francisco. Los Angeles: The Ward Ritchie Press, 1964.
- Dressler, Albert. Emperor Norton of the United States. Sacramento: Dressler, 1927.
- Drury, William. Norton I, Emperor of the United States. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc, 1986. ISBN 0396085091.
- Gorman, Michael Robert MA (1998). The Empress Is a Man: Stories from the Life of José Sarria. New York: Haworth Press. ISBN 0789002590.
- Kramer, William M. Emperor Norton of San Francisco. Santa Monica: Norton B. Stern, 1974.
- Lane, Allen Stanley. Emperor Norton, Mad Monarch of America. Caldwell, Ida.: Caxton Printers, 1939.
- Ryder, David Warren. San Francisco's Emperor Norton. San Francisco: Ryder, 1939.

External links


- [http://www.emperornorton.net/NortonI-Cowan.html Facsimile and transcript of R. E. Cowan's 1923 article from Quarterly of the California Historical Society]
- [http://www.zpub.com/sf/history/nort.html A timeline of Emperor Norton's life]
- [http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist1/norton.html A list of "decrees"] that sfmuseum.org considers authentic.
- [http://www.kudzumonthly.com/kudzu/mar02/Emperor.html Another profile of the life of Emperor Norton]
- [http://www.discordia.org/~keeper/norton.html Discordia.org's bibliography on Norton]
- [http://www.emperornorton.com/mod/abouten.shtml Emperor Norton Records on the life of Emperor Norton]
- [http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/royalty/america/emperor-norton/ Brief history on Rotten.com]
- [http://singlenesia.com/software/enu Emperor Norton Utilities]
- [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/12/15/MNGUMAC6LN1.DTL News update on naming the Bay Bridge after him]
- [http://itotd.com/articles/561/ Interesting Thing of the Day] Norton, Joshua Norton, Joshua Abraham Norton, Joshua Abraham Norton, Joshua Abraham ja:ノートン1世 ko:조슈아 에이브러햄 노턴

January 8

January 8 is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 357 days remaining (358 in leap years).

Events


- 871 - Battle of Ashdown - Ethelred of Wessex defeats Danish invasion army.
- 1198 - Innocent III becomes Pope.
- 1297 - Monaco gains its independence.
- 1499 - Louis XII of France marries Anne of Brittany
- 1734 - Premiere of George Frideric Handel's Ariodante at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
- 1746 - Bonnie Prince Charlie occupies Stirling.
- 1790 - George Washington delivers the first State of the Union Address address in New York City.
- 1806 - Cape Colony becomes a British colony.
- 1811 - Unsuccessful slave revolt led by Charles Deslandes in St. Charles and St. James, Louisiana.
- 1815 - War of 1812: In the Battle of New Orleans Andrew Jackson leads American forces in victory over the British.
- 1838 - Alfred Vail demonstrates a telegraph using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code).
- 1856 - Borax is discovered (John Veatch).
- 1863 - Battle of Springfield of the American Civil War is fought.
- 1867 - African American men granted the right to vote in the District of Columbia.
- 1877 - Crazy Horse and his warriors fight their last battle with the United States Cavalry (Montana).
- 1889 - Herman Hollerith receives a patent for his electric tabulating machine.
- 1894 - A fire at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois causes a good deal of damage.
- 1900 - United States President William McKinley places Alaska under military rule.
- 1906 - A landslide in Haverstraw, New York kills 20 due to the excavation of clay along the Hudson River.
- 1908 - A train collision occurs in the Park Avenue Tunnel in New York City killing 17, injuring 38 and leading to increased demand for electric trains.
- 1912 - The African National Congress was founded.
- 1916 - World War I: Allied forces withdraw from Gallipoli.
- 1918 - President Woodrow Wilson announces his "Fourteen Points" for the aftermath of World War I.
- 1926 - Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud becomes the King of Hejaz and renames it Saudi Arabia.
- 1926 - African National Congress founded.
- 1935 - A.C. Hardy patents the spectrophotometer.
- 1953 - René Mayer becomes Prime Minister of France.
- 1958 - 14 year old Bobby Fischer wins the United States Chess Championship.
- 1959 - conquest of Cuba by Fidel Castro is completed with the conquest of Santiago de Cuba.
- 1959 - Michel Debré becomes Prime Minister of France
- 1962 - Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is exhibited in the United States for the first time (National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.)
- 1962 - Harmelen train disaster.
- 1964 - President Lyndon B. Johnson declares a "War on Poverty" in the United States.
- 1966 - Operation Crimp of the Vietnam War.
- 1973 - Watergate scandal: The trial of seven men accused of placing bugs in Democratic Party headquarters at Watergate begins.
- 1975 - Ella Grasso becomes Governor of Connecticut, becoming the first woman to serve as a Governor in the United States who did not succeed her husband.
- 1977 - Soviet space mission Luna 21 is launched.
- 1982 - AT&T agrees to divest itself of twenty-two subdivisions.
- 1986 - Hacker Manifesto written.
- 1987 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average gains 8.30 to close at 2,002.25 -- The Dow's first close above 2,000.
- 1989 - Kegworth Air Disaster
- 1989 - beginning of Japanese Heisei era
- 1992 - President of the United States George H. W. Bush becomes ill on a visit to Japan and vomits on the Japanese Prime Minister, Kiichi Miyazawa.
- 1994 - Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov on Soyuz TM-18 leaves for Mir. He will stay on the space station till March 22, 1995, for a record 437 days in space.
- 1996 - An Antonov 32 cargo jet crashes into the central market in Kinshasa, Zaire killing more than 350.
- 1997 - "Mister Rogers" receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Births


