Monarch That Murdered a Family Member to Gain Power

Rulers Through History Who Executed Family Members

History is total of kings, emperors, dictators, and so on who had no reservations most executing, well, pretty much anyone: political rivals, enemies, scapegoats, and sometimes people who were just in the incorrect place at the incorrect time. Some of these rulers have even been uncomfortably shut to the nowadays day.

But, traditionally speaking, family unit members are off-limits. Even some of the cruelest rulers of all fourth dimension made exceptions for family. They would imprison or exile them, but surprisingly few rulers have had information technology in them to become full Game of Thrones on the people who had been around them since they were children.

At that place are a few, though. Usually it's because they actually were simply that cutthroat in their quest for power, only sometimes it was because their family member was, honestly, pretty awful and causing a lot of problems. Non maxim you should accept your family killed if they bug yous, but these people certain did.

Male monarch Herod the Great wasn't then dandy

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You might accept heard of Rex Herod the Great thanks to the Bible. Herod, along with his family unit, supported the Romans when they came and took over his familial land. This paid off and then well, Herod became pals with some big names in Rome, like Octavian and Marker Antony, who eventually made him the Male monarch of Judea, working on behalf of Rome and its interests, co-ordinate to LiveScience.

Because supporting the Roman Empire was non a popular position with the Jewish people, Herod was unpopular past proxy. As a result, he married Mariamme, the granddaughter of a quondam Judean High Priest, with whom he had two sons, Alexander and Aristobulus, in hopes the Judeans would exist more than accepting of him. This didn't pan out, however, and the Judeans still didn't trust him or Rome, leading Herod to enact more callous laws and get paranoid. Somewhen, he became convinced his family was plotting confronting him and had Mariamme executed for infidelity (keep in mind she was but one of his 10 wives), then Alexander, Aristobulus, and a third son from another wife, Antipater II.

It's possible Herod killed other family members as well, and it is said in the Bible he had every babe in Bethlehem and the surrounding area killed, though historians are skeptical this actually happened. In fact, they recollect this was probably a dramatization of how he killed his own sons.

Henry VIII didn't just kill his wives

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When you think of historical rulers who put a lot of people to death, you likely think of Henry 8, who famously beheaded his 2d and fifth wives, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, for adultery. While the charges may or may non have been truthful, these were just two of a very long list of people Henry Viii killed for spurious reasons, according to Tudors Dynasty.

What's lesser-known is Henry 8 spent a lot of time killing off cousins and other relatives for fear they might overthrow him. He was especially focused on the De la Pole family, a closely-related familial line with several members with good claims to the throne. Over several decades, Henry VIII suspected them of trying to overthrow him and executed many of them.

Think, Henry VIII'south large affair was he wanted a male person heir, and when he didn't go one, he changed the very face of Christianity by splitting from the Catholic Church building just to get a divorce. He wanted to ensure his bloodline stayed on the throne that badly. So anyone in England that could potentially be a threat to his dominion became an instant target. In the end, this did kind of pay off, in a morbid way. His 9-year-old son, Edward Half-dozen, succeeded him upon his death in 1547, co-ordinate to History.

The but female ruler of China killed her kids to stay in power

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In Chinese history, at that place has been only one ruler who was a woman. Wu Zetian started equally a concubine of the Tang Dynasty Emperor Taizong. Just later on Taizong was succeeded by Emperor Gaozong, Wu did something no other concubine had washed before — she became the concubine of a second emperor as well, and he later married her in 652, making her Empress.

How she managed to oust Gaozong'southward previous Empress, Wang, is a story unto itself. Gaozong fathered a kid with Wu. When the babe was a week sometime, Wang visited Wu and held the infant. Shortly after Wang left, the baby was expressionless, and Wu accused Wang of killing it. Gaozong believed her, and Wang was executed. Yet, some historians recall it'due south likely Wu killed the child herself to get rid of Wang in lodge to become Empress, according to History Collection.

