Inability to govern

As a government disability is defined as the temporary or non-permanent-present possibility of a ruler or government leader to perform his duties. The incapacity to govern in the narrower sense can be assumed if certain factors that exist in the person of the person concerned, in his health or his legal situation, are (objectively) given or are (subjectively) asserted. History shows that the term often served the purpose of bringing about a change of power.

In a broader view, the incapacity to govern is also related to committees (e.g. cabinets) or groups (e.g. parties). Here, however, the reasons for this are basically external, as they are sought and, if necessary, found in the working conditions of the committees or groups. Here, too, there is the possibility that the assertion of inability to govern is used in the political dispute to regulate power issues.

Individuals

Historically, the causes of incapacity for government in individuals have usually been physical or mental, mental impairment ( mental illness , depression ), or serious physical illness ( stroke , blindness ). In the Middle Ages, however, obstacles were consciously brought about, especially with competitors, such as dazzling or the determination to pursue a spiritual life, which was generally expressed by the tonsure .

A problem inherent in the monarchical incapacity to govern is the question of who has the right to determine the incapacity to govern, which can only be answered in a legally correct manner since the rise of parliamentarism. A once - however - determined incapacity to govern in the case of office holders generally led to a guardianship or regency or a replacement of the person. Other reasons for the appointment of rulers, such as the monarch's minority or the long absence of the monarch, mostly due to the war, are not counted as incapacity to govern.

Bodies

In the broader sense, a body is referred to as incapable of governing if it does not have the opportunity to reach decisions or implement a policy, for example due to a lack of parliamentary majorities, but also due to disputes within the body, especially if unanimity is required . It is characteristic of this type of “government incapacity” that the situation can basically be resolved by changing the framework conditions.

An objectified special case of inability to govern is the inability of a government to act in the event of an armed attack. For this purpose z. B. in Germany regulations in the Basic Law - Article 115a paragraph 4, which, under certain conditions, result in an automated determination of the state of defense .

Incapable of Government

By tonsure

The Visigoth king Wamba (672-680) was poisoned (according to a late tradition), so that he was supposedly terminally ill and received the sacrament of penance and, according to the custom at the time, was dressed in a religious vestment and was accepted into the clergy by tonsure, which made him incapable of governing . He retired to a monastery, where he died after about two years.
In order to avoid the traditional division of power among all ruler's sons , King Charles the Bald had his two youngest sons, Karlmann and Lothar, transferred to the clerical status. Karl's measure turned out to be unnecessary in retrospect, as only the eldest of his seven sons, Ludwig the Stammler , survived.

By glare

King Bernhard of Italy was blinded in 818 after an uprising against his uncle Emperor Ludwig the Pious and thus robbed of his ability to govern. Bernhard died two days after the glare.
Duke Hugo of Alsace was captured in 885, blinded and then brought to the Prüm Abbey as incapable of governing .
Emperor Ludwig III. 905 was blinded by his opponent Berengar of Friuli and lost the imperial title; however, he kept his inherited kingdom of Lower Burgundy.

After a stroke

King Louis VII of France suffered a stroke in 1179 that paralyzed him on one side; a few weeks later he had his son Philip crowned king; Ludwig VII died a year later.

Duke Wilhelm I of Bavaria suffered a stroke in 1357, was then considered mentally ill and incapable of governing and was locked away until his death in 1389.

Duke Bogislaw XIV of Pomerania suffered a stroke in 1633. Since he had no heir, he had the regimental constitution of 1634 drawn up, with which he tried to secure the government of Pomerania during his illness and after his death. He died in 1637, and - contrary to the Duke's intentions - Pomerania was subsequently divided between Sweden and Brandenburg.

King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia (1840-1858) suffered several strokes in 1857 and then in 1858 passed the rule to his brother Wilhelm . This change is known in science as the end of the Reaction Era and the beginning of the New Era .

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke in December 2005 and had been in a coma since early 2006 ; in April 2006 he was declared incapable of government.

Because of other illnesses

King George III of Great Britain (1760-1820) was unable to govern from 1811 due to a serious illness (probably porphyria ); the years leading up to his death are referred to as Regency in British history (and style) .

Because of insanity

King Charles VI. of France (1380–1422) was temporarily deranged from 1392; the court intrigues, which developed due to Karl's illness, culminated in the civil war of the Armagnacs and Bourguignons (1410-1419)

King Henry VI. of England († 1471) was incapable of government from March 1454 due to mental illness, he was deposed in 1461, but reinstated as king from 1470-1471 and finally murdered in the Tower of London . Shortly after Henry fell ill, the Wars of the Roses broke out and crippled England for thirty years.

Grand Duke Ludwig II of Baden (1852–1856) was considered mentally ill and left the government to his brother Friedrich , who replaced him in 1856. Ludwig died two years later.

King Otto of Bavaria (1886–1916) was unable to rule because of a mental illness called "melancholy"; he was under the reign of the Prince Regents Luitpold (1886–1912) and Ludwig (1912–1913), who was finally proclaimed King of Bavaria without deposed Otto because of it.

Because of depression

With Duke Albrecht Friedrich of Prussia , a depression broke out soon after he took office in 1571, which forced his liege lord, King Stephan Báthory of Poland, to provide him with an administrator in 1577, by whom Albrecht Friedrich was replaced a year later. Albrecht Friedrich died mentally deranged in 1618. The Duchy of Prussia fell to the Electors of Brandenburg , who then formed the Kingdom of Prussia from their possessions .
With King Karl IX. of France (1560–1574), who was under the influence of his mother Caterina de 'Medici throughout his life , the events of Bartholomew's Night in 1572, which he himself had ordered, led to a trauma that led to depression. He died of consumption at the age of only 23 before his de facto incapacity to govern led to consequences.

For (presumably) political reasons

Queen Joanna of Castile (1504–1506), better known as Joanna the Mad , was considered incapable of governing due to her alleged mental illness, so that her father, King Ferdinand of Aragón (1479–1516) could take over the reign of all of Spain; However, it can be assumed that Johanna was by no means insane, but rather was disempowered by her father and later by her son Charles V - there is no historical record of an actual mental illness. Johanna was imprisoned in the fortress of Tordesillas in the monastery of Santa Clara , where she died almost 48 years later.
The Ottoman Prince Murad V was freed from prison by Young Turks in May 1876 and made sultan; three months later, however, on the grounds of mental weakness, dismissed as unable to govern. From then on he lived under arrest and died in 1904.
King Ludwig II of Bavaria , whose building activity threatened to ruin the Bavarian state finances, was declared “mentally disturbed” and “incurable” and incapacitated in 1886 at the instigation of the government on the basis of testimony without an investigation; four days later he died in Lake Starnberg .
King Baudouin of Belgium abdicated in 1990 for “incapacity to govern”, so that Parliament could enact the abortion law on its own authority; two days later, Baudouin was reinstated as king by parliament.