Portal:Monarchy

Wiglaf (died 839) was King of Mercia from 827 to 829 and again from 830 until his death in 839. His ancestry is uncertain: the 820s were a period of dynastic conflict within Mercia and the genealogy of several of the kings of this time is unknown. Wigstan, his grandson, was later recorded as a descendant of Penda of Mercia, so it is possible that Wiglaf was descended from Penda, one of the most powerful seventh-century kings of Mercia.

Wiglaf succeeded Ludeca, who was killed campaigning against East Anglia. His first reign coincided with the continued rise of the rival Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex under Ecgberht. Ecgberht drove Wiglaf from the throne in 829, and ruled Mercia directly for a year. Wiglaf recovered the kingdom in 830, probably by force, although it may be that Wiglaf remained subject to Ecgberht's overlordship. Mercia never regained the south-eastern kingdoms, but Berkshire and perhaps Essex came back into Mercian control. The causes of the fluctuating fortunes of Mercia and Wessex are a matter of speculation, but it may be that Carolingian support influenced both Ecgberht's ascendancy and the subsequent Mercian recovery. Although Wiglaf appeared to have restored Mercia's independence, the recovery was short-lived, and later in the century Mercia was divided between Wessex and the Vikings. (Full article...)

Princess Beatrice (Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore; 14 April 1857 – 26 October 1944), later Princess Henry of Battenberg, was the fifth daughter and youngest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Beatrice was also the last of Queen Victoria's children to die, nearly 66 years after the first, her elder sister Alice.

Beatrice's childhood coincided with Queen Victoria's grief following the death of her husband on 14 December 1861. As her elder sisters married and left their mother, the Queen came to rely on the company of her youngest daughter, whom she called "Baby" for most of her childhood. Beatrice was brought up to stay with her mother always and she soon resigned herself to her fate. The Queen was so set against her youngest daughter marrying that she refused to discuss the possibility. Nevertheless, many suitors were put forward, including Louis Napoléon, Prince Imperial, the son of the exiled Emperor Napoleon III of France, and Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse, the widower of Beatrice's older sister Alice. She was attracted to the Prince Imperial and there was talk of a possible marriage, but he was killed in the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879. (Full article...)

George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 1738 – 29 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Great Britain and Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, with George as its king. He was concurrently Duke and Prince-elector of Hanover in the Holy Roman Empire before becoming King of Hanover on 12 October 1814. He was the first monarch of the House of Hanover who was born in Great Britain, spoke English as his first language, and never visited Hanover.

George was born during the reign of his paternal grandfather, King George II, as the first son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. Following his father's death in 1751, Prince George became heir apparent and Prince of Wales. He succeeded to the throne on George II's death in 1760. The following year, he married Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, with whom he had 15 children. George III's life and reign were marked by a series of military conflicts involving his kingdoms, much of the rest of Europe, and places farther afield in Africa, the Americas and Asia. Early in his reign, Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years' War, becoming the dominant European power in North America and India. However, Britain lost 13 of its North American colonies in the American War of Independence. Further wars against revolutionary and Napoleonic France from 1793 concluded in the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. In 1807, the transatlantic slave trade was banned from the British Empire. (Full article...)

Hurra-yi Khuttali (Persian: حره ختلی; fl. 1006 c. 1006 – c. 1040) was a princess from the Ghaznavid dynasty and the daughter of Sabuktigin, ruler of Ghazna (now in Afghanistan). She was married to two Maʽmunid rulers of the Khwarazm region, Abu al-Hasan Ali and, after his death, his brother Maʽmun II. It is not known if she had any children with either of her husbands. Her marriages were a direct cause of the annexation of Khwarazm by her brother, Mahmud of Ghazni. In 1030, upon Mahmud's death, she wrote a letter to her favourite nephew, Masʽud, urging him to claim the throne from his brother, Muhammad. After receiving her missive, Masʽud quickly marched to Ghazna and usurped the throne. Hurra's letter is considered the most prominent political act of a woman during the Ghaznavid era. She is last mentioned in 1040, leaving Ghazna for India; her ultimate fate is unknown. (Full article...)