- 1556 - Uesugi Kagekatsu, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1623)
- 1583 - Simon Episcopius, Dutch theologian (d. 1643)
- 1601 - Baltasar Gracián y Morales, Spanish writer (d. 1658)
- 1628 - François Henri de Montmorency-Bouteville, duc de Luxembourg, French general (d. 1695)
- 1632 - Samuel Pufendorf, German jurist (d. 1694)
- 1635 - Luis Manuel Fernández de Portocarrero, Spanish Archbishop of Toledo (d. 1709)
- 1735 - John Carroll, first American Catholic archbishop (d. 1815)
- 1763 - Edmond Charles Genêt, French ambassador to the United States (d. 1834)
- 1786 - Nicholas Biddle, President of the Second Bank of the United States (d. 1844)
- 1792 - Lowell Mason American composer (d. 1872)
- 1805 - John Bigler, Governor of California (d. 1871)
- 1805 - Orson Hyde, American religious leader (d. 1878)
- 1817 - Sir Theophilus Shepstone, South African statesman (d. 1893)
- 1821 - James Longstreet, American Confederate general (d. 1904)
- 1821 - W.H.L. Wallace, American Union general

1880

1880 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar).

Events

May - August


- May 13 - In Menlo Park, New Jersey, Thomas Edison performs the first test of his electric railway.
- June 29 - France annexes Tahiti
- July 1 - First performance of O Canada, the song that would become the national anthem of Canada.
- July 16 - First woman licensed to practice medicine in Canada - Dr. Emily Howard Stowe.

September - December


- September 5 - First successful test of an electric Tram in the world takes place in St. Petersburg, Russia
- October - terrible winter storm in North America, the "Blizzard of 1880".
- October 15 - Mexican soldiers kill Victorio, one of the greatest Apache military strategists.
- November - James Garfield defeats Winfield S. Hancock in the U.S. presidential election
- November 4 - the first cash register was patented by James and John Ritty of Dayton, Ohio.
- November 11 - Australian bushranger and bank robber Ned Kelly is hanged in Melbourne.
- November 22 - Vaudeville actress Lillian Russell makes her debut at Tony Pastor's Theatre in New York City.
- December 20 - Action at Bronkhorstspruit, the first major action of the First Boer War.
- December 30 - The Transvaal becomes a republic and Paul Kruger becomes its first president.

Unknown date


- Discovery of piezoelectricity by Pierre Curie and Jacques Curie.
- Completion of Cologne cathedral.
- Founding of Science by Thomas Edison.
- Cocaine isolated
- The British recognise Abdur Rahman Khan as amir of Afghanistan
- Capuchin catacombs of Palermo are officially closed (there will be some burials afterwards)
- Department of Scientific Temperance Instruction of the Women's Christian Temperance Union established.

