Shortest Reigning Monarchs in History

the shortest Royal reigns in history it's not easy at the top and for these monarchs their time at the peak of power was brutally brief from a queen who ruled for three months to a king who reigned for just 20 minutes their rises - and sudden Falls from power were fascinating in order of length from longest to shortest here are seven rulers with some of the fastest reigns known to history don't blink or you'll miss them Berengaria of Castile was Queen for just under three months she was the eldest daughter of King Alfonzo the eighth of Castile and through her mother Eleanor of England was a granddaughter of Eleanor of Aquitaine she inherited much of her grandmother's wit and strong will she married her cousin Alfonzo the 9th of Leon the neighboring Kingdom the pair had five children together but after seven years of marriage the Pope declared their union invalid on the grounds of consanguinity the couple wanted to stay together and offer a large sum of money for a papal dispensation but were refused they were able to secure the legitimacy of their children however Berengaria returned to Castile and raised her children there in 1214 her father died leaving the throne of Castile to his only surviving son 10 year-old Henry the first his wise older sister Berengaria now 35 was heir apparent and acted as his Regent on June 6 1217 the now 13-year old king was killed in a freak accident while playing with other children a tile fell from the roof and struck him in the head Berengar iya was now queen of Castile but she knew that her position as a female monarch was precarious her ex-husband was her biggest threat as he was Henry the first closest living male relative and could claim the throne from her she kept her brother's death a secret and wrote to Alphonso requesting that their eldest son 18 year old Ferdinand come to her for a visit once her son was with her she abdicated the throne of Castile and gave it to him on August 31st by sacrificing her own claim she secured the throne for her child now King Ferdinand the third in 1230 when his father died Ferdinand became king of Leon as well as Castile and United the two kingdoms his mother remained his closest advisor for the rest of her life and lived to the age of 66 Emperor Taichung ruled China for just 29 days and was the shortest reigning monarch of the Ming Dynasty he was born za who Chung lo the eldest son of Emperor Wan Li by a palace servant lady Wang when it was discovered that lady Wang was pregnant by the 20-year old Emperor his mother persuaded him to make the young servant woman a royal concubine but she was never a favorite of the Emperor and her son was ignored by his father one ly openly preferred his younger son Xia Chun seen born to his favorite consort ladies they hung his ministers insisted that he adhere to dynastic tradition and name his eldest son heir and he was finally forced to do so but this didn't end the intrigues a madman armed only with a wooden staff managed to drive away palace guards and inter print strung those private quarters when he was captured and interrogated it was discovered that ladies at home was behind the plot on the heirs life on August 18th 1620 Emperor Wan ly died and ten days later Sahu Charlo was declared Emperor and chose the name tae-chang meaning grand prosperity his reign began promising ly enough he abolished unpopular taxes paid the army and filled many posts left vacant by his father ladies a Hong magnanimous in defeat presented the new emperor with eight maidens ten days into his reign he fell a terribly ill due to excessive sexual indulgence a courtier recommended the Emperor might feel better if he took a potion which ended up bringing on a dangerous bout of diarrhea celebrations for his 38th birthday had to be cancelled another courtier offered tae-chang a red pill which made him feel much better so he took another red pill and was found dead the next morning the death of an emperor who seemed to be in good health within the span of a month since shockwaves through China the case of the red pills and exactly what was in them was a great controversy his father's body it was still lying in state when Tai Chang was laid out too he was succeeded by his son 15 year old Emperor Tian XI Napoleon ii was emperor of france for just 16 days he was the only legitimate son of napoleon bonaparte with his second wife Marie Louise of Austria at his birth his dynastic reminded father named him king of Rome one of his many conquests little Napoleon was just four when his father was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo on June 22nd 1815 the Emperor was forced to abdicate and died imprisoned on the island of st. Helena six years later he never saw his son again upon the Father's abdication the son became Emperor Napoleon ii 16 days later at the French government exhausted from living under Bonaparte rule offer the throne to louis xviii brother of the late king louis xvi who had lost his head in the revolution the deposed child emperor escaped with his mother to the court of her father francis ii holy roman emperor from an early age the young napoleon showed a talent and enthusiasm for the military he dressed in a miniature uniform like his father's and performed maneuvers in the palace the Monarchs of Europe were very nervous about the prospect of another Bonaparte in the military so his Austrian family held him back frustrating the young man but whether or not he might have gone on to reclaim his throne and conquer Europe like his father would never be known he died of pneumonia in 1832 at the age of 21 his claim to the throne of France passed to his cousin Louie Napoleon Bonaparte who in 1852 successfully restored the empire as Napoleon the third pope urban the seventh was pontiff for only 12 days he was born giovanni battista Castagna to a prominent family of genoa he studied at universities across Italy and was considered to have a great intellect he was elected on September 15th 1590 following the death of Pope Sixtus v during his brief time warming the throne of st. Peter he was known for his love of the poor he subsidized Roman Baker's and restricted spending on luxury items for members of his court he also enacted the world's first known smoking ban by threatening to excommunicate anyone who took tobacco inside the church he died of malaria on September 27th at the age of 69 and was replaced by Pope Gregory the fourteenth Jain of England is known as the nine days queen she was the granddaughter of Henry the eighth's younger sister Mary