Regent

A regent (from the Latin regens,[1] "[one] ruling"[2]) is "a person appointed to administer a state because the monarch is a
minor, is absent or is incapacitated."[3] The rule of a regent or regents is called a regency. A regent or regency council
may be formed ad hoc or in accordance with a constitutional rule. "Regent" is sometimes a formal title. If the regent is
holding his position due to his position in the line of succession, the compound term prince regent is often used; if the
regent of a minor is his mother, she is often referred to as "queen regent".
If the formally appointed regent is unavailable or cannot serve on a temporary basis, a Regent ad interim may be
appointed to fill the gap.
In a monarchy, a regent usually governs due to one of these reasons, but may also be elected to rule during
the interregnum when the royal line has died out. This was the case in the Kingdom of Finland and the Kingdom of
Hungary, where the royal line was considered extinct in theaftermath of World War I. In Iceland, the regent represented
the King of Denmark as sovereign of Iceland until the country became a republic in 1944. In the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth (15691795), kings were elective, which often led to a fairly long interregnum. In the interim, it was
the Roman Catholic Primate (the Archbishop of Gniezno) who served as the regent, termed the "interrex" (Latin: ruler
"between kings" as in ancient Rome). In the small republic of San Marino, the two Captains Regent, or Capitani
Reggenti, are elected semi-annually (they serve a six-month term) as joint heads of state and of government.
Famous regency periods include that of the Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, giving rise to many
terms such as Regency era and Regency architecture. Strictly this period lasted from 1811 to 1820, when his
father George III was insane, though when used as a period label it generally covers a wider period.Philippe II, Duke of
Orlans was Regent of France from the death of Louis XIV in 1715 until Louis XV came of age in 1723; this is also
used as a period label for many aspects of French history, as "Rgence" in French, again tending to cover a rather
wider period than the actual regency.

Other uses[edit]

Regentesses of the Old Men's Almshouse inHaarlem, Frans Hals, 1664

The term regent may refer to positions lower than the ruler of a country. The term may be used in the governance of
organisations, typically as an equivalent of "director", and held by all members of a governing board rather than just the
equivalent of the chief executive. Some universitymanagers in North America are called regents and a management
board for a college or university may be titled the "Board of Regents". The term "regent" is also used for members of
governing bodies of institutions such as the national banks of France and Belgium.
In the Dutch Republic, the members of the ruling class, not formally hereditary but forming a de facto patrician class,
were informally known collectively as regenten (the Dutch plural for regent) because they typically held positions as
"regent" on the boards of town councils, as well as charitable and civic institutions. The regents group

portrait, regentenstuk or regentessenstuk for female boards in Dutch, literally "regents' piece", is a group portrait of the
board of trustees, called regents or regentesses, of a charitable organization or guild. This type of group portrait was
popular in Dutch Golden Age painting during the 17th century, and in the 18th century. In the Dutch East Indies, a
regent was a native prince allowed to rule de facto colonized 'state' as a regentschap (see that term). Consequently, in
the successor state of Indonesia, the term regent is used in English to mean a bupati (local government official).
Again in Belgium and France[citation needed], (Rgent in French, or in Dutch) Regent is the official title of a teacher in a lower
secondary school (junior high school), who does not require acollege degree but is trained in a specialized cole
normale (normal school). In the Philippines, specifically, the University of Santo Tomas, the Father Regent, who must
be a Dominican priestand is often also a teacher, serves as the institution's spiritual head. They also form the Council of
Regents that serves as the highest administrative council of the university.

See also[edit]

List of regents

References[edit]
1.

Jump up^ Harper, Douglas. "regency". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 2014-08-18. "early 15c.,
"government by regents," from Medieval Latin regentia, from Latin regens (see regent). Notable instances were: France
1715-1723 (under Philip, Duke of Orleans), Britain 1811-1820 (under George, Prince of Wales, Prince Regent)..."

2.

Jump up^ Harper, Douglas. "regent". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 2014-08-18. ""one who rules during
the minority or absence of a sovereign," c.1400, from the adjective (now archaic, attested in English late 14c.), from Old
French regent and directly from Medieval Latin regentem (nominative regens), from Latin regens "ruler, governor," noun
use of present participle of regere "to rule, direct"..."

3.

Jump up^ Oxford English Dictionary