Births


- January 1 - Vajiravudh, King of Thailand (d. 1925)
- January 6 - Tom Mix, American actor (d. 1940)
- January 17 - Mack Sennett, Canadian director and producer (d. 1960)
- January 26 - Douglas MacArthur, American general (d. 1964)
- January 28 - Herbert Strudwick, English cricketer (d. 1970)
- January 29 - W.C. Fields, American actor (d. 1946)
- February 5 - Gabriel Voisin, French aviation pioneer (d. 1973)
- February 8 - Franz Marc, German artist (d. 1916)
- February 12 - John L. Lewis, American labor union leader (d. 1969)
- February 21 - Waldemar Bonsels, German writer (d. 1952)
- February 22 - Frigyes Riesz, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1956)
- March 1 - Giles Lytton Strachey British writer and biographer (d. 1932)
- March 10 - Bronco Billy Anderson, American actor (d. 1971)
- March 11 - Harry H. Laughlin, American eugenicist (d. 1943)
- March 22 - Kuniaki Koiso, Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1950)
- March 30 - Sean O'Casey, Irish writer (d. 1964)
- April 13 - Charles Christie, Canadian-born film studio owner (d. 1955)
- April 18 - Sam Crawford, Baseball Hall of Famer (d. 1968)
- May 6 - Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, German painter (d. 1938)
- May 14 - B.C. Forbes, Scottish-born financial publisher (d. 1954)
- May 25 - Jean Alexandre Barré, French neurologist (d. 1967)
- May 25 - Alf Common, English footballer (d. 1946)
- May 29 - Oswald Spengler, German philosopher (d. 1936)
- June 6 - W.T. Cosgrave, Irish politician (d. 1965)
- June 27 - Helen Keller, American spokeswoman for the deaf and blind (d. 1968)
- July 5 - Jan Kubelík, Czech violinist (d. 1940)
- July 24 - Ernest Bloch, Swiss-born composer (d. 1959)
- August 6 - Hans Moser, Austrian actor (d. 1964)
- August 8 - Earle Page, eleventh Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1961)
- August 10 - Robert L. Thornton, American businessman, philanthropist, and mayor of Dallas, Texas (d. 1964)
- August 22 - George Herriman, American cartoonist (d. 1944)
- August 26 - Guillaume Apollinaire, French poet (d. 1918)
- August 31 - Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (d. 1962)
- September 14 - Archie Hahn, American athlete (d. 1955)
- September 22 - Christabel Pankhurst, English suffragette (d. 1958)
- September 23 - John Boyd Orr, Scottish physician and biologist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1971)
- November 6 - Robert Musil, Austrian novelist (d. 1942)
- November 10 - Jacob Epstein, American-born sculptor (d. 1959)
- December 11 - Frank Tarrant, Australian cricketer (d. 1951)
- December 31 - George Marshall, United States Secretary of State, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1959)
- Reginald Claypoole Vanderbilt, American equestrian (d. 1925)
- Joseph Trumpeldor, Russian Zionist (d. 1920)
- Gar Wood, American motorboat racer (d. 1971)

Unknown Birth Dates


- William J. Simmons - Founder of the second Ku Klux Klan]
- [[D. Leigh Colvin]] - American [[temperance movement leader and Prohibition Party candidate for presidency in 1936 (d ?)

Deaths


- January 8 - Joshua A. Norton, self-anointed Emperor Norton I of the United States of America (b. 1811)
- March 31 - Henryk Wieniawski, Polish composer (b. 1835)
- May 4 - Edward Clark, Confederate Governor of Texas (b. 1815)
- May 8 - Gustave Flaubert, French novelist (b. 1821)
- July 7 - Lydia Child, American novelist and abolitionist (b. 1802)
- August 17 - Ole Bull, Norwegian violinist (b. 1810)
- October 4 - Jacques Offenbach, German-born composer (b. 1819)
- November 11 - Ned Kelly, Australian bush ranger (hanged)
- December 22 - George Eliot, English writer (b. 1819) Category:1880 ko:1880년 ms:1880 simple:1880 th:พ.ศ. 2423

Emperor

:This article is about Emperor in the meaning of "monarch", for all other uses, see: Emperor (disambiguation) An emperor is a (male) monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress is the feminine form and can either be the wife of an emperor or a woman being an imperial monarch herself. Emperors are generally recognised to be above kings in honour and rank. Emperor Akihito of Japan is the world's only reigning emperor.

Distinction between Emperor and other types of monarch

Both kings and emperors are monarchs. There is no single rule to distinguish the one from the other: several factors, like interpretations of historians, the size and characteristics of the governed realm, and the title(s) chosen by the monarch play a part in distinguishing the one from the other. General characteristics indicating that a monarch is to be considered an emperor rather than a king include:
- The monarch chose a title that usually translates as "emperor" in English, and/or is accepted as the equivalent of "emperor" in international diplomatic relations;
- The monarch rules over other monarchs, without stripping monarchy-related titles from these subjects ("vassals" or non-sovereign monarchs);
- The monarch assumes divine or other high-ranked religious characteristics (see: imperial cult, caesaropapism);
- The monarch rules several formerly sovereign countries, or peoples from different nations or ethnic provenance. Where the title chosen by the monarch has become a separate concept in the English language, the distinction whether this monarch would have been an "emperor" or a "king" is often no longer made: for instance caliph, sultan or khan as a concept of a type of monarch is usually defined separately, making it redundant to apply the emperor/king distinction to these types of monarchy.

Imperium maius

In Christian Europe the use of the title emperor is more than an affectation. A king recognises that the church is an equal or superior in the religious sphere, emperors do not. This was illustrated by Henry VIII of England who started to use the word imperium in his dispute with the Pope over his first divorce. By stating that they were emperors the Russian Tsars claimed to be the head of the (Russian Orthodox) church and did not recognise any superior authority but God.

