- NAME: Marie Antoinette
- OCCUPATION: Queen
- BIRTH DATE: November 02, 1755
- DEATH DATE: October 16, 1793
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Vienna, Austria
- PLACE OF DEATH: Paris, France
- Full Name: Maria Antonia Josepha Joanna
- AKA: Maria Antonia
Marie Antoinette, the last queen of France, was born Maria Antonia Josepha Joanna on November 2, 1755, in Vienna, Austria. She was the 15th and second to last child of Maria Theresa, empress of Austria, and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I. Marie Antoinette lived a relatively carefree childhood. She received an education typical of an 18th century aristocratic girl, focusing primarily on religious and moral principles, while her brothers studied more academic subject matter.
With the conclusion of the Seven Years' War in 1763, the preservation of a fragile alliance between Austria and France became a priority for Empress Maria Theresa; cementing alliances through matrimonial connections was a common practice among European royal families at the time. In 1765, the son of French Emperor Louis XV, Louis, dauphin de France (also known as Louis Ferdinand), died, leaving his 11-year-old grandson, Louis Auguste, heir to the French throne. Within months, Marie Antoinette and Louis Auguste were pledged to marry each other.
In 1768, Louis XV dispatched a tutor to Austria to instruct his grandson's future wife. The tutor found Marie Antoinette "more intelligent than has been generally supposed," but added that since "she is rather lazy and extremely frivolous, she is hard to teach." A child of only 14 years, delicately beautiful with gray-blue eyes and ash-blonde hair, in May 1770, Marie Antoinette set out for France to be married, escorted by 57 carriages, 117 footmen and 376 horses.
Marie Antoinette and Louis Auguste were married on May 16, 1770. The young woman did not adjust well, however, to a married life for which she was obviously not ready, and her frequent letters home revealed intense homesickness. "Madame, my very dear mother," she wrote in one letter, "I have not received one of your dear letters without having the tears come to my eyes." She also bristled at some of the rituals she was expected to perform as a lady of the French royal family. "I put on my rouge and wash my hands in front of the whole world," she complained, referring to a ritual in which she was required to put on her makeup in front of dozens of courtiers.
Louis XV passed away in 1774, and Louis Auguste succeeded him to the French throne as Louis XVI, making Marie Antoinette, at 19 years old, queen of France. However, as personalities went Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette could not have been more different. He was introverted, shy and indecisive, a lover of solitary pleasures such as reading and metalwork; she was vivacious, outgoing and bold, a social butterfly who loved gambling, partying and extravagant fashions.When the king went to bed before midnight, Marie Antoinette's nights of partying and carousing had yet to begin. When she woke up just before noon, he had been at work for hours. When word reached Empress Maria Theresa in 1777 that her daughter and Louis XVI had not yet consummated their marriage, Maria Theresa immediately dispatched her son, Joseph II, Marie Antoinette's older brother,to France to act as a sort of marriage counselor. Whatever his counsels, they apparently worked. A year later, Marie Antoinette gave birth to a daughter, Marie Therese Charlotte.
Beginning in 1780, Marie Antoinette began spending more and more time at Petit Trianon, her private castle on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles, almost always without the king. Around this time the first rumors surfaced about her relationship with Swedish diplomat Count Axel von Fersen. During the 1780s, with the French government sliding into financial turmoil and poor harvests driving up grain prices across the country, Marie Antoinette's fabulously extravagant lifestyle increasingly became the subject of popular ire. Countless pamphlets accused the queen of ignorance, extravagance and adultery, some featuring salacious cartoons and others dubbing her "Madame Deficit."
In 1785, an infamous diamond necklace scandal permanently tarnished the queen's reputation. A thief posing as Marie Antoinette had obtained a 647-diamond necklace and smuggled it to London to be sold off in pieces. Though Marie Antoinette was innocent of any involvement, she was nevertheless guilty in the eyes of the people. Refusing to let public criticism alter her behavior, in 1786, Marie Antoinette began building the Hameau de la Reine, an extravagant retreat near the Petit Trianon in Versailles.
On July 14, 1789, 900 French workers and peasants stormed the Bastille Prison to take arms and ammunition, marking the beginning of the French Revolution. On October 6 of that year, a crowd of 10,000 gathered outside the Palace at Versailles and demanded that the king and queen be brought to Paris. At the Tuileries Palace in Paris, the always indecisive Louis XVI acted almost paralyzed, and Marie Antoinette immediately stepped into his place, meeting with advisors and ambassadors and dispatching urgent letters to other European rulers, begging them to help save France's monarchy.
In a plot hatched primarily by Marie Antoinette and her lover, Count Axel von Fersen, the royal family attempted to escape France in June 1791, but they were captured and returned to Paris. In September of that year, King Louis XVI agreed to uphold a new constitution drafted by the Constituent National Assembly in return for keeping at least his symbolic power.
However, in the summer of 1792, with France at war with Austria and Prussia, the increasingly powerful radical Jacobin leader Maximilien de Robespierre called for the removal of the king. In September, 1792, after a month of terrible massacres in Paris, the National Convention abolished the monarchy, declared the establishment of a French Republic, and arrested the king and queen.
In January 1793, the radical new republic placed King Louis XVI on trial, convicted him of treason and condemned him to death. On January 21, 1793, he was dragged to the guillotine and executed. In October of that year, a month into the infamous and bloody Reign of Terror that claimed tens of thousands of French lives, Marie Antoinette was put on trial for treason and theft, as well as a false and disturbing charge of sexual abuse against her own son.
After the two-day trial, an all-male jury found Marie Antoinette guilty on all charges. Thusly, like her husband had been several months before, Marie Antoinette was sent to the guillotine on October 16, 1793. On the night before her execution, she had written her last letter to her sister-in-law, Elisabeth. "I am calm," the queen wrote, "as people are whose conscience is clear." Then, in the moments before her execution, when the priest who was present told her to have courage, Marie Antoinette responded, "Courage? The moment when my ills are going to end is not the moment when courage is going to fail me."
