Concept
Universal Monarchy is differentiated from ordinary monarchy in that a Universal Monarchy is beholden to no other state and asserts a degree of total sovereignty over an area, or predominance over other states.
The concept has arisen in Europe and Asia. The concept is linked to that of Empire, but implies more than simply possessing imperium.
The Latin phrase Dominus Mundi, Lord of the World, encapsulates the concept. Though in practice no Universal Monarchy ever held rule over the whole world, it may have appeared to many people, particularly pre-modern, that it did.
Critical of the concept in Europe in the Middle Ages were philosophers such as Nicole Oresme and Erasmus; whereas Dante and Guillaume Postel were more favourable. Later, Protestants would seek to reject the concept, identifying it with Catholicism.
Read more about this topic: Universal Monarchy
Famous quotes containing the word concept:
“Terror is as much a part of the concept of truth as runniness is of the concept of jam. We wouldn’t like jam if it didn’t, by its very nature, ooze. We wouldn’t like truth if it wasn’t sticky, if, from time to time, it didn’t ooze blood.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)
“Revolution as an ideal concept always preserves the essential content of the original thought: sudden and lasting betterment.”
—Johan Huizinga (1872–1945)
“The heritage of the American Revolution is forgotten, and the American government, for better and for worse, has entered into the heritage of Europe as though it were its patrimony—unaware, alas, of the fact that Europe’s declining power was preceded and accompanied by political bankruptcy, the bankruptcy of the nation-state and its concept of sovereignty.”
—Hannah Arendt (1906–1975)