Citation

Eisner MP. Br. J. Criminol. 2011; 51(3): 556-577.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, Publisher Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/bjc/azr004

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper examines the frequency of violent death and regicide amongst 1,513 monarchs in 45 monarchies across Europe between AD 600 and 1800. The analyses reveal that all types of violence combined account for about 22 per cent of all deaths. Murder is by far the most important violent cause of death, accounting for about 15 per cent of all deaths and corresponding to a homicide rate of about 1,000 per 100,000 ruler-years. Analyses of trends over time reveal a significant decline in the frequency of both battle deaths and homicide between the Early Middle Ages and the end of the eighteenth century. A significant part of the drop occurred during the first half of the period, suggesting that the civilizing processes assumed by Norbert Elias started between the seventh and the twelfth centuries. Finally, preliminary analyses suggest that regicide has a significant 'autoregressive' component in that the murder of the predecessor and the pre-predecessor increases the risk of homicide for the current monarch. It is suggested that such bundles of regicide may be interpreted as part of extended periods of civil wars and feuding that accompanied the state-building process. The paper concludes by suggesting several individual and contextual risk factors that may be involved in the risk of regicide.