Marie Antoinette, the last queen of France, has been both vilified as the personification of evils of monarchy and exalted as a pinnacle of fashion and beauty. Marie Antoinette the villain is perhaps best captured by the famous, although almost certainly apocryphal, story that, upon hearing that the people had no bread to eat, she remarked, "Let them eat cake." Marie Antoinette the heroine is reflected in the obsessive scholarship on her choices in wardrobe and jewelry, and the endless speculation about her extramarital love life. Both of these takes on Marie Antoinette's character demonstrate the tendency, as prevalent today as it was in her own time, to depict her life and death as symbolic of the downfall of European monarchies in the face of global revolution.
As Thomas Jefferson once said, predicting the way Marie Antoinette would be viewed by posterity, "I have ever believed that if there had been no queen, there would have been no Revolution."
- NAME: Patrick Lichfield
- OCCUPATION: Photographer, Royalty
- BIRTH DATE: April 25, 1939
- DEATH DATE: November 11, 2005
- EDUCATION: Sandhurst Military Academy
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Staffordshire, England
- PLACE OF DEATH: Oxford, England
British photographer Thomas Patrick John Anson, 5th Earl of Lichfield, was born on April 2, 1939, in Staffordshire, England. He went to Sandhurst Military Academy, served in the Grenadier Guards (1959–'62) and became a photographer. He has achieved success in travel and publicity work as well as in many personal royal portraits, and in 1991 produced Elizabeth R: A Photographic Celebration of 40 Years. He created the well-known Unipart calendar, and has published many books, including his autobiography, Not the Whole Truth (1986).
- NAME: Anne of Cleves
- OCCUPATION: Queen
- BIRTH DATE: September 22, 1515
- DEATH DATE: July 16, 1557
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Dusseldorf, Germany
- PLACE OF DEATH: Chelsea Manor, London, England, United Kingdom
Anne of Cleves was born on September 22, 1515, in Dusseldorf, Germany. A German noblewoman, she was the fourth wife of Henry VIII of England. The marriage was a political arrangement and was quickly annulled. She died on July 16, 1557, in Chelsea Manor, London, England.
- NAME: Anne of Austria
- OCCUPATION: Queen
- BIRTH DATE: September 22, 1601
- DEATH DATE: January 20, 1666
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Valladolid, Spain
- PLACE OF DEATH: Paris, France
Born on September 22, 1601, in Valladolid, Spain, Anne of Austria was the oldest daughter of King Phillip III and Margaret of Austria. She was especially close to her mother who helped her develop a deep devotion to her Roman Catholic faith. Sadly Anne lost her mother to illness when she was around the age of ten.
Barely in her teens, Anne became betrothed to France's King Louis XIII in 1612. The two royals had both been born in September 1601 within days of each other—a fact some took as a sign that the pair were destined to be together. Unfortunately, in reality, the union of these two teenagers was an exercise in political matchmaking, not romantic love.
Leaving her native Spain, Anne of Austria wed King Louis XIII in November of 1615. The beautiful young queen struggled to fit in her new homeland. Her husband paid her little attention and his chief minister, Cardinal Richelieu, questioned her loyalty to France. Anne spent much of her time visiting churches and convents. She also enjoyed going to the theater.
Anne suffered a miscarriage in 1622 (one of several she experienced), and the loss of a potential heir strained her marriage further. King Louis XIII blamed her for the loss of the baby. A few years later, he became angry at Anne again for her flirtation with England's Duke of Buckingham. Anne found herself at odds with her husband in 1635 after France declared war on Spain. During this time, she corresponded with her brother—who had become King Phillip IV—on the sly. While she apparently never gave away any secrets, Anne was accused of treason by Cardinal Richelieu in 1637. She was eventually pardoned, but King Louis XIII remained suspicious of her for the rest of his life.
After nearly twenty-two years of marriage, Anne of Austria finally delivered an heir to the French throne in 1638. Her son Louis was considered a stroke of tremendous good fortune. Anne was thirty-six years old when he was born. Without an heir, her position as a queen was tenuous. But her son's arrival helped cement her place as French royalty. For that reason, he was called Louis de Dieudonne, or "Gift of God." Two years later, Anne gave birth to another son, Phillip.
Anne of Austria was a doting parent and more hands-on with her children than most royals of the time. As the boys grew, Louis XIII's health began to fail. He died in 1643, leaving a provision for the country to be ruled by a regent counsel instead by Anne herself. She had the French parliament overturn Louis XIII's attempt to temper her power. On behalf of her five-year-old son Louis, Anne became the sole regent of France. She selected one of Richelieu's associates, Jules Mazarin, to serve as her minister. Anne and Mazarin developed a close bond, but the details of their relationship are not known.
In the wake of Louis XIII's death, a series of civil conflicts erupted. Anne was forced to remove Mazarin for a time. In 1651, Anne succeeded power to her son Louis, and she was appointed to his council. She was relieved when peace was finally achieved with Spain in 1659. The following year, Anne reunited with her brother, King Phillip IV, when her son married Phillip's daughter, Marie-Thérèsa.
Always very pious, Anne continued to visit convents and religious sites in her later years. She largely stepped away from politics after Mazarin's death in 1661. Two years later, Anne began experiencing her own health problems. She learned that she had breast cancer the following year.
In late 1665, Anne's health began to decline significantly. She died in Paris, France, on January 20, 1666. The legendary foreign-born queen of France is remembered for her political strategies and personal strength as regent. She later became an important character in Alexandre Dumas's fictional novel The Three Musketeers.
- NAME: Princess Anne
- OCCUPATION: Princess
- BIRTH DATE: August 15, 1950 (Age: 63)
- EDUCATION: Benenden School
- PLACE OF BIRTH: London, England
- Originally: Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise
- AKA: The Princess Royal
British Princess Royal, the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, was born in London, on August 15, 1950. In 1973, she married Lieutenant (now Captain) Mark Phillips of the Queen's Dragoon Guards, but they were divorced in 1992. They had two children together, Peter Mark Andrew (1977) and Zara Anne Elizabeth (1981). She later married Timothy Laurence in 1992.
