The
succession of monarchs has mostly been
hereditary, often building
dynasties. However,
elective and
self-proclaimed monarchies have also often occurred throughout history.
Aristocrats, though not inherent to monarchies, often serve as the pool of persons from which the monarch is chosen, and to fill the constituting institutions (e.g.
diet and
court), giving many monarchies
oligarchic elements.
Monarchs can carry various titles such as
emperor,
empress,
king, and
queen. Monarchies can form
federations,
personal unions and
realms with
vassals through personal association with the monarch, which is a common reason for monarchs carrying several titles.
Featured articles are displayed here, which represent some of the best content on English Wikipedia.
Image 1
Photograph,
c. 1882
Princess Helena (Helena Augusta Victoria; 25 May 1846 – 9 June 1923), later Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, was the third daughter and fifth child of
Queen Victoria and
Prince Albert.
Helena was educated by private tutors chosen by her father and his close friend and adviser,
Baron Stockmar. Her childhood was spent with her parents, travelling between a variety of royal residences in
Britain. The intimate atmosphere of the royal court came to an end on 14 December 1861, when her father died and her mother entered a period of intense mourning. Afterwards, in the early 1860s, Helena began a flirtation with Prince Albert's German librarian,
Carl Ruland. Although the nature of the relationship is largely unknown, Helena's romantic letters to Ruland survive. After her mother discovered the flirtations, in 1863, she dismissed Ruland, who returned to his native
Germany. Three years later, on 5 July 1866, Helena married the impoverished
Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. The couple remained in Britain, in calling distance of the queen, who liked to have her daughters nearby. Helena, along with her youngest sister,
Princess Beatrice, became the queen's unofficial secretary. However, after
Queen Victoria's death on 22 January 1901, Helena saw relatively little of her surviving siblings. (Full article...)
Portrayal of Stephen I on the Hungarian coronation pall (
chasuble) from 1031
Stephen I, also known as King Saint Stephen (
Hungarian: Szent István király[ˌsɛntˈiʃtvaːnkiraːj];
Latin: Sanctus Stephanus;
Slovak: Štefan I. or Štefan Veľký;
c. 975 – 15 August 1038), was the last
Grand Prince of the Hungarians between 997 and 1000 or 1001, and the first
King of Hungary from 1000 or 1001, until his death in 1038. The year of his birth is uncertain, but many details of his life suggest that he was born in, or after, 975, in
Esztergom. He was given the pagan name Vajk at birth, but the date of his baptism is unknown. He was the only son of Grand Prince
Géza and his wife,
Sarolt, who was descended from a prominent family of gyulas. Although both of his parents were baptized, Stephen was the first member of
his family to become a devout Christian. He married
Gisela of Bavaria, a scion of the imperial
Ottonian dynasty.
After succeeding his father in 997, Stephen had to fight for the throne against his relative,
Koppány, who was supported by large numbers of pagan warriors. He defeated Koppány with the assistance of foreign knights including
Vecelin,
Hont and Pázmány, and native lords. He was crowned on 25 December 1000 or 1 January 1001 with a crown sent by
Pope Sylvester II. In a series of wars against semi-independent tribes and chieftains—including the
Black Hungarians and his uncle,
Gyula the Younger—he unified the
Carpathian Basin. He protected the independence of his kingdom by forcing the invading troops of
Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor, to withdraw from Hungary in 1030. (Full article...)
The youngest son of
Louis VIII of France and
Blanche of Castile, Charles was destined for a Church career until the early 1240s. He acquired Provence and Forcalquier through his marriage to their heiress,
Beatrice. His attempts to restore central authority brought him into conflict with his mother-in-law,
Beatrice of Savoy, and the nobility. Charles received Anjou and Maine from his brother,
Louis IX of France, in
appanage. He accompanied Louis during the
Seventh Crusade to
Egypt. Shortly after he returned to Provence in 1250, Charles forced three wealthy autonomous cities—
Marseille,
Arles and
Avignon—to acknowledge his
suzerainty. (Full article...)
