Many people desire to be remembered by history, but these rulers are remembered for the wrong reasons. We're counting down our picks for the Top 10 Evil Kings in History. For this list, the individuals do not necessarily have to have held the title of “King” as we include anything equivalent in power.
10. (john king of England)
Reigning from 1199 to 1216, King John is thought by many historians to be the worst monarch in Britain’s history. And considering how long their history is, that’s saying something. For starters, he betrayed his own brother, who was off fighting in the Crusades at the time, by attempting to seize power while he was gone. Eventually, he became King and prevented any potential uprising; it’s believed he had his own nephew Arthur murdered. John further alienated the English nobles by losing Normandy to France and exiled those he felt suspicious of. To top it off, he frequently forced himself on their wives and immediately broke the agreement of the Magna Carta, beginning the First Barons War.
9. (Chengde, emperor of china)
While his era name may have meant “right virtue,” the Zhengde Emperor was neither right nor virtuous. He became Emperor at age fourteen but had little interest in ruling China. Instead, he invested his time in brothels or his harem, which held so many women that many starved to death due to lack of food. He once ordered his ministers and soldiers to dress up as street vendors so that he could walk through his palace and Playacar being a commoner in the marketplace. Those who refused were punished severely. He reportedly died at the age of 29 after he drunkenly fell into the foul waters of the Grand Canal and came down with a fatal illness.
8.(vlad the impaler,voivode of wallachia)
You have to figure out who inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula wouldn’t be the nicest of guys. Vlad reigned as prince of Wallachia on three separate occasions during the 15th century and demonstrated a marked tendency toward bloodthirstiness. Purging those who plotted against him was only the start. Vlad enjoyed torturing his prisoners, including roasting them alive, skinning them, and removing several body parts before finally killing them. Of course, his favorite method of execution was impalement, with some sources claiming he once had 20,000 corpses impaled outside the capital city. Vlad sought to earn such a reputation for savagery and brutality that enemies would be reluctant to attack him. Yeah, he achieved that goal.
7. (Leopold 2, king of the Belgians)
The second King of the Belgians, Leopold IIearns a spot on this list for his atrocious behavior in the Congo. Although the Congo was not a colony of Belgium, Leopold secured it because he would improve the lives of the native inhabitants. To put it simply, he did not. He forced the natives to harvest rubber, earning him a fortune but leading to the deaths of around 10 million Congo natives. The men were forced to work, and if they refused, their wives and children were mutilated. Reports of extreme human rights abuses eventually led to a huge international scandal, and ultimately, Leopold was forced to surrender the colony.
6. (Herod the Great, king of Judea)
The ancient world had its fair share of terrible rulers, and Herod ranks right near the top of the list. From 37 BC to 4 BC, the King of Judea is perhaps best remembered for the Bible’s account of his attempted murder of Jesus Christ as an infant. The Bible states that Herod tried to achieve this goal by ordering the murder of every boy under two years old in Bethlehem, although some sources claim this may never have actually happened. He had several of his family members murdered, including his wife and sons, and his enormous spending was largely responsible for the debilitating poverty amongst his people. No wonder he needed some 2000 soldiers as bodyguards.
5. (Genghis khan, great khan of the Mongol empire)
The founder of what would become the largest contiguous empire the world has ever seen, Genghis Khan was certainly an effective leader, but he was also extremely ruthless. His army didn’t only crush other armies– it destroyed civilians and children along with the armed soldiers. In fact, some sources claim that over 700,000people were murdered in one massacre alone. He allowed his soldiers to rape women in front of their families and enslaved hundreds of thousands of people. Considered by many to be a genocidal ruler, it’s estimated this his armies killed somewhere between 20 and 60 million people during the his21-year reign.
4. (Nero, emperor of the roman empire)
Although this claim is contested by several historical scholars – as the fiddle wasn’t invented until the 10th century - Nero was no doubt one of the worst emperors in the history of the Roman Empire. He was the man who fiddled while Rome burned. He murdered several members of his own family, including his wife, whom he reportedly kicked to death while she was pregnant, as well as his mother and aunt. Nero also forced his top advisor to commit suicide. He blamed the Great Fire of Rome on Christiansand used them as human torches to light his palace. In fact, his treatment of Christians was so horrific that many Christians believed him to be the Antichrist. He eventually committed suicide, ending an a14-year reign of terror.
3. (Caligula emperor, of the roman empire)
From one Roman emperor to another, the supremely sadistic Caligula actually ruled before Nero and may have provided the blueprint for Nero’swickedness. Believing he was a god, Caligula quickly began murdering people for his own amusement when he became Rome’s third emperor in AD 37. He was rumored to have forced his three sisters to have sex with him and frequently had sex with the wives of his personal bodyguards, whom he made a stand outside the room and listen to. He made it illegal for people to mention the word goat in his presence under the punishment of death and tried to make his horse a Roman consul. As a surprise to no one, his own guards eventually assassinated him.
2(Ivan the terrible, tsar of all the Russias)
When terrible becomes your epithet, you know you’ve done a few bad things during your time. Although considered by many to be an effective ruler, Ivan often fell into fits of uncontrollable rage. One of these fits resulted in the murder of his son, while another resulted in the severe beating of his pregnant daughter-in-law, possibly causing a miscarriage. He also used a mounted police force and gave them absolute power to arrest and execute anyone they desired. Any nobles he disliked he had crushed, going so far as to have one eaten alive by dogs, and he massacred the people of Novgorod (NOVE-Goh-rod)because he distrusted them. Is it any wonder Joseph Stalin considered him to be a great man? Before we unveil our number one pick, here are a few honorable mentions: Nicknamed the Scourge of God.
1(attila the hun, ruler of the Hunnic empire)
Attila was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until 453. He preyed on the Western Roman Empire, sacking cities and slaughtering their inhabitants. He forced towns to pay large sums of gold to prevent him from attacking. Attila particularly enjoyed gruesome forms of execution, often impaling his enemies through the rectum and leaving them to die a slow, painful death. In fact, it is said that the corpses of one massacred city completely clogged up the Danube River for years. After his death, he committed one more act of cruelty by having the men who buried him murdered to keep the location of his coffins secret.
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