An accomplished horsewoman, Princess Anne has ridden in the British Equestrian Team, and was European cross-country champion in 1972. She is a keen supporter of charities and overseas relief work, having acted as president of Save the Children Fund and travelled widely in order to promote its activities. Since 1988, she has been a member of the International Olympic Committee and is president of the British Olympic Association. Her daughter, Zara Phillips, won the European Eventing Championship in 2005.
- NAME: Alfonso X
- OCCUPATION: Scholar, King
- BIRTH DATE: November 23, 1221
- DEATH DATE: April 02, 1285
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Burgos, Spain
- PLACE OF DEATH: Sevilla, Spain
Alfonso X was born Nov. 23, 1221, in Burgos, Castile. He was King of Castile and León from 1252–84. He claimed the title of Holy Roman emperor, but Gregory X persuaded him to renounce the claim. His second son succeded him as Sancho IV. Alfonso's court was a center of culture, producing the law code, the Siete Partidas, and establishing the form of modern Castilian Spanish. He died in 1284.
- NAME: Alexander the Great
- OCCUPATION: King
- BIRTH DATE: 356 BCE
- DEATH DATE: 323 BCE
- EDUCATION: Temple of the Nymphs at Meiza (where Aristotle tutored him)
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Pella, Macedonia
- PLACE OF DEATH: Babylon, Persia (now Iran), Iran
- AKA: Alexander III
Alexander the Great was born on July 20, 356 B.C., in Pella, Macedonia. During his leadership, from 336 to 323 B.C., he united the Greek city-states and led the Corinthian League. He also became the king of Persia, Babylon and Asia, and created Macedonian colonies in Iran. While considering the conquests of Carthage and Rome, Alexander died of malaria in Babylon, Persia (now Iran), on June 13, 323 B.C.Alexander the Great was born in the Pella region of Macedonia on July 20, 356 B.C., to parents King Philip II of Macedon and Queen Olympia, daughter of King Neoptolemus. The young prince and his sister were raised in Pella's royal court. Growing up, the dark-eyed and curly-headed Alexander hardly ever saw his father, who spent most of his time engaged in military campaigns and extra-marital affairs. Although Olympia served as a powerful role model for the boy, Alexander grew to resent his father's absence and philandering.
Alexander received his earliest education under the tutelage of Leonidas. Leonidas, who had been hired by King Phillip to teach Alexander math, horsemanship and archery, struggled to control his rebellious student. Alexander's next tutor was Lysimachus, who used role-playing to capture the restless boy's attention. Alexander particularly delighted in impersonating the warrior Achilles.
In 343 B.C., King Philip II hired the philosopher Aristotle to tutor Alexander at the Temple of the Nymphs at Meiza. Over the course of three years, Aristotle taught Alexander and a handful of his friends philosophy, poetry, drama, science and politics. Seeing that Homer's Iliad inspired Alexander to dream of becoming a heroic warrior, Aristotle created an abridged version of the tome for Alexander to carry with him on military campaigns.
Alexander completed his education at Meiza in 340 B.C. A year later, while still just a teen, he became a soldier and embarked on his first military expedition, against the Thracian tribes. In 338, Alexander took charge of the Companion Cavalry and aided his father in defeating the Athenian and Theban armies at Chaeronea. Once Philip II had succeeded in his campaign to unite all the Greek states (minus Sparta) into the Corinthian League, the alliance between father and son soon disintegrated. Philip married Cleopatra Eurydice, niece of General Attalus, and ousted Alexander's mother, Olympia. Alexander and Olympia were forced to flee Macedonia and stay with Olympia's family in Epirus until Alexander and King Philip II were able to reconcile their differences.
In 336, Alexander's sister wed the Molossian king, an uncle who was also called Alexander. During the festival that followed, King Philip II was murdered at the hands of Pausanias, a Macedonian noble.
In the wake of his father's death, Alexander, then 19, was determined to seize the throne by any means necessary. He quickly garnered the support of the Macedonian Army, including the general and troops he had had fought with at Chaeronea.The army proclaimed Alexander the feudal king and proceeded to help him murder other potential heirs to the throne. Ever a loyal mother, Olympia further ensured her son's claim to the throne by slaughtering the daughter of King Philip II and Cleopatra and driving Cleopatra herself to suicide.
Even though Alexander was the feudal king of Macedonia, he didn't obtain automatic control of the Corinthian League. In fact,the southern states of Greece were celebrating Philip II's death and expressed divided interests. Athens had its own agenda: Under the leadership of democratic Demosthenes, the state hoped to take charge of the league. As they launched independence movements, Alexander sent his army south and coerced the region of Thessaly into acknowledging him as the leader of the Corinthian League. Then during a meeting of league members at Thermopylae, Alexander elicited their acceptance of his leadership. By the fall of 336, he reissued treaties with the Greek city-states that belonged to the Corinthian League—with Athens still refusing membership—and was granted full military power in the campaign against the Persian Empire. But, before preparing for war with Persia, Alexander first conquered the Thracian Triballians in 335, securing Macedonia's northern borders.
As Alexander was nearing the end of his northern campaign, he was delivered the news that Thebes, a Greek city-state, had forced out the Macedonian troops that were garrisoned there. Fearing a revolt among the other city-states, Alexander leapt into action, marching his massive army—consisting of 3,000 cavalry and 30,000 infantry—southward all the way to the tip of the Greek peninsula. Meanwhile, Alexander's general, Parmenion, had already made his way to Asia Minor.
Alexander and his forces arrived in Thebes so quickly that the city-state didn't have a chance to pull together allies for its defense. Three days after his arrival, Alexander led the massacre of Thebes. It was Alexander's hope that the destruction of Thebes would serve as a warning to city-states contemplating revolt. His intimidation tactic proved effective; the other Greek city-states, including Athens, chose to pledge their alliance to the Macedonian Empire or opted to remain neutral.
In 334, Alexander embarked on his Asiatic expedition, arriving in Troy that spring. Alexander then faced Persian King Darius III's army near the Grancius River; Darius' forces were swiftly defeated. By fall, Alexander and his army had made it across the southern coast of Asia Minor to Gordium, where they took the winter to rest. In the summer of 333, the troops of Alexander and Darius once again went head to head in battle at Issus. Although Alexander's army was outnumbered, he used his flair for military strategy to create formations that defeated the Persians again and caused Darius to flee. In November of 333, Alexander declared himself the king of Persia after capturing Darius and making him a fugitive.