Image 5
Gold dinar minted in
Fustat in the name of al-Musta'li, 1099/1100
Although not the eldest (and most likely the youngest) of the sons of Caliph
al-Mustansir Billah, al-Musta'li became caliph through the machinations of his brother-in-law, the
vizieral-Afdal Shahanshah. In response, his oldest brother and most likely candidate for their father's succession,
Nizar, rose in revolt in
Alexandria, but was defeated and executed. This caused a major split in the Isma'ili movement. Many communities, especially in
Persia and
Iraq, split off from the officially sponsored Isma'ili hierarchy and formed their own
Nizari movement, holding Nizar and his descendants as the rightful imams. (Full article...)
Image 6
Æthelflæd (from The Cartulary and Customs of Abingdon Abbey,
c. 1220)
Æthelflæd was born around 870 at the height of the
Viking invasions of
England. By 878, most of England was under Danish Viking rule –
East Anglia and
Northumbria having been conquered, and Mercia partitioned between the English and the Vikings – but in that year Alfred won a crucial victory at the
Battle of Edington. Soon afterwards the English-controlled western half of Mercia came under the rule of
Æthelred, Lord of the Mercians, who accepted Alfred's overlordship. Alfred adopted the title King of the Anglo-Saxons (previously he was titled King of the West Saxons like his predecessors) claiming to rule all Anglo-Saxon people not living in areas under
Viking control. In the mid-880s, Alfred sealed the strategic alliance between the surviving English kingdoms by marrying Æthelflæd to Æthelred. (Full article...)
Thekla (
Greek: Θέκλα; early 820s or 830s – after 870),
Latinized as Thecla, was a princess of the
Amorian dynasty of the
Byzantine Empire. The daughter and eldest child of
Byzantine emperorTheophilos and empress
Theodora, she was proclaimed augusta in the late 830s. After Theophilos's death in 842 and her mother becoming
regent for Thekla's younger brother
Michael III, Thekla was associated with the regime as co-empress alongside Theodora and Michael.
Thekla was deposed by Michael III, possibly alongside her mother, in 856 and consigned to a
convent in
Constantinople. Some time later, she allegedly returned to imperial affairs and became the mistress of Michael III's friend and co-emperor
Basil I. After Basil murdered Michael in 867 and took power as the sole emperor, Thekla was neglected as his mistress and she took another lover, John Neatokometes. Once Basil found out about the affair, Thekla fell out of favor, was beaten and had her property confiscated. (Full article...)
Constantine (
Greek: Κωνσταντῖνος,
translit.Kōnstantīnos; born between 855 and
c. 865, died 3 September 879) was a junior
Byzantine emperor, alongside
Basil I as the senior emperor, from January 868 to 3 September 879. His parentage is a matter of debate, but historians generally assume him to be the son of Emperor Basil I (
r. 867–886) and his first wife
Maria or second wife
Eudokia Ingerina; other theories include him being the son of Emperor
Michael III (
r. 842–867) and Eudokia. Constantine was made co-emperor by Basil in
c. January 868. He was engaged to
Ermengard of Italy, the daughter of
Holy Roman EmperorLouis II, in 870/871, but it is not known if he married her; some sources suggest he did, and others argue that there is no concrete evidence.
Constantine was the intended heir of Basil and as such received much attention from him and accompanied him on military campaigns, including one in
Syria, for which he shared a
triumph. In comparison, his younger brother,
Leo VI (
r. 886–912), was made co-emperor merely to secure the imperial lineage and bolster legitimacy. However, Constantine died of fever on 3 September 879, before his father. After his death, Leo became the primary heir, and another brother,
Alexander (
r. 912–913), was raised to co-emperor. (Full article...)
Born into the
Olkhonud clan of the
Onggirat tribe, Hö'elün was originally married to Chiledu, a
Merkit aristocrat; she was captured shortly after her wedding by
Yesügei, an important member of the
Mongols, who abducted her to be his primary wife. She and Yesügei had four sons and one daughter: Temüjin,
Qasar,
Hachiun,
Temüge, and
Temülen. After Yesügei was fatally poisoned and the Mongols abandoned her family, Hö'elün shepherded all her children through poverty to adulthood—her resilience and organisational skills have been remarked upon by historians. She continued to play an important role after Temüjin's marriage to
Börte—together, the two women managed his camp and provided him with advice. (Full article...)
