The
Monarchomachs were originally
French Huguenot theorists who opposed
monarchy at the end of the 16th century, known in particular for having theoretically justified
tyrannicide. The term was originally a pejorative word coined in 1600 by the Scottish royalist and Catholic
William Barclay (1548–1608) from the
Greek μόναρχος (
monarchos "monarch, sole ruler") and μάχομαι ("makhomai" the verb meaning "to fight"), meaning "those who fight against monarchs."