Later, Gaozong had a stroke and was unable to rule, and so Wu ruled in his stead. Wu apparently gained a taste for ability, because she quickly eliminated her 2 oldest sons, who each had a chance at inheriting the throne from Gaozong. Her third son, Li Hong, was briefly Emperor when Gaozong died, but Wu didn't care for his rule, so she had him put under house arrest and ran the Empire herself. She ruled for 23 years before losing the throne and passing away in her seventies.

Suleiman the Magnificent casually executed his sons

Suleiman, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, had a pretty disturbing relationship with his kids. Similar other sultans, Suleiman had a harem of concubines and fathered children with more than one of them. Suleiman did something very taboo, though, when around 1533 he married Roxelana, one of his harem. This was something that only was not done, but who's going to tell the Sultan no?

This did create an upshot, though, because Roxelana is believed to take wanted i of her sons to take the throne afterward Suleiman'southward expiry instead of Mustafa, the oldest of the Sultan'southward children built-in to a consort named Mahidevran. By Ottoman tradition, the heir to the throne would kill all of his brothers to ensure his claim. While it's non 100 pct confirmed, at that place is some evidence Roxelana convinced the Sultan Mustafa was plotting against him, and the Sultan had him executed, according to Ozy. It's also possible the Sultan did this without Roxelana'south urging, however.

Many years afterwards, when it was fourth dimension for one of Suleiman's sons (by Roxelana, of class) to accept over the throne, two sons in item had it out, Selim and Bayezid, warring over their father's throne. Suleiman chose Selim over Bayezid, and when Bayezid was defeated, the 2 of them had him executed and so Selim could take over unimpeded, co-ordinate toSuleiman the Magnificent .

Cleopatra did not want her family unit to help her

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Cleopatra Seven, simply known as Cleopatra in the modernistic day, became Queen of Egypt later on her father, Ptolemy XII died. However, her father too left a volition demanding Cleopatra marry and co-dominion with her 11-year-old younger brother, Ptolemy XIII. While that sounds pretty creepy, it was normal for Egyptian rulers of the time to marry their siblings to consolidate ability.

Cleopatra wasn't happy with this state of affairs and tried to run things herself, which led Ptolemy Thirteen to effort to eliminate her so he could dominion lonely. He was backed up in this endeavor past their sister, Arsinoe, and Cleopatra sought help from none other than Julius Caesar, according to Smithsonian Magazine. In the end, a modest ceremonious state of war broke out, which ended with Ptolemy Thirteen dead. At Caesar's asking and according to Egyptian tradition, Arsinoe was exiled and Cleopatra then married her youngest brother, Ptolemy XIV, instead.

Cleopatra grudgingly went along with this, as she didn't want to anger Caesar, and was once again stuck equally co-ruler with ane of her brothers. Afterwards Caesar'due south assassination, though, Cleopatra saw an opportunity. She had Ptolemy 14 and Arsinoe executed, leaving her with no siblings and thus allowed to rule completely solitary as Pharaoh. While Rome wasn't happy Cleopatra went against Caesar's wishes, she centrolineal herself with Roman general Mark Anthony to prevent the empire from retaliating.

Attila the Hun's brother mysteriously disappeared

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While Attila the Hun is known for being one of the most feared leaders of the aboriginal world, what many people never hear nearly is his brother, Bleda. When Rugila, Attila'south childless uncle, died, his last wishes were for his young nephews, Attila and Bleda, to co-rule the Hunnish Empire. Initially, this seems to have gone well. Attila and Bleda worked together to grow their empire and fend off attacks from the Roman Empire.

Yet, subsequently about 445 AD, Bleda is no longer mentioned in Hunnish history, only Attila. It's almost like Bleda never existed at all. Records from this time are scarce today, and so if we didn't have older records that did mention him, information technology'due south possible we might take never known about him at all. In that location'south nothing about him dying or leaving or being abducted past aliens. They just cease talking about him altogether, according to LiveScience.

