'Dual monarchy' is a union of two monarchies where the thrones of each monarchy are integrated. The following are examples of dual monarchies, listed alphabetically with the dominant or co-dominant nation first:
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Austria-Hungary, a dual monarchy that existed from 1867 to 1918.
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Babylon and
Nippur during the second half of the rule of the
Kassite government in Babylonia, the 13th and 12th centuries BC; the governor of Nippur, the ''guennakku'', ruled as a secondary administrative monarch.
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Brandenburg and
Prussia from 1618 until the formation of the
German Empire in 1871.
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Castile and
Aragón from the union of 1469 resulting from the marriage of
Ferdinand II of Aragon and
Isabella of Castile until the abolition of the Crown of Aragón by the
Nueva Planta decrees in 1707. The
Kingdom of Spain technically existed as a dual monarchy for 238 years and, for this reason, American history lessons about Spain at the time of the voyages of
Christopher Columbus teach not simply about "King Ferdinand," but about "Ferdinand and Isabella."
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Denmark and
England from the conquest of England by
Sweyn I of Denmark in 1013 until the death of
Harthacanute in 1042 and the dissolution of the union.
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Denmark-Norway, a dual monarchy that existed from 1536 to 1814.
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England and
Aquitaine as the
rump state left of the
Angevin Empire from the revolt of the
Lusignans and consequent loss of NW France to
Philip II Augustus in 1202 to the collapse of the Angevin Empire in 1214.
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England and
France from 1419 to 1436 during the
Hundred Years' War, with
John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford as the French regent in Paris and English control of over 40% of the area and the majority of the population of France. The English crown considered this a dual monarchy, but France south of the Loire except for
Gascony never recognized it as legal.
★ Various periods of personal unions between the monarchies on the British Isles:
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England and
Ireland from 1541 to 1707. (''Including
Scotland between 1603 and 1707, although parts of Scotland held out until 1652.'')
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Great Britain and Ireland from 1707 to 1800.
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United Kingdom and the
Irish Free State from 1927 to 1936/1949. (See
Monarchy in the Irish Free State.)
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Kush and
Egypt during the
Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt, with Kushite kings on a dual throne from circa 780 BC to 672 BC.
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Netherlands and
Great Britain from 1689 to 1702 as a result of the British
Glorious Revolution replacing
James II of England with the
stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau and his co-ruler and wife
Mary II of England
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Normandy and
England from the Norman conquest of England by
William the Conqueror in 1066 to the acquisition of Normandy by the
Angevin Empire in 1144.
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Oman and
Zanzibar as a dual sultanate from the death of
Said bin Sultan in 1856 until the British conquest of Zanzibar in 1896.
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Poland-Lithuania from the
Union of Krewo in 1385 to its liquidation by the third and final of the
Partitions of Poland in 1795. This was the
personal union known as the
Polish-Lithuanian Union from 1385 to 1569, when the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was founded. In 1401, Lithuania was granted vast internal autonomy by the
Union of Vilnius and Radom.
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Portugal and
Brazil from the relocation of the Portuguese monarchy from
Napoleonic-occupied
Lisbon to
Rio de Janeiro in 1808 until the independence of the
Brazilian Empire in 1825.
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Spain and
Portugal during the
Iberian Union from 1580 to 1640. This was technically a triple monarchy of Castile, Aragón, and Portugal (see above.)
See also
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Personal union