Æthelwold (/ˈæθəlwoʊld/) or Æthelwald (died 13 December 902) was the younger of two known sons of Æthelred I, King of Wessex from 865 to 871. Æthelwold and his brother Æthelhelm were still infants when their father the king died while fighting a Danish Viking invasion. The throne passed to the king's younger brother (Æthelwold's uncle) Alfred the Great, who carried on the war against the Vikings and won a crucial victory at the Battle of Edington in 878.

After Alfred's death in 899, Æthelwold disputed the throne with Alfred's son, Edward the Elder. As senior ætheling (prince of the royal dynasty eligible for kingship), Æthelwold had a strong claim to the throne. He attempted to raise an army to support his claim, but was unable to get sufficient support to meet Edward in battle and fled to Viking-controlled Northumbria, where he was accepted as king. In 901 or 902 he sailed with a fleet to Essex, where he was also accepted as king. (Full article...)

Henry I (c. 1068 – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in 1087, Henry's elder brothers Robert Curthose and William Rufus inherited Normandy and England, respectively, thereby leaving Henry landless. He subsequently purchased the County of Cotentin in western Normandy from Robert, but his brothers deposed him in 1091. He gradually rebuilt his power base in the Cotentin and allied himself with William Rufus against Robert.

Present in England with his brother William when William died in a hunting accident, Henry seized the English throne, promising at his coronation to correct many of William's less popular policies. He married Matilda of Scotland and they had two surviving children, Empress Matilda and William Adelin. Robert, disputed Henry's control of England and invaded from Normandy in 1101. The ensuing military campaign ended in a negotiated settlement that confirmed Henry as king. The peace was short-lived, however, and Henry invaded the Duchy of Normandy in 1105 and 1106, finally defeating Robert at the Battle of Tinchebray. Henry kept Robert imprisoned for the rest of his life. Henry's control of Normandy was subsequently challenged by Louis VI of France, Baldwin VII of Flanders and Fulk V of Anjou, who promoted the rival claims of Robert's son, William Clito, and supported a major rebellion in the Duchy between 1116 and 1119. Following Henry's victory at the Battle of Brémule, a favourable peace settlement was agreed with Louis in 1120. (Full article...)

Ranavalona III (Malagasy pronunciation: [ranaˈvalːə̥]; 22 November 1861 – 23 May 1917) was the last sovereign of the Kingdom of Madagascar. She ruled from 30 July 1883 to 28 February 1897 in a reign marked by ultimately futile efforts to resist the colonial designs of the government of France. As a young woman, she was selected from among several Andriana qualified to succeed Queen Ranavalona II upon her death. Like both preceding queens, Ranavalona entered a political marriage with a member of the Hova elite named Rainilaiarivony, who largely oversaw the day-to-day governance of the kingdom and managed its foreign affairs in his role as prime minister. Ranavalona tried to stave off colonization by strengthening trade and diplomatic relations with foreign powers throughout her reign, but French attacks on coastal port towns and an assault on the capital city of Antananarivo led to the capture of the royal palace in 1895, ending the sovereignty and political autonomy of the centuries-old kingdom.

Ranavalona and her court were initially permitted to remain as symbolic figureheads, but the outbreak of a popular resistance movement called the menalamba rebellion, and the discovery of anti-French political intrigues at court, led the French to exile her to the island of Réunion in 1897. Rainilaiarivony died that same year, and Ranavalona was relocated to a villa in Algiers, along with several members of her family. The queen, her family, and the servants accompanying her were provided an allowance and enjoyed a comfortable standard of living, including occasional trips to Paris for shopping and sightseeing. Ranavalona was never permitted to return home to Madagascar, however, despite her repeated requests. She died of an embolism at her villa in Algiers in 1917 at age 55. Her remains were buried in Algiers but were disinterred 21 years later and shipped to Madagascar, where they were placed within the tomb of Queen Rasoherina on the grounds of the Rova of Antananarivo. (Full article...)

