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Throughout history, the world has seen its fair share of monarchs. But while some were wise and courageous, many others were simply incompetent, cruel, and obsessed with their own status and power. Looking back, we today know that those are the ingredients of a disastrous ruler.
From Henry VIII to Marie Antoinette and Ivan the Terrible, click on to discover the monarchs who were disastrous for their subjects and the lands they ruled.
One of England’s most infamous monarchs, Henry VIII was a bloodthirsty tyrant who ordered two of his six wives be executed. In fact, he had an estimated 57,000 people executed during his 36-year reign.
Additionally, his extravagant lifestyle and fondness for foreign wars brought England to the verge of bankruptcy on several occasions.
King Leopold II committed considerable crimes in the Congo. He obtained the territory by international agreement and named it the Congo Free State (CFS). However, it wasn't a Belgian colony, but the king's personal monarchy.
As Leopold raked in the riches from the Congo's enormous reserves of copper, ivory, and rubber, the Congolese were ruled by terror. Mutilation was widely used as a punishment for workers who ran away or collected less than their quota.
Commonly known as Ivan the Terrible, the first tsar of all of Russia lived a life in constant danger thanks to a rivalry with the nobility. This gave him a lifelong hatred of nobles, which resulted in his ruthlessness.
Taking the land of nobles, he also condemned millions of Russians to a permanent state of serfdom and had many massacred as well. Ivan even beat up his own pregnant daughter-in-law and killed his son in a fit of rage.
The eldest daughter of Henry VIII was never meant to ascend the throne. However, Henry’s son, Edward VI, died young, and after the very brief reign of Lady Jane Grey, Mary became queen. But it wasn't a happy period for England.
A fanatic Catholic, Mary sought to bring England back into the fold of the Catholic Church. She had over 280 religious dissenters burned during her five-year rule, earning her the nickname Bloody Mary.
While there are many horrible Roman rulers, Caligula's mad reign still sets a high standard. He set out specifically to intimidate and humiliate the senate, by killing senators and making his horse a consul.
On top of that, Caligula used the treasury for lavish and useless spectacles, and instituted a reign of terror against the Roman people.
King John of England was a bad administrator and warrior, who lost all the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France.
Ironically, he was nicknamed John Lackland because he wasn't expected to inherit significant land. Losing land must've really made the nickname stick!
One of the most hated French monarchs in history, Austrian Marie Antoinette was wedded to the French king Louis XVI.
She believed that the French Bourbon monarchy had been ordained by God, and therefore she opposed the idea that she was equal to her subjects.
King Richard II alienated the nobility and kept his friends close. He then taxed his people unfairly and seized land belonging to other nobles.
Not happy with that, he also ended up in confrontation with Parliament over his demands for more money. He was later deposed by his cousin Henry IV.
At a time when the Europeans had colonies around the world, Queen Ranavalona was able to keep Madagascar free. However, she maintained her power by retaining the loyalty of the Malagasy army and imposing regular periods of forced labor on the rest of the population instead of taxation.
Having encouraged Christianity at the start of her reign, she later changed policy and instituted a ruthless persecution of Christians. It has been estimated that the population of her kingdom was halved during her reign.
Charles X was a deeply unpopular monarch who ruled over France for almost six years. He became the leader of the ultra-royalists, a radical monarchist faction within the French court that affirmed rule by divine right.
The French monarch also initiated the Conquest of Algeria, which blinded his subjects from the domestic affairs of the kingdom.
Ruling 16th-century Scotland was no easy task, and Mary showed none of her cousin Elizabeth I's political skill in defusing religious conflict.
Then, Mary's suspected involvement in the murder of her second husband, Lord Darnley, seemed even more clear when she married the main suspect, Lord Bothwell, three months later. No wonder the Scots overthrew Mary and locked her up.
Elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1576, Rudolf II tore up the religious agreement that for the past 20 years had kept Germany's Catholics and Protestants in peace.
Embarking on a crusade to eradicate Protestantism from German towns and villages, he laid the foundations for the disastrous Thirty Years’ War.
Son of Edward I, Edward II was nothing like his father and relied heavily on the advice of his unpopular favorite, and suspected lover, Piers Gaveston. He was eventually forced by Parliament to agree to a number of humiliating restrictions on his power, including Gaveston’s execution.
After being defeated at the Battle of Bannockburn and losing the Duchy of Gascony in France, Edward’s wife Isabella turned against him. She invaded England with her lover, Roger Mortimer, and forced Edward to abdicate in favor of his son.
The son of the warrior king Henry V and Catherine of Valois, the timid Henry VI was mentally ill and unsuited to be king. However, it was his destiny.
During his time on the throne, Henry lost all the territory conquered by his father. The country also descended into the bloody conflict known as the Wars of the Roses.
Often described as cruel and ambitious, Richard III seized the throne following the death of his brother, Edward IV. Before he could do that though, there was the little matter of Edward’s children, Edward V and Richard. Both were imprisoned in the Tower of London and later mysteriously disappeared.
However, Richard's reign didn't last long, as he was killed in the Battle of Bosworth, fought against his rival Henry Tudor. This brought an end to the Plantagenet dynasty.
See also: How the British royal family makes money
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Throughout history, the world has seen its fair share of monarchs. But while some were wise and courageous, many others were simply incompetent, cruel, and obsessed with their own status and power. Looking back, we today know that those are the ingredients of a disastrous ruler.
From Henry VIII to Marie Antoinette and Ivan the Terrible, click on to discover the monarchs who were disastrous for their subjects and the lands they ruled.