Charlemagne, The Father of Europe, died in the year 814 and left only one surviving son to take the helm of the Carolingian Empire, which spanned the lion’s share of the European continent. But his heir, Louis the Pious, had three sons, who each got a parcel of the empire when he died. Then those…
Tag: Unhappy Nobles
15. Emperor Paul I of Russia
As the long reign of Catherine the Great wound down, she made moves to ensure the succession of her grandson, Alexander, but those were still incomplete by the time she died. Instead, it was her estranged son Paul who became emperor, and while his reign was not long, it was spiteful and much reviled by…
13. Empress Anna of Russia
It feels safe to say that when Russians recall a leader’s reign as a “dark era,” we’re into some deeply, deeply dark events. Empress Anna, a niece of Peter the (Not So) Great, had survived many humiliations before Russia’s Supreme Privy Council elevated her to Empress; they thought she would be easy to control, but…
06. Isabella of France
The War of the Roses was hardly the first period of civil war in England. In fact, Edward III’s father oversaw such a period long before Eddie III’s kids kicked off a few generations of bloody sibling rivalry. Interestingly for the age, Edward II’s wife, Isabella of France, had a starring role in ending his…