Nyuserre Ini (also Niuserre Ini or Neuserre Ini; in
Greek known as Rathurês, Ῥαθούρης) was an
Ancient Egyptianpharaoh, the sixth ruler of the
Fifth Dynasty during the
Old Kingdom period. He is credited with a reign of 24 to 35 years depending on the scholar, and likely lived in the second half of the 25th century BCE. Nyuserre was the younger son of
Neferirkare Kakai and queen
Khentkaus II, and the brother of the short-lived king
Neferefre. He may have succeeded his brother directly, as indicated by much later historical sources. Alternatively,
Shepseskare may have reigned between the two as advocated by
Miroslav Verner, albeit only for a few weeks or months at the most. The relation of Shepseskare with Neferefre and Nyuserre remains highly uncertain. Nyuserre was in turn succeeded by
Menkauhor Kaiu, who could have been his nephew and a son of Neferefre.
Nyuserre was the most prolific builder of his dynasty, having built three pyramids
for himself and his queens and completed a further three for his father, mother and brother, all in the necropolis of
Abusir. He built the largest surviving
temple to the sun god
Ra constructed during the Old Kingdom, named Shesepibre or "Joy of the heart of Ra". He also completed the Nekhenre, the
Sun temple of Userkaf in
Abu Gorab, and the valley temple of
Menkaure in Giza. In doing so, he was the first king since
Shepseskaf, last ruler of the
Fourth Dynasty, to pay attention to the
Giza necropolis, a move which may have been an attempt to legitimise his rule following the troubled times surrounding the unexpected death of his brother Neferefre. (Full article...)
Æthelberht was the son of
Eormenric, succeeding him as king, according to the Chronicle. He married
Bertha, the Christian daughter of
Charibert I, king of the
Franks, thus building an alliance with the
most powerful state in contemporary Western Europe; the marriage probably took place before he came to the throne. Bertha's influence may have led to
Pope Gregory I's decision to send
Augustine as a
missionary from Rome. Augustine landed on the
Isle of Thanet in east Kent in 597. Shortly thereafter, Æthelberht converted to Christianity, churches were established, and wider-scale conversion to Christianity began in the kingdom. He provided the new church with land in
Canterbury, thus helping to establish one of the foundation stones of English Christianity. (Full article...)
Image 12
Scarab seal inscribed with "the son of
Ra, Sheshi, given life"
Maaibre Sheshi (also Sheshy) was a ruler of areas of
Egypt during the
Second Intermediate Period. The dynasty, chronological position, duration and extent of his reign are uncertain and subject to ongoing debate. The difficulty of identification is mirrored by problems in determining events from the end of the
Middle Kingdom to the
arrival of the Hyksos in Egypt. Nonetheless, Sheshi is, in terms of the number of artifacts attributed to him, the best-attested king of the period spanning the end of the Middle Kingdom and the Second Intermediate period; roughly from
c. 1800 BC until 1550 BC. Hundreds of
scaraboid seals bearing his name have been found throughout the Levant, Egypt, Nubia, and as far away as Carthage, where some were still in use 1,500 years after his death.
Three competing hypotheses have been put forth for the dynasty to which Sheshi belonged. The first hypothesis is supported by
Egyptologists such as
Nicolas Grimal,
William C. Hayes, and
Donald B. Redford, who believe that he should be identified with
Salitis, founder of the
15th Dynasty according to historical sources and king of the
Hyksos during their invasion of Egypt. Salitis is credited with 19 years of reign and would have lived sometime between c. 1720 BC and 1650 BC. The second hypothesis is supported by Egyptologist
William Ayres Ward and the archaeologist Daphna Ben-Tor, who propose that Sheshi was a Hyksos king and belongs to the second half of the 15th Dynasty, reigning between
Khyan and
Apophis. Alternatively,
Manfred Bietak has proposed that Sheshi was a vassal of the Hyksos, ruling over some part of Egypt or
Canaan. The very existence of such vassals is debated. The final hypothesis says Sheshi could be a ruler of the early
14th Dynasty, a line of kings of Canaanite descent ruling over of the Eastern
Nile Delta immediately before the arrival of the Hyksos. Proponents of this theory, such as
Kim Ryholt and Darrell Baker, credit Sheshi with 40 years of reign starting ca. 1745 BC. (Full article...)
Coming to the throne at age fifteen, he was initially treated as a minor and given only limited power by his ministers and his grandmother
Fatima. In February 1334, his representatives secured a four-year peace treaty with Granada's neighbours
Castile and the
Marinid Sultanate.