Next up on Alexander's agenda was his campaign to conquer Egypt.After besieging Gaza on his way to Egypt, Alexander easily achieved his conquest; Egypt fell without resistance. In 331, he created the city of Alexandria, designed as a hub for Greek culture and commerce. Later that year, Alexander defeated the Persians at the Battle of Gaugamela. With the collapse of the Persian Army, Alexander became "King of Babylon, King of Asia, King of the Four Quarters of the World."
Alexander's next conquest was eastern Iran,where he created Macedonian colonies and in 327 seized the fortress in Ariamazes. After capturing Prince Oxyartes, Alexander married the prince's daughter, Rhoxana.
In 328, Alexander defeated King Porus' armies in northern India. Finding himself impressed by Porus, Alexander reinstated him as king and won his loyalty and forgiveness. Alexander forged eastward to the Ganges but headed back when his armies refused to advance any farther. On their way back along the Indus, Alexander was wounded by Malli warriors.
In 325, after Alexander had recovered, he and his army headed north along the rugged Persian Gulf, where many fell prey to illness, injury and death. In February 324, Alexander at last reached the city of Susa. Desperate to retain his leadership and recruit more soldiers, he tried to connect Persian nobles to Macedonians in order to create a ruling class. To this end, at Susa he commanded that a large number of Macedonians marry Persian princesses. After Alexander managed to recruit tens of thousands of Persian soldiers into his army, he dismissed many of his existing Macedonian soldiers. This enraged the soldiers, who spoke critically of Alexander's new troops and condemned him for adopting Persian customs and manners. Alexander appeased the Macedonian soldiers by killing 13 Persian military leaders. The Thanksgiving Feast at Susa, which had been geared towards solidifying the bond between Persians and Macedonians, shaped up to be quite the opposite.
While considering the conquests of Carthage and Rome, Alexander the Great died of malaria in Babylon, Persia (now Iran), on June 13, 323 B.C. He was just 32 years old. Rhoxana gave birth to his son a few months later.
After Alexander died, his empire collapsed and the nations within it battled for power. Over time, the cultures of Greece and the Orient synthesized and thrived as a side effect of Alexander's Empire, becoming part of his legacy and spreading the spirit of Panhellenism.
- NAME: Alexander I of Yugoslavia
- OCCUPATION: General, King
- BIRTH DATE: December 16, 1888
- DEATH DATE: October 09, 1934
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Cetinje, Montenegro
- PLACE OF DEATH: Marseille, France
Alexander I was born on December 16, 1888 in Cetinje, Montenegro. He was king of Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia kingdoms in addition to Yugoslavia. He struggled to create a united state out of his politically and ethnically divided collection of nations. In the process, he created a police state that required military support for survival. Alexander was assassinated by Croatian separatists in 1934.
- NAME: Alexander I of Serbia
- OCCUPATION: King
- BIRTH DATE: August 14, 1876
- DEATH DATE: June 11, 1903
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Belgrade, Serbia
- PLACE OF DEATH: Belgrade, Serbia
- Full Name: Aleksandar Obrenovi?
Alexander ascended the Serbian throne after his father's abdication. He alienated supporters through authoritarian moves and suspension of the constitution. In 1900, he married a woman 10 years his senior of dubious reputation and his cabinet resigned in protest. His reign ended in a coup d'état in 1903 when military conspirators invaded the royal palace and murdered Alexander and his court.
- NAME: Albert, Duke of Prussia
- OCCUPATION: Political Leader, Duke
- BIRTH DATE: May 17, 1490
- DEATH DATE: March 20, 1568
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Ansbach, Germany
- PLACE OF DEATH: Tapiau, Germany
Albert, duke of Prussia, was born on May 17, 1490, in Ansbach, Germany. In 1510 Albert was named grand master of the Teutonic Order and thus lord of East Prussia. In 1523 the religious reformer Martin Luther advised Albert to dissolve the Teutonic Order. In the 1530s the Holy Roman emperor Charles V placed Albert under the ban of the empire. In his later years, Albert's reign became marred by violent disputes.
- NAME: Zayed bin Sultan al-Shaykh Nahayan
- OCCUPATION: World Leader, Prince
- BIRTH DATE: c. 1918
- DEATH DATE: November 02, 2004
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
- PLACE OF DEATH: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan was the son of the ruler of Abu Dhabi and raised as a nomadic Bedouin. He took over the country when his brother was deposed in a bloodless coup in 1969. After the formation of the United Arab Emirates, Zayed was made president of its Supreme Council, holding that position until his death in 2004.President of the United Arab Emirates (1971- ), raised as a desert nomad. He was governor of the province of Abu Dhabi, one of seven Trucial States on the S shores of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, which were under British protection, until in 1969 he deposed his brother, Sheikh Shakhbut, and became emir. When the States decided to federate as the United Arab Emirates in 1971, he became president of its Supreme Council, and was re-elected in 1986, 1991, 1996, and 2001 by the Federal Supreme Council, which consists of the seven emirate rulers.
- NAME: Yangdi
- OCCUPATION: Emperor
- BIRTH DATE: c. 1569
- DEATH DATE: c. 1618
- PLACE OF BIRTH: China
- PLACE OF DEATH: China
It is generally agreed that Yangdi took the throne after assassinating his father and his elder brother. He built great canals but also spent lavish amounts on royal palaces and ornamentation. He strengthened China's northern border by rebuilding the Great Wall separating China from Inner Asia and extended the Chinese empire south to present-day Vietnam and north into Inner Asia.
- NAME: Wudi
- OCCUPATION: Military Leader, Emperor
- BIRTH DATE: c. 1156 BCE
- DEATH DATE: 1987 BCE
- PLACE OF BIRTH: China
- PLACE OF DEATH: China
- AKA: Wu-ti
Wudi began his reign in BC 141, and he committed his realm to the expansion of the empire. By 101, Wudi's troops had extended Chinese control in all directions. Southern China and northern and central Vietnam were incorporated, and northern and central Korea were reconquered and again administered by imperial governors. Wudi is also known for making Confucianism the state orthodoxy.