Historical development

Europe

Roman Tradition

In the Roman tradition a large variety in the meaning and importance of the Imperial form of monarchy developed: in intention it was always the highest office, but it could as well fall down to a redundant title for nobility that had never been near to the "Empire" they were supposed to be reigning. Also the name of the office split in several branches of Western tradition, see section on the Origin of the Western terminology below. Importance and meaning of Coronation ceremonies and regalia also varied within the tradition: for instance Holy Roman Emperors could only be crowned emperor by the pope, which meant the coronation ceremony usually took place in Rome, often several years after these emperors had ascended to the throne (as "king") in their home country. The first Latin Emperors of Constantinople on the other hand had to be present in the newly conquered capital of their Empire, because that was the only place where they could be granted to become Emperor. Early Roman Emperors on the other hand avoided any type of ceremony or regalia different from what was already usual for republican offices in the Roman Republic: the most intrusive change had been changing the color of their robe to purple. Later new symbols of worldly and/or spiritual power, like the orb became an essential part of the Imperial accessories. Rules for indicating successors also varied: there was a tendency towards male inheritance of the supreme office, but as well election by noblemen, as ruling Empresses (for empires not too strictly under salic law) are known. Ruling monarchs could additionally steer the succession by adoption, as often occurred in the two first centuries of Imperial Rome. Of course, intrigue, murder and military force could also mingle in for appointing successors, the Roman Imperial tradition made no exception to other monarchical traditions in this respect. Probably the epoch best known for this part of the Imperial tradition is Rome's third century