Princess Charlotte of Wales (Charlotte Augusta; 7 January 1796 – 6 November 1817) was the only child of George, Prince of Wales (later George IV), and Caroline of Brunswick. She was expected to ascend the British throne after the deaths of her grandfather, George III, and her father, but died in childbirth at the age of 21, predeceasing them both.

Charlotte's parents disliked each other from before their arranged marriage and soon separated. The Prince of Wales left most of Charlotte's care to governesses and servants, only allowing her limited contact with her mother, who eventually left the country. As Charlotte grew to adulthood, her father pressured her to marry William, Hereditary Prince of Orange (later King of the Netherlands). After initially accepting him, Charlotte soon broke off the intended match. This resulted in an extended contest of wills between her and her father, who finally permitted her to marry Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (later King of the Belgians). After a year-and-a-half of happy marriage, Charlotte died after giving birth to a stillborn son. (Full article...)

Neferefre Isi (also known as Raneferef, Ranefer and in Greek as Χέρης, Cherês; c. 2480 BC - c. 2458 BC) was an ancient Egyptian king of the Fifth Dynasty during the Old Kingdom period. He was the eldest son of king Neferirkare Kakai and queen Khentkaus II. He was known as prince Ranefer before he ascended to the throne.

Neferefre started a pyramid for himself in the royal necropolis of Abusir called Netjeribau Raneferef, which means "The bas of Neferefre are divine". The pyramid was never finished, with a mason's inscription showing that works on the stone structure were abandoned during or shortly after the king's second year of reign. Together with the sparsity of attestations contemporaneous with his reign, this is taken by Egyptologists as evidence that Neferefre died unexpectedly after two to three years on the throne. Neferefre was nonetheless buried in his pyramid, hastily completed in the form of a mastaba by his second successor and presumably younger brother, king Nyuserre Ini. Fragments of his mummy were uncovered there, showing that he died in his early twenties. (Full article...)

Ine or Ini (died in or after 726) was King of Wessex from 689 to 726. At Ine's accession, his kingdom dominated much of what is now southern England. However, he was unable to retain the territorial gains of his predecessor, Cædwalla of Wessex, who had expanded West Saxon territory substantially. By the end of Ine's reign, the kingdoms of Kent, Sussex, and Essex were no longer under West Saxon sway; however, Ine maintained control of what is now Hampshire, and consolidated and extended Wessex's territory in the western peninsula.

Ine is noted for his code of laws (Ines asetnessa or "laws of Ine"), which he issued in about 694. These laws were the first issued by an Anglo-Saxon king outside Kent. They shed much light on the history of Anglo-Saxon society, and reveal Ine's Christian convictions. Trade increased significantly during Ine's reign, with the town of Hamwic (now Southampton) becoming prominent. It was probably during Ine's reign that the West Saxons began to mint coins, though none have been found that bear his name. (Full article...)

Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Franz August Karl Albert Emanuel; 26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the husband of Queen Victoria. As such, he was consort of the British monarch from their marriage on 10 February 1840 until his death in 1861. Victoria granted him the title Prince Consort in 1857.

Albert was born in the Saxon duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld to a family connected to many of Europe's ruling monarchs. At the age of 20, he married Victoria, his first cousin, with whom he had nine children. Initially, he felt constrained by his role as consort, which did not afford him power or responsibilities. He gradually developed a reputation for supporting public causes, such as educational reform and the abolition of slavery worldwide, and he was entrusted with running the Queen's household, office and estates. He was heavily involved with the organisation of the Great Exhibition of 1851, which was a resounding success. (Full article...)