- NAME: Titus
- OCCUPATION: Military Leader, Political Leader, Emperor
- BIRTH DATE: c. December 30, 39
- DEATH DATE: c. September 13, 81
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Rome
- PLACE OF DEATH: Rome
- Full Name: Titus Vespasianus Augustus
Titus was a born in Rome in the year 39 A. The elder son of Vespasian, he was a well-respected military commander before replacing his father as Roman Emperor. He served Rome for just two years (79–81), before dying of a fever. His works while in office included completing the Colosseum, responding to the Mount Vesuvius eruption of 79 and taking care of his people after a fire in Rome in 80.
- NAME: Tiberius
- OCCUPATION: Military Leader, Emperor
- BIRTH DATE: 42 BCE
- DEATH DATE: March 16, 37
- PLACE OF DEATH: Capreae [Capri], near Naples
Tiberius was born on November 16, 42 B.C.E., in Rome and became the adopted son of future emperor Augustus. After Tiberius became emperor himself, he established the concept of ruler as god and improved the Roman economy, though his erratic behavior made him unpopular with citizenry and the senate. Involved in murderous conspiracies related to the throne, Tiberius retired to Capri in his later years.
- NAME: Theodosius II
- OCCUPATION: Emperor
- BIRTH DATE: April 10, 401
- DEATH DATE: July 28, 450
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey), Turkey
- Originally: Theodosius
Theodosius was born in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) on April 10, 401. Constantinople was the seat of the Eastern Roman Empire (also known as the Byzantine Empire) and Theodosius's father, Arcadius, was its emperor. In 402, Theodosius was named co-emperor with Arcadius, becoming Theodosius II. Following Arcadius's death in 408, Theodosius became nominal leader of the empire.
As Theodosius was a child when he became sole emperor, a prefect, Anthemius, was truly in charge at the beginning of his reign. At this time, Theodosius was in the care of a eunuch who oversaw his education. Anthemius ruled well, with endeavors that included building a land wall to protect Constantinople from invaders—though, as Theodosius was emperor when the wall was constructed, Theodosius received credit for the accomplishment.
In 414, Theodosius's 16-year-old sister, Pulcheria, took over the regency and began supervising Theodosius's education. After the regency ended, Pulcheria, whose vow of perpetual virginity had helped her sidestep limitations on women, still retained a great deal of influence over Theodosius. When the emperor was 20, Pulcheria even selected a wife, Eudocia, for him.
Accomplishments during Theodosius's reign include the founding of the University of Constantinople and the creation of the Theodosian Code, which was published in 438 and codified all Roman laws that had been put into effect since 312. Theodosius also supported the claim of his young cousin, Valentinian III, to the throne of the Western Roman Empire. (One of Theodosius's daughters, Eudoxia, would go on to marry Valentinian.)
In foreign affairs, Theodosius forged a long-lasting peace treaty with Persia. However, and despite attempts at appeasement, Theodosius was not able to stop Attila the Hun's attacks in his territory. Theodosius was forced to pay a sizeable tribute to the Huns, a draining financial commitment for the empire.
Theodosius's reign saw both successes and failures, but Theodosius may not deserve sole credit, nor full blame, for them, as he was often swayed by others. In addition to Pulcheria, who remained an influential member of Theodosius's court for much of her brother's reign, a eunuch, Chrysaphius, gained power in the 440s. Chrysaphius supplanted Pulcheria as Theodosius's closest adviser until shortly before Theodosius's death.
Theodosius was 49 years old when he died on July 28, 450, after falling from his horse in a hunting accident. With no sons, Theodosius named a senator, Marcian, as his heir. Marcian then entered into a chaste marriage with Pulcheria.Theodosius may have been prey to the influence of others, but he still managed to become the longest-reigning Roman emperor. At a time when the Western Roman Empire's territory was breaking apart, the Eastern Roman Empire held together during Theodosius's reign.
- NAME: Haile Selassie I
- OCCUPATION: Emperor
- BIRTH DATE: July 23, 1892
- DEATH DATE: August 27, 1975
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Harar, Ethiopia
- PLACE OF DEATH: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Haile Selassie I was Ethiopia's 225th and last emperor, serving from 1930 until his overthrow by the Marxist dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1974. The longtime ruler traced his line back to Menelik I, who was credited with being the child of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.
He was born in a mud hut in Ejersa Gora on July 23, 1892. Originally named Lij Tafari Makonnen, he was the only surviving and legitimate son of Ras Makonnen, the governor of Harar.
Among his father's important allies was his cousin, Emperor Menelik II, who did not have a male heir to succeed him. Tafari seemed like a possible candidate when, following his father's death in 1906, he was taken under the wing of Menelik.
In 1913, however, after the passing of Menelik II, it was the emperor's grandson, Lij Yasu, not Tafari, who was appointed as emperor. But Yasu, who maintained a close association with Islam, never gained favor with Ethiopia's majority Christian population. As a result Tafari became the face of the opposition, and in 1916 he took power from Lij Yasu and imprisoned him for life. The following year Menelik II's daughter, Zauditu, became empress, and Tafari was named regent and heir apparent to the throne.
For a country trying to gain its foothold in the young century and curry favor with the West, the progressive Tafari came to symbolize the hopes and dreams of Ethiopia's younger population. In 1923 he led Ethiopia into the League of Nations. The following year, he traveled to Europe, becoming the first Ethiopian ruler to go abroad.
His power only grew. In 1928 he appointed himself king, and two years later, after the death of Zauditu, he was made emperor and assumed the name Haile Selassie ("Might of the Trinity").
Over the next four decades, Haile Selassie presided over a country and government that was an expression of his personal authority. His reforms greatly strengthened schools and the police, and he instituted a new constitution and centralized his own power.
In 1936 he was forced into exile after Italy invaded Ethiopia. Haile Selassie became the face of the resistance as he went before the League of Nations in Geneva for assistance, and eventually secured the help of the British in reclaiming his country and reinstituting his powers as emperor in 1941.