Priscus, a Roman author who worked equally a diplomat to the Huns, did mention something after he ran across ane of Bleda'southward widows. He claims she told him Attila assassinated Bleda to seize his territory, according to writer Charles W. King. We don't know exactly what happened, though some sources advise Bleda had a hunting blow or got into a fatal statement with Attila. It's also possible those were cover stories told with a wink and a nod. Either mode, Bleda was effectively erased.

Aurangzeb and his brothers were not bros

Modernistic-day India is a single, unified country, but at various points throughout history, information technology was made up of several dissimilar kingdoms and empires. One of these was the Mughal Empire, made up of parts of present-day Republic of india, Transitional islamic state of afghanistan, Kashmir, and several other countries and regions. In the 17th century, the Empire was overseen by Shah Jahan, who had four sons with his wife Mumtaz Mahal. (The Taj Mahal was built for and named after the Shah'south wife.)

As the Shah aged, his sons began to fight over his throne. Dara, the oldest, was most favored by the Shah, followed past Shuja, Aurangzeb, and Murad, the youngest. Aurangzeb convinced Murad that Dara and Shuja would exist poor leaders, but if the 2 of them were to squad upward confronting their older brothers, they could put Murad on the throne, according to ThoughtCo. Aurangzeb claimed to accept no interest in being Emperor himself.

Aurangzeb and Murad fought Dara and exiled him, and so battled and executed Shuja. Dara returned, only this time Aurangzeb and Murad had him killed. And finally, with his older brothers out of the manner, Aurangzeb graciously stepped aside and allowed Murad to accept the throne. Just kidding, he had Murad executed likewise and took the throne himself afterwards having his father placed under house arrest. He was presumably non invited to family reunions later on, although he'd exist the only one there anyway.

Agrippina the Younger taught Nero everything he knew

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Julia Agrippina was built-in into Roman royalty. Sister of Emperor Caligula, she was very familiar with Roman politics. She bore a son, Nero, with her first hubby, who later died. She was then married a second time, but that husband too died, apparently of toxicant.

Finally, she was wed to Claudius, who too happened to be her uncle. Gross. Claudius had become Emperor subsequently Caligula'due south death, simply then he was poisoned, too. What a coincidence! Of course, not earlier Agrippina convinced him to prefer Nero, making him Claudius' successor. While Agrippina was widely believed to have been involved in the death of Claudius, it was never proven, and and then a teenage Nero became the Emperor of Rome in 54 Ad, according to ThoughtCo.

This ended up backfiring, however. While Agrippina might have assumed she'd exist able to command her son and gain a greater share of power in Rome, things didn't actually pan out this mode. Nero apace grew bellyaching with her and had her exiled. Agrippina and so began to entrada against Nero, claiming her stepson from Claudius, Brittanicus, was the rightful emperor. Brittanicus then died under mysterious circumstances and Nero plotted to accept his female parent die in a gunkhole rigged to sink, only she survived past pond to shore. Nero then gave up trying to exist subtle and had his female parent executed, leaving him unopposed.

Edward Iv had a tough relationship with his little blood brother

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As many people with younger siblings can attest, they can often be quite a pain. This seems to take been the case with the tumultuous human relationship between England's King Edward 4 and his younger brother, George, Duke of Clarence. While George and Edward worked together to depose King Henry 6 during the State of war of Roses, they didn't stay on the same side for very long, according to The Crown Chronicles.

Not long later on Edward became king in 1461, George linked up with Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, their uncle who had besides helped remove King Henry VI from power. Richard intended to remove Edward from the throne and accept it for himself, which Edward'southward blood brother seems to have shrugged at and agreed to assistance with. However, after this failed and Richard allied himself with Henry Six's wife, Margaret of Anjou instead, George returned to his brother's side and they successfully stopped the plot.

Fifty-fifty this didn't final long, even so, and shortly after, George was discovered to be plotting against Edward over again. This time, Edward had enough, locked George in the Tower of London, and had him executed via unspecified ways, though legend has it George was drowned in a tub of his favorite wine. While it's a distressing ending for George, it's also kind of difficult non to identify with Edward if you lot've ever had a actually annoying little brother.