Aragon joined in the treaty in May. After gaining more control of the government, in 1338 or 1340 he expelled the Banu Abi al-Ula family, who had masterminded the murder of his brother and had been the leaders of the
Volunteers of the Faith—North African soldiers who fought for Granada. After the treaty expired, he allied himself with
Abu al-Hasan Ali (
r. 1331–1348) of the Marinids against
Alfonso XI of Castile (
r. 1312–1350). After winning a major naval victory in April 1340, the Marinid–Granadan alliance was decisively defeated on 30 October in the disastrous
Battle of Río Salado. In its aftermath, Yusuf was unable to prevent Castile from taking several Granadan castles and towns, including
Alcalá de Benzaide,
Locubín,
Priego and
Benamejí. In 1342–1344, Alfonso XI
besieged the strategic port of Algeciras. Yusuf led his troops in diversionary raids into Castilian territory, and later engaged the besieging army, but the city fell in March 1344. A ten-year peace treaty with Castile followed. (Full article...)
Tiberius III (
Greek: Τιβέριος,
romanized: Tibérios), born Apsimar (
Latin: Apsimarus; Greek: Ἀψίμαρος, romanized: Apsímaros), was
Byzantine emperor from 698 to 705. Little is known about his early life, other than that he was a droungarios, a mid-level commander, who served in the
Cibyrrhaeot Theme. In 696, Tiberius was part of an army sent by Byzantine Emperor
Leontius to retake the North African city of
Carthage, which had been captured by the Arab
Umayyads. After seizing the city, this army was pushed back by Umayyad reinforcements and retreated to the island of
Crete. As they feared the wrath of Leontius, some officers killed their commander, John the Patrician, and declared Tiberius the emperor. Tiberius swiftly gathered a fleet and sailed for
Constantinople, where he then deposed Leontius. Tiberius did not attempt to retake
Byzantine Africa from the Umayyads, but campaigned against them along the eastern border with some success. In 705, former emperor
Justinian II, who had been deposed by Leontius, led an army of
Slavs and
Bulgars from the
First Bulgarian Empire to Constantinople, and after entering the city secretly, deposed Tiberius. Tiberius fled to
Bithynia, but was captured a few months later and beheaded by Justinian between August 705 and February 706. His body was initially thrown into the sea, but was later recovered and buried in a church on the island of
Prote. (Full article...)
Diocletian (/ˌdaɪ.əˈkliːʃən/,
DYE-ə-KLEE-shən;
Latin: Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus,
Ancient Greek: Διοκλητιανός,
romanized: Diokletianós; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was
Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the
Roman province of
Dalmatia. Diocles rose through the ranks of the military early in his career, eventually becoming a
cavalry commander for the army of Emperor
Carus. After the deaths of Carus and his son
Numerian on a campaign in
Persia, Diocles was proclaimed emperor by the troops, taking the name Diocletianus. The title was also claimed by Carus's surviving son,
Carinus, but Diocletian defeated him in the
Battle of the Margus.
Diocletian's reign stabilized the empire and ended the
Crisis of the Third Century. He appointed fellow officer
Maximian as Augustus, co-emperor, in 286. Diocletian reigned in the
Eastern Empire, and Maximian reigned in the
Western Empire. Diocletian delegated further on 1 March 293, appointing
Galerius and
Constantius as junior colleagues (each with the title Caesar), under himself and Maximian respectively. Under the
Tetrarchy, or "rule of four", each tetrarch would rule over a quarter-division of the empire. Diocletian secured the empire's borders and purged it of all threats to his power. He defeated the
Sarmatians and
Carpi during several campaigns between 285 and 299, the
Alamanni in 288, and usurpers in
Egypt between 297 and 298. Galerius, aided by Diocletian, campaigned successfully against
Persia, the empire's traditional enemy, and in 299, he sacked their capital,
Ctesiphon. Diocletian led the subsequent negotiations and achieved a lasting and favorable peace. (Full article...)
These are
Good articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.
Image 1
Yeshe-Ö (
c. 959–1040; spiritual names Jangchub Yeshe-Ö, Byang Chub Ye shes' Od, Lha Bla Ma, Hla Lama Yeshe O, Lalama Yixiwo, also Dharmaraja – 'Noble King') was the first notable
lama-king in
Tibet. Born as Khor-re, he is better known as Lhachen Yeshe-Ö, his spiritual name.
