History glossary
Constitutional monarchy
a monarchy where the ruler's power is limited by law, parliament, or a constitution.
- Category
- Political system
What it means
In a constitutional monarchy, the monarch remains head of state but cannot rule simply by personal will. Britain gradually moved toward this model after conflicts over taxation, religion, civil war, and parliamentary authority.
Related terms
Stories using this term
The Qing Dynasty
From Manchu conquest to republican revolution, the Qing dynasty built China's largest empire, oversaw centuries of prosperity, and then struggled to survive foreign intervention, rebellion, and the collapse of imperial legitimacy.
The French Revolution
From royal debt and social inequality to republic, terror, and Napoleon, the French Revolution dismantled the old order and produced the political ideas of citizenship, rights, and nationalism that defined the modern world.
