War of succession in the context of "1383–1385 Portuguese interregnum"

The collapse of the Georgian realm (Georgian: ქართული სახელმწიფოს დაშლა, romanized: kartuli sakhelmts'ipos dashla) was a political and territorial fragmentation process that resulted in the dynastic triumvirate military conflict of the Bagrationi monarchs and war of succession in the united Kingdom of Georgia culminating during the second half of the 15th century.

The fragmentation of the unified realm started in the 13th century during the Mongol invasions that resulted in the establishment of de facto independent Kingdom of Western Georgia led by King David VI Narin and his successors, even though several reunifications would take place that would then bring back monarchy united in fold.

An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a government, organization, or social order. Archetypally, it was the period of time between the reign of one monarch and the next (coming from Latin inter-, "between" and rēgnum, "reign" [from rex, rēgis, "king"]), and the concepts of interregnum and regency therefore overlap. Historically, longer and heavier interregna have been typically accompanied by widespread unrest, civil and succession wars between warlords, and power vacuums filled by foreign invasions or the emergence of a new power.

The term also refers to the periods between the election of a new parliament and the establishment of a new government from that parliament in parliamentary democracies, usually ones that employ some form of proportional representation that allows small parties to elect significant numbers, requiring time for negotiations to form a government. In the UK, Canada and other electoral systems with single-member districts, this period is usually very brief, except in the rare occurrence of a hung parliament as occurred both in the UK in 2017 and in Australia in 2010. In parliamentary interregnums, the previous government usually stands as a caretaker government until the new government is established. Additionally, the term has been applied to the United States presidential transition, the period of time between the election of a new U.S. president and their inauguration, during which the outgoing president remains in power, but as a lame duck.

The First Anglo-Afghan War (Pashto: د افغان او انگرېز لومړی جنگ; Persian: جنگ اول افغان و انگلیس) was fought between the British Empire and the Emirate of Kabul from 1838 to 1842. The British initially successfully invaded the country taking sides in a succession dispute between emir Dost Mohammad Khan (Barakzai) and former King Shah Shujah (Durrani), whom they reinstalled upon occupying Kabul in August 1839. The main British Indian force occupied Kabul and endured harsh winters. The force and its camp followers were almost completely massacred during its 1842 retreat from Kabul.

The British then sent what was widely termed an "Army of Retribution" to Kabul to avenge the destruction of the previous forces. After recovering prisoners, they left Afghanistan by the end of the year. Dost Mohammed returned from exile in India to resume his rule.

The Mahābhārata (/məˌhɑːˈbɑːrətə, ˌmɑːhə-/ mə-HAH-BAR-ə-tə, MAH-hə-; Sanskrit: महाभारतम्, IAST: Mahābhāratam, pronounced [mɐɦaːˈbʱaːrɐt̪ɐm]) is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics of Hinduism known as the Itihasas, the other being the Ramayana. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War, a war of succession between two groups of princely cousins, the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas. It contains philosophical and devotional material, such as a discussion of the four "goals of life" or puruṣārtha (12.161). Among the principal works and stories in the Mahābhārata are the Bhagavad Gita, the story of Damayanti, the story of Shakuntala, the story of Pururava and Urvashi, the story of Savitri and Satyavan, the story of Kacha and Devayani, the story of Rishyasringa and an abbreviated version of the Rāmāyaṇa, often considered as works in their own right.

Traditionally, the authorship of the Mahābhārata is attributed to Vyāsa. There have been many attempts to unravel its historical growth and compositional layers. The bulk of the Mahābhārata was probably compiled between the 3rd century BCE and the 3rd century CE, with the oldest preserved parts not much older than around 400 BCE. The text probably reached its final form by the early Gupta period (c. 4th century CE).

The term French–Habsburg rivalry (French: Rivalité franco-habsbourgeoise; German: Habsburgisch-französischer Gegensatz) describes the rivalry between France and the House of Habsburg. The Habsburgs headed an expansive and evolving empire that included, at various times, the Holy Roman Empire, the Spanish Empire, Portugal through Iberian Union, Austria, Bohemia and Hungary from the Diet of Augsburg in the High Middle Ages until the dissolution of the monarchy following World War I in the late modern period.

In addition to holding the Austrian hereditary lands, the Habsburg dynasty ruled the Low Countries (1482–1794), Spain (1504–1700) and the Holy Roman Empire (1438–1806). All these lands were in personal union under Emperor Charles V. The expansion of the Habsburgs into western Europe increasingly led to border tensions with the Kingdom of France, which found itself encircled by Habsburg territory. The subsequent rivalry between the two powers became a cause for several conflicts. These include parts of the Anglo-French Wars (1066–1815), the War of the Burgundian Succession (1477–1482), the Italian Wars (1494–1559), the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), and the succession wars of Jülich (1609–1614), Mantua (1628–1631), Spain (1700–1713), Poland (1733–1736) and Austria (1740–1748).

