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Top 10 Rulers You Should Not Mess With
Throughout history, there have been many good leaders and bad rulers; too many to start counting. There have been dictators, and there have been benevolent kings. This list is about the rulers in history that people really did not want to mess with.
Mix Top Ten
10. Suleiman I:
Also referred to as Suleiman the Magnificent, Suleiman I was born on April 27, 1495 in Trabzon. He reigned the Ottoman Empire for 69 years; longer than any other Sultan in Ottoman history. His reign coincided with the golden age. Throughout his rule, he had many military successes, and the empire was at its greatest, encompassing most of Middle East, South-eastern Europe and Rhodes. Suleiman I also believed in change, reforming much of the educational system, legislature, taxation and criminal acts. Historians argue that he resembled a lion with his majestic bearing and had a handsome and clear voice. He was also viewed as heroic, determined, and powerful, and was blessed with good fortune and luck for both for himself and for those around him.
9. Friedrich Wilhelm I:
Frederich Wilhelm I was born in 1688 and became the King of Prussia and Elector of Brandenberg 1713, a title he held until his death in 1740. Prussia under Friedrich Wilhelm I enjoyed a peaceful tenure. His rule was absolutist and he was a firm autocrat. The king encouraged farming, reclaimed marshes, stored grain in good times and sold it in bad times. However, the king is most remembered for his affection for the military. He loved having the military march before him, even when he was feeling under the weather and confined to his bed. He made it his goal to see the Prussian army become one of the glorious in all of Europe.
That obsession did not exclude family. He hoped that his son would one day be a good soldier. The boy would awake every morning to the sounds of cannon firing upon the king’s request. The boy decided to run away, but was soon captured and imprisoned by his father.
The King’s oddest behaviour was his obsession with creating the Potsdam Giants, an army regiment, comprised of just the tall and strongest soldiers. The king would go about in recruiting them by all means necessary.
8. Genghis Khan:
Genghis Khan was the founder of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest empire in history after his death, and often nicknamed the “ruthless warrior”. He rose to power after he united various nomadic tribes of north-eastern Asia. After founding the empire and being proclaimed Genghis Khan, he began the Mongol invasions that resulted in the conquest of most Eurasia.
He wasted no time in capitalizing on his divine power. Food and resources were becoming scarce as the population of the Mongol empire expanded. In 1207, Genghis Khan led his armies against the kingdom of Xi Xia, which they ended up winning after a two year battle. In 1211, Genghis Khan’s armies struck the Jin Dynasty in northern China, lured by the great rice fields and easy pickings of wealth.
Before his death, Genghis Khan gave supreme leadership to his son Ogedei, who controlled most of eastern Asia, including China. The rest of the empire was divided among his other sons: Chagatai took over central Asia and northern Iran; Tolui, being the youngest, received a small territory near the Mongol homeland; and Jochi, who unfortunately died before Genghis. Genghis died at the age of 63 from his injuries sustained from his fall off a horse. The empire’s expansion continued and reached its peak under Ogedei Khan’s leadership. Mongol armies eventually invaded Persia, the Song Dynasty in southern China, and the Balkans. Just when the Mongol armies had reached the gates of Vienna, Austria, leading commander Batu got word of the Great Khan Ogedei’s death and was called back to Mongolia. Subsequently, the campaign lost momentum, marking the Mongol’s farthest invasion into Europe.
The empire began to split due to wars over succession, as the grandchildren of Genghis Khan argued over the royal line and whether it should follow from his son and initial heir Ögedei, or one of his other sons such as Tolui, Chagatai, or Jochi. The Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260 marked the high point of the Mongol conquests and was the first time a Mongol advance had ever been defeated in direct combat on the battlefield. In 1368, the empire was overthrown by the Han Chinese Ming Dynasty and the Mongol Empire was official liquefied.
7. Isabella I:
Isabella I was born on April 22, 1451 in Madrigal de las Atlas Torres, Spain. Today, she is referred to as “La Católica” (the Catholic), a “title” that was given to her by the Spanish Pope, Alexander VI. This is a title that the Kings and Queens of Spain still hold.
One of Isabella’s most famous acts was the Spanish Inquisition. Because she was a devout Catholic, she felt that she should rid Spain of anyone who was not Catholic. Or at least get them to convert. For such reason they got Pope Sixtus IV to begin the Spanish Inquisition in 1478. The Spanish Inquisition, which lasted until 1808, was not the best time period for Spain. It was particularly bad during the reign of Isabella and her husband Ferdinand. Anyone who was not a Catholic was suspected of being against the church.
The second known act of Isabella I was the funding of the Columbus Voyage to find the route to India. They planned a route not by sailing east around Africa, but rather west across unknown waters. As we all know, Columbus never arrived in India. He was the first to discover the Americas, and landed in what is now known as the Bahamas.
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