Roman Emperors

Ancient Rome - origin of Western terminology
:see: Roman Emperor When Republican Rome turned into a monarchy again, in the second half of the 1st century BC, at first there was no name for the title of the new type of monarch: ancient Romans abhorred the name Rex ("king"), and after Julius Caesar also Dictator (which was an acknowledged office in Republican Rome, Julius Caesar not being the first to hold it). In fact Caesar Augustus, who can be considered the first Roman Emperor, avoided to name himself anything that could be reminding of "monarchy" or "dictature". Instead, these first Emperors constructed their office as a complicated collection of offices, titles, and honours, that were consolidated around a single person and his closest relatives (while in the republic the "taking of turns", often in shared offices, had been the principle for passing on power). These early Roman emperors didn't need a specific name for their monarchy: they had enough offices and powers accumulated so that in any field of power they were "unsurpassable", and besides: everybody just knew they had supreme power. If needed that supreme power could be demonstrated by a proces for high treason, exile, poisoning, or whatever, for those who gave semblance not to understand. As the first Roman Emperors did not rule by virtue of any particular republican or senatorial office, the name given to the office of "head of state" in this new monarchical form of government became different depending on tradition, none of these traditions consolidated in the early days of the Roman Empire:
- Princeps (as, for example, in Tacitus' Annals). This tradition did not continue. An echo can be found in Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince, where "Prince" is used as a generic name for "monarch", and later in the first dynasties of Imperial monarchs of ancient Rome being called principate by historians. This name for the Roman monarch appears to go back to the office of Princeps senatus (which can be translated as "president of the senate"), an office since Augustus held exclusively by the ruling monarch.
- Caesar (as, for example, in Suetonius' Twelve Caesars). This tradition continued in many languages: in German it became "Kaiser"; in certain Slavic languages it became "Tsar"; in Hungarian it became "Császár", and several more variants. The name derived from Julius Caesar's cognomen "Caesar": this cognomen was adopted by all Roman emperors, exclusively by the ruling monarch after the Julio-Claudian dynasty had died out. In this tradition Julius Caesar is sometimes described as the first Caesar/emperor (following Suetonius).
- Augustus was the honorific first bestowed on Emperor Augustus: after him all Roman emperors added it to their name. Although it had a high symbolical value, something like "akin to divinity", it was generally not used to indicate the office of Emperor itself. Exceptions include the title of the Augustan History, a half-mockumentary biography of the Emperors of the 2nd and 3rd century. Augustus had (by his last will) granted the feminine form of this honorific (Augusta) to his wife. Since there was no "title" of Empress(-consort) whatsoever, women of the reigning dynasty sought to be granted this honorific, as the highest attainable goal. Few were however granted the title, and certainly not as a rule all wives of reigning Emperors.
- Imperator (as, for example, in Pliny the Elder's Naturalis Historia). In the Roman Republic Imperator meant "(military) commander". In the late Republic Imperator was a title granted to Roman generals by their troops and the Roman Senate after a great victory, roughly comparable to field marshal. This title, during the Republic, had been given to people seven times at all: in 90 BC to a Gaius Julius Caesar, in 84 BC to Cneus Pompeus, in 60 BC to the other, most famous, Gaius Julius Caesar, relative of the former, in 50 BC to Marcus Tullius Cicero, in 45 BC again to Caius Julius Caesar, in 44 BC to Marcus Iunius Brutus, and in 41 BC to Lucius Antonius (relative and ally of the more famous Marcus Antonius). Soon after the emergence of the imperial monarchy in Rome "Imperator" also became an exclusive title, adopted by the ruling monarch. This led to "Emperor" in English and, among other examples, "Empereur" in French. The Latin feminine form Imperatrix only developed after "Imperator" had gotten the connotation of "Emperor".
- : although the Greeks used equivalents of "Caesar" (Καίσαρ) and "Augustus" (in two forms: Αύγουστος or translated as Σεβαστός/"Sebastos") these were rather used as part of the name of the Emperor than as an indication of the office. Instead of developing a new name for the new type of monarchy, they used ("autokratôr", only partly overlapping with the modern understanding of "autocrat") or ("basileus", until then the usual name for "king"). "Autokratôr" could be seen as a translation of the Latin "Imperator" (it was certainly used as its replacement in Greek-speaking part of the Roman Empire), but also here there is only partial overlap between the meaning of the original Greek and Latin concepts. For the Greeks "Autokratôr" was not a military title, and was closer to the Latin dictator concept ("the one with unlimited power"), before it came to mean Emperor. Basileus appears not to have been used in the meaning of Emperor before the 7th century. After the problematic year 69, the Flavian Dynasty reigned for about half a century. The succeeding Nervan-Antonian Dynasty, ruling for most of the 2nd century, stabilised the Empire. This epoch became known as the era of the Five Good Emperors, and was followed by the short-lived Severan Dynasty. In the 3rd century Barracks Emperors succeeded one another at short intervals. The next period, known as the Dominate, started with the Tetrarchy installed by Diocletian. Through most of the 4th century, there were separate emperors for the Western and Eastern part of the Empire. Although there were several dynastic relations between the Emperors of both parts, they also often were adversaries. The last Emperor to rule a unified Roman Empire was Theodosius. Less than a century after his death in 395, the last Emperor of the Western half of the Empire was driven out.
The Eastern Emperors after 476
:see Byzantine Emperor
=Byzantine Emperors
= Byzantine Emperors: that's why this famous mosaic, featuring the Byzantine emperor in the center, can be admired at Ravenna.]] Historians generally call the eastern part of the Roman Empire the Byzantine Empire due to its capital Constantinople, whose ancient name was Byzantium (now Istanbul). After the fall of Rome to barbarian forces in 476, the title of "emperor" lived on in rulers of Constantinople (New Rome). The Byzantine Emperors completed the transition from the idea of the Emperor as a semi-republican official to the Emperor as a traditional monarch when Emperor Heraclius took the title of Basileus (the original Greek word for "King") in the seventh century. A specifically Byzantine development of emperor's position was cesaropapism, position as leader of christians. The Byzantine empire produced also three reigning empresses: Irene, Zoe, and Theodora.
=Latin Emperors
= In 1204, the Fourth Crusade captured Constantinople, and soon established a Latin Empire of Constantinople under one of the Crusader leaders. The Latin Empire was, however, unable to consolidate control of the whole of the former territories of the Byzantine Empire. Driven out of Constantinople in 1261 some territories in Greece still recognized their authority for some time. Eventually, the Imperial title became redundant and did not even contribute any longer to the prestige of the noblemen in their own country: it remained dormant in 1383.
=Byzantine Emperors after the 4th Crusade
= In Asia Minor, after being driven out of Constantinople, relations of the last pre-Crusader emperors established the Empire of Nicaea and the Empire of Trebizond. Similarly, the Despotate of Epirus was founded in the Western Balkans (the rulers of the latter took the title of Emperor for a short time following their conquest of Thessalonica a few decades later). Eventually, the Nicaean Emperors were successful in reclaiming the Byzantine imperial title. They managed to force Epirus into submission and retake Constantinople by 1261, but Trebizond remained independent. The restored Byzantine empire finally fell due to Ottoman invasion in 1453. The Trapezuntines held on until 1461.
Revival of the title in the Western part of Europe
:See: Holy Roman Emperor
=Charlemagne and his heirs
= On 25 December , 800, Charles I, King of the Franks, was crowned Emperor by Pope Leo III in Rome. This was seen as a revival of the Western Roman Empire, and descendants of Charlemagne continued to be crowned in Rome through the 9th century. The increasing divisions within the Frankish lands, however, led to a suspension of the office.
=Holy Roman Emperors
= Western Roman Empire is pictured as performing the actual coronation, the highly symbolical sword ("Reichsschwert") and Holy Lance are handed by the saints Ulrich († 973) and Emmeram († 652) - Henry had actually been crowned Emperor by Pope Benedict VIII in 1014.]] In 962, Otto I, King of the Eastern Franks (or Germany) was again crowned Emperor by the Pope. His successors became known as Holy Roman Emperors. The Holy Roman Empire, such as it was, consisted of the Kingdoms of Germany, Italy, and Burgundy. After the 13th century and the fall of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, the universalistic aspirations of the Emperors became increasingly theoretical, and their control over Italy, still seen as the locus of the proper empire, became increasingly tenuous. Rather than being hereditary, emperors were chosen by the prince-electors, in a process codified by the Golden Bull of 1356. Coronations in Rome became rarer and rarer, until in 1508, King Maximilian I, after receiving permission from the pope, declared himself Emperor-Elect without having been crowned in Rome. Although Maximilian's grandson and successor, Charles V, was crowned in Bologna in 1529 by the Pope, he was the last, and thereafter the position of Holy Roman Emperor was a wholly German post until the Empire's dissolution in August 6, 1806. Even in Germany itself, real control was increasingly tenuous, as various local princes increased their power, so that the Habsburg emperors who ruled almost continuously from 1438 until the end of the empire derived their power much more from their hereditary lands in the south-eastern part of the monarchy than from their position as emperor. As religious differences added to the tensions, compromise was needed (Peace of Augsburg, 1555). The Habsburg dynasty attempted to reassert authority over the Empire in the Thirty Years War, which ended with the Peace of Westphalia (1648) that recognized princes sort of sovereign instead of dependents. The impotence of the Emperors' position became most nakedly apparent during the brief reign of Charles VII from 1742 to 1745. As Duke of Bavaria, Charles was the only non-Habsburg emperor for the last three hundred fifty years of the empire's existence, and his utter inability even to protect his own hereditary lands from the forces of his enemy, Maria Theresa, the Habsburg heiress, showed how empty the position of Holy Roman Emperor had become. The conquests of the French revolutionary armies in the 1790s made the Empire itself untenable, so that Emperor Francis II in 1804 took the title of Emperor of Austria (see below), and ultimately, allowed the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire a few years later.
Overview

