prétendants

Prétendant (plural prétendants) is a French term used to denote a person who asserts a legal or dynastic claim to a throne, crown, or title. In monarchies, a prétendant is a claimant to the succession who is not currently reigning; such claims may arise from dynastic rules, rivalry among branches, revolutions, or abolition of the monarchy. The term does not by itself indicate actual political power, and pretenders may live in exile or function mainly as symbols or advocates for their house.

The word derives from the verb prétendre, to claim or allege. In scholarly and popular histories, prétendants are linked to dynastic legitimacy, succession crises, and the politics of royal houses. Some pretenders mobilize support, alliances, and ceremonial functions, while others fade into private life.

Notable historical prétendants include the Jacobite claimants to the English, Scottish, and British thrones after 1688, the Carlist pretenders to the Spanish throne in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and the French Legitimists and Bonapartists who maintained rival lines to the throne or to imperial succession. In many cases, the existence of pretenders reflects broader constitutional changes, such as abolition of monarchy, reforms to succession laws, or shifts in political legitimacy.

In contemporary discourse, the term is often used in historical writing rather than as a description of current political actors. It can also appear in genealogical contexts to describe heirs who claim historic titles but lack recognized political authority.