Géza depicted on the lower part, or Corona Graeca, of the
Holy Crown of Hungary with the
Greek inscription ΓΕΩΒΙΤΖΑϹ ΠΙΣΤΟϹ ΚΡΑΛΗϹ ΤΟΥΡΚΙΑϹ ("Géza, faithful king of the
land of the Turks").
Géza I (Hungarian pronunciation:[ˈɡeːzɒ];
Hungarian: I. Géza;
c. 1040 – 25 April 1077) was
King of Hungary from 1074 until his death. He was the eldest son of King
Béla I. His
baptismal name was Magnus. With German assistance, Géza's cousin
Solomon acquired the crown when his father died in 1063, forcing Géza to leave Hungary. Géza returned with Polish reinforcements and signed a treaty with Solomon in early 1064. In the treaty, Géza and his brother
Ladislaus acknowledged the rule of Solomon, who granted them their father's former
duchy, which encompassed one-third of the Kingdom of Hungary.
Géza closely cooperated with Solomon, but their relationship became tense from 1071. The king invaded the duchy in February 1074 and defeated Géza in a battle. However, Géza was victorious at the decisive
battle of Mogyoród on 14 March 1074. He soon acquired the throne, although Solomon maintained his rule in the regions of
Moson and
Pressburg (present-day Bratislava,
Slovakia) for years. Géza initiated peace negotiations with his dethroned cousin in the last months of his life. Géza's sons were children when he died and he was succeeded by his brother Ladislaus. (Full article...)
Image 3
Kaʻiulani in 1897
Kaʻiulani (Hawaiian pronunciation:[kə'ʔi.u.'lɐni]; Victoria Kawēkiu Kaʻiulani Lunalilo Kalaninuiahilapalapa Cleghorn; October 16, 1875 – March 6, 1899) was a Hawaiian royal, the only child of Princess Miriam
Likelike, and the last
heir apparent to the throne of the
Hawaiian Kingdom. She was the niece of King
Kalākaua and Queen
Liliʻuokalani. After the death of her mother, Princess Kaʻiulani was sent to Europe at age 13 to complete her education under the guardianship of British businessman and Hawaiian sugar investor
Theo H. Davies. She had not yet reached her eighteenth birthday when the 1893
overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom altered her life. The
Committee of Safety rejected proposals from both her father
Archibald Scott Cleghorn, and provisional president
Sanford B. Dole, to seat Kaʻiulani on the throne, conditional upon the abdication of Liliʻuokalani. The Queen thought the Kingdom's best chance at justice was to relinquish her power temporarily to the United States.
Davies and Kaʻiulani visited the United States to urge the Kingdom's restoration; she made speeches and public appearances denouncing the overthrow of her government and the injustice toward her people. While in
Washington, D.C., she paid an informal visit to President
Grover Cleveland and First Lady
Frances Cleveland, but her efforts were in vain. The situation put both Kaʻiulani and her father in dire financial straits. Her annual government
stipend ceased, and her father's income as a government employee came to an end. Father and daughter spent the years 1893–1897 drifting among the European aristocracy, relatives and family friends in England, Wales, Scotland and Paris, before finally returning to Hawaii. (Full article...)
Image 4
Ghars al-Din Khalil Beg (
Turkish: Garseddin Halil Bey; died April 1386) was the second ruler of the
Turkoman Dulkadirid principality, reigning from 1353 to 1386. Having actively taken part in military pursuits during his father
Zayn al-Din Qaraja's rule, he further expanded the influence of the Dulkadirids and clashed with the
Mamluksuzerainty, contributing to the growing tension between the Mamluks and Dulkadirids. Raids by Khalil in the northern frontier with the Mamluks prompted the Mamluk sultan to provoke dissension in the Dulkadir dynasty. The sultan incited Khalil's brother Sarim al-Din Ibrahim, who sought Mamluk recognition for his domains near
Harpoot, to assassinate the ruler, Khalil. Ghars al-Din was killed in an ambush and was succeeded by his other brother
Shaban Suli. (Full article...)
Elisabeth’s early death was rumored to be a result of poison meant for her uncle
Emperor Nicholas II, but the court
physician said she died of virulent
typhoid fever, probably caused by her taking a drink of water from a contaminated stream. (Full article...)
