Random Most Brutal Medieval Monarchsreport

Ferdinand I of Naples

[ranking: 5]
Royal Title: Ferdinand I, King of Naples Most Brutal Moment: Killing his rivals and building a "museum of mummies" with them in his palace. Born the illegitimate son of a Spanish monarch, Ferdinand enjoyed keeping his deceased enemies around. Once, he invited some French "pals" (a.k.a. agents of his rival to the throne of Naples) to dinner. After they ate, he then imprisoned others for thirty years, even shoving one guy out a window to his death. Some were propped up in a mock banquet at Castel Nuovo; the bodies were pickled and turned into mummies, then re-dressed to look lively.

Godfrey of Bouillon

[ranking: 4]

Henry VIII of England

[ranking: 7]
Royal Title: Henry VIII, King of England and Defender of the Faith Most Brutal Moment: Arguably still a medieval monarch on the edge of the Renaissance, Henry VIII did some pretty awful things. Probably his worst misdeed was engineering the deaths of two of his six wives (Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard). Henry burned a number of "heretics" at the stake, including his own friend Sir Thomas More. Although Henry himself didn't lead his forces at the Battle of Flodden in 1513, this conflict was a tragedy for the invading Scots - including Henry's own brother-in-law, James IV, who died there - and ten thousand of their men. By this time, his bloodthirsty ways had truly become a family affair.
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Olaf Tryggvason

[ranking: 3]
Royal Title: Olaf Tryggvason, King of Norway Most Brutal Moments: A Viking warrior par excellence, Olaf wasn't afraid of getting his hands dirty - and bloody - when it came to killing pagans and the treacherous (he once beheaded a slave who killed a royal rival for him). In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, Olaf began to appear in poems as the murderer of a man named Raud, a determined follower of Thor. Despite Raud's best magical efforts, legend has it, Olaf's Christian faith dominated, but when Raud refused to accept Christ, Olaf forced a snake into his mouth using a red-hot iron. The serpent went through Raud's neck and killed him. Olaf took Raud's gold, killed his followers that wouldn't convert, and brought those that would be baptized into his fold.

James II of Scotland

[ranking: 6]
Royal Title: James II, King of Scotland Most Brutal Moment: The Black Dinner, which inspired the "Red Wedding" on Game of Thrones. A young James II and his guardians were frustrated with the Douglas family, one of the most powerful noble clans in Scotland, usurping much of his power. So Lord Crichton, guardian of Edinburgh Castle, invited a bunch of the royal enemies - mostly from the Black Douglas branch of the titular family - to a dinner on November 24, 1440. After dinner, quite a few nobles were killed. Needless to say, the relationship between the king and the nobles didn't improve after that.

Edward I of England

[ranking: 11]
Royal Title: Edward I, King of England, a.k.a. "Longshanks" for his height (he was six feet, two inches). Most Brutal Moment: Putting his enemies' relatives in cages and hanging them in castle towers. Edward I of England was also called "Hammer of the Scots" for his decisive victories against his northern neighbors, and he wasn't keen on Scotland getting its independence. So when Robert the Bruce decided he was the rightful king of Scots and struck out on his own, Edward struck back, taking his female relatives and close friends prisoner.
Bruce's sister Mary and close friend Isabel, countess of Buchan, were both imprisoned in cages, which were then placed in castle turrets in England. Bruce's own daughter, Marjorie, was initially kept in a cage in the Tower of London before being sent to a convent.
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It's no secret that the word "medieval" evokes negative images, but in the case of these Middle Ages monarchs, those connotations are well-deserved. From callous queens to cutthroat kings and savage saints, we're taking a look at the most brutal monarchs from medieval times who played by their own bloody rules.

So what caused such murderous monarchical madness? Some slaughtered thousands in pursuit of conversion to Christianity and expulsion of beliefs they disliked; others advertently nudged tensions between sects of Christianity along, resulting in a mob mentality that took the lives of tens of thousands. Other brutal monarchs, like a number of late medieval Italian royals, enjoyed torturing their enemies in new and creative ways, like forcing furriers to eat hares whole or creating a mummy museum, a sort of proto-Madame Tussauds, by pickling their rivals. Some kings didn’t bother disguising their ambitions, just adding to their burgeoning empires by taking city after city and killing opponents and new subjects wholesale.

Whatever their reasons for taking their lovers, friends, and enemies out, read through this list and vote up the most violent medieval monarchs.

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