Richard Iii was pretty much how Shakespeare said

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Speaking of Edward IV and the Tower of London, he and George had another brother, besides named Richard (information technology was a family name). When Edward 4 passed away, he left an heir, Edward V, as well as another son, Richard of Shrewsbury (again, family name). The problem was Edward 5, the elderberry of the 2, was only 12-years-old, so their uncle Richard was named Lord Protector of the boys, according to History Extra.

The reign of Edward V didn't last long, though. Soon, questions came upwardly nearly Edward 4's matrimony and how he had potentially good bigamy, which technically invalidated Edward V's claim to the throne. Richard was crowned as Male monarch Richard III instead. While Edward Five notwithstanding potentially had a merits to the throne, Richard Iii had his nephews locked upwards in the Belfry of London soon after his coronation, and they were never heard from once more.

It's never been proven Richard III had the boys killed (or if he leaked Edward IV's bigamy), only he is a very likely doubtable. At that place are no records of what happened to the boys. The Belfry of London wasn't all creepy torture chambers, though, so information technology's possible the boys survived there. Years later, Perkin Warbeck claimed to have been Richard of Shrewsbury. Most historians believe Richard III intentionally had his nephew removed from the throne and ordered both boys killed, yet.

Ivan the Terrible did a terrible affair

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Ivan the Terrible wasn't called "Terrible" for nothing. Although the title ways terrible more than in the sense of intimidating, Ivan did as well sow a lot of terror in his fourth dimension as Tsar of Russia. He'due south well known for mercilessly killing Russian federation'south enemies, his ain political rivals, and basically anyone who stood in his way. While Ivan the Terrible never officially executed whatever family members, he did frequently have blowout arguments with his son and heir, Ivan Ivanovich, who was but equally outspoken and short-tempered equally his begetter, co-ordinate to Ivan the Terrible.

Ivan the Terrible was reportedly very proud of the wealth he had accumulated as Tsar, and would often bring this upward during arguments. On 1 particular night in 1581, though, Ivan Ivanovich retorted he didn't intendance most aureate and jewels, merely instead prized backbone and valor over material goods. The Tsar took this as an insult and flew into a rage.

He took a heavy, iron staff he was property and struck his son in the skull, causing Ivan Ivanovich to crumple to the footing, bleeding from his temple. Ivan the Terrible was immediately remorseful, weeping and holding his son's body. Ivan Ivanovich died 3 days later. While it wasn't an execution so much equally second-degree murder, it had the added result of ending Ivan'southward line, as his other son, Fyodr, inherited the throne but died childless a few years afterward.

Catherine the Bang-up was involved in some mysterious deaths

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When Catherine the Great'south married man became Peter 3, Tsar of Russia, in 1762, things were looking good for her. Within months, even so, Peter Iii was wildly unpopular, and that's when Catherine is alleged to take met with members of Russian aristocracy. It'due south not known who reached out to whom or who initially suggested removing Peter III from the throne. Before long after, though, Peter III was deposed and exiled, according to Esquire. Ane week subsequently, he was assassinated by the younger blood brother of Catherine's lover. Catherine claimed no involvement, and information technology's not known if she even knew Peter would die or if she simply intended for him to be exiled.

But even Catherine's son Paul openly suspected his female parent was involved in his father's death. Paul too claimed his female parent had plotted to have him killed besides, to prevent him from inheriting the throne after his father's demise. Instead, Catherine remained in charge as Empress of Russian federation. She is known to take actively worked to secure a dissimilar heir rather than have Paul succeed her, but she died earlier she could enact this.

Paul did get Tsar later Catherine's expiry, but non for long. Within merely a few years, Paul was also assassinated, according to Owlcation. While there'south no proof whatsoever, rumors accept persisted for centuries Catherine and her allies arranged for Paul'southward assassination before she died.

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