Abu Ali Salih ibn Mirdas (Arabic: ابو علي صالح بن مرداس, romanized: Abū ʿAlī Ṣāliḥ ibn Mirdās), also known by his laqab (honorific epithet) Asad al-Dawla ('Lion of the State'), was the founder of the Mirdasid dynasty and emir of Aleppo from 1025 until his death in May 1029. At its peak, his emirate (principality) encompassed much of the western Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia), northern Syria and several central Syrian towns. With occasional interruption, Salih's descendants ruled Aleppo for the next five decades.

Salih launched his career in 1008, when he seized the Euphrates river fortress of al-Rahba. In 1012, he was imprisoned and tortured by the emir of Aleppo, Mansur ibn Lu'lu'. Two years later he escaped, capturing Mansur in battle and releasing him for numerous concessions, including half of Aleppo's revenues. This cemented Salih as the paramount emir of his tribe, the Banu Kilab, many of whose chieftains had died in Mansur's dungeons. With his Bedouin warriors, Salih captured a string of fortresses along the Euphrates, including Manbij and Raqqa, by 1022. He later formed an alliance with the Banu Kalb and Banu Tayy tribes and supported their struggle against the Fatimids of Egypt. During this tribal rebellion, Salih annexed the central Syrian towns of Homs, Baalbek and Sidon, before conquering Fatimid-held Aleppo in 1025, bringing "to success the plan which guided his [Banu Kilab] forebears for a century", according to historian Thierry Bianquis. (Full article...)

Prince George of Denmark and Norway, Duke of Cumberland (Danish: Jørgen; 2 April 1653 – 28 October 1708), was the husband of Anne, Queen of Great Britain. He was the consort of the British monarch from Anne's accession on 8 March 1702 until his death in 1708.

The marriage of George and Anne was arranged in the early 1680s with a view to developing an Anglo-Danish alliance to contain Dutch maritime power. As a result, George was disliked by his Dutch brother-in-law, William III, Prince of Orange, who was married to Anne's elder sister, Mary. Anne and Mary's father, the British ruler James II and VII, was deposed in the Glorious Revolution in 1688, and William and Mary succeeded him as joint monarchs with Anne as heir presumptive. The new monarchs granted George the title of Duke of Cumberland. (Full article...)

Abū ʾl-Qāsim al-Faḍl ibn al-Muqtadir (Arabic: أبو القاسم الفضل بن المقتدر; 913/14 – September/October 974), better known by his regnal name of al-Mutīʿ li-ʾllāh (Arabic: المطيع لله, lit. 'Obedient to God'), was the Abbasid caliph in Baghdad from 946 to 974, ruling under the tutelage of the Buyid emirs.

Al-Muti's reign represented the nadir of the Abbasid caliphate's power and authority. In previous decades, the secular authority of the caliphs had shrunk to Iraq, and even there had been curtailed by powerful warlords; with the Buyid conquest of Baghdad, it was now abolished entirely. Al-Muti' was raised to the throne by the Buyids and was effectively reduced to a rubber-stamp figurehead, albeit with some vestiges of authority over judicial and religious appointments in Iraq. The very fact of his subordination and powerlessness helped restore some stability to the caliphal institution: in stark contrast to his short-lived and violently deposed predecessors, al-Muti' enjoyed a long and relatively unchallenged tenure, and was able to hand over the throne to his son al-Ta'i'. (Full article...)

Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ismail (Arabic: أبو عبد الله محمد بن إسماعيل الرابع), also known as Muhammad IV (14 April 1315 – 25 August 1333), was the ruler of the Emirate of Granada on the Iberian Peninsula from 1325 to 1333. He was the sixth Sultan of the Nasrid dynasty, succeeding to the throne at ten years old when his father, Ismail I (r. 1314–1325), was assassinated.