Haile Selassie again moved to try to modernize his country. In the face of a wave of anti-colonialism sweeping across Africa, he granted a new constitution in 1955, one that outlined equal rights for his citizens under the law, but conversely did nothing to diminish Haile Selassie's own powers.
By the early 1970s famine, ever-worsening unemployment and increasing frustration with the government's inability to respond to the country's problems began to undermine Haile Selassie's rule.
In February 1974 mutinies broke out in the army over low pay,while a secessionist guerrilla war in Eritrea furthered his problems. Haile Selassie was eventually ousted from power in a coup and kept under house arrest in his palace until his death in 1975.
Reports initially circulated claiming that he had died of natural causes, but later evidence revealed that he had probably been strangled to death on the orders of the new government.
In 1992 Haile Selassie's remains were discovered, buried under a toilet in the Imperial Palace. In November 2000 the late emperor received a proper burial when his body was laid to rest in Addis Ababa's Trinity Cathedral.
- NAME: Peter III
- OCCUPATION: Emperor
- BIRTH DATE: February 21, 1728
- DEATH DATE: July 17, 1762
- Did You Know?: Peter III tried to impose democratic and capitalistic reforms on 18th century Russia.
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Kiel, Germany
- PLACE OF DEATH: Ropsha, Russia
Peter III was born Karl Peter Ulrich on February 21, 1728, in Kiel, in the duchy of Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany. The only son of Anna Petrovna and Charles Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, he was the grandson of two emperors, Peter the Great of Russia and Charles XII of Sweden. Karl's parents died when he was young, and he was placed in the care of tutors and officials at the Holstein court, who groomed him for the Swedish throne.
Karl was cruelly raised by his mentors and punished for being a poor student. Though he showed interest in the arts, he failed nearly every academic subject. He loved military parades and dreamed of being a world-famous military warrior. At age 14, he was brought to Russia by his aunt Elizabeth when she became empress, renamed Pyotr Fyodorovich, and proclaimed heir to the throne. Peter resented living in Russia and often complained the Russian people would never accept him.
On August 21, 1745, Peter married Sophie Frederica Auguste, a princess from Anhalt-Zerbst in Saxony, who took the name Catherine. The marriage, politically arranged by Peter's aunt, was a disaster from the start. Catherine was a young woman of prodigious intellect, while Peter was a child in a man's body. They had one son, Paul, the future emperor, and a daughter, Anna, who died before she was 2. Later, Catherine alleged that Paul was not Peter's son and that she and Peter had never consummated their marriage. During their 16 years together, Catherine and Peter took numerous lovers.
It is believed Empress Elizabeth shielded Peter from government affairs, possibly because she suspected he was mentally incapable. He hated being in Russia. His allegiance was toward his homeland and Prussia. He didn't care about Russia's people and hated the Orthodox Church. Nonetheless, Peter succeeded Elizabeth when she died on December 25, 1761. Much of what has been known about Peter III was drawn from his wife's memoirs, which depict him as an idiot and a drunkard, prone to brutal practical jokes and interested only in playing soldier.
Once on the throne, Peter III reversed his aunt's foreign policy, withdrew Russia from the Seven Years War and struck an alliance with Prussia, Russia's enemy. He set out to wage war against Denmark and gain back his native land of Holstein. The move was seen as a betrayal of Russian war sacrifices and alienated him politically among the military and powerful court cliques. While historically Peter's actions have been viewed as treasonous, recent scholarship has suggested they may have been part of a pragmatic plan to expand Russia's influence westward. Peter III also instituted many domestic reforms that today seem democratic, including proclaiming religious freedom, abolishing the secret police and outlawing the killing of serfs by their landowners. He established the first state bank in Russia and encouraged mercantilism by increasing grain exports and placing embargos on materials that could be found in Russia.
There is wide speculation as to Peter III's demise. Traditionally,it has been believed that he had alienated the Orthodox Church and much of the nobility with his reforms, and that because his personality and policies were seen as so bizarre and unpredictable, these factions went to Catherine for help and plotted against him. But recent scholarship points to Catherine as the mastermind of a conspiracy to rid herself of her husband because she thought he was going to divorce her. On June 28, 1762, Peter III was arrested and forced to abdicate. He was taken to Ropsha, outside St. Petersburg, where he was supposedly assassinated on July 17, though this has never been confirmed, and some evidence shows he might have committed suicide.
- NAME: Nero
- OCCUPATION: Theater Actor, Musician, Political Leader, Emperor, Poet
- BIRTH DATE: December 15, 37
- DEATH DATE: June 09, 68
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Antium, Italy
- PLACE OF DEATH: Rome, Italy
Nero was born as Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, the son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina, who was the great-granddaughter of the emperor Augustus. He was educated in the classical tradition by the philosopher Seneca and studied Greek, philosophy and rhetoric.
After Ahenobarbus died in 48 A.D., Agrippina married her uncle, the emperor Claudius. She persuaded him to name Nero as his successor rather than his own son, Britannicus, and to offer his daughter, Octavia, as Nero’s wife, which he did in 50 A.D.
Claudius died in 54 A.D., and it is widely suspected that Agrippina had Claudius poisoned. Nero presented himself to the Senate to deliver a eulogy in Claudius’s honor and was named Emperor of Rome. He took the name Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, and ascended to the throne at the age of 17.
Agrippina was domineering and attempted to influence her son’s rule. She was angered by the more moderate advice of Nero’s advisors, his former tutor Seneca and the commander of the Praetorian Guard, Burrus.
Agrippina also tried to assert her authority in Nero’s private life. When Nero began an affair with Claudia Acte, a former slave, and threatened to divorce Octavia, Agrippina advocated for Octavia and demanded that her son dismiss Acte. Although he and Octavia remained married, Nero began living openly with Acte as his wife in spite of his mother’s protests.
After Nero spurned his mother’s influence in both public and private affairs, she was infuriated. She began championing Britannicus, then still a minor, as emperor. However, Britannicus died suddenly in 55, the day before he was to be proclaimed an adult. It is widely assumed that Nero poisoned Britannicus, although Nero claimed that he died from a seizure. Even after Britannicus had died, Agrippina tried to agitate the public against Nero, and Nero banished her from the family palace.