An accomplished woman, Finch gained her appointment as royal governess in August 1762 upon the birth of
George, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of King George and Queen Charlotte. Finch's duties included oversight of the royal nursery and all the staff employed therein, as well as organising lessons for the children. Finch oversaw the princes' education until they became old enough to live in their own households under the watch of governors, while the six princesses remained under her supervision until they turned 21. Finch retired from her role in 1793, though she continued to correspond with members of the royal family and receive gifts from them. (Full article...)
Born into wealthy Polish
aristocracy, Poniatowski arrived as a diplomat at the Russian imperial court in
Saint Petersburg in 1755 at the age of 22 and became intimately involved with the future empress
Catherine the Great. With her aid, he was
elected King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania by the
Sejm in
September 1764 following the death of
Augustus III. Contrary to expectations, Poniatowski attempted to reform and strengthen the large but ailing Commonwealth. His efforts were met with external opposition from neighbouring
Prussia, Russia and
Austria, all committed to keeping the Commonwealth weak. From within he was opposed by conservative interests, which saw the reforms as a threat to their traditional liberties and
privileges granted centuries earlier. (Full article...)
Image 8
Constance of Hauteville (1128–1163) was the ruling
princess of Antioch from 1130 to 1163. She was the only child of
Bohemond II of Antioch and
Alice of Jerusalem. Constance succeeded her father at the age of two after he fell in battle, although his cousin
Roger II of Sicily laid claim to Antioch. Alice assumed the regency, but the Antiochene noblemen replaced her with her father (Constance's grandfather),
Baldwin II of Jerusalem. After he died in 1131, Alice again tried to take control of the government, but the Antiochene barons acknowledged the right of her brother-in-law
Fulk of Anjou to rule as regent for Constance.
Constance was given in marriage to
Raymond of Poitiers in 1136. During the subsequent years, Raymond ruled Antioch while Constance gave birth to four children. After Raymond was murdered after a battle in 1149, Fulk of Anjou's son
Baldwin III of Jerusalem assumed the regency. He tried to persuade Constance to remarry, but she did not accept his candidates. She also refused to marry a middle-aged relative of the
Byzantine EmperorManuel I Komnenus. Finally, she found a love interest and was married to
Raynald of Châtillon, a knight from France, in 1153. (Full article...)
Image 9
Solidus of Julius Nepos, marked:
dn
ivl nepos
p
f
avc
Julius Nepos (died 9 May 480), or simply Nepos, ruled as
Roman emperor of the
West from 24 June 474 to 28 August 475. After losing power in Italy, Nepos retreated to his home province of
Dalmatia, from which he continued to claim the western imperial title, with recognition from the
Eastern Roman Empire, until he was murdered in 480. Though Nepos' successor in Italy,
Romulus Augustulus (
r. 475–476), is traditionally deemed the last western Roman emperor, Nepos is regarded by some historians as the true last emperor of the west, being the last widely recognised claimant to the position.
A native of Dalmatia, Nepos began his career as the semi-autonomous governor of the province, succeeding his uncle
Marcellinus, a prominent general, as magister militum ('master of troops') of Dalmatia. After the death of the western emperor
Anthemius (
r. 467–472), who had been appointed by the eastern emperor
Leo I (
r. 457–474), as well as Anthemius' successor
Olybrius (
r. 472), Leo sought to assert his authority in the west, granting Nepos command of an army in December 473 to attack Italy and depose
Glycerius (
r. 473–474), who had been proclaimed emperor by the
Burgundian general
Gundobad. Nepos left for Italy in the spring of 474, backed by Leo's successor
Zeno, and landed with his army at
Portus, near
Rome. Nepos swiftly deposed Glycerius and was crowned western emperor in Rome on 24 June 474. He was the last emperor to be crowned in the city until
Charlemagne in the ninth century. Whether the original intention of the invasion was to install Nepos as western emperor is unclear, but in any event, he was quickly recognised as the legitimate western emperor by Zeno. (Full article...)
Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth
Rashidun caliph (
r. 656–661) and the first
Shia Imam, was assassinated during the
morning prayer on 28 January 661
CE, equivalent to 19 Ramadan 40
AH. He died of his wounds about two days after the
Kharijite dissident
Ibn Muljim struck him over his head with a poison-coated sword at the
Great Mosque of Kufa, located in
Kufa, in present-day
Iraq. He was about sixty-two years of age at the time of his death.