The initial years of his reign were marked by conflict among his ministers, who vied for control of the young sultan's government. This escalated into a civil war between the party of the vizier Muhammad ibn al-Mahruq and that of the powerful commander of the Volunteers of the Faith, Uthman ibn Abi al-Ula. Uthman declared Muhammad's uncle, Muhammad ibn Faraj, as a rival sultan and secured support from Alfonso XI of Castile (r. 1312–1350), Granada's Christian neighbour to the north. Muhammad IV requested help from Abu Said Uthman II (r. 1310–1331) of the Marinid Sultanate in Morocco and gave him territories in the Iberian Peninsula, including Ronda, Marbella, and Algeciras, probably in exchange for Marinid troops. The civil war ended in 1328 when Muhammad, who despite his youth had begun taking a more active role in government, reconciled with Uthman ibn Abi al-Ula, and ordered Ibn al-Mahruq assassinated; the pretender Muhammad ibn Faraj was sent to North Africa. In 1329 he appointed his childhood tutor Abu Nuaym Ridwan as the hajib (chamberlain), outranking his other ministers; this was the first time the title appeared in the Emirate of Granada. (Full article...)

Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria (Bulgarian: Иван Шишман) ruled as emperor (tsar) of Bulgaria in Tarnovo from 1371 to 3 June 1395. The authority of Ivan Shishman was limited to the central parts of the Bulgarian Empire.

In the wake of the death of Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria, the Bulgarian Empire was subdivided into three kingdoms among his sons, with Ivan Shishman taking the Tаrnovo Kingdom situated in central Bulgaria and his half brother Ivan Sratsimir of Bulgaria holding the Vidin Tsardom. Although his struggle to repel the Ottomans differentiated him from the other rulers on the Balkans like the Serbian despot Stephan Lazarevic who became a loyal vassal to the Ottomans and paid annual tribute and participated in all of the Ottoman campaigns subsequent to the battle of Kosovo, contributing a 5000 strong contingent of christian knights. Although Ivan Shishman has been categorized as indecisive and inconsistent in his policy in the past, this was done with little regard for an understanding of the context of the conditions and limited resources that this ruler had at his disposal. It is notable that Ivan Shishman is the only Balkan ruler for whom there is no evidence of tribute paid to the Ottoman empire or any military aid provided. Based on historical evidence and the numerous folk songs of the region glorifying his struggle against the Ottoman invaders, the image of Ivan Shishman is one of fierce and concerted resistance to the Ottoman incursions. (Full article...)

Vardanes I was a king of the Parthian Empire from 40 to 46 AD. He was the heir apparent of his father Artabanus II (r. 12–40), but had to continually fight against his brother Gotarzes II, a rival claimant to the throne. Vardanes' short reign ended when he was assassinated while hunting at the instigation of a party of Parthian nobles . (Full article...)

Malik Hasan Bahri (died 1486) or Nizam-ul-Mulk Bahri was a noble of the Bahmani Sultanate in India who served as the prime minister from 1481 until his murder in 1486. He was the father of Malik Ahmad Nizam Shah I, founder of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate, one of the secessionist kingdoms from the Bahmani Sultanate, and its ruling dynasty's primogenitor.

Originally a Hindu Brahmin, he was taken captive by Bahmani forces in the 1420s and converted to Islam. He entered the service of the sultanate as a military slave and was given further education. In 1471, he led the conquest of forts of the Gajapati Empire after he had been sent to influence a succession conflict in the state, and was given governorship over the Bahmani province of Telangana. As the leader of the Deccani faction in the conflict between them and those not native to South Asia, he helped plot the execution of Mahmud Gawan in 1481, the foreign prime minister at the time and Malik Hasan's predecessor. He then adopted the role, and in 1482 became the sole regent of Mahmood Shah, where throughout his ministership he had effective control of the state. In 1486, he was killed amidst continual internal strife. (Full article...)