Austria

:see: Emperor of Austria On 11 August , 1804 anticipating the eventual collapse of the Holy Roman Empire at the behest of Napoleon I, Francis II of the Holy Roman Empire assumed the additional title of Emperor of Austria (as Francis I thereof). The precaution was a wise one, because two years later on August 6 1806 he was obliged to proclaim the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire. Emperor Karl of Austria, the last ruling hereditary monarch in that country, "relinquished every participation in the administration of the State" on November 11 1918.

Bulgaria

In 913, Bulgarian king Simeon I crowned himself "Emperor and Autocrat of all the Bulgars and Greeks" following a victory over the Byzantines. His successors held on to the title Tsar until the conquest of Bulgaria by the Byzantines in 1018. In 1186, Bulgaria again achieved independence, and its rulers again took the style of Tsar, which they held until 1396 when Bulgaria fell to the invading Ottoman Empire. The title was again revived from 1908 to 1946. Simeon II, the last tsar, abdicated and the monarchy was abolished. The title of the modern Bulgarian tsars is frequently translated into English as king.

France

Simeon II), at the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.
The painting by David commemorating the event is equally famous: the gothic cathedral restyled style Empire, supervised by the mother of the Emperor on the balcony (a fictional addition, while she had not been present at the ceremony), the pope positioned near the altar, Napoleon proceeds to crown his then wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais as Empress.]] Napoléon Bonaparte who was already First Consul of the French Republic (Premier Consul de la République française) for life, declared himself Emperor of the French (Empereur des Français) on May 18, 1804. Despite being ruled by an emperor, it continued to be the French Republic (République Française) until 1808, when it was renamed the French Empire (Empire Français). Napoleon relinquished the title of Emperor of the French on 6 April and again on April 11, 1814, but was allowed to style himself Emperor of Elba, the island of his first exile. After his attempted restoration and defeat in 1815 he was stripped of even that usage during his second exile. His nephew Napoleon III resurrected the title on December 2, 1852 after establishing the Second French Empire in a presidential coup, and lost it when he was deposed on September 4, 1870 by the Third Republic. It has not been used in France since then.

Germany

Following victory after the Franco-Prussian war and the founding of the German Empire, the Prussian king had himself crowned German Emperor as Wilhelm I on January 18 1871, as part of the competition with the Emperor of Austria for dominance in the German-speaking lands. With defeats in World War I and revolution breaking out, Emperor Wilhelm II abdicated on 9 November 1918 and a republic was established.

