27 Mentally Unstable Facts About Mad Kings And Queens
History is filled with kings and queens who made their subjects miserable with cruelty, poor governance, and a detachment from reality.
Here are a few things you might not know about these crazy rulers.
27. It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World
Charles VI of France (1380-1422) took power at 21 and things actually went well enough for a decade that he was called “the Beloved.”
But then, at the age of 32, mental illness took hold, he murdered four of his knights and attacked his brother Louis of Orleans and believed he was made of glass and would shatter if touched. He kept suffering from insanity until he went from “
Beloved” to “Mad.”
26. A Crappy Inheritance
Henry VI of England was the grandson of Charles VI and it looks like he may have inherited his grandfather’s mental instability.
Unable to rule properly his entire reign, in 1453, he had a mental breakdown and fell into a vegetative state for over a year, leading to power struggles that led to the War of the Roses. He was eventually overthrown and died in the Tower of London.
25. If the Name Fits
Ivan IV of Russia was known by many as Ivan the Terrible. He was prone to fits of rage and during one such fit, he accidentally killed his own son.
He also established a special force called the oprichniki that terrorized nobility and killed anyone he sawas a threat. He personally led the oprichniki and massacred the city of Novgorod. There’s a reason they didn’t call him Ivan the Pleasant.
23. Quite the Minger
The Zhengde Emperor of China was one of the most notorious rulers of the Ming Dynasty. He would send his military out on pointless missions and often gave orders to an imaginary double called General Zhu Shou.
He put a senior eunuch in charge of affairs of state and, after they fell out five years later, had him executed by being sliced into tiny pieces over three days. Talk about cold cuts.
