In monarchies where the order of succession is not coded, the ruling or previous monarch specifies the relative he/she command or recommend to succeed him/her after his/her death or while he/she is alive.
The word "designation" is derived from the Latin and means the nomination, in advance, of someone to an office.
Designation played a significant constitutional and political role in the succession of the Frankish monarchy and, later, in the succession of kings in the Holy Roman Empire in Middle Ages.
Four forms of designation can be distinguished, which have legally different meanings: The attempt by rulers to override the electoral rights of the princes in this way was no longer as successful after 1075, which is why Henry VI pursued an Erbreichsplan or "plan for a hereditary empire.
With the double election of 1198, he had practically failed, but the right of the princes to elect the king despite a royal designation was settled only with the formation of the college of electors (Kurfürstenkolleg).