Ladislaus I (Hungarian: I. László, Croatian: Ladislav I., Slovak: Ladislav I., Polish: Władysław I; c. 1040 – 29 July 1095), also known as Saint Ladislas, was King of Hungary from 1077 and King of Croatia from 1091. He was the second son of King Béla I of Hungary and Richeza (or Adelaide) of Poland. After Béla's death in 1063, Ladislaus and his elder brother, Géza, acknowledged their cousin Solomon as the lawful king in exchange for receiving their father's former duchy, which included one-third of the kingdom. They cooperated with Solomon for the next decade. Ladislaus's most popular legend, which narrates his fight with a "Cuman" (a Turkic nomad marauder) who abducted a Hungarian girl, is connected to this period. The brothers' relationship with Solomon deteriorated in the early 1070s, and they rebelled against him. Géza was proclaimed king in 1074, but Solomon maintained control of the western regions of his kingdom. During Géza's reign, Ladislaus was his brother's most influential adviser.

Géza died in 1077, and his supporters made Ladislaus king. Solomon resisted Ladislaus with assistance from King Henry IV of Germany. Ladislaus supported Henry IV's opponents during the Investiture Controversy. In 1081, Solomon abdicated and acknowledged Ladislaus's reign, but he conspired to regain the royal crown, and Ladislaus imprisoned him. Ladislaus canonized the first Hungarian saints (including his distant relatives, King Stephen I and Duke Emeric) in 1085. He set Solomon free during the canonization ceremony. (Full article...)

Aaron (Church Slavonic: А҆арѡ́нъ; Bulgarian: Аарон; Ancient Greek: Ἀαρών) was a younger son of the last Tsar of the First Bulgarian Empire, Ivan Vladislav (r. 1015–1018). After the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria he entered Byzantine service along with his brothers, and held a series of higher military commands in the eastern provinces of the Byzantine Empire during the 1040s and 1050s, rising from patrikios to protoproedros in the process. In this capacity, he fought in the first battles against the invading Seljuq Turks, and unsuccessfully opposed the uprising of his brother-in-law Isaac I Komnenos in 1057. The Aaronios noble family was named after him, and included his descendants, as well as the descendants of his siblings. (Full article...)

The Gordian dynasty, sometimes known as the Gordianic dynasty, was short-lived, ruling the Roman Empire from 238 to 244 AD. The dynasty achieved the throne in 238 AD, after Gordian I and his son Gordian II rose up against Emperor Maximinus Thrax and were proclaimed co-emperors by the Roman Senate. Gordian II was killed by the governor of Numidia, Capelianus and Gordian I killed himself shortly after, only 22 days after he was declared emperor. In 238, Pupienus and Balbinus, who were not of the Gordian dynasty, were declared co-emperors but the Senate was forced to make Gordian III a third co-emperor in 238, due to the demands of the Roman people. Maximinus attempted to invade Italy but he was killed by his own soldiers when his army became frustrated. After this, the Praetorian Guard killed Pupienus and Balbinus, leaving Gordian III as the sole emperor. Gordian III ruled until AD 244 when he was either killed after his betrayal by Philip the Arab, or killed at the Battle of Misiche; with his death, the dynasty was ended and Philip the Arab became emperor. (Full article...)

Zoltán (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈzoltaːn]; c. 880 or 903 – c. 950), also Zolta, Zsolt, Solt or Zaltas is mentioned in the Gesta Hungarorum as the third Grand Prince of the Hungarians who succeeded his father Árpád around 907. Although modern historians tend to deny this report on his reign, because other chronicles do not list him among the Hungarian rulers, there is consensus that even if Zoltán never ascended the throne, all monarchs ruling in Hungary from the House of Árpád after around 955 were descended from him. (Full article...)