Russia

In 1472, the last Byzantine emperor's niece, Sophia Paleologue, married Ivan III, grand duke of Moscow, who began championing the idea of Russia being the successor to the Byzantine Empire. Their grandson Ivan IV crowned himself tsar in 16 January, 1547. On 31 October , 1721 Peter I was crowned emperor as well. He based his claim partially upon a letter discovered in 1717 written in 1514 from Maximilian I to Vasili III, Sophia's son and Ivan IV's father, in which the Holy Roman Emperor used the term in referring to Vasili. The title has not been used in Russia since the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II on 15 March, 1917. Imperial Russia produced four reigning empresses, all in the eighteenth century.

Serbia

After a series of victories against his neighbors, Serbian king Stefan Uros IV proclaimed himself "Tsar and Autocrat of Serbs, Greeks, Bulgarians and Albanians" in 1346. His son, Stefan Uros V, was unable to retain the empire. After his death in 1371, no Serb monarch would use the title Tsar.

Spain

King Sancho III of Navarre declared himself emperor of Spain in 1034. His son, Ferdinand I of Castile also took the title in 1039. Ferdinand's son, Alfonso VI of Castile took the title in 1077. Alfonso VI's grandson, Alfonso VII was the only one who actually had an imperial coronation in 1135. The title was not exactly hereditary but self proclamations by those that had, wholly or partially, united Christian (northern) Spain often at the expense of killing rival siblings. The popes and Holy Roman emperors protested at the usage of the imperial title as a usurpation of leadership in western Christendom. After Alfonso VII's death in 1157, the title was abandoned.

British Emperors and Empresses

In the late 3rd century, by the end of the epoch of the barracks emperors in Rome, there were two Britannic Emperors, reigning for about a decade.
England
King William I of England thought it important enough to request and get a Papal blessing for his conquest of England. Throughout the high Middle Ages the English kings recognised the supremacy of the Pope in matters spiritual. For example, when Thomas à Becket was murdered, King Henry II of England was forced to recognise that, although he ruled temporal matters, spiritual matters came under the authority of the Church in Rome. This changed with the dispute between Henry VIII of England and Pope Clement VII over Henry's wish to have his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled. The Act in restraint of Appeals (1533) explicitly stated that :Where by divers sundry old authentic histories and chronicles it is manifestly declared and expressed that this realm of England is an empire, and so hath been accepted in the world, governed by one supreme head and king, having the dignity and royal estate of the imperial crown of the same. The next year the Act of Supremacy (1534) explicitly tied the head of church to the imperial crown: :The only supreme head in earth of the Church of England called Anglicana Ecclesia, and shall have and enjoy annexed and united to the imperial crown of this realm. The an Act by the Irish Parliament in 1541 (effective 1542) changed the traditional title used by the Monarchs of England for the reign over Ireland, from Lord of Ireland to King of Ireland and naming Henry head of the Church of Ireland, for similar reasons. During the English Interregnum these laws were annulled, but the acts which caused the laws to be in abeyance were themselves, deemed to be null and void by the Parliaments of the English Restoration, so by act of Parliament The Crown of England and (later the British and UK crowns) are imperial crowns.
Britain
In 1801 when Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland, it was proposed that George III become Emperor of the British and Hanoverian Dominions, and therefore Emperor of the British Empire. George III however rejected the idea, favouring the traditional title of king. When a royal marriage made it obvious to the British in 1877 that their Queen Victoria would be outranked by her own daughter who would someday become German Empress, the British government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, conferred the additional title Empress of India by an Act of Parliament. That title was relinquished by George VI with effect from August 15 1947, when India was granted independence. The Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927 in which it was agreed that the United Kingdom and the dominions were "equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations". This in effect along with the Statute of Westminster, 1931 marked the beginning of the end of the British Empire and set the basis for the continuing relationship between the Commonwealth Realms and the structure of the Crown.

The Americas

Brazil

Brazil declared independence from Portugal in 1822, and made Dom Pedro, eldest son of the then-King of Portugal, who was acting as regent, Emperor as Pedro I on 12 October. The empire came to an end with the overthrow of Emperor Pedro II in 1889.

Haiti

Haiti was declared an empire by its ruler, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who made himself Jacques I, in 20 May, 1805. He was assassinated the next year. Haiti again became an empire from 1849 to 1859 under Faustin Soulouque.

Mexico

Faustin Soulouque In Mexico, there were two short-lived attempts to create an Empire. Agustín de Iturbide, the general who helped secure Mexican independence from Spanish rule, was proclaimed Emperor Agustín I in 12 July, 1822, but was overthrown the next year. In 1863, the invading French, in alliance with Mexican conservatives, proclaimed an empire and invited Archduke Maximilian, younger brother of the Austrian Emperor, to become emperor as Maximilian I. The childless Maximilian also adopted Agustín's grandson as his heir to bolster his claim. After the withdrawal of French protection in 1867, Maximilian was captured and executed by liberal forces.

