Greatest monarchs of all time

[LovelyKate]

Originally Posted by An Ard Ri

Louis XII was known as 'father of his people',his daughter Claude would have made a good monarch had it not been for the Salic Law,instead she went onto become a much loved Queen Consort.

Yes, you're right. And your answer makes me think that François Ier wasn't a bad king! Even if because of him and his wars, France had to pay a lot (and french people had to suffer, again!).

[Ultramare]

Well, there´s my list:

Saint Louis X of France: No commentaries...
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor: A great monarch who ruled a huge empire and defeated almost every monarch of his time... Fantastic.
Phillip II of Spain: Other so GREAT empire... He reunited all the Iberia...
Charlemagne: No explanations...

[MightyMan]

If you widen the scope to the world rather than Europe then I would add Hussein of Jordan for his attempts at Arab peace and unity, Liliuokalani of Hawaii for her dignity in adversity and maintenance of Hawaiian culture, Salote of Tonga for her raising of her country's profile and Rama V of Thailand for the great reforms and modernisation of his country.
Richard

[sancakli70]

two ottoman sultans Fatih sultan Mehmed the emperor of constantinopolis and Sulaiman the greatest he makes on his time the ottman empire the biggest empire of the world

[Asif Jah]

HH.Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan can also be added to the list of great rulers. He is the one who played a major role in uniting seven emirates which is what we call today as UAE after the British decided to leave the Trucial States.

[XeniaCasaraghi]

I forgot about Henry II

I also wouldn't put Elizabeth II on my list, I feel a great monarch has to do something great or historical; not just live for a long time. Queen Victoria is famous and memorable but again I don't think she did anything great. The only British monarch I could possibly see as being great is George VI and that's quite a stretch.

[Ludwig Eisenberg]

My list of favorite monarchs are....

Saint Louis IX of France
Saint Ferdinand III of Castile
Saint Stephen I of Hungary
Saint Ladislaus I of Hungary
Saint Wenceslaus I of Bohemia
Saint Leopold III Babenberg of Austria
Leopold V Babenberg of Austria (The Virtuous)
Leopold VI Babenberg of Austria (The Glorious)
Friedrich I, Holy Roman Emperor (Barbarossa)
Saint II Heinrich, Holy Roman Emperor
Albert I Ascanian of Brandenburg (The Bear)
Ludwig II Ludowingian of Thuringia (The Iron)
Ludwig I Ludowingian of Thuringia (The Springer)
Philip II of France
Saint Olaf II of Norway
Sigurd I Magnusson of Norway (The Crusader)
Haakon IV Haakonsson of Norway (The Old)
Jan III Sobieski of Poland-Lithuania
Saint Alfred of Wessex (The Great)
Richard I of England (The Lionheart)
Ivan IV Vasilyevich of Russia (The Terrible)
Otto I Ascanian of Brandenburg
Waldemar I Ascanian of Brandenburg (The Great)
Saint Charlemagne
Friedrich II Hohenzollern of Prussia (The Great)
Henry IV of France
Casimir III of Poland (The Great)
Saint Casimir of Poland-Lithuania
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor (The Great)
David I of Israel

I think my list ist far too long. But I hope I've made my point. There truly are great Monarchs in history and many of these we do not appreciate. It ist only now, in the days when they're gone that we must suffer the rule of lesser people. Each of these people - so beloved as they were - left such a mark on history that at the hour of their deaths, the world became poorer for it. The most people can only expect now is that they can choose some politician who can rival the greatness of kings, however extremely unlikely that ist, for as Alcuin of York once stated,"do not listen to those who keep saying, 'The voice of the people is the voice of God.' because the tumult of the crowd is always close to madness.'"

And in light of the madness of these past few centuries, the Monarchist can either be an optimistic hopeful or a devastated pessimist. It ist not enough to simply feel something for these people, but to act on their legacies that stands us apart from this awful modern age, where Morality is a dream or the subject of fairy tales. As a monarchist, I believe it is my duty - perhaps all of our duties - to ensure that the sacrifices of our ancestors are not in vain.

Side Note:

I would like to state that I had an interest in adding several Wittelbachs, Roman Emperors, Greek Kings, Byzantine Basilius and Persian Monarchs to my list, but that would be over-kill.

God bless you reader und thank you for taking the time to read about a common nobody's little set of words.

[CSENYC]

I'd say Elizabeth II is one, as she is what a great monarch these days should be: a respected head of state who respects the monarch's subjects enough to stay out of political affairs and lets them govern themselves.

I'd say that some of the Habsburg rulers were great reformers who let their country proceed towards becoming a democracy, so some of them would also count.

I'd say that King Michael of Romania and Tsar Boris of Bulgaria, both still living, are also two of the best, as they've served their countries selflessly without being repaid much of anything in return.

[NGalitzine]

Originally Posted by CSENYC

I'd say Elizabeth II is one, as she is what a great monarch these days should be: a respected head of state who respects the monarch's subjects enough to stay out of political affairs and lets them govern themselves.

I'd say that some of the Habsburg rulers were great reformers who let their country proceed towards becoming a democracy, so some of them would also count.

I'd say that King Michael of Romania and Tsar Boris of Bulgaria, both still living, are also two of the best, as they've served their countries selflessly without being repaid much of anything in return.

Actually Tsar Boris died during WWII under what some still consider mysterious circumstances.

[CSENYC]

Oops, you're right.

Tsar Simeon of Bulgaria is one of the best.

[An Ard Ri]

Originally Posted by LovelyKate

Yes, you're right. And your answer makes me think that François Ier wasn't a bad king! Even if because of him and his wars, France had to pay a lot (and french people had to suffer, again!).

François Ier wasn't a bad King but he did leave France almost bankrupt after a series of really pointless wars.His son Henri II reign was quite brief but he left the French finances in a worse state and a divided kingdom,something which his widow,Catherine de Médicis despite all her early efforts at reconciliation was unable to deal with.Catherine's son in law,Henri III of Navarre and IV of France was one of the greatest French Monarchs.

[MartinaM]

Suleiman I - He personally instituted major legislative changes relating to society, education, taxation, and criminal law, he embarked on vast cultural and architectural projects. He was brilliant military strategist and politician and he was a poet as well.

[Princess B]

Isabella of Castile and Leon

King Christian IX of Denmark

Queen Elizabeth I