Monarch

A monarch is the ruler of a monarchy. Monarchs usually rule because one of their relatives ruled. A male monarch can be a king or emperor. A female monarch can be called a queen or empress.

Where rulers get their power by inheritance because they are a family, they are a dynasty. Monarchs were very common in history. Many countries had a monarch in past centuries, but no longer have them. Some countries that still have monarchs have other leaders that actually have the power.

Monarchs tended to have monarchs of lower honour below them, e.g. a Empire could include several kingdoms, and a kingdom would have several duchies or principalities, nations would rarely include all titles, usually going from duchy to kingdom instead of duchy to principality to kingdom. Prince/Princess means 'Ruler of a Principality' and 'son of king/queen'. Some other languages have separate words for them.

Title	Male	Female
Empire	Emperor	Empress
Kingdom	King	Queen
Grand Principality	Grand Prince	Grand Princess
Principality	Prince	Princess
Archduchy	Arch Duke	Arch Duchess
Grand Duchy	Grand Duke	Grand Duchess
Duchy	Duke	Duchess
Marquisate	Marquess	Marchioness
County	Count	Countess
Viscounty	Viscount	Viscountess
Barony	Baron	Baroness