An interregnum and a war of succession began in the Kingdom of Portugal in 1383 when King Ferdinand I died leaving no sons and ended when King John I was crowned in 1385 after his victory during the Battle of Aljubarrota.

The Portuguese interpret the era as their earliest national resistance movement to counter Castilian intervention, and Robert Durand considers it as the "great revealer of national consciousness".

The Seleucid Dynastic Wars were a series of wars of succession that were fought between competing branches of the Seleucid royal household for control of the Seleucid Empire. Beginning as a by-product of several succession crises that arose from the reigns of Seleucus IV Philopator and his brother Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the 170s and 160s, the wars typified the final years of the empire and were an important cause of its decline as a major power in the Near East and Hellenistic world. The last war ended with the collapse of the kingdom and its annexation by the Roman Republic in 63 BC.

Mamai (Mongolian: Мамай; Tatar: Мамай, romanized: Mamay; 1325?–1380/1381) was a powerful Turco-Mongol military commander who held the rank of beylerbey in the Golden Horde. He was from the Kiyat clan. Contrary to popular misconception, he was not a khan (king), but was a kingmaker for several khans, and dominated parts or all of the Golden Horde for almost two decades in the 1360s and 1370s. Although he was unable to stabilize central authority during the 14th-century Golden Horde war of succession known as the Great Troubles, Mamai remained a remarkable and persistent leader for decades, while others came and went in rapid succession. His defeat in the Battle of Kulikovo by the Russians marked the beginning of the decline of the Horde, as well as his own rapid downfall.

The Toluid Civil War was a war of succession fought between Kublai Khan and his younger brother, Ariq Böke, from 1260 to 1264. Möngke Khan died in 1259 with no declared successor, precipitating infighting between members of the Tolui family line for the title of Great Khan that escalated to a civil war. The Toluid Civil War, and the wars that followed it, such as the Berke–Hulegu war and the Kaidu–Kublai war, weakened the authority of the Great Khan over the Mongol Empire and split the empire into autonomous khanates.

The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Normandy between 1138 and 1153 which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adelin—the only legitimate son of King Henry I—who drowned in the White Ship disaster of 1120. Henry sought to be succeeded by his daughter, Empress Matilda, but was only partially successful in convincing the nobility to support her. On Henry's death in 1135, his nephew Stephen of Blois seized the throne with the help of his brother Henry of Blois, who was the bishop of Winchester. King Stephen's early reign saw fierce fighting with disloyal English barons, rebellious Welsh leaders, and Scottish invaders. Following a major rebellion in the southwest of England, Matilda invaded in 1139 with the help of her half-brother Robert of Gloucester.

In the initial years of civil war, neither side achieved a decisive advantage; Matilda came to control southwest England and much of the Thames Valley, while Stephen remained in control of the southeast. Barons who refused to support either side held much of the country. The castles of the period were easily defensible, so the fighting was mostly attrition warfare comprising sieges, raiding and skirmishing. Armies mainly consisted of knights and infantry, many of them mercenaries. In 1141 Stephen was captured following the Battle of Lincoln, causing a collapse in his authority over most of the country. When Matilda attempted to be crowned queen, she was forced instead to retreat from London by hostile crowds; shortly afterwards, Robert of Gloucester was captured by Stephen's wife, Matilda of Boulogne, at the rout of Winchester. The two sides agreed to a prisoner exchange, swapping the captives Stephen and Robert. Stephen then almost captured Matilda in 1142 during the Siege of Oxford, but she escaped from Oxford Castle across the frozen Thames to safety.

The civil war era in Norway (Norwegian: borgarkrigstida, borgarkrigstidi, borgerkrigstida or borgerkrigstiden) began in 1130 and ended in 1240. During this time in Norwegian history, some two dozen rival kings and pretenders waged wars to claim the throne.

In the absence of formal laws governing claims to rule, men who had proper lineage and wanted to be king came forward and entered into peaceful, if still fraught, agreements to let one man be king, set up temporary lines of succession, take turns ruling, or share power simultaneously. In 1130, with the death of King Sigurd the Crusader, his possible half-brother, Harald Gillekrist, broke an agreement that he and Sigurd had made to pass the throne to Sigurd's only son, the bastard Magnus. Already on bad terms before Sigurd's death, the two men and the factions loyal to them went to war.

A succession crisis is a crisis that arises when an order of succession fails, for example when a monarch dies without an indisputable heir. It may result in a war of succession.