Princess Kaʻiulani (Hawaiian pronunciation: [kəʔiu'lɐni]; Victoria Kawēkiu Kaʻiulani Lunalilo Kalaninuiahilapalapa Cleghorn; October 16, 1875 – March 6, 1899) was a Hawaiian royal, the only child of Princess Miriam Likelike, and the last heir apparent to the throne of the Hawaiian Kingdom. She was the niece of King Kalākaua and Queen Liliʻuokalani. After the death of her mother, Kaʻiulani was sent to Europe at age 13 to complete her education under the guardianship of British businessman and Hawaiian sugar investor Theo H. Davies. She had not yet reached her eighteenth birthday when the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom altered her life. The Committee of Safety rejected proposals from both her father Archibald Scott Cleghorn, and provisional president Sanford B. Dole, to seat Kaʻiulani on the throne, conditional upon the abdication of Liliʻuokalani. The Queen thought the Kingdom's best chance at justice was to relinquish her power temporarily to the United States.

Davies and Kaʻiulani visited the United States to urge the Kingdom's restoration; she made speeches and public appearances denouncing the overthrow of her government and the injustice toward her people. While in Washington, D.C. she paid an informal visit to President Grover Cleveland and First Lady Frances Cleveland, but her efforts were in vain. The situation put both Kaʻiulani and her father in dire financial straits. Her annual government stipend ceased, and her father's income as a government employee came to an end. Father and daughter spent the years 1893–1897 drifting among the European aristocracy, relatives and family friends in England, Wales, Scotland and Paris, before finally returning to Hawaii. (Full article...)

Ulpia Severina was Roman empress as the wife of Roman emperor Aurelian from c. 270 to 275. Severina is unmentioned in surviving literary sources and known only from coinage and inscriptions, and as a result, very little is known about her. Her nomen Ulpia suggests that she may have been related either to Emperor Trajan (r. 98–117) or the usurper Laelianus (r. 269), as they share the same nomen, and perhaps from Dacia, where the name was common. It is not known when she married Aurelian, but it might have been before he became emperor. She was probably proclaimed Augusta in the autumn of 274.

Aurelian was murdered in September/October 275 and his successor, Tacitus, was proclaimed emperor only after a brief interregnum, lasting somewhere between five and eleven weeks. Though coins of Severina were minted under Aurelian from 274 to 275, some historians speculatively assign certain unusual types of coins to this brief interregnum period and suggest that Severina either effectively briefly ruled the empire in her own right, or that there was confusion in regards to Aurelian's successor until Tacitus became emperor, and coin mints thus chose to mint coins in Severina's name. Given that no literary source discusses Severina, any interpretation of the unusual coins remains speculation. (Full article...)

Teriitaria II or Teri'itari'a II, later known as Pōmare Vahine and Ari'ipaea Vahine, baptized Taaroamaiturai (c. 1790 – 1858), became Queen consort of Tahiti when she married King Pōmare II and later, she ruled as Queen of Huahine and Maiao in the Society Islands.

Teriitaria was the eldest child of King Tamatoa III of Raiatea and Tura’iari’i Ehevahine, a member of the royal family of Huahine. In 1809, Tamatoa arranged for the marriage of Teriitaria and her sister, Teriʻitoʻoterai Teremoemoe, to their widowed second cousin, Pōmare II of Tahiti. Teriitaria became Queen of Huahine in 1815, but did not govern it during the first decades of her rule. In 1815, she fought in the Battle of Te Feipī, which consolidated her husband's rule. Teriitaria had no children with Pōmare II, but Pōmare fathered the next two Tahitian monarchs, Pōmare III (r. 1821–1827) and Pōmare IV (r. 1827–1877), by Teremoemoe. Pōmare II died in 1821, and Teriitaria and Teremoemoe served as regents for Pōmare III and (after his death in 1827) Pōmare IV. (Full article...)

Isaac Komnenos or Comnenus (Greek: Ἰσαάκιος Κομνηνός, Isaakios Komnēnos; c. 1050 – 1102/1104) was a notable Byzantine aristocrat and military commander in the 1070s. Isaac played a major role in the rise to the throne of his younger brother, the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r. 1081–1118), and remained a leading figure in his brother's administration until his death.

