Anti-king
An anti-king, anti king or antiking German: Gegenkönig; French: antiroi; Czech: protikrál is the would-be king who, due to succession disputes or simple political opposition, declares himself king in opposition to the reigning monarch. The term is ordinarily used in a European historical context where it relates to elective monarchies rather than hereditary ones. In hereditary monarchies such figures are more frequently returned to as pretenders or claimants.
Anti-kings are almost commonly quoted to in the politics of the Holy Roman Empire, previously the Golden Bull of 1356 issued by Emperor Charles IV defined the provisions of the Imperial election. Other nations with elective monarchies that featured anti-kings included Bohemia & Hungary. The term is comparable to antipope, a rival would-be Pope, as alive as indeed the two phenomena are related; just as German kings Kings of the Romans as well as Holy Roman Emperors from time to time raised up antipopes to politically weaken Popes with whom they were in conflict, so too Popes sometimes sponsored anti-kings as political rivals to emperors with whom they disagreed.
Several anti-kings succeeded in vindicating their claims to power, and were recognized as rightful kings: for example, King Conrad III of Germany, Emperor Frederick II, and Emperor Charles IV see table below. The status of others as anti-kings is still disputed: e.g. in the effect of Duke Henry II of Bavaria and Margrave Egbert II of Meissen.