Regicide

July 10, 2025, 8:46 PM

The Execution of Lady Jane Grey

Delaroche detail

Regicide

Regicide is the purposeful killing of a monarch or sovereign

of a polity and is often associated with the usurpation of

power. A regicide can also be the person responsible for the

killing. The word comes from the Latin roots of regis and

cida (cidium), meaning "of monarch" and "killer"

respectively. In the British tradition, it refers to the judicial

execution of a king after a trial, reflecting the historical

precedent of the trial and execution of Charles I of England.

The concept of regicide has also been explored in media and

the arts through pieces like Macbeth (Macbeth's killing of

King Duncan).

In Western Christianity, regicide was far more common prior

to 1200/1300.[1] Sverre Bagge counts 20 cases of regicide

between 1200 and 1800, which means that 6% of monarchs

were killed by their subjects.[1] He counts 94 cases of regicide

between 600 and 1200, which means that 21.8% of monarchs

were killed by their subjects.[1] He argues that the most likely reasons for the decline in regicide is that

clear rules of succession were established, which made it hard to remove rightful heirs to the throne, and

only made it so that the nearest heir (and their backers) had a motive to kill the monarch.[1]

There is evidence that regicide and the ability of states to keep or even expand their territories are

negatively correlated: Firstly, elite violence hindered the development of territorial state capacity, and the

killing of rulers also directly resulted in a more likely loss of territory. And secondly, state capacity,

reflected by territorial state capacity, could be hypothesized to have had a restraining effect on

interpersonal violence. This would be consistent with Pinker's (2011)[2] view that modern state capacity

leads to a reduction in violence, both interpersonal and in terms of military conflict.[3]

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