Ibn Muljim had entered Kufa with the intention of killing Ali, probably in revenge for the Kharijites' defeat in the
Battle of Nahrawan in 658. He found two accomplices in Kufa, namely, Shabib ibn Bujra and Wardan ibn al-Mujalid. Unlike Ibn Muljim, the swords of these two missed Ali and they fled, but were later caught and killed. Before his death, Ali requested either a meticulous application of lex talionis to Ibn Muljim or his pardon, and he was later executed by
Hasan, the eldest son of Ali. By most accounts, also involved in the assassination was
al-Ash'ath ibn Qays, the influential Kufan tribal leader whose loyalty to Ali is often questioned in the early sources. The assassination of Ali paved the way for his rival
Mu'awiya to found the
Umayyad Caliphate. The shrine of Ali in
Najaf, near Kufa, is a major destination for Shia pilgrims. (Full article...)
During the latter part of his father's reign, Pacorus ruled the Parthian Empire along with him. After Vologases I's death in 78, Pacorus became the sole ruler, but was quickly met by a revolt by his brother
Vologases II, which lasted until the latter's defeat in 80. In 79/80, Pacorus' rule was contended by another Parthian prince—
Artabanus III—whom he had defeated by 81. A third Parthian contender,
Osroes I, appeared in 109. The following year, Pacorus was succeeded by his son
Vologases III, who continued his father's struggle with Osroes I over the Parthian crown. (Full article...)
Image 14
Letter written by Sîn-šar-iškun to his primary enemy,
Nabopolassar of
Babylon, in which he recognizes him as
king of Babylon and pleads to be allowed to retain his kingdom. The authenticity of the letter is a matter of debate.
Echmarcach's name as it appears on folio 17r of Oxford Bodleian Library Rawlinson B 488 (the Annals of Tigernach): "Eachmarcach".
Echmarcach mac Ragnaill (died 1064/1065) was a dominant figure in the eleventh-century
Irish Sea region. At his height, he reigned as king over
Dublin, the
Isles, and perhaps the
Rhinns of Galloway. The precise identity of Echmarcach's father, Ragnall, is uncertain. One possibility is that this man was one of two eleventh-century rulers of
Waterford. Another possibility is that Echmarcach's father was an early eleventh-century
ruler of the Isles. If any of these identifications are correct, Echmarcach may have been a member of the
Uí Ímair kindred.
Echmarcach first appears on record in about 1031, when he was one of three kings in northern Britain who submitted to
Knútr Sveinnsson, ruler of the
Anglo-Scandinavian Empire. Echmarcach is recorded to have ruled over Dublin in 1036–1038 and 1046–1052. After losing Dublin for the final time, he appears to have been seated in the Isles on
Mann. In 1061, about a decade after his final defeat in Dublin, Echmarcach appears to have been expelled from the Isles, and may have then fallen back into Galloway. (Full article...)
Credit: Sébah & Joaillier; restoration:
Adam Cuerden
Mehmed VI (1861–1926) was the 36th and last
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. He was girded with the
Sword of Osman in June 1918, with his reign beginning the following month after
his brother's death. Following the Ottoman defeat in World War I, Mehmed VI was tasked with reconciliation with the Allies. However, his settlements were denounced by Turkish nationalists, and in 1922 the
Grand National Assembly of Turkey abolished the sultanate. Mehmed VI spent the rest of his life in exile.
Image 20The constituent states of the German Empire (a federal monarchy). Various states were formally suzerain to the emperor, whose government retained authority over some policy areas throughout the federation, and was concurrently King of Prussia, the empire's largest state. (from Non-sovereign monarchy)
Image 21Photograph of Tsar Alexander II, 1878–81 (from Absolute monarchy)
Image 27British India and the princely states within the Indian Empire. The princely states (in yellow) were sovereign territories of Indian princes who were practically suzerain to the Emperor of India, who was concurrently the British monarch, whose territories were called British India (in pink) and occupied a vast portion of the empire. (from Non-sovereign monarchy)
Featured content
Extended content
This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by
JL-Bot (
talk·contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is
tagged or
categorized (e.g.
Category:Royalty work group articles) correctly and wait for the next update. See
WP:RECOG for configuration options.