Africa

Central African Empire

In 1976, president Jean-Bédel Bokassa of the Central African Republic, proclaimed the country to be the Central African Empire, and made himself Emperor as Bokassa I. The expenses of his coronation ceremony actually bankrupted the country, and he was overthrown three years later, and the republic restored.

Ethiopia

:see: Emperor of Ethiopia In Ethiopia, the Solomonid dynasty used, beginning in 1270, the title of "Negus Negust" which also translates to Emperor and is literally "King of Kings". The use of the king of kings style might however already have started a millennium earlier in this region. Another title used by this dynasty was "Itegue Zetopia". "Itegue" translates as Empress, and was also used by the only female reigning Empress, Zauditu, along with the official title Negiste Negest (Queen of Kings). In 1936, the Italian king Victor Emmanuel III took the title of Emperor of Ethiopia when that country was under Italian occupation. After the defeat of the Italians by the British (1941), Haile Selassie was restored to the throne but Victor Emmanuel did not relinquish his claim to the title until 1943. Haile Selassie was the rare example of an Emperor with some sort of godhead status after the second world war, see rastafari. He was deposed in 1974, the Imperial title ending the next year when his son, who had succeeded him, was deposed and exiled.

China

Qin tradition

:see: Emperor of China Emperor of China, China's first Emperor]] In 221 BC, Zheng, who was king of Qin at the time, proclaimed himself shi huangdi, which translates as "first emperor". Huangdi is composed of huang ("august one") and di ("sage-king"), and referred to legendary/mythological sage-emperors living several millennia earlier, of which three were huang and five were di (the sānhuáng wǔdì, see: The Three August Ones and the Five Emperors). Thus Zheng became Qin Shi Huang, abolishing the system where the huang/di titles were reserved to dead and/or mythological rulers. The imperial title continued in China until the Qing dynasty was overthrown in 1912. The title was briefly revived from December 12, 1915 to March 22, 1916 by President Yuan Shikai and again in early July , 1917 when General Zhang Xun attempted to restore last Qing emperor Puyi to the throne. Puyi retained the title and attributes of Emperor, as a personal status, until 1924. In general, an emperor would have one empress (Huanghou, 皇后) at one time, although posthumous entitlement to empress for a concubine was not uncommon. The earliest known usage of empress was in the Han Dynasty. The emperor would generally select the empress from his harem. In subsequent dynasties, when the distinction between wife and concubine became more accentuated, the crown prince would have chosen an empress-designate before his reign. Imperial China produced only one reigning empress, Wu Zetian, and she used the same Chinese title as an emperor (Huangdi, 皇帝).

Manchuria

The Khitan Empire was founded in this region on 907. They were overthrown by the Jurchen Jin Empire (1115–1234) which was in turn conquered by Mongol armies. In 1616, Ming China's Jurchen vassal, Nurhaci, rebelled and crowned himself emperor of the renamed Manchus. His successors, the Qing dynasty, conquered China in 1644 and reigned until revolution toppled them in 1912. After the Japanese occupied Manchuria in 1931, they proclaimed it to be the Empire of Manchukuo, and Puyi, the last Qing emperor of China, became puppet emperor. This puppet state came to an end with the Japanese defeat in 1945.

Mongol Emperors of the Yuan dynasty

The title Khagan (khan of khans or grand khan) was held by Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol Empire in 1206. When the empire was partitioned, the Yuan dynasty khans in China (where they also took the native title huangdi) were nominal rulers of the whole Mongol realm. After being overthrown, the Yuan fled back to Mongolia and were subsequently known to historians as the Northern Yuan. They kept their title of Grand Khan until the Manchu emperor Hong Taiji forced them to surrender it in 1634. Only the Yuan Emperors of China between 1279 and 1368 are normally referred to as Emperors in English.

Japan

:See Emperor of Japan Emperor of Japan In Japan, the ruler in Yamato court was called "Tenno" (天皇) (heavenly emperor), which in Western languages is equalled to Emperor of Japan. Like in early Western tradition, the highest position of secular power was combined with the highest religious office (comparable with the Roman pontifex maximus) and claims of godhood (see Arahitogami). In several eras, the high-priestly role of the monarch has even been paramount, with a no more than formal secular role. Japanese monarchs placed themselves from 607 on equal footing with Chinese emperors in titulary and also took the Chinese style "Son of Heaven". In the Japanese language, tenno is restricted to Japan's own monarch. Koutei (皇帝) is used of foreign emperors. Often in Japan, retired emperors have kept effective power over a child-emperor. At same or other times, a Shogun or Regent has wielded effective power. After World War II