By 58, Nero had dismissed Acte and fallen for Poppaea Sabina, a noblewoman who was married to a member of the Roman aristocracy. He wanted to marry her, but public opinion did not look favorably upon a divorce from Octavia and his mother staunchly opposed it. Fed up with his mother’s interference and no longer content with her removal from the palace, Nero took matters into his own hands. Agrippina was murdered in 59 at Nero’s command.
Until the year 59, Nero was described as a generous and reasonable leader. He eliminated capital punishment, lowered taxes and allowed slaves to bring complaints against their masters. He supported the arts and athletics above gladiator entertainment and gave aid to other cities in crisis. Although he was known for his nighttime frolicking, his actions were good-natured, if irresponsible and self-indulgent.
But after Agrippina’s murder, Nero descended into a hedonic lifestyle that was marked not just by lavish self-indulgence but tyranny. He spent exorbitant amounts of money on artistic pursuits and around 59 A.D., began to give public performances as a poet and lyre player, a significant breach of etiquette for a member of the ruling class.
When Burrus died and Seneca retired in the year 62, Nero divorced Octavia and had her killed, then married Poppaea. Around this time accusations of treason against Nero and the Senate began to surface, and Nero began to react harshly to any form of perceived disloyalty or criticism. One army commander was executed for badmouthing him at a party; another politician was exiled for writing a book that made negative remarks about the Senate. Other rivals were executed in the ensuing years, allowing Nero to reduce opposition and consolidate his power.
By 64, the scandalous nature of Nero’s artistic antics may have begun to cause controversy, but the public’s attention was diverted by the Great Fire. The fire began in stores at the southeastern end of the Circus Maximus and ravaged Rome for 10 days, decimating 75 percent of the city. Although accidental fires were common at the time, many Romans believed Nero started the fire to make room for his planned villa, the Domus Aurea. Whether or not Nero started the fire, he determined that a guilty party must be found, and he pointed the finger at the Christians, still a new and underground religion. With this accusation, persecution and torture of the Christians began in Rome.
After the Great Fire, Nero resumed plans for the Domus Aurea. In order to finance this project, Nero needed money and set about to get it however he pleased. He sold positions in public office to the highest bidder, increased taxes and took money from the temples. He devalued currency and reinstituted policies to confiscate property in cases of suspected treason.
These new policies resulted in the Pisonian conspiracy, a plot formed in 65 by Gaius Calpurnius Piso, an aristocrat, along with knights, senators, poets and Nero's former mentor, Seneca. They planned to assassinate Nero and crown Piso the ruler of Rome. The plan was discovered, however, and the leading conspirators, as well as many other wealthy Romans, were executed.
Just three years later, in March 68, the governor Gaius Julius Vindex rebelled against Nero's tax policies. He recruited another governor, Servius Sulpicius Galba, to join him and to declare himself emperor. While these forces were defeated and Galba was declared a public enemy, support for him increased, despite his categorization as a public enemy. Even Nero’s own bodyguards defected in support of Galba.
Fearing that his demise was imminent, Nero fled. He planned to head east, where many provinces were still loyal to him, but had to abandon the plan after his officers refused to obey him. He returned to his palace, but his guards and friends had left. He ultimately received word that the Senate had condemned him to death by beating and so he decided to commit suicide. Unable to carry out the deed by himself, however, his secretary, Epaphroditos, assisted him. As he died, Nero was said to have exclaimed, ‘What an artist dies in me!' He was the last of the Julio-Claudian emperors.
- NAME: Napoleon III
- OCCUPATION: Military Leader, Emperor
- BIRTH DATE: April 20, 1808
- DEATH DATE: January 09, 1873
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Paris, France
- PLACE OF DEATH: Chislehurst, London, England, United Kingdom
- AKA: Louis-Napoleon
- AKA: Napoleon III
- Originally: Charles-Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte
Born on April 20, 1808, in Paris, France, Charles-Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte was the third son of Napoleon I's brother, Louis Bonaparte, and his wife, Hortense de Beauharnais Bonaparte. Louis Bonaparte served as king of Holland from 1806 to 1810, and Hortense de Beauharnais Bonaparte was the stepdaughter of Napoleon I. Louis-Napoleon's parents had been made king and queen of French-controlled Holland by Napoleon I, but after Napoleon I's deposition in 1815, all members of the Bonaparte dynasty were forced into exile.
Louis-Napoleon grew up in Switzerland, living with his mother, who instilled in him a longing for France and an abiding admiration of the genius of Napoleon I.
When he was a young man, Louis-Napoleon settled in Italy, where he became interested in history and ideas of national liberty, with thoughts of regaining the Napoleonic Empire beginning to burn in the back of his mind. He and his elder brother, Napoleon Louis, began espousing liberal politics and joined the Carbonari, a revolutionist group fighting papal and Austrian control over Northern Italy. The brothers fled in March 1831, when troops began cracking down on revolutionary activity. Suffering from measles, Napoleon Louis died in his brother's arms during their escape; Louis-Napoleon was saved from the troops only by his mother's intervention.
After the death in 1832 of his cousin, the Duke of Reichstadt (Napoleon I's only son), Louis-Napoleon considered himself, following the law of succession established by Napoleon I when he was emperor, next in line for the French throne, and he completed his military training and studied economic and social issues in preparation. In 1832, he published the first of his own writings on political and military subjects, asserting in his tract "Rveries politiques" that only an emperor could give France the glory and liberty it deserved. The pamphlet was the start of Louis-Napoleon's effort to get his name widely known, spread his ideas and recruit followers.
Louis-Napoleon returned to France in October 1836 with an attempt to imitate Napoleon I's Hundred Days, in which Napoleon I escaped his Elba exile and briefly retook France from Louis XVIII. For Louis-Napoleon's effort, he initiated a Bonapartist coup at Strasbourg, calling on the local garrison to help him restore the Napoleonic Empire. Instead of joining him, the local troops arrested him. King Louis-Philippe exiled Louis-Napoleon to the United States, but he was recalled to Switzerland in early 1837 due to his mother's final illness. Expelled from Switzerland the following year, he settled in England.