the queen of France her cousin Edward the sixth was Henry the eighth's one-and-only longed-for son he became King at the age of nine but was a sickly boy he was staunchly Protestant and lived in fear that his heir his older sister Mary it would return the country to Catholicism at 15 King Edward fell fatally ill with tuberculosis and he and his council drew up a new succession plan naming his cousin Lady Jane Grey as his heir Jane had an outstanding humanist education and was a dedicated Protestant upon hearing that she would be queen she fainted on July 6 Edward died and on July 10th Jane was declared the second Queen regnant in English history she was brought to the Tower of London to await her coronation but the council scheme to swap out Jane for Mary it was doomed from the start Mary was very popular with the people and they felt they'd been duped Mary easily raised an army marched to London and ended Jane's reign on July 1950 53 the men who had put Jane in this dangerous position saw the writing on the wall and abandoned her to save their own skins her own father arrested her Jane and her husband Dudley were now held prisoner in the Tower of London Mary now Queen recognised that Jane had been a political pawn and did not wish to execute her cousin but when a rebellion in Jane's favour frightened Mary's betrothed philip ii of spain from coming to England Mary signed the death warrant and the sixteen-year-old nine days queen lost her head Louis the 19th of France was king for just 20 minutes he was born Louis Antoine at Versailles in 1775 and was the eldest son of Charles Philippe King Louis the sixteenth youngest brother when Louie Antoine was 14 the French Revolution broke out and he and his family went into exile in Italy Germany and England in 1793 louis xvi met his end by madame guillotine his son Louis Charles was not recognized as king by the Revolutionary Government but in the eyes of Royalists he became King Louie at the 17th tragically he died in prison of illness at the age of 10 two years after his father's death Louis Charles's uncle then proclaimed himself King Louie the eighteenth the now twenty year old Louis Antoine led a Royalist uprising but was defeated he joined the Bavarian army to further fight against his former countrymen who he believed had betrayed his family at 24 he married his first cousin princess Marie to raise the eldest and only surviving child of Louis the sixteenth and Marie Antoinette the couple moved from court to court around Europe along with the King in exile staying with whoever would have them depending on the political climate Napoleon Bonaparte's meteoric rise to power as emperor of france further complicated their position following Napoleon's final defeat at water in 1815 louis xviii was restored to what he considered his rightful place as king of france he ruled for nine years and died childless at the age of 68 his brother Louie Antoine's father was next in line and became King Charles the tenth Louie Antoine now dolphin and heir apparent supported his father's purging of former revolutionaries and supporters of Napoleon this caused outrage and in July 1830 armed demonstrators flooded the streets of Paris to protest the king and his son lemons robbed anyone on August 2nd Charles the tenth was forced to sign abdication papers this made Louis Antoine King Louis the 19th for 20 minutes until he was forced to sign his own abdication he spent his miniscule reign listening to his wife begged him not to sign and his father weeping but sign he did in favor of his cousin now henry v his reign lasted a mere seven days but is usually not counted on August 9th the National Assembly proclaimed their own choice for King Louis Philippe the first and he stuck around for 17 years Louis Antoine Marita raised and the former King Charles the tenth once again hit the road the King of France with the shortest reign of all time died at 69 and is buried in Slovenia honorable mention Luiz Felipe of Portugal was the eldest son and heir of King Carlos the first of Portugal he served as regent while his father was out of the country and was the first member of the Portuguese royal family to visit their colonies in Africa when the prince was 20 negotiations for his marriage to princess Patricia of cannot granddaughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom were under way On February 1st 1908 Luiz Felipe his father mother and younger brother Manuel were returning to Lisbon from a winter hunting trip in the countryside they were travelling in an open carriage when five shots were fired at them by two Republican bassam's King Carlos was killed instantly Luiz Felipe stood and attempted to draw his revolver to return fire but was struck in the chest Prince Manuel was shot in the arm only Queen Amelie escaped physical injury the two assassins were killed on the spot by police and royal bodyguards and an innocent bystander was killed in the confusion the royal carriage raced into the nearby Navy Arsenal where 20 minutes later Prince Louis Philippe succumbed to his wounds had automatic ascension to the throne been the law in Portugal the 20 minutes that elapsed between King Carlos's death and his sons would have made Louis Philippe King Louise the second and one of the shortest reigning monarchs in history instead his brother was declared king Manuel the second a few days later I'd like to draw your attention to a YouTube channel I really enjoy useful charts he has a lot of great videos on european royal family trees that can really help you visualize some of these complicated relationships check out useful charts by clicking the link on the screen or in the description if you enjoyed this video please like subscribe comment your thoughts and check out my other royal history videos if you really want to help please consider supporting me on patreon a link is in the description thank you for watching

Channel: History Tea Time with Lindsay Holiday

Views: 667,277

Keywords: incest, inbreeding, king, queen, prince, princess, history, game of thrones, documentary, royal family, nobility, royalty, sex, medieval, the crown, british history, scandal, feminist, middle ages, bbc history, lady jane grey, 9 days queen, queen jane of England, Luís Filipe of Portugal, carlos ii of portugal, assasination, murder, Pope Urban VII, Emperor Taichang, chinese history, ming dynasty, Berengaria of Castile, spanish history, french revolution, Napoleon II, Louis XIX of France

Id: 4KmJuCF9u_M

Length: 14min 46sec (886 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 28 2020