Usurper

{{Short description|Illegitimate or controversial claimant to state power}} {{Redirect2|Usurp|Usurpation|other uses|Usurper (disambiguation)}} {{For|a list|List of usurpers}}

A '''usurper''' is an [[Legitimacy (political)|illegitimate]] or controversial claimant to [[Power (social and political)|power]], often but not always in a [[monarchy]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Usurpation of Richard the Third » 31 Jul 1936 » The Spectator Archive |journal=The Spectator Archive |url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/31st-july-1936/29/the-usurpation-of-richard-the-third}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Levine |first1=Mortimer |title=Richard III – Usurper or Lawful King? |journal=Speculum |date=1959 |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=391–401 |doi=10.2307/2850815 |jstor=2850815 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2850815 |issn=0038-7134|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In other words, one who takes the power of a [[country]], [[city]], or established region for oneself, without any formal or legal right to claim it as one's own.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/usurper|title=Definition of USURPER|website=www.merriam-webster.com|language=en|access-date=2019-03-22}}</ref> Usurpers can rise to power in a region by often unexpected physical force such as via a [[coup d'état]], as well as through political influence and deceit.<ref>"[https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/democraciaabierta/nicol-s-maduro-usurper/ In the end, usurpers accumulate power by taking it from the other State institutions, either by minimizing the role of the legislative power, or undermining the independence of the judiciary.]", [[openDemocracy]]</ref>

==Etymology==

The word originally came from the Latin word ''usurpare'' (“to seize", "to take forcefully" or "to use”).<ref>{{Cite CD.com|usurp|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-30}}</ref>

==Politics==

The ancient Greeks had their own conception of what usurpers were, calling them tyrants.<ref name="kagan">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=viBOKgmt8LkC&q=usurper%20tyrannos%20pericles&pg=PA250|title=Pericles Of Athens And The Birth Of Democracy|last=Kagan|first=Donald|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9780684863955|pages=250|language=en|date=1998}}</ref> In the [[ancient Greek]] usage, a [[tyrant]] (''tyrannos''/''τύραννος'' in Greek) was an individual who rose to power via unconstitutional or illegitimate means, usually not being an heir to an existing throne.<ref name="kagan"/> Such individuals were perceived negatively by political philosophers such as [[Socrates]], [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/1497|title=The Republic, by Plato|website=gutenberg.org|access-date=2019-10-05}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mEwLXFyp0ccC&q=aristotle%20politics&pg=PA169|title=The Politics, Book 5, Chapter 10|last=Aristotle|date=2010|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=9780226026701|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Aristotle, Politics, Book 5 | url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0058%3Abook%3D5 }}</ref>

Usurpers often try to legitimize their position by claiming to be a descendant of a ruler that they may or may not be related to. According to [[Herodotus]], this was done by someone impersonating [[Smerdis]] in order to seize the throne of [[Cyrus the Great]] after his death.<ref>Herodotus, ''The Histories'' Book 3, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Herodotus/3c*.html 61–79]</ref>

The concept of usurpation played a huge role in the governance of monarchies, often carrying disdain to those who have been accused of it.<ref>"Whilst Henry possessed all the qualities necessary to be a successful medieval king, his path to kingship as a usurpation rather than a hereditary succession would cast doubt over his legitimacy for the entirety of his rule." – [https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/King-Henry-IV/ HistoricUK]</ref> Lengthy advice was given to potential and actual usurpers by the political philosopher [[Niccolo Machiavelli]] in his book [[The Prince]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HicLAQAAIAAJ | title=The Statecraft of Machiavelli | last1=Butterfield | first1=Herbert | date=1962 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oi2GDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1 | title=Thoughts on Machiavelli | isbn=9780226230979 | last1=Strauss | first1=Leo | date=2014 | publisher=University of Chicago Press }}</ref> Methods discussed were pertinent to the establishment of a more secure principality for the ruler, which Machiavelli stated would require evil to be done at some point.<ref>The Prince, chap. 15 (end)</ref>

==See also == * [[Roman usurper]] * [[Son of a nobody]]

==Further reading== * {{cite journal|last=Key|first=T. Hewitt|author-link=Thomas Hewitt Key|title=On the Derivation and Meaning of the Latin Verb ''usurpare''|journal=Transactions of the Philological Society|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3924121;view=1up;seq=106|year=1855|issue=8|ref=Key}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Usurpers| ]] [[Category:Positions of authority]] [[Category:Political terminology]]