In 1839, Louis-Napoleon published the booklet "Des idées napoléoniennes," in which he tried to transform Bonapartism, to this point essentially an object of reminiscence or romantic legend, into a political ideology. In his booklet, the Napoleonic ideal was put forth as a "social and industrial one, humanitarian and encouraging trade" that would "reconcile order and freedom, the rights of the people and the principles of authority." Louis-Napoleon saw it as his mission to return France to its earlier, Napoleonic, state with his ideals as its new backbone.
With this in mind, Louis-Napoleon again (secretly) returned to France in August 1840, sailing with 50 hired soldiers to Boulogne-Sur-Mer, and attempted yet another coup. The town's garrison, yet again, did not join Louis-Napoleon's efforts, and he was arrested. This time, however, Louis-Napoleon was not exiled, but was brought to trial and sentenced to "permanent confinement in a fortress." Confined in the town of Ham (in a castle), he again embarked on studying to prepare himself for his eventual imperial role. He also corresponded with members of the brewing French opposition and published articles in opposition newspapers, writing several more brochures.
In May 1846, Louis-Napoleon finally escaped and fled to England, where he waited for another chance to seize power. Just two months later, in July 1846, his father died, officially making Louis-Napoleon the clear heir to the Bonaparte legacy in France.
Louis-Napoleon lived in the United Kingdom until the Revolution began, in February 1848, and a new republic was established. He was then free to return to France, which he did immediately, but was sent right back to England by the provisional government because he was seen by many as a distraction to the settlement of a new government. Some of Louis-Napoleon's supporters, however, organized a small Bonapartist party and nominated him as their candidate for the Constituent Assembly, which was being brought together to draft a new constitution.
Louis-Napoleon won a seat and, in mid-1848, yet again returned to France, where he quickly began hatching a plan to run for the presidency. Because the Bonaparte name carried obvious weight in France, Louis-Napoleon captivated the voters as he evoked Napoleonic memories of national glory, promising to bring back those days with his administration. He also managed to succeed in promoting himself to literally every group of the population by promising to ensure the advancement of their particular interests, depicting himself as "all things to all men."
When the constitution of the Second Republic was finalized and elections for the presidency were held in December 1848, Louis-Napoleon won a surprising landslide victory, taking nearly 75 percent of the vote.
According to the new constitution of 1848, Louis-Napoleon's term would end in May 1852. The constitution also prohibited elected officials from running for a second term. Thusly, Louis-Napoleon, in the third year of his four-year mandate, sought an amendment to allow him to serve a second term as president, arguing that one term was not enough to implement his political and economic programs.
Despite his convictions, the National Assembly, fearful that longer terms would lead to abuse of the presidential office and power, refused to consider amending the constitution. Louis-Napoleon subsequently began touring the country in an attempt to garner popular appeal for himself, his policies, and the idea that his presidential term should be extended beyond four years. Despite his widespread appeal, the Assembly's opinion would not be swayed, so, on December 2, 1851, Louis-Napoleon seized dictatorial powers, claiming the right to do so as a referendum on his universal popularity.
Louis-Napoleon then dissolved the Assembly and declared a new constitution, which was soon approved by a plebiscite. He held another plebiscite in November 1852 and was confirmed as emperor, becoming Napoleon III, and thereby officially ending the Second Republic and ushering in the Second French Empire.
Although one of Napoleon III's points of strategy was to always be ahead of public opinion, and he took great pains to study and influence it by means of propaganda, he also did, in fact, implement plans to appeal to virtually every segment of the populace. Napoleon III vowed "to take the initiative to do everything useful for the prosperity and the greatness of France," a vague goal to be sure, but he promoted public works, the construction of railroads, and other means of furthering industry and agriculture. He also took a personal interest in the rebuilding of modern Paris and was a ardent supporter of French inventors. Additionally, he ensured a lower price for bread, promoted the construction of sanitary housing for workers, and established boards of arbitration.
As he did on the domestic front, Napoleon III hit the ground running on foreign affairs, and he ended up dabbling in policy that would touch every corner of the globe. His overarching goal was to make France a great power once again by breaking up the European system created by the Congress of Vienna of 1815, which had also humiliated the French a great deal. Stating that the "successes of armies were only temporary" and that it was, as he had always contended, "public opinion which always gained the final victory," he planned to effect change in the region with "noble ideas," the principle of nationality being of utmost importance.
The Crimean War (1854-56) offered Napoleon III a chance to form a long-sought alliance with Great Britain, culminating with a successful effort in stopping Russian expansion toward the Mediterranean. More important in the end, the defeat of Russia and the alliance with England gave France increased influence in Europe, and the Paris Peace Conference of 1856 represented a high-water mark for the emperor in foreign affairs, as the ideas he set out in "Des idées napoléoniennes" came to fruition.Internally, however, a deterioration in the economy caused unrest among the middle and working classes, who joined the Catholics to become a steadily growing oppositional force. Napoleon III put forth many concessions (freedom of coalition, freedom of assembly, liberalization of the press laws), but they were hampered by too many reservations and came too late, and by the 1869 elections, he realized that change in France, at his expense, was inevitable.
Napoleon III saw France's dominance in Europe eroded by Prussia's decisive victory over Austria in the Austro-Prussian War during the summer of 1866, and in 1870, when goaded by the actions of Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarck, Napoleon III began the Franco-Prussian War (also called the Franco-German War).
The war was an unmitigated disaster for France and for Napoleon III personally, and it was instrumental in the creation of the German Empire, which would replace France as the major land power on the European continent until the end of World War I. During the Battle of Sedan in July 1870, Napoleon III was captured by the Germans. He was deposed two days later, and the Third Republic of France was declared.
Released by the Germans in 1871, Napoleon III moved to England, where he would spend his final years. He continued to write, and even thought of returning to France to regain his throne. Less than three years after his release by Germany, Napoleon III underwent an operation to extract bladder stones. He died shortly thereafter, on January 9, 1873, in Chislehurst, London, England.