Isaac was born to the highest aristocracy of mid-11th century Byzantium, a position reinforced through marriage ties to the imperial Doukas dynasty. Well educated and brave, in 1073–1078 Isaac occupied two of the highest military positions in the Byzantine Empire, as Domestic of the Schools and doux of Antioch. His military record against the Seljuk Turks was not particularly distinguished, but on his return to Constantinople in 1078 he gained the favour of Emperor Nikephoros III Botaneiates, and of Empress Maria of Alania. Isaac and Alexios used imperial favour to further their own designs on the throne, launching a revolt in early 1081 that saw Alexios crowned emperor. As a reward, Alexios created the title of sebastokrator for Isaac, which put him almost on par with the emperor. During Alexios' reign and until his death, Isaac played an important role in domestic affairs in matters of public order and justice, being called to examine several cases of conspiracy or heretical teachings. (Full article...)

The Hongxi Emperor (16 August 1378 – 29 May 1425), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Renzong of Ming, personal name Zhu Gaochi, was the fourth emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1424 to 1425. He was the eldest son of the Yongle Emperor and Empress Renxiaowen and the grandson of both the Hongwu Emperor and Xu Da, Prince of Zhongshan. He ascended the throne after the death of his father, but his reign lasted less than a year.

Zhu Gaochi's father, Zhu Di, was the fourth son of the Hongwu Emperor. After the death of the Hongwu Emperor, Zhu Di emerged victorious in a civil war against the Jianwen Emperor and became the Yongle Emperor in 1402. He prioritized providing his eldest son with a comprehensive education based on Confucian principles. During his father's military campaigns, Zhu Gaochi served as a regent in either Nanjing or Beijing. (Full article...)

Leszek of Masovia (Polish: Leszek, also Lestek; b. ca. 1162 - d. 1186) was a Polish prince from the Piast dynasty, the Duke of Masovia from 1173 until his death. He was the only son of Bolesław IV the Curly, Duke of Masovia and High Prince of Poland, to survive his father. After his father's death he inherited Masovia. At the beginning, Leszek ruled under the guardianship of his uncle Casimir II the Just. He was a man of poor health. For a short time he supported his other uncle, Mieszko III the Old, but later decided to reconcile with Casimir II, who after Leszek's death inherited his duchy. (Full article...)

Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine (Elisabeth Marie Alice Viktoria; 11 March 1895 – 16 November 1903) was a German Hessian and Rhenish child princess, the only daughter of Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, and his first wife, Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She was named after her paternal great-grandmother, Princess Elisabeth of Prussia. Her paternal aunt had the same name, and both the young princess and her aunt were nicknamed Ella.

Elisabeth’s early death was rumored to be a result of poison meant for her uncle Emperor Nicholas II, but the court physician said she died of virulent typhoid fever, probably caused by her taking a drink of water from a contaminated stream. (Full article...)

Kaloyan or Kalojan, also known as Ivan I, Ioannitsa or Johannitsa (Bulgarian: Калоян, Йоаница; c. 1170 – October 1207), the Roman Slayer, was emperor or tsar of Bulgaria from 1196 to 1207. He was the younger brother of Theodor and Asen, who led the anti-Byzantine uprising of the Bulgarians and Vlachs in 1185. The uprising ended with the restoration of Bulgaria as an independent state. He spent a few years as a hostage in Constantinople in the late 1180s. Theodor, crowned Emperor Peter II, made him his co-ruler after Asen was murdered in 1196. A year later, Peter was also murdered, and Kaloyan became the sole ruler of Bulgaria.

After the successful siege of Varna in 1201 against the Byzantine Empire, the defenders and governors of the city were tied and thrown into the moat of the fortress walls and covered with dirt by the Bulgarians. After they were buried alive in this way, Kaloyan declared himself a Bulgarian avenger, adopting the moniker "the Romanslayer" by analogy with the emperor Basil II the Bulgar Slayer, who blinded an entire Bulgarian army of 15,000 people. (Full article...)