Vicegerent

Vicegerent is the official administrative deputy of a ruler or head of state: vice (Latin: in place of) + gerere (Latin: to carry on, conduct).

Usage outside Europe

In Southeast Asia

Patih or Pepatih is a regent title equivalent to vicegerent which was traditionally used among Austronesian polities of insular Southeast Asia, in particular those of Java and the Malay world. In the first place it denoted the chief minister of a kingdom or (in the case of Java) a traditional regency. Lesser ministers could also be known by the title. In some cases the headmen of local communities could be termed Patih, for example on 16th-century Java and in Banjarmasin in southeastern Kalimantan.

In his capacity of chief minister in a realm, the Patih was the right hand and representative of the ruler. The commands of the ruler were transferred to the regional or local chiefs via the Patih. In the Javanese kingdoms the Patih had his own palace, the Pepatihan, and carried a particular name; in Yogyakarta his name as regent was Danurejo, in Surakarta (Solo) it was Joyonegoro.

Notable vicegerents

• Thomas Cromwell, Vicegerent of Henry VIII, appointed 1535.
• The Byzantine Emperors held as a title "God's Vicegerent on Earth".
• Milton, in his work Paradise Lost, titles the Son "The Vicegerent", in Book 10.
• In the Catholic Church, the Vicegerent is a titular archbishop who serves in the Diocese of Rome as the chief assistant to the Cardinal Vicar General of Rome.

Further reading

• W.L. Olthof (1987), Babad Tanah Djawi. Dordrecht: Foris.