Examples include (see List of wars of succession):

The Russo-Kazan Wars were a series of short, intermittent wars fought between the Grand Principality of Moscow and the Khanate of Kazan between 1437 and 1556. Most of these were wars of succession in Kazan, in which Muscovy intervened on behalf of the dynastic interests of its main ally, the Crimean Khanate. For most of the period, neither side sought to conquer the other, until Ivan the Terrible decided to annex Kazan upon the successful 1552 siege, which was followed by a rebellion lasting until 1556.

The first phase (Edwardian phase (1337–1360)) of the Hundred Years' War between England and France lasted from 1337 to 1360. It is sometimes referred to as the Edwardian War because it was initiated by King Edward III of England, who claimed the French throne in defiance of King Philip VI of France. The dynastic conflict was caused by disputes over the French feudal sovereignty over Aquitaine and the English claims over the French royal title. The Kingdom of England and its allies dominated this phase of the war, and Edward's sovereignty over Aquitaine was confirmed in the Treaty of Brétigny (1360), although he renounced his claim to the French throne.

Edward had been granted the duchy of Aquitaine in 1325, and as Duke of Aquitaine he was a vassal to Philip VI of France. Due to political trouble in England during his early reign as a minor, Edward initially accepted Philip as King of France, but the relationship between the two kings soured in the 1330s when Philip allied with Edward's enemy, King David II of Scotland. Edward in turn provided refuge to Robert III of Artois, a French fugitive. When Edward refused to obey Philip's demands for the expulsion of Robert from England, Philip confiscated the Duchy of Aquitaine. This precipitated war and, in 1340, Edward declared himself king of France. Edward III and his son Edward the Black Prince, led their armies on a largely successful campaign across France with notable victories at Auberoche (1345), Crécy (1346), Calais (1347), and La Roche-Derrien (1347). Hostilities were paused until the mid-1350s for the deprivations of the Black Death. Then war continued, and the English were victorious at the Battle of Poitiers (1356) where the French king, John II, was captured and held for ransom. The Truce of Bordeaux was signed in 1357 and was followed by two treaties in London in 1358 and 1359.

The Habsburg monarchy and the Ottoman Empire waged a series of wars on the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary and several adjacent lands in Southeastern Europe from 1526 to 1568. The Habsburgs and the Ottomans engaged in a series of military campaigns against one another in Hungary between 1526 and 1568. While overall the Ottomans had the upper hand, the war failed to produce any decisive result. The Ottoman army remained very powerful in the open field but it often lost a significant amount of time besieging the many fortresses of the Hungarian frontier and its communication lines were now dangerously overstretched. At the end of the conflict, Hungary had been split into several different zones of control, between the Ottomans, Habsburgs, and Transylvania, nominally Ottoman vassal state. The simultaneous war of succession between Habsburg-controlled western "Royal Hungary" and the Zápolya-ruled pro-Ottoman "Eastern Hungarian Kingdom" is known as the Little War in Hungary.

The War of the Jülich Succession, also known as the Jülich War or the Jülich-Cleves Succession Crises (German: Jülich-Klevischer Erbfolgestreit), was a war of succession in the United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg. The first phase of the war lasted between 10 June 1609 and 24 October 1610, with the second phase starting in May 1614 and finally ending on 13 October 1614. At first, the war pitted Catholic Archduke Leopold V against the combined forces of the Protestant claimants, Johann Sigismund, Elector of Brandenburg and Wolfgang Wilhelm of Palatinate-Neuburg, ending in the former's military defeat. The representatives of Brandenburg and Neuburg later entered conflict amongst themselves, partly due to religious conversions, which led to the resumption of hostilities.

The war was further complicated by the involvement of Spain, the Dutch Republic, France, England, and the Protestant Union, making it closely tied to the Eighty Years' War, as well as part of the European wars of religion. It also corresponded to a Protestant uprising in the Free Imperial City of Aachen. It was finally settled by the Treaty of Xanten, whose provisions favored Spain, though the conflict was not fully resolved until later.

The Jinshin War (壬申の乱, jinshin no ran) was a war of succession that took place in the Yamato state near the end of Asuka period. It broke out in 672 following the death of Emperor Tenji. The name refers to the jinshin (Ch. renshen 壬申) or ninth year of the sexagenary cycle, corresponding to the Gregorian year 672. It was one of the largest conflicts in classical Japanese history.

Tenji had originally designated his brother, Prince Ōama, as his successor, but later changed his mind in favor of his son, Prince Ōtomo. In the course of the violence that erupted as a result of factional rivalries, Ōtomo, having taken the throne as emperor, killed himself after reigning for less than a year. His uncle Ōama then succeeded to the throne as Emperor Tenmu. Tenmu was the first monarch of Japan contemporaneously documented as using the title Tennō (emperor).